THE MASTER

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Joaquin Phoenix: World War II Naval Officer Freddie Quell

Philip Seymore Hoffman: Lancaster Dodd, founder of “The Cause”

Amy Adams: his wife Peggy

Ambyr Childers Dodd’s daughter Elizabeth

Rami Malek: Clark, her betrothed

Jesse Plemons: Dodd’s eldest son Val

Laura Dem: Helen Sullivan, one of Dodd’s wealthy supporters,

REVIEW

This film is clearly geared to the more discerning mature viewer, primarily because Freddie’s violent and erratic behaviour is disturbing to watch. But he is not alone: some of what others do is unsettling as well.

Some members of the audience will regard Freddie’s sexual fantasies as repulsive and nearly everyone will find the movie too long at 2 hours and 17 minutes.

However, those willing to hang in are sure to agree that Freddie’s performance has all the earmarks of Academy Award nomination. As usual Hoffman does a very credible job of it and Adams shows she really can act. However good acting alone does not make a good movie.

CLASSIFICATION

 for sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

ARGO

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Ben Affleck: CIA Specialist Tony Mendez

Bryan Cranston: his supervisor Jack O’Donnell

John Goodman: Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers

Alan Arkin: Hollywood film producer Lester Siegal

Victor Garber: Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor

REVIEW

A slightly altered version of the events that took place in Iran with the taking hostage of American diplomatic personnel in 1978 does not diminish the impact of the rescue attempt. Careful attention to period detail (except for a couple of instances as noted below) and great acting bring the events to life. Even knowing the real outcome, the tension is palpable as you can never be sure how Hollywood will handle the facts. Riveting stuff.

CLASSIFICATION

 for language and some violent images.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

• The famous Hollywood sign was erected in 1923 to advertise a new housing development and was never intended to be permanent. It deteriorated so badly that in November 1978 it had to be completely refurbished, a year before these events took place.

                                       

SPOILER ALERT FOR THESE NITPICKS

• Depending upon the load, winds, field elevation and altimeter setting the takeoff speed of a 747 is between 275 and 335 kilometres per hour which is much faster than any normal road vehicle.
• As seen on Mythbusters, the rearward blast from a jet engine is powerful enough to topple over a school bus so the three pursuit vehicles directly behind engine number 4 could not last very long in that position.

P.S.

Ben Affleck is an exception to Ralph’s Rule of Redundancy which states:

 “Any film where one person takes on more than 2 key positions (Affleck is Producer, Director and Star) has a major shortcoming: the absence of independent critical judgement that results in something less than it might have been.”

ROBOT AND FRANK

 Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Frank Langella: Frank, a crusty septuagenarian

James Marsden: Frank’s son Hunter, an attorney

Liv Tyler: Frank’s daughter Madison

Susan Sarandon: local librarian Jennifer

Jeremy Strong: library trustee Jake

REVIEW

“Set in the not too distant future”, this simple tale of an aging Frank is a bit sad as we see the effect his failing memory has on his family. However spurred on by the assistance of a robot, Frank shows some of his former spunk. Langella does a great job, nicely balancing the different personality traits the role calls for.

However this charming little film is ruined by the ending: the transition to the bucolic setting is too abrupt, totally out of sync with the rest of the film that unfolds at an unhurried pace. And then the final scene, well it needs to be rewritten big time: as one moviegoer was heard to say “it’s a real cop out leaving things that way”. I agree.

CLASSIFICATION

 for some language.

TO THE ARCTIC 3D

 Documentary

REVIEW

This latest IMAX documentary covers some very familiar ground: global warming and the daily struggle just to survive in this harsh environment. By focusing on a mother polar bear and her twin seven-month-old cubs their plight becomes evident but the solutions are not.

Meryl Streep narrates with feeling and Sir Paul McCartney has written some new songs that almost overwhelm the viewer. But not quite, as the majestic landscape rivets our attention as the background to a serious problem.

Although the producers have avoided including anything of a gory nature, that does not mean to say the film is without some sense of pending doom. By contrast, the cubs provide more than a few moments of levity so it’s a nice balance.

