Review: Man of Steel

by. Joe Moss
★★★1/2

“Welcome to the Planet” as said by Lois Lane (Amy Adams)

at the close of Zack Snyder’s (300, Sucker Punch, Watchmen) epic “Man of Steel” is a playful ending to a prolific film—yet provides the perfect cliffhanger for the [already announced] sequel. The movie DEFINITELY lives up to its nearly two years of advertising hype by delivering a larger than life, yet believable, DC Comic super hero as portrayed by Henry Cavill (Immortals).

Thankfully, Zack Snyder’s film, as developed by the creative duo behind the Dark Knight Trilogy (Dayid S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan), does not attempt to harness the cult following of the 80’s classics starring Christopher Reeve; rather they have taken a solid base of information from the Superman Universe of comics and developed a more modern version of the storyline. This film plays to the more science-fiction orientation of Superman’s existence rather than the fantastical.  Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is the lead science advisor on Krypton and he senses the urgency of the planet’s death due to non-sustainable uses of the planet’s resources. With eminent doom quickly approaching, he and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer) have the first child of natural birth in centuries in the HOPE that he will lead their race into a brighter future.

Kal-El/Clark Kent is then sent to earth as a newborn with the entire civilization of Krypton resting firmly on his shoulders. He is loved and cared for by his earthly parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane), where he is educated with the solid morals and ethics we expect Superman to have. He learns at an early age that he is different and that people are scared by these differences—so he needs to hide them. Hide them he does. He moves around…a drifter…a loner…yet strangely appearing in places around North America that need his unique talents.

This drifting leads to the inevitable chance encounter with the Pulitzer Prize winning field journalist, Lois Lane (Amy Adams). She quickly ingratiates herself to Kent and becomes only the third person he finds he is able to trust. As the movie progresses, so does the evolution of their relationship (as expected) but there is a much better foundation provided in this script than any of the other versions—true character development…not simply pure visual lust.

Michael Shannon’s portrayal of the antihero, General Zod, provided the perfect counterpoint to Cavill’s Superman. I found myself really believing the characters in this film as it played out—the story was just that solid. I really enjoyed how Snyder wove the backstory intermittently into the main plot of the film. Everything seemed so effortless…seamless…that I cannot find a single element to nit-pick over.

The original music score by Hans Zimmer (Lion King, Dark Knight, Inception) was equally incredible and hauntingly mesmerizing. It was subtle yet hypnotic at the same time. I am still humming a few of the melodies even as I type this review.

The technical cinematography of Amir Mokri (Transformers 3, Lord of War, Fast & Furious) coupled with the editing genius of David Brenner (ID4, The Patriot, Born on the 4^th of July) allowed the film's CGI elements to flow seamlessly into the storyline—breathtaking…almost. There were only a few places early in the film that I caught a few glitches…but I will overlook them as I 100% enjoyed this film for what it is. Welcome to the next Summer Blockbuster of the 2013 season!!

Review: This is the End

By Joe Moss

★★½

All that kept flowing through my head while watching “This is the End” (penned by the comedic duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) movie was….no, not the Backstreet Boys that kept reoccurring through the movie…”It’s the End of the World (As We Know It)” by R.E.M.  All expectations about the END of the world are definitely addressed throughout this film. The movie is set in Hollywood and basically has a cameo by almost…well…EVERYONE of the younger comedy generation—with the cast lead by Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson. The script was so BAD that the movie [strangely enough] worked. I found myself laughingly at every sarcastic, pot-based, penis-induced remark made.

I guess if the rapture is upon us, who better to spend the end of days with than your friends at a party over-flowing with booze, sex and drugs galore. Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel initially met up as a means to rekindle their friendship that has been drifting apart as Seth Rogen continues to ‘sell-out’ to the Hollywood crowd.  After hours of pre-gaming at Seth’s house, he decides that they need to attend a house-warming party at James Franco’s new house at the base of the Hollywood Hills. Thus ensues the shenanigans and almost effortless delivery of lines (most of which I guaranty are ad-libbed) that make to movie what it is, a glimpse into how younger Hollywood addresses the common stereotypes associated with actors.

