Category: Entertainment (Page 91 of 277)

Movie Review: “Blackhat”

January 15, 2015 / Jason Zingale

Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, John Ortiz, Ritchie Coster

Michael Mann

It’s been six years since Michael Mann’s last film (“Public Enemies”), and more than a decade since his last good one (“Collateral”), so it’s not very surprising that his newest movie doesn’t buck the trend, especially after Universal condemned it to a January release date. Mann is a director who not only seems wildly out of touch, but has come to care more about the look of his films than what they’re trying to say. To be fair, when the camera isn’t shaking around like it’s in the middle of an earthquake, “Blackhat” boasts some really gorgeous visuals, particularly the neon-drenched nighttime scenes. It’s just a shame that the story hasn’t been given the same attention, because while “Blackhat” is no worse than your standard Hollywood action-thriller, it would have been a lot more interesting to see Mann take a big risk and fail than to settle for such a safe, middling paycheck movie like this.

After a malicious hacker, or blackhat, causes a meltdown at a nuclear reactor in China and makes millions on the stock market by driving up the price of soy, FBI agent Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) is ordered to work with Chinese cyber-specialist Chen Dawai (Wang Leehom) to track down the person responsible. Chen notices that part of the computer code used in the attacks was co-written by him as a student at MIT, so he convinces the U.S. government to make a deal with the program’s lead architect, imprisoned hacker Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth), in exchange for his help. Desperate to stop the elusive blackhat before the next attack, the FBI agrees to Hathaway’s demands, but when the investigation hits a dead end, he must decide between going back to prison and doing something illegal that, while it would keep the hunt alive, will land him in even more trouble if caught.

Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Movies

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Blu Tuesday: Gone Girl and More

January 13, 2015 / Jason Zingale

Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.

“Gone Girl”

WHAT: When his wife (Rosamund Pike) disappears under mysterious circumstances, Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) becomes the prime suspect in the investigation. But while the media and townspeople are quick to vilify him, Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) senses that something isn’t quite right with the case.

WHY: It’s hard to imagine watching a film like “Gone Girl” having already read the Gillian Flynn novel on which it’s based, because the movie is a strikingly bold and unique murder mystery that hinges on the shock-and-awe nature of its dark, twisted story. You’d be hard-pressed to find a director more suitable for the material than David Fincher, and he handles the he-said/she-said dual narratives with razor-sharp precision. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike deliver excellent performances as the two leads (Pike, in particular, is sure to see her career skyrocket as a result), while supporting actors like Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, and yes, even Tyler Perry, are all perfectly cast in their respective roles. That’s to the credit of Fincher as well, who makes even the strangest casting choices (like Perry and Neil Patrick Harris) seem like no-brainers in hindsight. Though the movie is a bit overlong and the ending feels rushed compared to the slow-burning first act, “Gone Girl” is the kind of the movie that you won’t soon forget. It’s not Fincher’s best work, but it’s an engrossing and clever thriller that will make you want to rush out and read Flynn’s novel the minute it’s over.

EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by director David Fincher and an Amazing Amy book titled “Tattle Tale.”

FINAL VERDICT: BUY

“Men, Women & Children”

WHAT: A collection of intersecting stories about the dangers of the internet, including a middle-aged schlub (Adam Sandler) whose wife (Rosemary DeWitt) cheats on him using a dating website; a former star quarterback (Ansel Elgort) who’s coping with his mother’s desertion through an online role-playing game; a high school cheerleader (Olivia Crocicchia) who posts provocative photos to her modeling site; and a mother (Jennifer Garner) so obsessed with keeping her daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) safe that she tracks her online activity.

