Tag: movies

Film Review: Even The Eye Doctor Has Some Trouble Seeing The Light

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Sight is a pretty good biopic about renowned eye surgeon, Dr. Ming Wang. Andrew Hyatt directed the film as well as co-wrote it with John Duigan and Buzz McLaughlin. Terry Chen stars as Ming Wang with Greg Kinnear taking on the role of his business partner, Dr. Misha Bartnovsky. Fionnula Flanagan also stars as a nun who brings in a young girl who lost her sight at the hands of a wicked stepmother. The film is based on an autobiography written by Ming Wang and is likely quite compelling.

Dr. Wang had grown up during a period of time in China when there was a violent uprising against the Communist government. He had a thriving practice in Nashville, Tennesse after he earned his medical degree and worked alongside Dr. Bartnovsky. As Ming tries to help a young girl from India regain her sight, he struggles to put his painful childhood memories to rest. He is haunted by the memory of a young girl with whom he was friends who was torn from him by the dissidents, never to see her again. Ming is dedicated, but the dark memories are often on the verge of overwhelming him. It will take a young girl’s courage and sense of hope for him to develop a perspective that propels him to rediscover the drive to continue his mission to help as many people as possible out of their darkness.

Angel Studios produced this, and it is a pretty solid film. It is quite interesting and inspiring as intended. I also appreciated some exposure to some of the history and culture of China. The performances were quite compelling. Ming has a younger brother who is a bit of a mooch, and it’s not quite explained what happened there. The brother is a likeable mooch, but he feels like a bit of a loose thread as far as the story goes.

Angel Studios does a much better job of sharing their religious beliefs or biases without a lot of clunky or unrealistic dialogue. The producers and writers were smart to not have all of the challenges resolved in a perfect, glorious manner which would feel just a little too contrived. The ending is still heart-warming and seems to fulfill the message that the movie was trying to convey.

The film doesn’t drift into anything too incredulous. The book is still likely much better. The major purpose of this film seems to have been fulfilled quite effectively.

Basically, Angel Studios released a film that is not necessarily flawless, but it is still better than many Christian or faith-based films that have been produced in recent years.

Film Review: The Apes Rule Again

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the latest in a franchise that actually has managed to stay reasonably solid for the past few years. The Planet of the Apes brand was rebooted in 2011, and this installment continues the story after the main protagonist’s death.

Wes Ball serves as director of the script that was written by Josh Friedman. The film is based on characters created by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Pierre Boulle wrote the original novel in 1963. The cast includes Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon, and William H. Macy.

Caesar has died and is remembered by many of the intelligent apes with reverence. Some of his teachings have been maligned and distorted creating a society of some pretty dictatorial and ruthless apes. The protagonist in this one is a young ape named Noa. He seems a pretty amiable sort of simian with friends and family. His father is the leader of the village. Life is pretty good for Noa and his clan.

Well, that life takes a pretty startling turn when his village is raided. Noa manages to escape the clutches of another tribe under the leadership of a tyrannical ape named Proximus, but his tribe has been abducted. He allies himself with another lone, sagacious ape named Raka as he tries to locate his loved ones. They are joined by what they think is a mute human woman they initially name Nova. Nova, however, turns out to be more gifted and intelligent than they realize and certainly isn’t a mute.

Nova is on a quest of her own, and her allegiance to her newfound companions come into question at times. Noa learns some uncomfortable aspects of the history between humans and the apes, and he will have a big fight on his hands to reclaim his tribe and rebuild their homes.

Obviously, the big draw is the visual effects, and the execution here is first-rate. The scenery is quite majestic at times. I know that a heavy reliance on CGI is sometimes a contentious issue among movie fans, but this effort was first class. The performances were quite good. I was not familiar with much of the main cast, but they were well selected. William H. Macy was the only one I could recognize on sight, and as usual, he was quite good.

Freya Allan was also quite compelling as the somewhat dubious Nova. The relationship between Nova and Noa gets a little complicated, and I do not mean in the romantic sense. Fortunately, nothing that weird goes on in this film.

There are times when the movie drags a bit. It’s a bit on the longer side, and it feels like it sometimes. When the pace picks back up, the time is worth it.

Overall, the filmmakers did a pretty good job. There are some moments that are quite moving. I grew to like and sympathize with the heroes. The story does bring up some intriguing questions if there were two species with competing intelligence and motivations and what that would look like.