CLASSIFICATION

PREMIUM RUSH

Action thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Joseph Gordon-Levitt: NYC bicycle messenger Wilee (as in Wile E. Coyote)

Dania Ramirez: Wilee’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa

Jamie Chung: Vanessa’s roomie Nima

Assif Mandvi: Raj, company dispatcher

Michael Shannon: NYPD Detective Robert Monday

Wolé Parks: Manny, another bicycle messenger

Christopher Place: NYPD bicycle cop

REVIEW

Clearly not an Academy Award candidate, it is nevertheless interesting enough watching a group of “kamikaze” bike riders do their thing along the streets of Manhattan. To crank up the action (as if there is not enough) a rogue cop wants to get his hands on the premium rush package before it gets delivered. Let the fun begin.

The crisp editing keeps things moving along and the unusual routes these delivery people take result in some comic moments to lighten things up, just in case you’re taking things too seriously.

  

CLASSIFICATION

for some violence, intense action sequences and language.

LAWLESS

 Crime drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Tom Hardy: Forrest Bondurant

Jason Clark: his older brother Howard

Shia LaBeouf: their younger brother Jack

Dane DeHaan: Jack’s friend Cricket

Bill Camp: Sheriff Hodges

Jessica Chastain: Maggie Beauford, an exotic dancer

Guy Pearce: Special Deputy Charlie Rakes

Mia Wasikowska: Preacher Minnix’s teen aged daughter Bertha

Gary Oldman: Chicago gangster Floyd Banner

REVIEW

This telling of how things were in Franklin County, Virginia, the bootlegging capital of the USA during the Depression era has a lot going for it: high production values with particular attention to detail (except for a few items noted below) coupled with some fine acting and a strong story line.

But all that is mired in blood: this has to be the goriest movie I’ve seen in years as I purposely go out of my way to avoid that kind of thing. I get no pleasure in watching people being beaten to a pulpy mush, of seeing in close-up the blood spurting out while the victim struggles to survive, gasping and thrashing about. But the retribution enacted upon the instigator of the slashing is even worse. And we get to see it in detail.

The point being, this grisly depiction of violence is not just an incidental aspect of the film you could ignore. No, it starts with the very first scene when we see the older brother dispatch a corralled pig with a shotgun. I need not describe the result as cruelty offends most people’s sensibilities. And so it should.

  

CLASSIFICATION

for strong, bloody violence, language, some sexuality and nudity.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

Jack shows Bertha his new camera, a Brownie Target Six-20. Trouble is, Kodak only began selling that model in 1946, some 15 years after these events took place.

When Maggie is talking with Forrest her pink bathrobe is on or off her right shoulder depending upon the camera’s point of view, from behind or in front of her.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

 Fantasy drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Jennifer Garner: Cindy Green, tour guide

Joel Edgerton: her husband Jim, plant employee

Shohreh Aghdashloo: Ms. Onat of the U.S. Adoption Services

Dianne Wiest: Cindy’s boss Bernice Crudstaff

CJ Adams: 9-year-old Timothy

Emmet Walsh: Cindy’s Uncle Bub

Lois Smith: Cindy’s Aunt Mel

David Morse: Jim’s father James

Rosemarie DeWitt: Cindy’s sister Brenda

Odeya Rush: a young girl

Ron Livingstone: Jim’s boss, Bernice’s oldest son Franklin 

REVIEW

Promoted as a Disney film, one movie-goer was heard to say “Walt Disney would turn over in his grave if he saw this one”. Unlike the great classic movies such as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, this one straddles the line between fantasy and reality. That’s a poor mix: it’s got to be either/or to make for a story we can buy into. So this one leaves me detached, just an observer thinking “why did they spend all that money to wind up with this?”

Another thing: three quarters of the people we get to see are either odd (the young girl Timmy meets once in a while) or nasty unpleasant folk (Bernice, grandpa James, Brenda, Franklin to name but a few) so it’s a pleasure to see them disappear from the screen with every scene change.

I should have walked out but I thought “maybe it will get better?” It never did.

CLASSIFICATION

 for mild thematic elements and brief language.