WHY: “Men, Women & Children” might as well have come with the subtitle, “Or Why the Internet is Really Bad,” because that’s pretty much the message that Jason Reitman is preaching in his latest film, an enjoyable but flawed drama about communication in the digital age. Of course, this isn’t the first time that the topic has been broached before. The little-seen 2012 drama “Disconnect” tackled similar material in its exploration of the muddled lines between reality and identity on the internet, and that film did a better job, partly because it had fewer storylines to juggle. Reitman handles the interconnected narrative remarkably well, but while “Men, Women & Children” has some interesting things to say, it doesn’t reveal anything that most people with a basic knowledge of the internet didn’t already know. Yes, going online can be dangerous, but there are plenty of beneficial things about it as well, and Reitman seems afraid to touch upon those aspects in fear that it will dilute his message. Is it a little heavy-handed and melodramatic as a result? You bet, but there’s enough good in the film – or at least good intentions – that it’s able to hold your interest even when it’s not firing on all cylinders.

EXTRAS: There are five deleted scenes (including an additional storyline), as well as a short behind-the-scenes featurette and interviews with director Jason Reitman and the cast about the effect of technology on our lives.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“Revenge of the Green Dragons”

WHAT: Set in New York City during the late 1980s and early 90s, two Chinese immigrants (Justin Chon and Kevin Wu) are pressured into joining the Green Dragons gang, quickly moving up the ranks as the organization gains notoriety within the community.

WHY: With “Infernal Affairs” director Andrew Lau behind the camera, and Martin Scorsese serving as an executive producer, you’d be forgiven for thinking that “Revenge of the Green Dragons” might actually be decent. Instead, it’s a cliché-ridden gangster film posing as a sprawling crime saga that’s plagued by a lack of character development, unintentionally funny dialogue (sample line: “There’s a storm coming, and I don’t know of any umbrella that can keep the city dry.”), and cheesy guitar riffs that, while they certainly belong to the era, only add to the comedy. One of the big selling points of the movie is that it’s supposedly inspired by real-life events, but the historical bits are shoved to the background in favor of the more generic story involving Chon and Wu’s characters. Neither actor is very good, but Harry Shum, Jr. (“Glee”) takes the cake as the gang’s business-minded boss, whose performance comes across like a low-rate Bruce Lee impersonator. Though Ray Liotta’s appearance as the FBI agent investigating the Green Dragons is meant to lend some credibility to the film, it does the complete opposite, while the last-minute twist reeks so bad of desperation that it’s as if Lau is trying to recapture the success of “Infernal Affairs” for American audiences. The only problem is that Scorsese already beat him to the punch.

EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by directors Andrew Lau and Andrew Loo, a trio of production featurettes and some deleted scenes.

FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

Entertainment, Movies

Blu Tuesday Gone Girl Men Women & Children new Blu-rays Revenge of the Green Dragons

Blu Tuesday: Boyhood, Get On Up and More

January 6, 2015 / Jason Zingale

“Boyhood”

WHAT: A coming-of-age tale that follows a boy named Mason Evans, Jr. (Ellar Coltrone) from grade school to his first day of college and examines his relationship with his divorced parents (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette) as he matures into a young man.

WHY: In an industry driven by innovation, it’s incredible that no one thought to make a movie like “Boyhood” before Richard Linklater embarked on his 12-year journey, because it’s a really great idea with even better execution. A cinematic time capsule of sorts in that you’re essentially watching a kid (both the character and the actor playing him) grow up before your very eyes, the film has some very poignant things to say about adolescence, parenting and life in general. Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke deliver a pair of solid performances as Mason’s divorced parents, but sadly, Ellar Coltrone is terrible as the main character, emitting almost no emotion throughout the course of the film. It’s always a gamble when you cast young actors for a lengthy project like this (the “Harry Potter” franchise was extremely lucky with all three leads), but you’d think that Coltrone would have at least gotten a little better over the years. He doesn’t, and that’s one of my biggest problems with the movie, which makes it a lot easier to admire than love as a result. There’s no question that “Boyhood” is a technical achievement and one-of-a-kind piece of filmmaking that demands to be seen, but whether it deserves the many accolades that have followed is debatable.

EXTRAS: There’s a making-of featurette called “The 12 Year Project” and a Q&A with writer/director Richard Linklater and the cast, but sadly, no audio commentary.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“Get On Up”

WHAT: The rise of James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) from an impoverished child who was abandoned by his parents, to a young man in trouble with the law, to one of the most influential musicians in history.