There are apparently plans to produce another trilogy and this film does the job as far as making me intrigued enough to catch the next one.

Film Review: Possession Or Insanity…Who Can Say?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Nefarious had an intriguing idea, but this supernatural thriller didn’t quite pull off the execution onscreen. More than likely, the book written by Steve Deace is considerably better.

Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon wrote and directed this film. Sean Patrick Flannery and Jordan Belfi are the leads alongside Tim Ohmer and Glenn Beck, who makes a special appearance toward the end of the film.

The film starts off with a psychiatrist who commits suicide by throwing himself off a building for some inexplicable reason. His protégé, played by Belfi, takes his place interviewing a death row inmate to determine if a notorious killer is legally sane, which would allow the execution to proceed. Flannery offers a fairly chilling performance as the killer known as Edward Wayne Brady. Beady explains that he is actually a demon in possession of this body. Brady was actually coerced into committing the murders that have landed him in this predicament. Of course, the shrink is an atheist, and what follows is a pretty lengthy match of verbal jousting which ended up being somewhat predictable and rather clumsily written.

Anyway, the film is apparently billed as a Christian film, which becomes more evident when social issues such as abortion come up. I don’t actually disagree with the position the writers and producers apparently take. I do sort of question the whole demonic possession angle, but some of the theological points made did resonate with me. I just wish there was some better skill in the writing.

I will say that the transformation Flannery undergoes for his character is actually quite impressive. I actually had to recognize his name to realize that I had seen him quite often before. Flannery is a pretty good actor, but I always kind of considered him a pretty boy. That wasn’t there in this one.

Overall, I appreciate the effort for some of these studios to put out some more faith-based content, and this film is not that bad. It just isn’t that great either. It had a low-budget feel to it, and the writing just wasn’t strong enough to overcome that.

Film Review: The Titans Get Ready To Rumble Once Again

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has awesome visual effects, great monster fight scenes, and almost impressive mediocrity in any other basic elements of filmmaking. This is the ultimate in a mind-numbing popcorn flick.

It took three screenwriters for this one to underwhelm me. Terry Rossio, Simon Barrett, and Jeremy Slater concocted this exercise in screenwriting shallowness. Adam Wingard directed this latest addition to the Monarch storyline. Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, and Kaylee Hottle are the human leads. Kaylee Hottle, the teen-ager who has a unique friendship with King Kong, is probably the most interesting character, Jia. Jia is the last survivor of a tribe that resided on Skull Island and is deaf, as is the actress herself.

While Godzilla is either sleeping in some ruins in Rome or wandering the globe protecting humanity from less agreeable Titans, Kong has set up camp in Hollow Earth where he looks for any survivors from his species. Kong discovers an unknown region of Hollow Earth where he starts a new exploration. In the meantime, the scientists studying these Titans notice that Godzilla is seemingly powering himself up to face a threat that he has suddenly sensed. They have also encountered a signal that has been traced to Hollow Earth. A new threat is rising to the surface, and Kong and Godzilla have to join forces to protect humans from a very big, very ancient enemy.

The film is not terrible, but I hard time caring about the characters. Somehow, Godzilla and Kong seem to have picked up some moves from WWE and Jackie Chan films. I know these films are going to have some natural absurdity and should be shown some grace considering the genre, however the overall lack of originality in the human characters makes it hard to pull that off. The CGI was quite stunning, and big giant creatures smashing buildings is almost always a fun treat, but there was little else that worked with any consistency.

The cast is talented enough and did the best they could, but the material was no real help to them or the audience.

Film Review: The Ghostbusters Break The Ice

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is a decent continuation of one of the most popular cinematic franchises in recent decades, but as expected, it doesn’t quite measure up to the original 1984 film.

Gil Kenan directed this film as well as cowriting it alongside Jason Reitman. Original Ghostbuster stars, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, and Annie Potts return to the firehouse alongside the cast portraying the descendants of Egon Spengler. Paul Rudd, Carrie Coons, McKenna Grace, and Finn Wolfhard reprise their roles from the most recent predecessor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt also get in on the mayhem for this installment. William Atherton returns as another familiar face from the original film, the officious, snobbish Walter Peck, who somehow is the elected mayor of New York City. Even though there a lot of familiar elements from the original film, I was relieved that we actually got a brand spectral adversary as the main villain.

