Rest in Peace Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)

On February 27, 2015, the world lost another legend of entertainment and the geek world lost one of its icons - Leonard Nimoy. He was a charismatic man of many talents; he was not only an actor but also a director, writer, photographer, poet and singer. For me this passing is another sad case of me not fully appreciating an entertainer fully until his passing.

There is one role we all know Leonard Nimoy for, and that's his role of the science officer Spock on the legendary TV series Star Trek. Now I'm only a casual fan when it comes to Star Trek related material. I've only seen a handful of the episodes but I've seen only a few of the movies, but never the less - I can see what makes the show and movies legendary and stand out. I can especially see how influential and important the character was to geek culture. There is no doubt that Mr. Spock will live long and prosper for years to come.

I know this is probably cliche to say but my favorite Trek film is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, dir. Nicholas Meyer). Even I as a casual fan can appreciate how good this movie is. It deals with themes of revenge and leadership, makes allusions to classic literature and it featured a truly great villain portray from Richardo Montalban as the titular Khan.

Whether you're a fan of Star Trek or not there's no doubt that Nimoy had the most powerful scene in the whole movie. I would give a spoiler warning but chances are you already know of this scene.

Nimoy was more than perfect in the scene, along with every other scene in the film. 

But obviously if you know the franchise you know that Spock was not gone for good because in the next film, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - which he also directed, the character was brought back. 

But that wasn't his only time in the director's chair. Nope, he also directed the very funny fourth installment of the Star Trek franchise - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). He was also responsible for the funniest moment in the movie as well. 

But he also directed the comedy Three Me and a Baby (1987) - I didn't know that, anybody else know that? He also directed some comedies that I'm sure he doesn't want to be part of his legacy. He also adapted, directed and starred in a 1981 made-for-TV movie called Vincent, based on the Phillip Stevens play. In it heportrays Theo Van Gogh, the younger brother of the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh. I want to find a copy of this and check it out. 

But his acting career is so much more than his iconic role as Mr. Spock. He was in the, rather trippy but memorable, remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, dir. Philip Kaufman). But another memorable no-Star Trek role was in the Louis L'Amour adapted western Catlow (1971, dir. Sam Wanamaker) where he played the vicious gunslinger Orville Miller and he is more amazing. Apparently he had mentioned in one of his autobiographies that making the movie was one of the happiest moments of his life, and it could have been because it gave him a chance to do something that was Star Trek.

Although it's obvious that, at least during the later half of his life, Leonard Nimoy didn't hold a grudge or scorn against his status as a Science Fiction icon. I mean he starred in almost EVERY Star Trek film. 

One final role I want to note him for is his role as King Nedakh in the underrated Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001, dir. Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise). Not much to say except he was just perfect for the role. 

But as stated earlier he much more than an actor and director. He was a photographer and singer who did some fairly decent covers of country songs including Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town and I Walk the Line. And did a song about The Hobbit... which is um... unique I'll say. He was also a poet who at the very least had an appreciation for the written word.

The final thing I want to highlight is that Mr. Nimoy had without a doubt one of the best guest appearances on The Simpsons.

 

To conclude: He has left his mark on pop culture and an impact on us. He shall never be forgotten.

Mr. Nimoy, I promise you that whether it's for your performance as Mr. Spock or you countless other creative endeavors you'll always be remembered. Rest in Peace, Sir.

Jupiter Ascending (2015) Review

Jupiter Ascending (2015)
D: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
W: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
S: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth

I said was going to review a 2015 film and here's a doozy to start with.

The Wachowski Siblings, the team behind the notable and influential Matrix films (at the first one meets those qualities) now bring their latest sci-fi epic to the big screen with Jupiter Ascending.

The story of Jupiter (Mila Kunis) who is your average, everyday girl who spends most of her time as a house cleaner until one day when she finds out she is the reincarnation of the matriarch of intergalactic royal family and is the rightfully ruler of Earth. She must battle against the three children of the family along with the help two ex-soldiers (Channing Tatum and Sean Bean, respectively).

Now there's no doubt that the Wachowski Siblings have been very influential with their films but they've always been a mixed bag for me. The Matrix is without a doubt their most influential film, can't say I 'love' it but I do have like a lot of qualities in the film - the sequels on the other hand were just silly and got surprisingly dull. Cloud Atlas (2012) was an... interesting movie with some choices that one would say are not the most tasteful.

To see an excellent review of Cloud Atlas (the movie and the book) check out the two part review by Kyle Kallgren of Brows Held High. Part 1 - Part 2.