WHY: As my colleague David Medsker said in his review of the film, “no one misses the biopic,” and he couldn’t have been more right. But if Hollywood was going to make a movie about any musical icon from the past 50 years, James Brown certainly made the most sense, not only because of his contributions to the industry, but because he’s a flashy, larger-than-life character with a catalog of catchy tunes. In fact, the musical sequences are the highlight of the film, but the whole thing wouldn’t work without Chadwick Boseman’s incredible performance as the Godfather of Soul, holding the audience’s attention even as the movie continuously jumps back and forth in time with a funked-up chronological order that would make Quentin Tarantino’s head spin. Though it’s nice to see someone stray from the usual biopic formula, it’s far too messy and difficult to follow, as if director Tate Taylor had so much great material to mine that he didn’t know how else to present it. And that’s the problem with “Get on Up”: it feels more like a greatest hits of classic James Brown moments than an examination of the artist himself, barely scratching the surface of what was clearly a very complex man.

EXTRAS: In addition to an audio commentary by director Tate Taylor, there are some deleted/alternate scenes, full and extended song performances, and a series of short behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the movie.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

“The Guest”

WHAT: A recently discharged soldier named David Collins (Dan Stevens) shows up at the doorstep of the Peterson household claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. But after he’s welcomed into their home, the family’s daughter (Maika Monroe) becomes suspicious of David following a sudden chain of murders in town.

WHY: After taking the festival circuit by storm with their home invasion thriller, “You’re Next,” the writer-director duo of Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett seemed poised to deliver another cult classic with this low-budget genre flick. Many people would even argue that they’ve done just that, but while “The Guest” certainly had the potential to be great, it falls disappointingly short. The acting is pretty poor with the exception of Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), who does an excellent job straddling the line between well-mannered nice guy and stone-cold killer. He’s the only thing that keeps the movie afloat, because although the first half builds some nice tension as David infiltrates the Peterson’s family dynamic, all of that hard work is wasted in the final act when it devolves into a silly B-movie that favors violence over subtlety, falling victim to the typical slasher film conventions with some incredibly strange and odd-placed moments of humor. I really wanted “The Guest” to be as good as everyone said it was, but it’s a fairly mediocre thriller that takes its leading man’s star-making performance for granted.

EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett, some deleted scenes and an interview with star Dan Stevens.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

Entertainment, Movies, Television

Blu Tuesday Boyhood Get On Up Girls: Season Three Horns new Blu-rays No Good Deed The Guest

Coming Soon: A Moviegoer’s Guide to January

January 2, 2015 / Jason Zingale

January used to be a place where studios could dump their worst films like an orphan on the front steps of a church, but over the past few years, there’s been a noticeable improvement in the quality of the releases. For the most part, the movies still suck, but following the box office success of films like “Taken” and “Ride Along,” the studios seem more willing to give higher-profile titles a chance to perform against the weaker competition. It doesn’t make much difference in the long run, but if you’re able to catch just one good film that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen during a busier season, then it’s a win-win for everyone involved.

“Taken 3”

Who: Liam Neeson, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen
What: After he’s accused of a ruthless murder he didn’t committed, Bryan Mills goes on the run in order to find the true killer and clear his name.
When: January 9th
Why: Thankfully, no one’s been taken this time around, because that would have been too ridiculous even for this series, which already requires a willing suspension of disbelief not seen since the days of “24.” Though it’s unclear if the men framing Mills in this movie are connected to the bad guys from the first two films, the real draw of “Taken 3” (other than the action, of course) is its “Fugitive”-like storyline, which finally gives Liam Neeson a worthy co-star in Forest Whitaker. And if Neeson truly is done with the series after this installment, Luc Besson could easily keep it going with Whitaker’s federal agent. That is, provided he’s not the villain.