Callie Spengler has returned to New York with her two children and apparent boyfriend, Gary Grooberson, and has revived the Ghostbusting business with the help of Winston Zeddenore, who has become some uber-rich business mogul who has helped upgrade the Ghostbusters equipment. The new superpowered specter is some dark god who unleashes a deadly chill when he is feeding on people’s fear. He can also control the minds of other ghosts and wants to recruit the spirits being held in the Ghostbusters’ containment unit. This thing can be defeated by a group of sorcerers known as Fire Masters, and the Ghostbusters encounter a hapless, somewhat shallow descendant of one of the Fire Masters, who may be the key to defeat this latest phantasmal being.

The film has some pretty good moments, but nothing really stands out as being terrifically mind-blowing. The return of the surviving members of the main cast of the original film provides a decent helping of the warm fuzzies, and I actually have come to like Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon in the leads of the newer Ghostbusters. McKenna Grace is a bit of a scene stealer at times, but she has such a distinctive and eccentric role as Phoebe Spengler, that it seems easy to predict that would be the case. Still, Grace’s performance is actually pretty compelling even though she is only about 16 years old when this was filmed. I really have little to criticize about the performances, and I enjoyed revisiting most of these characters from both the original film and Afterlife.

The special effects were pretty good, but that doesn’t appear that hard to accomplish with the technology available for movie magic these days.

Overall, this film serves the purpose as an adequate fun distraction, but it’s not going to be much more than that. The expectation that the sequel almost never touches the joy of the first time out continues to hold true this time.

Film Review: Build The Mission, The Means Will Come

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Cabrini is probably one of the best biographical films I have seen in some way even if there were some artistic liberties taken. I am not sure what those liberties may have entailed, but I don’t trust any studio to remain that faithful to the true events and people depicted.

Cabrini is directed by Alejandro Monteverde with Rod Barr providing the screenplay. This is the latest offering from Angel Studios, which have been actually producing some higher quality faith-based films. Christiana Dell’Anna is playing the lead role of Mother Francesca Cabrini, an Italian immigrant who was canonized as a saint, for founding a missionary that helped immigrants to the United States, many of whom were orphaned children. David Morse, John Lithgow, and Giancarlo Giannini are included the cast alongside with a slew of Italian actors.

The story begins in 1899 when Mother Cabrini goes to the Vatican to receive permission to start a new missionary order in the East. The Pope finally allows her to plant a mission but in New York instead. Mother Cabrini takes six other nuns with her across the ocean and sets up in Five Points, which is the slums of New York. It turns out that Italian immigrants are one of those groups facing the most discrimination from the more established Americans. Cabrini is also having to face some troubling health issues as she navigates her way through crime infested streets and hostile city leaders to fulfill her mission. It’s a heartbreaking yet inspiring journey to watch this.

First of all, the casting is very well considered. Dell’Anna is a new talent to me, but she seems to have been the perfect one for the role of Mother Cabrini. David Morse and John Lithgow are talented and fascinating actors, and this film did nothing to diminish that impression. I also enjoyed that the Italian roles were played by actual Italians. Much of the movie was spoken in Italian with the assistance of subtitles, which really bolstered the authenticity of the story.

The set designs were just gorgeous. Early twentieth century New York was really brought to life. Even the slums were well realized. Cabrini is all over the city in this film, and care was shown in all of the sets. The exterior shots were amazing. I could almost smell the horses clopping down the streets during some of those brief scenes.

There is very little that goes wrong with this film, but it sometimes drags a little. It’s a pretty long movie, and I sometimes could feel that. Also, the timeline really wasn’t all that clear. It felt like that the beginning of the film and the conclusion would have taken a few years, but that was not really mapped out or explained very well.

Another notable character was the former prostitute, who becomes a close ally to Cabrini and the other nuns. Romana Maggiora Vergano plays Vittoria and is quite good as well.

I sort of enjoyed the surprise of a mostly unknown cast to American audiences working alongside with more recognized performers such as Lithgow and Morse. It does appear that many of the Italians are actually well-known in Italy. Dell’Anna herself seems to be one of those actors, but this film may help her gain a bit more name recognition which would be well-deserved. It was a bit of a thrill to be impressed with performances by people who are not as well-known as those in Hollywood, but who likely have more raw talent than many of those with the absurd amount of fame.

This is an important story that should have been told long ago. It touches on prejudices that were rampant in a particular era, which today’s audiences may find surprising. It seems like Mother Cabrini is someone with whom I would have enjoyed interacting. Since that is not possible in this world, this film is a pretty good way to be introduced to her and be inspired by the mission she started.