This movie is truly in a class by itself. While it has moments similar to “Pineapple Express” and “Superbad,” the stripped down version of everyone in “This is the End” makes it so mass appealing that you have to enjoy it for what it offer—basic plot development with no twists or turns. I loved the way that all of the actors poked fun at EVERYONE shamelessly—Channing Tatum as a gimp, love slave to Danny McBride anyone? “He’s got GI JOE on a leash.” That was perhaps one of the funniest moments of the movie. Just to see everyone relaxed and completely ‘out of character’ to the point of truly showing their raw acting ability. Emma Watson even has a few cameos in the film that show she has great ability to deal with the cowardice and poor behavior of these guys. “Emma Watson just stole our food” as delivered by Danny McBride after a Jay Baruchel induced awkward conversation concerning 5 guys and 1 girl alone in a house. Hmmmm? Don’t mess with Hermione and an axe!!

Place aside any of your prejudice and expectations and just go see the film for yourself—and be prepared to laugh continuously!

Review: This Is the End

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★

If you’re going to try and survive the apocalypse, who would you want to be with when it all came to an end? In Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s case, you’ll probably want to be spending it with some really close friends. That’s the question “This Is the End” attempts to answer, Rogen and Goldberg’s latest laugh-fest that will probably leave you shaking your head from the stupidity, but will leave you gasping for air in between your laughs.

Jay Baruchel has just arrived in Los Angeles to spend a weekend of getting high with his best friend Seth Rogen. Seth suggests that they attend a housewarming party at James Franco’s new house. Jay is reluctant because he doesn’t really know James Franco. Plus, Jonah Hill will be there and he really doesn’t like him. But he agrees, since he’s here to see Seth.

The party is filled with celebrities you’ve pretty much come to expect to see in movies produced by Seth Rogen: Craig Robinson, Michael Cera, Mindy Kaling, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Martin Starr and Paul Rudd among others. Rihanna’s even there. So is Emma Watson.

But at one point in the night, all hell breaks loose. A massive earthquake strikes which brings on the beginnings of the apocalypse. Jay even swears he sees people getting sucked up into the sky in bright blue lights, despite no one else believing it. Before long, only Jay, Seth, James, Craig and Jonah are left in the house alone. And, of course, Danny McBride, who they didn’t even know was there.

The rest of the film is spent with them trying to ride out the apocalypse and figure out what’s going on. Food rationing is an issue, along with the shortage of alcohol and drugs. Also, there might be some kind of a monster or demon lurking around James’ house.

Rogen co-wrote the film with his longtime writing and producing partner Evan Goldberg, and both make their directing debuts here as well. “This Is the End” is quite similar in tone to another film they wrote together, 2007’s “Superbad.” Both films are vulgar, raunchy, perverse and at times pretty vial. And it’s really just plain stupid at times, even by their standards. But just like “Superbad,” it’s also a side splitting riot that makes you laugh so long and so often that you might miss the next joke.

One of the most humorous elements is how everyone is portrayed in the screenplay. Everyone is playing a fictionalized version of themselves. Michael Cera, for example, is portrayed as cocaine-using womanizer. Quite the far cry from what we’re used to seeing with him.

Danny McBride steals the show, as he typically does whenever he’s in a movie. The star of HBO’s “Eastbound & Down” plays his part very close to that of his famous Kenny Powers character. He’s loud and abrasive, imposing his will on just about everyone in his path. He serves to antagonize the group more than anyone else. But just like Kenny Powers, he’s fun to watch.

The film is stacked with so many meta moments that it would make the writers of “Arrested Development” jealous. Everyone talks about the work they’ve done in the past, whether it was good or bad. They know they’ve been in the movies for awhile and that they have recognizable faces, yet its who they are, and they’re not afraid to talk about it. Without citing any specific moments, I can’t really go into it anymore than that. Rest assured, all reference are designed to be interjected at the most appropriate – and hilarious – times possible.

At times, the film feels like a thematic continuation of “Superbad.” In “Superbad,” Seth and Even (Hill and Cera) were ready to go off to separate colleges at the end of the summer. They were lifelong best friends who had never been away from each other. The film ends before they head out on the separate ways. In “This Is the End,” we have Jay and Seth who are also lifelong best friends. They’ve been away from each other for a long time. Now they’re back together again. The film explores how their time apart has changed them and whether or not they’re as close to one another as they once were.

