Author: BO

In 1985, after complaints about livability and hostility were logged
against the MOVE organization, a black liberation group living in a
fortified townhouse on peaceful Osage Avenue in Philadelphia, local
police moved in to contain the situation. A standoff of indeterminate
aggression ensued, with the city officials bombing the MOVE compound,
not only eradicating the perceived threat, but also wiping out 60 homes
and killing 11 people. It was a catastrophic mess executed in front of
countless witnesses and captured on multiple news cameras, with
reporters eagerly narrating every step of the meltdown. The documentary
“Let the Fire Burn” endeavors to explore the incident and escalations
preceding the disastrous event, passing on the formality of talking head
interviews, using television and film footage to reconstruct the
timeline of the bombing and emphasize the longstanding antagonism
between MOVE and the police.
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Finding yet another shadowy corner of WWII history to draw from,
writer/director Wladyslaw Pasikowski mines the misery of Poland for the
seething picture, “Aftermath.” However, this is not a traditional tale
of victimization at the hands of invading Nazi forces, but a gut-punch
mystery that uncovers horrifying secrets and national shame, positioning
Poland as a malevolent force in a crime of opportunity. It’s heady
material, executed in a clenched-fist manner that maintains a pleasing
unrest about the film, which always seems one carefully chosen taunt
away from exploding into rural war. Tackling an impossibly bleak
subject, Pasikowski infuses the effort with passion and tragedy, making
the work come alive onscreen.
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The current cut of “Best Man Down” seems compromised, as though the
producers and the director had different visions for the material, so
they ended up with a passable but uninspired version for general
release. Sensitivity battles comedy is this uneven effort, failing to
find a stable middle ground that permits writer/director Ted Koland a
chance to explore his ideas in full. It’s intermittently disarming work
with a terrific supporting performance from Addison Timlin, but there’s
very little meat on these bones, with long passages of “Best Man Down”
resembling a trailer for another iteration of the movie that isn’t
rushed through at top speed.
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“Paris Countdown” offers an interesting twist on the crime film routine.
Instead of younger participants, twentysomethings caught up in a world
of drugs and money, we have two 50-year-old men for this underworld
go-around. They can’t quite outrun their pursuers and have serious
family issues to deal with, complicating what turns out to be an
extremely formulaic endeavor from writer/director Edgar Marie, who makes
his helming debut with this loud, stylish picture. “Paris Countdown”
aims to be a slick piece of action entertainment, but there’s little
imagination beyond the age of the lead characters, and while the feature
is mercifully simplistic, it’s rarely engaging, even as a violent
distraction.
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Throughout his storied career, Robert Redford has been drawn to tales
concerning the tranquility and unpredictability of nature. It’s in the
man’s blood, explored in pictures such as “Jeremiah Johnson” and even
the poetry of stillness found in “A River Runs Through It.” “All is
Lost” is perfect material for Redford, playing to his strengths of
internalization and measured physicality, and he provides an exceptional
lead performance in writer/director J.C. Chandor’s sublimely
straightforward tale of oceanic endurance. Working only with a sinking
boat, a willing star, and the open water, and the helmer is able to
create one of the most suspenseful, striking features of 2013.
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Writer/director Richard Curtis is known for his comfortable cinema. The
creator of “Love Actually” and the misfire “Pirate Radio,” Curtis has
developed a filmmaking voice that’s sentimental, concerned with
variances of feelings and relationships. “About Time” continues his
journey as an architect of sensitivity, only here the warmth has a
slightly sci-fi touch to it, concerning the impossible realm of time
travel. Even though the picture has every opportunity to slip into the
fantastical, it remains intimate and natural. Well, as natural as a
Curtis movie can get. Unpredictable and heartbreaking, “About Time” is a
wonderfully executed effort, smart with its scripting and parting
messages on the value of being present.
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Reviewed at the 2013 Twin Cities Film Festival

It seems unfair to compare “Last Vegas” to “The Hangover” franchise,
though it’s obvious where the production received its inspiration from.
Instead of brain-fried debauchery and R-rated shenanigans, “Last Vegas”
plays it pretty mild for its older demographic, with Viagra jokes and
bikini contests passing for edge around these parts. Director Jon
Turteltaub is rather notorious when it comes to cranking out pictures
with mass appeal (“Nation Treasure,” “Phenomenon”), and his vanilla
approach remains in full effect for this dramedy, though a few surprises
are sprinkled throughout the feature, and the helmer has quite an
advantage with his stellar cast, unleashing four pros on threadbare
script, using their natural gifts to make the viewing experience as
pleasant as possible.