Film Review: Sharon Takes Charge

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ordinary Angels is a drama film directed by Jon Gunn, that is somewhat predictable and often implausible, but it still manages to hit the heartstrings just right.

The screenplay was written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig. Oscar winner Hilary Swank is paired with Alan Ritchson as the leads. Nancy Travis and Tamala Jones are included in the cast with Amy Acker, who is onscreen too briefly as the deceased wife and mother. Two young daughters of Ritchson’s character are played by Skywalker Hughes and Emily Mitchell and are very well cast.

The storyline concerns a widowed father of a young girl in dire need of a liver transplant. The bills are crushing his spirit and his ability to better provide for his family. Swank plays an alcoholic hairdresser named Sharon Stevens who is moved by the family’s plight and takes it upon herself to shake the community into helping in the most extraordinary ways. Sharon comes across as bombastic and stubborn, but she is carrying a secret heartache of her own. The motivations behind this sudden altruism bear a bit of scrutiny, however there is no denying that she knows how to get results.

The plot is pretty simple, and films like this are not in short supply. Once again, the performances really make it work. Swank, in particular, had a role that could too easily become a caricature, but she manages to show enough restraint to not go too far over the top. Ritchson, who has recently found further fame as the stoic, indomitable Jack Reacher, also demonstrates a somewhat unexpected range in a captivating performance as the hapless, prideful father who feels a bit out of his depth when dealing with the bossy, but well-meaning hairdresser who has barged in his family’s tragedy.

Everyone in the cast delivers a solid, heartfelt performance. The two girls playing the daughters were quite believable and charming. There were times where it was easy to believe that Ed Schmitt, played by Ritchson, could have a moment where he could put his worries aside and just love his children in spite of the apparent oncoming heartbreak that is hovering over them.

There is so much to appreciate about this film, but it is not without some drawbacks. Some of the circumstances surrounding the girl’s illness and the coincidences depicted that ended up helping to resolve the crisis seems a little too implausible at times.

I have yet to read the comparison between the film and what actually happened in the real world, but it was too easy to get distracted by the apparent artistic liberties at times.

The Schmitt family and their unexpected friendship with Sharon is really a true story, but some elements in the film still felt a little exaggerated, which is a par for the course for anything coming out of Hollywood.’

I do wish that the writers were able to make more use of Amy Acker. I understand that she has the character who dies at the beginning, but there could have been some flashback moments or something. Acker seems to have enough of a filmography and more than enough talent that should require more than two minutes of screen time, and I just think there could have been more of an effort to have her audience spend a little more time with her.

The overall experience is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, and although it’s not always a fun ride, it’s memorable and ultimately enjoyable.

I was also pleased that God was acknowledged in a way that felt genuine and reverent without going into some cartoonish depiction that Hollywood usually goes with when presenting Christian values.

The film has a few flaws, but the merits here outnumber those considerably.

Film Review: Ghosts On The Water

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Haunting of the Queen Mary has many elements I enjoy in a supernatural thriller, but this thing just turned into a confusing, gory mess of wasted potential. Gary Shore directed this piece which he also co-wrote the screen play with Stephen Oliver. Tom Vaughan shares the story credit as well. Alice Eve is in the lead as a young mother who wants to write a book and direct some virtual tours of the well-known, haunted luxury ship. The cast includes Joel Fry, Nell Hudson, Will Coban, and Lenny Rush.

The film starts off as a family aboard the Queen Mary in 1938 sneak into a rather posh party that has Fred Astaire in attendance along with many other celebrities of the time. There are some strange costumes and a disturbing confrontation between the disfigured father and a director. It actually looks to be an interesting party. The focus shifts to the present day to a couple with a young, disabled son who are also aboard the ship to make a film to be used as a virtual tour. The woman, played by Alice eve, wants to write a book. The two stories are unfolding at the same time. The 1938 timeline culminates in a brutal mass murder with an axe.

The cinematography is actually quite well done, but that’s the only element that is consistently worthwhile. The plot was confusing in both time settings. There is a pretty good dance sequence between this little girl and the actor portraying Astaire. That was kind of fun. The film looks gorgeous in many ways.

The story falls apart, and the gore that was displayed was just too distracting and unnecessary. I don’t normally mind occasional bloody scenes, but some of the violence just felt too gratuitous and distracting. The film would have been more impactful if the gore was merely implied.

