This Is The End

Writer/Directors Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen have created a sometimes hilarious, sometimes gross and even occasionally sweet vision of the apocalypse in This Is The End.

 

Playing themselves, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride are trapped with James Franco in his Hollywood home, when the end of the world commences during Franco’s party.  After several days, their food and water are running out and their initial camaraderie begins to break down.

There are hilarious scenes with Emma Watson and Channing Tatum and some really excellent computer graphic devils and monsters, but there is also a lot of gross-out situations that will turn off much of the audience, especially women.

 

However, “the righteous will be saved,” so go find out who will enter the kingdom of heaven.

I give This Is The End a 4 out 5 for males 15 to 35 and a 3+ for the rest of you.

 

 

 

Man Of Steel

Director Zack Snyder scores big time with Man Of Steel, the best film in the long Superman franchise.
 
While it can be said, deservedly so, the big hero of this movie is Production Designer Alex McDowell, whose sets are absolutely fabulous, some of the best scenes in the film are those on the simple Kent farm with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Superman’s adoptive earth parents and Cooper Timberline and Dylan Sprayberry as the 9-year old and 13-year old Clark, respectively.  The lessons given the young hero are applicable to all adolescents and Writers David Goyer, Christopher Nolan, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster express them, admirably.

  

Also of note are the scenes with Russell Crowe and Ayelet Zurer as Superman’s birth parents.




And, both Michael Shannon and Antje Traue make formidable foes to the Man of Steel as well-played by Henry Cavill and Lois Lane as played by Amy Adams.

Aside from some weak and unintentionally comical lines of Editor Perry White (Laurence Fishburne) in the final scenes and the fact the ultimate battle goes on unnecessarily too long, Man Of Steel moves along, smoothly and briskly.
 

Even if you’ve not, previously, been a Superman fan, you should enjoy this film.

I give Man Of Steel a 4 out of 5.

 

 

The Internship

Director Shawn Levy’s The Intership is a delightful summer comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jared Stern.

 

Playing basically the same characters as in Wedding Crashers, Wilson and Vaughn are still trying to find their way to survive, this time in the digital age, by joining the competition to get an internship at Google.  They, of course, are put in the “loser group” where their worldly skills, eventually, prove of value to their nerdy team members.

 

Rose Byrne, Aasif Mandvi, Josh Brener, Tiya Sircar and Tobit Raphael add to the fun their performances with Cinematographer Jonathan Brown and Production Designer Tom Meyer bringing out the bright world of the Disneylandish  Google campus.

 

The Intership has shades of the Revenge of the Nerds franchise and Animal House and will appeal most to a Gen-Y and Millennial audience.  However, anyone who has had to compete for jobs over the past decade should thoroughly enjoy it, as well.

I give The Intership a 4 out of 5 for the fan base. 

 

The East

Writer/Director Zal Batmanglij, along with co-Writer and Star Brit Marling (Another Earth), has created a strong Erin-Brockovich-goes-rogue eco-thriller with The East.

 

Marling plays Sarah, an employee of a corporate security firm, who goes undercover to infiltrate an eco-terrorist group that perpetrates clever turn-about-is-fair-play revenge gambits on disreputable corporations.   Eventually, she begins to bond with the group and has to come to terms with how far she is willing to bend her principles.
 

For me, the real mystery is if and how far Brit Marling will go to bend her indie filmmaker principles?  Ms. Marling is one of the most beautiful actresses that has ever been on screen.  She is potentially the American Cate Blanchett or Naomi Watts.  Will she keep the integrity of her co-Star, the fabulous Patricia Clarkson, or the likes of Parker Posey or will she let fame and Hollywood turn her into a celebrity performer like Julia Roberts?  It will be an interesting process to follow.

In any case, with the fine performances of Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgård and Julia Ormond, along with that of Marling, I give The East a 4 out of 5.

Now You See Me

Director Louis Leterrier had me with the seven of diamonds at the opening of Now You See Me, the smartest and most fun film of the year, so far.  I, immediately, knew he was in total control and I could just sit back and enjoy.

 

In this taut thriller, four magicians played by Jessie Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco are brought together by a mysterious person and must bond as a team to eventually create three fantastic crimes under the guise of magical performances.

 

A New York police detective played by Mark Ruffolo and an Interpol agent played by the incredibly beautiful Mélanie Laurent, who, alone, is worth the price of admission, bond to solve these mysteries, while Morgan Freeman tries to debunk the magicians’ work for his own benefit.

 Writers Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt have created a tight story that will keep you guessing until the very end.  And, Production Designer Peter Wenham gives the film the pizazz worthy of the grand deceptions.

 

If you like magic, you’re going to love Now You See Me.   I give it an unequivocal  5 out of 5.

 

 

                                            

Fast & Furious 6

I was really looking forward to Fast & Furious 6 and Director Justin Lin, Writer’s Chris Morgan and Gary Scott Thompson and the Cast, including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Ludacris, Elsa Pataky, Luke Evans and Gina Carano did not let me down one bit.




Fast & Furious 6  is the best of the action films this year, so far! 

Stephen F. Windom’s Cinematography, along with Composer Lucas Vidal’s soundtrack, Jan Roelf’s Production Design and Editors Greg D’Auria, Kelly Matsumoto and Christian Wagner combine with Lin, the writing team and the awesome cars to make the action fast and fun from one end of Europe to the other without a letdown.



The secret ingredient to this franchise is that it’s about family.  The team sticks together no matter what.  And, that’s why the audience sticks with them…no matter what.

 

I was going to give Fast & Furious 6 a 6 out of 5, but was upset that the Writers didn’t let two member of the family survive.  Or, did they survive?  I guess we’ll have to wait until the next installment of the franchise to find out.  That’s when they’ll have to face down with Jason Statham’s villainy.  Can’t wait.

Fast & Furious 6 gets a 5 out of 5.  Go for it!

 

 

 

Epic

I haven’t seen a good animated film since last year’s Brave, but this year’s crop of animated productions will have to go a long way to equal Writer/Director Chris Wedge’s amazing Epic.

 

The charming Father/Daughter-relationship story deals with the beauty of nature facing destruction.  It has aspects of a mini-Avatar, dealing with the little creatures that keep the Earth fertile and green and fight against those who wish to blight it.  The voices of Amanda Seyfried as the heroine M.K. and Christoph Waltz as the villain Mandrake head a great cast of characters.

This wonderful work will appeal to audiences from 8 to 88.   Actually, those above and below those ages will love it, too.

Blue Sky Studio’s 3D animation is spectacular and should impress even those who normally shy from “cartoons.”

 I give Epic a 5 out of 5.  Go see it!