“Blackhat”

Who: Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Wei Tang and John Ortiz
What: A hacker is released from prison to help American and Chinese authorities pursue a mysterious cyber criminal.
When: January 16th
Why: It’s been awhile since Michael Mann made a great film, and though it’s unlikely that will change with “Blackhat,” the techno-thriller at least looks more entertaining than his last few movies. Plus, it comes with the added bonus of being released on the heels of the highly publicized Sony hacks, which gives it a sense of timeliness that Mann couldn’t have planned better himself. Though Chris Hemsworth doesn’t exactly look like your typical hacker, he’s proven that he has the charisma and talent to be a really good leading man, and it’s the collaboration between actor and director that gives me hope that, if nothing else, “Blackhat” will be a fun distraction.

“The Wedding Ringer”

Who: Josh Gad, Kevin Hart, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting and Alan Ritchson
What: A shy young groom needs to impress his in-laws, so he turns to a best-man-for-hire to help him out.
When: January 16th
Why: Kevin Hart has become to January what Will Smith used to be to Fourth of July weekend: box office gold. Simply put, the guy is on fire, and Screen Gems, the studio behind three of his most recent hits, is milking him for everything he’s worth. But while both Hart and Josh Gad can be funny with the right material, there’s no getting around the fact that “The Wedding Ringer” – which is basically “Hitch” meets “I, Love You Man” – looks pretty dumb. There are a few good bits in the trailer (especially that “Goonies” line), but if that’s the best the marketing team could find, you’d be wise to steer clear.

Entertainment, Movies

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Bullz-Eye’s 2014 TV Power Rankings

December 31, 2014 / Gerardo Orlando

With “Breaking Bad” wrapping up after five brilliant seasons, the top spot in our annual TV Power Tankings has finally opened up for the rest of the field. But AMC gets the nod for the best television show again this year as “The Walking Dead” edges out HBO’s “True Detective” on our list.

The list is dominated again by cable TV dramas, which seem to have surpassed movies in popularity. Streaming and binge watching have contributed to this trend, but it all starts with the quality of the programming. You’ll find some of the best writing, directing and acting talent on television these days, and often the quality of the storytelling surpasses the best that a film industry obsessed with blockbusters, superheroes and sequels can muster.

We’ve kept the spoilers to a minimum, but you might want to skip over some of the write-ups if you’re behind on a particular series, as we naturally refer to recent events.

1. “The Walking Dead”

Some fans have complained about the deliberate pace of “The Walking Dead” when the gang sought temporary refuge at the farm and prison, but the tension built during these lulls always led to a bigger payoff when all hell inevitably broke loose. In the current fifth season, that payoff came quickly with jarring episodes that kicked off with the battle at Terminus and the confrontation with the hunters. The end of the world offers countless opportunities to explore how survivors might deal with a zombie apocalypse, and the writers have done a great job telling this story over the first five seasons. It’s currently the best and most consistent show on television.

2. “True Detective”

This was by far the most intriguing and talked about show of 2014, featuring epic performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. It also didn’t hurt to have sexy and provocative turns by beautiful actresses such as Alexandra Daddario, Lili Simmons and Michelle Monaghan. The dark tone was set in part through the use of flashbacks to a 1995 serial killer investigation framed in the context of interviews with the two primary detectives, with McConaughey’s intense Rust Cohle looking and acting like a burned out alcoholic as he told his part of the story. Yet after so much tension and anticipation was built up through the season, the ending was surprisingly predictable in some ways and incomprehensible in others. Still, the letdown at the end didn’t diminish the creepy and fascinating ride along the way.

3. “Game of Thrones”

This show pretty much has everything, including great action, intrigue, sex and dragons. Our only quibble is the sheer number of characters and storylines, leaving less screen time for favorite characters like Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and Arya. Bran’s character, for example, went from fascinating to boring pretty quickly. All the supernatural stuff surrounding his character will no doubt be important in the long run, but the road to wherever he’s going has been a snoozer of late. Fortunately, there are reports we won’t be seeing him in the upcoming Season Five, though we’ll get a heavy dose of Cersei instead.