Friendships seem to be an underlining theme in Rogen and Goldberg’s screenplays, which also includes “The Pineapple Express.” Both Rogen and Goldberg are lifelong friends and it shows in their writing and in their characters. If Rogen is really as loyal in real life as he portrays himself here (and to some extent in the character Hill portrays in “Superbad”) then he must be a genuinely good guy and not the typical pompous Hollywood elitist that most in that city tend to be.

Despite the fact that the film is littered with stoner and bodily function jokes, “This Is the End” is a genuinely humorous film. It doesn’t have nearly the same sized heart as “Superbad,” but that probably would have been a little out of place here. This is yet another one of those films were you have to ask yourself, “what what were you expecting?” If you can’t stand Seth Rogen, well then why would you pay for it? Otherwise, “This Is the End” probably won’t disappoint. 

Review: The Purge

By Joe Moss

★½

In the not so distant future (2022), the American government allows its population to have a night of free for all killing to usher in the NEW American ideal of peace and prosperity. Employment rates are up, crime is down. Here lies the premise for James DeMonaco’s sophomore directorial “The Purge.” The movie runs like an Americanized retrograde version of “Battle Royale” (2000) directed by Kinji Fukasaku who helped direct the Janpanese sequences in the classic “Tora, Tora, Tora” (1970). This movie places 9^th grade students onto an island and the battle ensues until only 1 survives—similar to another hit film/book series of late, “The Hunger Games” (2012).

“The Purge” stars Ethan Hawke (as James Sandin) a security system salesman who is at the top of his game—when it comes to selling high tech security for the wealthy… And so stops the plot development for the remainder of the film. Sure, the story (also written by DeMonaco) attempts to add in small tidbits of information such as “only a few short years ago we couldn’t pay bills, and now we are looking to buy a boat [said by Sandon to his wife, Mary (Lena Headey)]” but these comments come off trite considering the opulence in which they reside. Headey’s character seems to float through life on this effervescent cloud of ignorance. While her son is obviously a social outcast and her daughter is on the verge of teenage hormone overindulgence. Still, these are all cliché plot nuances that are as evident as grass being green and the sky being blue. DeMonaco is much more talented a writer as was evident in “The Negotiator” (1998) and even “Assault on Precinct 13” (2005).

             I had the distinct impression throughout the entire movie this was another Hollywood attempt to squeeze the remaining dollars out of the American public on the heels of success of “Hunger Games…” as well as a poor attempt to prime the waters for the November release of “Catching Fire.” There was not a single item in the movie that was surprising. Sure, there were great suspenseful moments that made the film easy to watch, but there was no new substance/plot/intrigue as in the aforementioned films from which this film obviously takes root. As a scientist and teacher, I can even appreciate the attempt of Demonaco to offer some modern day substance to Alfred Adler's ideas on psychology and the inferiority complex, as well as play on A.R. Wallace's and Darwin's evolutionary ideals of "survival of the fittest."  Thus, I did not have a problem sitting through the film, as it was only an 85 minute run time—thankful editing by Peter Gvosdas (of "The Avengers" (2012) and "Captain America" (2011) editing teams)—but much longer and the rating would have been lower.

Review: The Purge

by Trevor Kirkendall
zero stars

Its 2022, only nine years from today. Unemployment is down to an astonishing 1%. Crime has nearly vanished. All this thanks to something known as The Purge. One night a year for twelve hours, all emergency services are suspended and all crime – including murder – is legal. The Purge helps to cleanse and purify Americans. No one feels the need to commit any crimes since its legal once a year for an entire night. Its never really explained how the unemployment is affected by this. I guess because the next day, hundreds if not thousands of people are probably needed to clean up the mess from the night before.

All this is made possible by a new political party called the New Founding Fathers, who in the not too distant future will be elected into all wings of our government and will concoct this asinine idea in an attempt to restore America’s greatness in the world.

Those who can afford to lock themselves in their homes at night do so every year and ride out The Purge. Those who can’t end up being Purge victims. Those opposed to The Purge say that this is nothing more than a government controlled mechanism to weed out and exterminate the poor and those who do not contribute to society. Sound like familiar banter on all of today’s cable news networks?

Ethan Hawke plays James Sandin and he sells those high priced security systems. He lives in a gated community with the rest of the smiling and happy Stepford families. He’s made a fortune off of these security systems. All his work for the year comes down to tonight, for its time for The Purge. He had his wife Mary (Lena Headey) are locking everything down for the night with their two kids Zoey (Adelaide Kane) and Charlie (Max Burkholder).

