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| Sony / Released 1/21/14 |
Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Based on a true story, the film focuses on the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks, Best Actor, 1993, Philadelphia; Best Actor, 1994, Forrest Gump), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. The two men are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips' unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control. Extras include commentary and featurettes.
Last Word: With deft direction by Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips takes this true story and turns it into an intense, enthralling thriller. With a cast led by Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips features some of the best acting of the year. The film excels at portraying the Somali pirates as genuine human beings as opposed to stock characters. As the film progresses and the intensity builds, Hanks gives Phillips a quiet strength that carries the film through it's exhausting tension. Highly recommended.
Machete KillsDanny Trejo returns as legendary ex-Federale Machete Cortez in this action-packed thrill ride from innovative director Robert Rodriguez. In his latest mission, Machete is recruited by the U.S. President (Carlos Estevez) to stop a crazed global terrorist (Mel Gibson) from starting a nuclear war. With a bounty on his head, Machete breaks all the rules as he faces death at every turn from a star-studded cast of deadly assassins. Featuring Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Antonio Banderas, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Demian Bichir, Machete Kills is one of the wildest save-the-world adventures ever captured on film! Extras include making of and deleted/extended scenes.
Universal / Released 1/21/14
Last Word: Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo) is back, baby and with a blade to kill for in the most ridiculous movie you can strap on this fall. An all-star cast includes Charlie Sheen somehow referencing his Dad’s stint on The West Wing as the President. The ‘Winning’ actor is all Tiger Blood and more in the role with self referential zeal, billed as "Carlos Estevez."
Trejo steals the romp with a steely glance, and iron constitution. An action comedy like no other, the second film in the Machete franchise might not be worth a special trip to the theatre, but as a matinee or a RedBox rental, you really can’t go wrong. This has just about everything: girls, guts, helicopters, speed boats, explosions, strap-on weapons and a hero that only needs one weapon — his name! Robert Rodriguez starts off the film with a Barbarella/Moonraker mock commercial preview for what has been announced as the next film in the franchise, Machete Kills Again ... In Space. We’re a few years away from that, but after nailing movie two with this earthbound Mexican/American conflict we might be ready for his take on 70s space camp.
The players are in place, partner Luz (Michele Rodriguez) is just as alive and tough to kill as Machete at the end of this film, though the result of the bloody military vs. cartel shootout at the beginning of the movie might make you think differently. Machete Kills opens on the Arizona / Mexico border, where a giant wall has been constructed to curb immigration. Our hero survives a hanging and is granted a Presidential pardon after the aforementioned shootout. President Rathcock (Sheen) teams up Machete with secret agent Miss San Antonio (Amber Heard) to "Go Kick Some Ass" south of the border, targeting the split personality Mendez (Demián Bichir).
Mendez has a rocket aimed at the U.S., and only Machete with his new tri-blade namesake weapon can stop him. Along the way of course are many twists and challengers such as Chameleon (Cuba Gooding Jr.), rocket scientist Luthor Voz (Mel Gibson), and the fully weaponized Madame Desdemona (Sofía Vergara).
When attention goes from Mendez to the mastermind Voz as the main foil, we're brought to a futuristic lab with space blasters, space machetes, and Gibson's character showing his Star Wars fanboy colors by driving around in a Landspeeder golf cart as he attempts to woo Machete to the Dark Side. The third act shows the return of Luz with a vengeance with an underground Network at her disposal as the team goes after Voz — no holds barred. Rodriguez has given us an hilarious self referential parody of the action movie genre not seen since the first in the series, and before that perhaps only 2008's Tropic Thunder can compare.
Like collaborator Tarantino's tributes to certain genres, this movie takes the ridiculousness of 1980s gems Zucker and Abrahams movies Airplane! and Top Secret, and combines this with purposely bad CGI, head rolls, explosions and oh so much blood splatter.
Subtitles and onscreen text overlays punctuate the film much like the 'Hugo Stiglitz' shout out title in Inglourious Basterds. Machete Kills is certainly worth a chance, even if only curious as to what Gibson and Sheen are up to these days. Looks like anything can become a franchise these days, so check out the sequel to the movie based on a fake trailer! If there are any remaining questions about Danny Trejo as Machete kicking ass, I'm sure a face to face meeting can be arranged! (– Clay N Ferno)
Sony / Release 1/21/14
Speak up and let your voice be heard. In this hilarious and idiosyncratic comedy, Carol (Lake Bell, No Strings Attached) is an underachieving voice coach living in the shadow of her egotistical father Sam (Fred Melamed, A Serious Man), the undisputed king of voice-over industry. When Sam kicks her out, Carol lands her first voice-over job with the help of charming sound engineer Louis (Demetri Martin, Important Things With Demetri Martin).
As romantic sparks being to fly, Carol finds herself facing a momentous decision when continued job offers put her in head to head competition with her dad. The hilarious ensemble supporting cast includes Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman and Tig Notaro with cameos by Eva Longoria and Geena Davis. Extras include commentary, alternate opening, deleted scenes, trailers and gag reel.
Last Word: Lake Bell's look at the world of the voice-over industry, is a fairly entertaining first film. Bell, who also wrote the film, succeeds more in her observations than in her skills as a visual storyteller. Part of the problem is the film's tone, which is fairly inconsistent and toes the line between comedy and drama. She handles both areas well, but it's the amalgamation where the film stutters. On the drama side, you've got family dysfunction, gender bias, infidelity and personal identity. With comedy, you have the voice-over industry in general, which Bell pushes as much humor from it as possible. Performances range from subtle to broad, with some really nice work by Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry and Michaela Watkins and some more cartoonish performances from Ken Marino, Fred Melamed and Stephanie Allynne. If nothing else, In a World is entertaining and an impressive enough debut that I'm curious to see where Bell, the filmmaker goes next. Recommended.
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| Review by Dean Galanis |
In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years, but have been forbidden for law enforcement in America. Now OmniCorp wants to bring their controversial technology to the home front, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and even more billions for their shareholders, but they never counted on one thing: there is still a man inside the machine.
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