But what about this film? Well this is a case of the Wachowski Sibs trying really, really hard and just coming out with a goofy mess. For one thing: Channing Tatum and Sean Bean's character (and others) are gene spliced with various animals which leads to some strange and oddly funny stuff. Tatum for example is spliced with dog DNA which makes it a bit creepy when he outright says to Jupiter "I have more in common with a dog than I do with a human," and Jupiter says, "I love dogs!" If you're eyebrows raised in a 'WTF' kind of reaction then don't worry because you aren't alone.

Bean's character is part bee and is named Stinger... you read that correctly, folks. Oh but wait, I ain't done with the bees just yet. When Tatum and Kunis arrive at Stinger's place he of course has a lot of bees and the bees start to swarm around Kunis. But they aren't swarming her in a threatening manner but in a mystical way. The reason for this is because it turns out that Kunis's character is Royality. How do they come to that conclusion? Well, it's because she's never been stung by a bee and bees never sting royalty.

So remember kids: If you've never been stung by a bee then you're royalty from another planet.

That's not the dumbest thing ever uttered in cinema but man oh man is that just plain goofy. But it gets better there's one moment in which a bunch of bounty hunters attack Bean's house and one of the bounty hunters is attacked by the bees. You can guess what movie quote I was shouting in my head.

But the film gets stranger. It turns out that Kunis is the reincarnation of the Queen of Earth essentially who has three children: Kalique (Tuppence Middleton), Titus (Douglas Booth) and Balem (Eddie Redmaye). Oh my, I will talk about Balem soon enough.

Kalique is just sort of there, she doesn't really leave that big of an impact. Titus actually wants to marry Kunis which is creepy and disturbing. I mean I know this is science fiction but there is no way this could NOT be creepy, "Hey you look like my dead mother. Will you marry me?"

And then there's Balem... oh my giddy aunt do I love Eddie Redmayne now more than ever. This guy is going to 11 in the hammy villain department. This is almost John Travolta in Battlefield Earth (2000, dir. Roger Christian) and it is just as enjoyable. 

As I said earlier the biggest problem with this movie is that it's a mess. It's trying to be so many things that it just comes out jumbled a confusing. I did find myself asking, "What in God's holy name are you blathering about?"

Also, Mila Kunis is given a really flat character who could have been interesting but she just ends up as another damsel in distress who gets rescued at least three different times in the movie. 

It's trying to be a space opera like Star Wars with elements of Soylent Green (1973, dir. Richard Fleischer) and even stuff that reminded me of 90s extreme sports movies. I also get the feeling that it wants to be Guardians of the Galaxy (2014, dir. James Gunn).  But then there's the Space DMV! Yeah this scene took up a good chunk of the middle act and the only reason I can think of this being in here is a tribute to Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam), speaking of which keep a look out for Gilliam in the film. 

The Wachowskis, in my book, bit off more than they could chew. 

If this is something you've been wanting to check out then by all means go and see it. For me, it just comes off as trying too hard. But I can't deny that I had fun while watching this film. Mainly because I was poking fun at the movie in a Rifftrax/MST3K way.

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Thanks for reading.

Final Oscar Predictions!

The Oscars are this weekend! Here are my final predictions. There maybe one or two changes just before the ceremony but this is how it is. These are my predictions in order of who/what I think is most likely to win.

Best Picture:

1. Boyhood
2. Birdman
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Selma
5. Whiplash
6. The Imitation Game
7. The Theory of Eveything
8. American Sniper


Director:

1. Richard Linklater - Boyhood
2. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Birdman
3. Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game
5. Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher

Actor:

1. Michael Keaton - Birdman
2. Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything
3. Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game
4. Steve Carell - Foxcatcher
5. Bradley Cooper - American Sniper


Actress:

1. Julianne Moore - Still Alice
2. Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
3. Reese Witherspoon - Wild
4. Felicity Jones - The Theory of Everything
5. Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night

Supporting Actor:

1. J.K. Simmons - Whiplash
2. Edward Norton - Birdman
3. Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
4. Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher
5. Robert Duvall - The Judge

Supporting Actress:

1. Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
2. Emma Stone - Birdman
3. Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game
4. Meryl Streep - Into the Woods
5. Laura Dern - Wild


Original Screenplay:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Boyhood
3. Nightcrawler
4. Birdman
5. Foxcatcher

Adapted Screenplay:
1. The Imitation Game
2. Whiplash
3. The Theory of Everything
4. American Sniper
5. Inherent Vice

Animated Film:
1. How to Train Your Dragon 2
2. Big Hero 6
3. The Boxtrolls
4. Song of the Sea
5. The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Foreign Language Film:
1. Ida
2. Leviathan
3. Tangerines
4. Wild Tales
5. Timbuktu

Documentary Film:
1. Citizenfour
2. Virunga
3. Finding Vivian Maier
4. Last Days of Vietnam
5. The Salt of the Earth