Shortly after lockdown, Charlie sees a bloody stranger (Edwin Hodge) running through the neighborhood streets crying for help. Feeling sympathetic – and downright stupid – he disarms the system and lets him inside. During the subsequent confusion after he’s entered, he disappears into the house. It is, after all, a gigantic house and he’s hard to locate. Remember, the Sandin’s are ‘haves’ and therefore can afford a massive security system on their massive house.

It doesn’t take too long for a group of people to show up at their house looking for this man. He’s their target for tonight’s Purge and they want him back. The group is lead by a really handsome young man who looks like he stepped out of an Ivy League yacht club (Rhys Wakefield). He’s even got the long blonde hair, the plaid tie and the prep school jacket complete with the school’s seal on it. It could not be anymore embarrassingly contrived than that.

Written and directed by James DeMonaco (who also wrote Francis Ford Coppola’s 1996 stinker “Jack”), “The Purge” is nothing more than a massive delusion and dream of how he thinks the world should probably work in order for America to regain its standing within the world.

The argument can be made that this is merely a satire on our current social and political state. Anyone who flips on the TV today can tell there’s a rift in our social landscape between those who have and those who don’t have. Unemployment is at a consistently high number that contributes to the escalation of crime in many areas. The role of how of guns in our society has been repeatedly called into question over the past year.

The whole presence of the New Founding Fathers political party in this movie leads us to believe that a new political stronghold will rise up amongst the voters soon. Once in Washington, they will use their power to legislate this perverse idea. Draw your own conclusions as to which party you think DeMonaco is trying to implicate with this analogy.

The fact is, DeMonaco has not provided any kind of social satire on our current state, which is what he was clearly attempting. He’s taken a very shallow look at the issues of today and has come up with this sick view of what’s to come. A satire should mock the situation and maybe provide some kind of alternative solution. Not “The Purge.” No, what we have here is DeMonaco’s disgusting fantasy of something he’d like to see play out in his lifetime.

It’s almost as bad as the so-called ‘torture porn’ films that saturated the film market in the early-to-mid-2000’s. Films like “Hostel” and “Saw” and later taking it to the extreme with “The Human Centipede.” These are films that severed absolutely no purpose whatsoever other than to showcase the depraved nature of their filmmakers’ deepest and darkest fantasies.

If you can’t torture someone for real, then why not make a movie about it so you can live out your dream? Not to worry, Hollywood is full of twisted people who are just willing to line up and make it happen. Especially if you’re trying to make some kind of commentary that continues to deepen the societal rift between the haves and the have-nots.

While “The Purge” doesn’t really come off as a horror movie in the likes of “Hostel” and “Saw” which showed the physical torture of a person, it does come across as a thriller meaning to show the emotional torture one family has to endure. Their torture is not carried out by those who are personally standing at their front door with guns and knives, but by the very government that allowed this to happen. It’s pretty damn offensive. 

Review: The Internship

by Trevor Kirkendall
★½

Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson reunite in “The Internship,” Google’s big screen commercial. As if a company of that size and scope needs any extra marketing. Summer films typically get a bad rep for their blatant and sometimes obnoxious overuse of product placement. Product placement is pretty much unavoidable in almost any film, but “The Internship” seems to be one gigantic product placement. I can’t see any other reason for its existence other than to serve as a Google recruitment ad.

Billy McMahon (Vaughn) and Nick Campbell (Wilson) are top-notch salesmen, but suddenly they’re both out of work. The owner of the company they work for (John Goodman) has decided to shut down and retire. This leaves Billy and Nick unemployed and wondering what to do next since they don’t seem to have any type of useful skills. But Billy gets an idea to sign them both up for an internship at Google.

After a questionable interview via a Google Hangout, and some reservations from the director of the Google internship program, Mr. Chetty (Aasif Mandvi), Billy and Nick are invited to participate. The internship program is designed to split all the interns up into teams to compete in a series of challenges. The winning team wins full time jobs at Google.

Naturally, Billy and Nick stand out amongst the room full of young twentysomethings, particularly in the eyes of the clearly qualified and highly educated Graham (Max Minghella). The guys have no choice but to be paired up with the intern rejects, Stuart (Dylan O’Brien), Neha (Tiya Sircar) and Yo-Yo Santos (Tobit Raphael). Heading up their team is Lyle (Josh Brener), one of the Google intern captains.