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After battling convention with his uncompromising work on “Hunger” and
“Shame,” director Steve McQueen travels down a familiar path with “12
Years a Slave.” Harrowing, brutal, and heartbreaking, this tale of
abduction and subjugation is brimming with powerful imagery, making the
audience feel every last lash that’s cracked across the back of the lead
character. It’s powerful work, but it also has a fatiguing
concentration on suffering, lingering on torture instead of studying it
for the greater thematic good. Rich with details, “12 Years a Slave” is
an accomplished effort, yet McQueen is distracted by the weave work of
story, failing to find art in agony.
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“Ender’s Game,” based on the beloved, lauded 1985 book by Orson Scott
Card, finally blasts its way to the big screen after decades of
development. There’s franchise gold in them thar hills, with the
production carefully mounting what appears to be a story that could
carry on for multiple films, following the titular character as he
journeys from an awestruck boy to an intergalactic lawman, complete with
elaborate training missions and enormous space battles. While ambitious
and exceedingly well designed, “Ender’s Game” is mummified in the drama
department. It’s absolutely cold to the touch, with clumsy scenes
sapping power from the material’s thought-provoking commentary on war,
leaving writer/director Gavin Hood with a gorgeous picture that retains
very little spirit.
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“Blue Is the Warmest Color” is generating a considerable amount of
controversy due to its explicit content, with an eight-minute-long
lesbian sex scene helping the film receive the dreaded NC-17 stamp from
the MPAA. It’s actually amusing to see the movie’s release trigger such
uptightness because the sex adds up to a mere eight minutes out of 180 minutes
of screen time. It’s hardly a concern with a picture this ponderous,
acting more as smelling salts for this French after school special,
which is so distracted with its verite execution, it leaves out any
sense of emotional urgency. “Blue Is the Warmest Color” take three hours
to tell a story that tops out at 90 minutes, 98 if you leave in the
bumping and grinding. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Not every animated film needs to be an event, but “Free Birds” could use
a little more oomph to make it a must-see for crowds currently starving
for family entertainment. It’s not particularly exciting, never lands a
laugh, and doesn’t have the ambition to truly lampoon Thanksgiving
traditions. It’s a bland effort that’s contently cartoon until it
suddenly feels the need to trigger emotions with weird detours into
death and survival. Perhaps the idea looked better on paper. As a
CG-animated endeavor, “Free Birds” packs very little punch, with wild
mood swings that take a simple story and needlessly complicates it to
fill a contractual run time.
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Star power is a rare thing, but it’s important, often helping mediocre
work find its footing through exceptional acting, guiding dramatic
direction when the production itself can’t manage the task. With iconic
actor Michael Caine, talent was established long ago, and while his
taste in screenplays isn’t always inspiring, his clarity of
communication is never in doubt. “Last Love” is his latest endeavor
after receiving a late-inning career boost due to his collaborations
with Christopher Nolan, and the feature benefits mightily from his
effortless presence. Skillfully conveying the ache, newfound elevation,
and confusion required of him, Caine is terrific here, making “Last
Love” and its ultimate third-act nosedive palatable, even profound
during a few scenes of intimate soul searching.
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After the release of three hugely successful “Jackass” movies, it’s time
for the bruised and battered boys to rest their weary bones for a
spell. Picking up the franchise slack is “Bad Grandpa,” a spin-off
feature highlighting the antics of Irving Zisman, a senior citizen
character portrayed by Johnny Knoxville. Stripped of anarchic monkey
business, the “Jackass” team has cooked up a new direction for the brand
name, mixing a scripted story with “Candid Camera” style segments that
allow for a display of their wince-inducing sense of humor without the
burden of artificial male bonding. “Bad Grandpa” is certainly crude, but
it’s also riotously funny at times, with a bizarre calmness about it
that’s immensely appealing, toning down the cruelty to play some
old-fashioned pranks on a semi-suspecting public.
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Beloved for novels such as “No Country for Old Men,” “The Road,” and
“All the Pretty Horses,” author Cormac McCarthy becomes a full-fledged
Hollywood player with “The Counselor,” his first original work written
directly for the screen. Teeming with unsavory, duplicitous,
philosophical types that normally populate his books, “The Counselor” is
ripe with McCarthyisms, while director Ridley Scott takes the mission
of adaptation seriously, working to preserve the vagueness and violence
of the effort. It’s a dark film, offering unsettling images and
uncomfortable situations, and it has moments of greatness, just not
enough of them to generate a riveting sit.
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This re-release of 1973’s “The Wicker Man” is labeled “The Final Cut” to
provide a little marketing muscle, suggesting director Robin Hardy has
finally had his way with the feature 40 years after its debut. There
have been multiple versions of the movie, created from various source
materials, yet “The Final Cut” promises a definitive construction of
screenwriter Anthony Shaffer’s tale of pagan manipulation and Christian
fury. Perhaps in Hardy’s eyes, this is the last word on “The Wicker
Man,” but instead of engorging the effort with additional secrets and
oddity, he’s trimmed the picture in a peculiar manner, attempting to cut
to the chase to limit any initial disinterest in crucial
characterization.
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