Original Score:
1. The Theory of Everything
2. Interstellar
3. The Imitation Game
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Mr. Turner

Original Song:
1. Selma - "Glory"
2. The Lego Movie - "Everything is Awesome"
3. Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me - "I'm Not Gonna Miss You"
4. Begin Again - "Lost Stars"
5. Beyond the Light - "Grateful"

Sound Editing:
1. Birdman
2. American Sniper
3. Interstellar
4. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
5. Unbroken

Sound Mixing:
1. Whiplash
2. Birdman
3. American Sniper
4. Interstellar
5. Unbroken

Production Design:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. The Imitation Game
3. Interstellar
4. Mr. Turner
5. Into the Woods

Cinematography:
1. Birdman
2. Mr. Turner
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. Ida
5. Unbroken

Makeup and Hairstyling:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy
2. The Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Foxcatcher

Costume Design:
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Mr. Turner
3. Into the Woods
4. Maleficent
5. Inherent Vice

Film Editing:
1. Whiplash
2. Boyhood
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Imitation Game
5. American Sniper

Visual Effects:
1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
2. Interstellar
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

A Most Violent Year (2014)

A Most Violent Year (2014)
D: J.C. Chandor
W: J.C. Chandor
S: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, Albert Brooks, Catalina Sandino Moreno

Yep, I'm still doing reviews of 2014 films. I promise I'll do a review of a 2015 movie sometime in the near future but right now let's take a look at this film.

A Most Violent Year is the latest film from director J.C. Chandor who brought us that marvelous 2013 film All is Lost. A film about a man (Robert Redford) trying to survive out a sea by any means necessary. In this film we see an immigrant man (Oscar Isaac) trying to keep his oil business up and running and protect his family by any means necessary during, apparently, New York City's most violent year statistically (1981). He'll do whatever it takes to do this but he doesn't want to fall into the pit of violence that surrounded him.

Warning: mild spoilers ahead.

I really wish this film got a wider release sooner because if it did this movie would have certainly made my Best of 2014 list. It features a great cast of characters, all of which are supplied with great performances, a moody and creepy atmosphere, and has a smart script that keeps the audience guessing.

One thing about this film that I like is that it doesn't fall into the typical tropes of a usual gangster/crime film. While the topic of a reluctant mobster has been in films, the biggest example being The Godfather (1972, dir. Francis Ford Coppola), the big difference between Abel Morales and Michael Corleone is that Morales manages to keep himself above the line and doesn't go down the road of crime where as Corleone eventually gets involved due to family and his limits being pushed too far.

And before anyone starts: No, this isn't me trashing The Godfather. Okay?

Now this was no easy task for Abel. As the film displays through radio transmissions and news reports that violent crimes are rampant and consistent in this major city.

The film opens up with an example of a violent crime that leads to a whole series of events. A driver of Morales, Julian (Elyes Gabel) gets hijacked and beaten by robbers who take the cargo for their own.

Julian's story line is essentially the opposite of Abel's in the film's plot. After Julian's brutal mugging he has become more afraid and thus arms himself and takes several shots at robbers who attempt to steal from him again. But that makes things much more worse thus sending his life towards a more tragic route.

Now Abel on the other hands, as mentioned before, wants to avoid violence by any means necessary. He knows that the oil industry at this time is kept a close eye on and that any moment of violence could spark an investigation. One that's even bigger than the current one going on.

Abel does try to help Julian throughout the film by any means mainly because I think Abel sees a bit of himself in Julian. But as one would suspect things don't go to plan.

Through those aspects it is apparent that the film has an anti-violence theme and a theme of survival, the latter of which was also a theme of Chandor's previous film All Is Lost.

Another aspect I really like about the film is because while this is a story that is self contained it does give an idea that there's more to this and that this the story will continue with no defining results. In other words while it does give a "happy" ending, there is a sense of things are far from over.

Speaking of the ending I love the fact the film did not try to pull any dramatic twists. There's nothing like, "Oh man! It was *insert character name here* who was stealing the oil!" What a twist!

The performances in the film are amazing to say the least. Each of the major performances adds life to the character and make them even more intriguing. Especially for Abel's wife Anna portrayed splendidly by Jessica Chastain.

The script hints about her past, in that her father was a notorious mobster, but it never fully exposes what it was he did. It's through her performance we gets hints about her past and how she works herself. I'm still baffled how she wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

There's also a lot of great technical aspects as well. There's a great almost film noir like feel to it, the costumes a nicely detailed, wonderful cinematography, and a great score by Alex Ebert

While I'm sure some people will find the film slow I'm also certain that people out there will be able to appreciate the atmosphere it creates and the awesome performances involved.

I can't recommend it enough.

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