The Brood rated R for bloody violence and language

I came across this movie while flipping channels one day.  It sounded weird but potentially interesting.

Frank Carveth (played by Art Hindle) is a man who is separated from his wife Nola Carveth (played by Samantha Eggar) because she is seeking controversial treatment from an eccentric psychologist named Dr. Hal Raglan (played by Oliver Reed).  Frank doesn't intercede or question Dr. Raglan's techniques because he is told that it would be detrimental to Nola's healing.  Frank even allows his young daughter Candice (played by Cindy Hinds) to visit with her mother overnights.

Meanwhile, a strange series of murders start occurring.  First Nola's mother Juliana Kelly (played by Nuala Fitzgerald) is brutally murdered in her home while Candice is visiting with her.  Candice doesn't say anything about what she witnessed or heard as she seems to be in shock.  Then Candice's teacher is viciously attacked and murdered while in the classroom with Candice.  Finally Nola's father Barton Kelly (played by Henry Beckman) is murdered.  When Candice goes missing, Frank travels to the institution where Nola and Dr. Raglan are staying.  He is justifiably horrified by what he finds.

First of all this is a David Cronenberg film so expect a bit of weirdness, a bit of sci-fi, and "gross" special effects.  If you don't like his movies, you probably won't like this one.  If you don't like any of the things that I listed are general hallmarks of Cronenberg films, this movie might not be for you.  I still recommend it if only because it is definitely different and gives some food for thought.  The special effects are a little cheesy but also a little gross.  I personally couldn't eat while watching this movie but that's how it was for me.  The acting fits the film.  The story has some unexpected turns.

Better Off Dead... rated PG for mild language and brief sexuality

A friend showed this picture to me after I revealed that I hadn't heard of it much less seen it.  The first time that I watched it I thought that it had some cute quirkiness to it but I didn't love it enough to own it.  After watching it again, it started to grow on me enough to warrant purchasing it and so I did.

Lane Meyer (played by a very young-looking John Cusack) feels pretty good about life mostly because he has a girlfriend that he absolutely adores named Beth Truss (played by Amanda Wyss).  Sure he doesn't have a car, his parents don't understand him, he doesn't have many friends, and he isn't on the ski team yet.  But everything is fine as long as he has Beth.  Or so he thinks.

Lane is dismayed when Beth breaks up with him to be with the smarmy captain of the ski team Roy Stalin (played by Aaron Dozier).  To make things worse, he can't seem to ski the K-12 to make it on the ski team.  His father starts to give him a hard time about everything it seems.  Lane keeps crashing the family car while trying to race two brothers Yee Sook Ree (played by Yuji Okumoto) and Chen Ree (played by Brian Imada).  Everyone seems to be asking him if it's ok for them to date Beth.  On top of all of that, Lane also has to work hard to try to avoid the Paperboy (played by Sebastian Dungan) who just wants his "Two..dollars!"

Fortunately, Lane's friend Charles De Mar (played by Curtis Armstrong) is actively trying encourage Lane in his endeavor to ski the K 12.  Charles is also comically trying to get high by snorting everything but actual drugs.  The other person who tries to encourage Lane both with the skiing and romantically is the French foreign exchange student Monique Junot (played by Diane Franklin) who is living with the Smiths across the street.

Poor Monique is struggling to keep Ricky Smith (played by Daniel Schneider) at bay while  Mrs Smith (played by Laura Waterbury) keeps encouraging Ricky to pursue Monique.

This is a classic movie that I recommend particularly for fans of 80s movies and/or John Cusack.  It's a cute romantic comedy with memorable characters.  There is some cheese to this picture but it's great.

Moana rated PG for peril, some scary images, and brief thematic elements

When I first heard about this film, I was interested in seeing the picture but not excited about it.  After its release, I started to hear more about the film and became keen to see it.  I was pleasantly surprised because it turned out to be different than expected and not bad.

At the beginning of this picture, Moana and the rest of the village children are told a story by Moana's Gramma Tala (voiced by Rachel House) that took place a thousand years ago.  The goddess Te Fiti blessed the world with creation and life.  Over time, other powerful beings and creatures including monsters and coconut pirates seek the heart of Te Fiti to have the power of creation.  One day, powerful shape-shifting demigod named Maui (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) succeeds at stealing the heart of Te Fiti.  But as a result of stealing the heart Maui unintentionally releases a powerful darkness that seeks to consume life.  Maui is defeated in battle by the lava goddes Te Kal and loses both his magical fish hook and the heart of Te Fiti.  It is believed that the darkness will be defeated only when the heart of Te Fiti is restored and that Maui is the only one who can do that.  If the darkness isn't stopped, the world will be consumed.