You can probably guess what happens next. Graham’s team is clearly the team to beat. Billy and Nick’s team comes in last place at everything in the beginning, but as the old guys pass along their wisdom of the world to the younger folks, they start to pull it together.

It doesn’t get much more generic that that, almost closely related to another Vince Vaughn movie, “Old School.” For that matter, Vaughn very well could have just been playing his “Old School” roll of Bernie Campbell once again. But that’s something we’ve come to expect from Vaughn. We all know the one and only roll he seems capable of playing – boisterous and fast-talking.

Mix that with Wilson’s slow, dry and nasally cadences at the exact same time, and you’re left with two very different speaking styles that’s almost as tolerable as nails on a chalkboard. But once again, this isn’t anything new. We saw it already in “Wedding Crashers.” It wasn’t all that tolerable then, but it’s really nothing new.

Thankfully, the moments when these two are both trying to talk over one another are kept to a minimum. There are several instances when Vaughn and Wilson are on camera without the other one. Wilson’s character even has a subplot all to his own, a little romantic interest with a Google employee (Rose Byrne).

Vaughn wrote the story and the screenplay along with Jared Stern, and their material is nothing new. It constantly swings from being mildly humorous to practically unbearable and back again. The humor is situational in nature and not all that smart. There are several moments where the humor is left up the film editor and the music supervisors – meaning everyone runs in slow motion with a goofy expression on their face while some ironic song plays on top. Play it at a normal speed without the music and you just got a group of guys running around. There’s nothing funny about that.

You don’t have to look too close. “The Internship” is a two-hour product placement for Google. Every scene features something about the company and the products they offer. It serves no other purpose. They’re also showing off Google’s work environment. It there’s as much fun and games at that company as this movie demonstrates, its no wonder my Gmail fails on me so often – no one there ever works.

A theme about never giving up in the face of adversary is hammered home on several different occasions. That seems to be a common theme at many high school and college commencement addresses.

Given the current state of the job market for college graduates in recent years, it’s not a surprise that’s the point their trying to make, particularly in a film that’s centered around a large group of people competing for small number of jobs. Don’t give up, grads. There is hope for you. Go work at Google where you can take a nap in the middle of the day and play Quidditch in your free time.

Review: After Earth

by Joe Moss
★½

M.  Night Shyamalan’s latest movie “After Earth” starring Jaden and Will Smith is so dismal in its plot and character development that it left me wanting to leave the theater for 50 of the 100 minutes of the movie’s run time. Jaden Smith steps beyond a typical teenager into the realm of instantly unlikable, spoiled brat in his role as Kitai Raige—a student attempting to become a United Ranger Corps member like his father (conveniently, Will Smith as Cypher Raige).  The movie doesn’t work from the start as Cypher and his son lack any type of bonded relationship—which could work for a decent plot if the remainder of the movie wasn’t so cliché.

Cypher and Kitai crash land on a hostile planet (Earth in the long distant future) and the God-like URC General breaks both legs and remains as unfeeling as ever even while dictating via com-link what his son has to do. Now his untrained and careless son needs to undertake a journey wherein he learns self reliance and earns his “stripes” in manhood fighting off the creatures of earth and an escaped Ursa (captured prior to the crash landing) that can smell human fear like bad cologne. The Ursa, blind and bred to kill humans are the best part of the movie. I wish that there had been more back-story on their creation—would have allowed for a better understanding of how the future of humans came about as portrayed in the film.

The plot is credited as co-written by Gary Whitta (Book of Eli) and Shyamalan, but it is apparent before the end of the first scene that there was no saving this movie from itself. Will Smith does a decent job portraying a hardened military veteran, but Jaden does not have the acting acumen to carry the movie by himself. The CGI effects were outstanding, and I almost wish the film had been silent save for sound effects—I would have not been staring at my watch nearly as much wishing that Jaden would stop.

Personally, I think that M. Night Shyamalan needs to stop directing/writing movies and go back to basics to reset. His films have been on a steady downhill decline since Unbreakable (I believe this to be his best movie) and I cannot understand why Hollywood keeps allowing him to make films that flop. I had strong hopes for this movie as there are not many Will Smith movies I do not like (save for “Made in America”)…but I have definitely found another one here.