FLIGHT - a sobering voyage

It's been twelve years since we've been graced with a live action flick from Robert Zemeckis of Back To The Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit fame. His last effort was the isolated island picture, Cast Away. In between he turned towards realistic CGI work like The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. He is certainly a gifted man—commensurate with his talents we now witness his latest stratospheric voyage, Flight.  

Denzel Washington has geared up his best 'tude for us this time round. He plays a familiar repressed, destructive alcoholic in the same vein as Jack Lemmon, Ray Milland and Nick Cage from a long cinematic heritage of terrible drunks. In a terrifying scene he lands a jumbo jet in a church field with little loss to life on board due to superior aviation skills. However, he was .24 tanked during the crash. So if the wrong people get wind of the bad news it could be life in prison for the valiant captain. 

This may sound depressing—it is, yet the superb direction brings much levity to the fore, and thus a truly entertaining and poignant ride ensues. I really enjoyed this movie from start to finish. I think it was Denzel's best film in quite a while. All the actors, however brief their appearance, did a fine job. My only quarrel would be the strange religious overtones, I'm not sure what point they were trying to make—either sacrilege or deference? Make up your own mind I guess. Anyway, my favorite kind of Hollywood cinema conflates humor and serious relational drama in an thoroughly exciting way—like David O. Russell's, The Fighter—that's exactly what you'll get here.  

Recommended Viewing: Contact - Back To The Future - Glory

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 8.5   -   The Fan: 9.0

             MetaCritic: 76

 Rotten Tomatoes: 77

                    IMDB: 7.7

ARGO - naught in Iraq the other one

Ben Affleck has little left to prove. He has again brought us another first rate thriller. That being said I don’t believe it was quite as good as the hype. It was a well made film for sure but nothing terribly special—maybe people are so used to mediocre Hollywood films that when a good film comes along it goodness gets blown out of proportion. Duh, you might utter, but this concept always seems to surprise some.

Argo chronicles a brief tumultuous period in Iran—very surprising I know. A coup has currently caused the American embassy to be a hot spot for nationalist rebels. A few American employees escape the embassy and hide out with a Canadian Ambassador. This will not be safe for long. So the Americans back home at the CIA find a guy who gets people out of tight spots. His idea is to come up with a fake film, script and all, to present to the foreign government so that he can pretend that the clandestine Americans are filmmakers and subsequently get them out of the country because they were only there on a location scout to begin with. If this weren’t a declassified true story it probably would be too weird of a concept for the regular Joe to buy. Myself included.

However, the film succeeds on many levels. The story takes you in rather quickly and of course your always rooting for the good guys in this riveting scenario. The last quarter of the film really shines as Affleck gets you on the edge of your seat without really seeming to try—as all good directors can. If you’ve seen the preview nothing much will surprise you in how the film plays out, which is to it’s advantage, yet, somewhat geared towards my view that it may not really exceed your expectations—it’s just simply a very good thriller.

Recommended Viewing: The Town - Syriana - The Manchurian Candidate (1962)

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 8.0   -   The Fan: 8.0

             MetaCritic: 72

 Rotten Tomatoes: 94

                    IMDB: 8.0

TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE - a weak pitch

The curve was cute but a little troubled. I found it to be a sweet little baseball movie with a few familiar faces and a simple story.

Clint Eastwood is a legend in his own lifetime. He's been acting since the mid 50's and came to international acclaim quickly with the three well known Spaghetti Westerns evinced by the man with no name. His recent act with a chair at the GOP convention is a testament to his great acting proclivities despite how you may feel about the action itself. Despite this, his character in the Trouble With The Curve is laden with comic boredom. His grumpy curmudgeon act has been staple for like two decades now. I still like it, but how many times can you make fun of youth and progress especially when your dead wrong. Many people today over the age of 40 are seemingly against certain technological progress. Progress is the right word. Many of today's changes are beneficial for efficiency and health among numerous other things. Just think, being born only a little over 100 years ago guaranteed a life expectancy of only 37! 

Computers are a godsend in my view and although they are downtrodden in the film as incapable of human decision, this will most likely change in the near future. I get it, your older, have always done things a certain way and can see the value in it. The world, however, is accelerating at an exponential pace and thus you will have to make a decision to either remain ignorant and reject technology or embrace it and learn how to use it for your benefit. It's here to stay. So those parents out there that hold off giving a iPhone to their kid until they are 13 like some badge of pride have got it confused. You can have the history of the world's knowledge in your pocket for a meager $200. 

Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams are a good couple and written into the story with well ta due. I want to hate Timberlake as an actor—alas—I can't quite come to make myself. It was a bit weird seeing Shaggy, T-1000 Terminator and Fred Flintstone all in the same room hashing out baseball picks but none the less entertaining. A poignant father daughter story, with a few laughs, a few sighs and a couple a beers will be in store. Enjoy the wretched south. 

Recommended Viewing: 61* - For The Love Of The Game - Field Of Dreams

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 6.7   -   The Fan: 7.0

             MetaCritic: 58

 Rotten Tomatoes: 52

                    IMDB: 6.9

PARANORMAN - the new goth

Lovers of Coraline will enjoy this second stop motion attempt, ParaNorman, by the same producers. Its creepy cute with some clever homages thrown in for good measure. 

To be honest, I didn't really care all that much for Coraline, but I know the vast majority of critics raved about it as well as its many fans. I guess it just didn't strike a chord with me. ParaNorman was slightly more enjoyable but only slightly so. These two movies feel like a reinvention of Tim Burton's goth style, only the characters and sets are far more grotesque and ugly in many cases. I have no good reason for not liking these movies, I just don't care for the pacing, vibe and various other attributes of them. 

As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of stop motion. I have seen the first uses of this interesting art form since the late 19th century to King Kong to Ray Harryhausen all the way to Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit masterpieces. The stop motion revealed to us in these two films is no doubt as incredible as the films that led to the current technology. 

You most likely will enjoy ParaNorman as will your kids, if you have them. It might as well be an animated version of the 6th Sense, so if you liked that, give this a shot. The final sequence is breathtaking.

Recommended Viewing: The Curse Of The Were Rabbit - Jason And The Argonauts - Vincent

              Bob Scale: The Critic: 7.5   -   The Fan: 7.0

             MetaCritic: 73

 Rotten Tomatoes: 87

                    IMDB: 7.6