There was what should have been interesting twist at the end, but I was too annoyed to understand or appreciate the cleverness the writers were attempting.

Haunted ships and past eras are kind of my bag these days, so I normally would enjoy a spooky ghost story on the high seas. Also, I am not terribly squeamish when it comes to movies of this sort, but there was still too much blood and dismembering even for my ghoulish tastes.

Film Review: No Running Or Dying Around The Pool

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Night Swim is a horror film written and directed by Bryce McGuire. He shares story credit with Rod Blackhurst. It is based on a short film they did recently. Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon, Amelie Hoeferle, and Gavin Warren star as the Waller family who are facing the troubles of a haunted swimming pool.

Ray Waller, a retired baseball player, and his family move into a new house and refurbish the swimming pool. Ray had to retire early due to being inflicted with degenerative musculature illness. After he and his family settle into their new home, he finds that the pool has properties that are more therapeutic than expected. Since this is a story of horror, his newfound physical improvement comes at a ghastly cost. There is an entity within the waters as well as a long history of previous residents disappearing into the shadows. The Waller family will be facing a potential heart-wrenching sacrifice to feed a dark presence.

I have noticed that this film has been pretty thoroughly panned by the professional critics. It’s no brilliant masterpiece of the genre, but it’s not that bad. There are some moments that did creep me out occasionally or came close enough to it for me to find some appreciation for the attempt. The performances were as believable as one could expect for a somewhat outlandish plot. My surface effort of research shows that Wyatt Russell is the progeny of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, and he is not without the ability to give an at least competent performance. His co-star, Kerry Conlon, was likeable enough as the mother who starts to piece the strangeness together.

The background of the unworldly menace is ridiculous, of course, but not worse than a lot of other unnatural evils depicted in this sort of film.

Overall, Night Swim functions as a reasonable cinematic diversion for those of us with a taste for the macabre. It’s not going to be remembered as a masterful display of creative genius, but I doubt that it will be considered to be the bottom of the scrap heap of horror films. One could see it with some expectation of receiving a chill or two to accompany the occasional sardonic smile of amusement that may twitch across mt face whenever I see a film of this sort.

Film Review: Some Retirements Don’t Go As Planned

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Retirement Plan is a comedy action film written and directed by Tim Brown. Nicholas Cage is in the lead role as a seemingly aging beach bum named Matt, who lives in the Cayman Islands. Other cast members include Ashley Greene as Matt’s estranged daughter, Ron Perlman, Jackie Earl Haley, Ernie Hudson, and Grace Byers. There’s a cute kid played by Thalia Campbell, who may actually be the best thing in this film.

Ashley and her husband run afoul of some ultra powerful crime syndicate, and she sends their daughter to the Cayman Islands to meet her grandfather for the first time. When Ashley is forced to take some of the bad guys to her father’s doorstep, she finds that he had a secret past that led to their rift. It seems Matt is not as inept as he first appears and was at one time a government assassin. When the granddaughter falls into the hands of one of the henchmen, Matt dusts off some of his old skills to make sure he does not lose another opportunity to reconnect with his family.

There are some actors that can make eccentric characters rather charming and fascinating. Cage didn’t hit that mark here. Matt just seems a little weird, although the fight scenes were pretty good. The film kept getting interrupted by this one second flash card effect every time a new character was introduced. The villains were more like caricatures. Byers had a couple of almost chilling moments as a crime boss lady named Hector. Haley and Perlman were the peculiar killers sort of in the lead of those actively hunting for this elusive hard drive with some unspecified important information that is supposed to change the world or upset lots of people. I sort of lost track of what was so significant about this thing.

Thalia Campbell plays the granddaughter who gets caught up in this caper involving her sketchy parents. Her scenes with were her newly met grandfather were kind of charming. Most of the film has her in the company of Ron Perlman, who plays the lead henchman who kind of kidnaps her. I think I would have preferred her to have more scenes with Cage.

Anyway, the film is pretty campy but falls short on overall charm. It was supposed to be somewhat comedic, but it was kind of dull. The dialogue wasn’t all that creative. The bungling antics of the bad guys were just a little too stupid for my liking. Somehow, Cage’s character, who could have been more interesting, just didn’t hold my attention.

Overall, there are a couple of very mild amusing scenes, however this is another exercise in relentless mediocrity. That really is a shame because there is some real talent here that ended up being wasted. Hopefully, Brown isn’t kicking around the idea for a sequel.