Moana is intrigued by the story but is quickly reassured by her father Chief Tui (voiced by Temuera Morrison) that the story is just a story and that the island has everything anyone could want in life.  As Moana grows up she is taught that her place is with her people even though she is intrigued by the ocean and wanting to sail on it.  At first she feels conflicted but eventually comes to terms with the expectations and the duties that she has to her people as the next chief in a long line of chiefs.  Her Gramma encourages her to obey her father's wishes but also gently reminds Moana that the pull that she feels to the sea isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Shortly after accepting her role as the next chief, Moana learns that there aren't any fish for the fishermen to catch.  When she suggests that the fishermen fish beyond the reef, her father forbids going beyond the reef.  Moana's mother tells Moana of a tragic boating accident that Chief Tui was involved in when he was a younger man and dared to sail beyond the reef.  Soon after the fish disappear, the coconuts on the island appear to be blighted and dried up.  Moana suggests getting coconuts from a different part of the island but she is troubled.

Moana becomes more conflicted after learning from her Gramma that their ancestors were voyagers who had traveled far and wide among various islands.  After sharing her discovery with her father, Chief Tui becomes enraged and attempts to burn the boats that the ancestors had left behind.  Before he can act, he learns that his mother Moana's Gramma is ill and so he and Moana go to her.

Moana is encouraged by her Gramma to find Maui and make him restore the heart of Te Fiti.  When Moana hesitates, Gramma gives Moana the heart of Te Fiti and pushes Moana to go.  With mixture of sadness and excitement, Moana leaves to find Maui as her Gramma wishes.

Along the way both Moana and Maui grow in ways that neither could have anticipated.  Their adventure has a nice mix of humor, action, heart, with a dash of seriousness.  The culmination of the adventure was beautifully unexpected but, given the culture, not entirely surprising.

The imagery is gorgeous.  The story is well done.  I particularly like that Moana is the most selfless of the "Disney princesses" so far.  She doesn't directly or indirectly contribute to any of the problems/troubles in this story and yet she tries to fix the problems.  She has help from The Ocean, her grandmother and ancestors, and of course Maui but she almost never gives up and her resourcefulness is admirable.  The characters are all likable and their actions make sense.  All of the music is great.  I was initially unaware of Lin-Manuel Miranda's involvement with this picture but was pleased with his involvement in this picture.

All in all a very good movie and not just for children and families.  I did hear a local radio dj complain about there being "too much peril".  He claimed that he couldn't enjoy the film as much due to his being anxious for the characters.  I personally feel that the peril featured in this movie was more than tolerable and added to the story.  The family that I watched the movie with wasn't bothered by the peril so I feel that the dj was exaggerating.

I have a coworker who complained about Maui's tattoos.  She was offended by them and worried that the little ones in her family being influenced by the film to get tattoos.  If you are someone who is offended by tattoos you can avoid this film but you'll be missing out on a great family movie.  The tattoos featured in this film are a treasured aspect of Polynesian culture that has a different, more important significance (in my opinion) than you might find outside of Polynesian culture.

The Accountant rated R for strong violence and language throughout

I was keen to see this picture after the first trailer that I saw.  Something about it looked interesting to me.  I ended up buying it outright rather than watch it first.  I figured that I would like it well enough but if I ended up not liking it, I could get rid of it or it would grow on me.

Christian Wolff (played by Ben Affleck) is an accountant who happens to be a math savant as well as autistic.  His story is told through flashbacks of memories that he has as well as information gained from surveillance and research performed by the Treasury Departments Crime Enforcement team led by Ray King (played by J.K.  Simmons).

On the surface he appears to be a nobody, a local CPA who owns his own accounting firm in Illinois.  But it becomes obvious (to the audience at least) that Christian is the same person that Ray King is seeking in connection with powerful criminals across the world.  It turns out that when criminal overlords/bosses/etc need someone to "cook their books" they call on Christian.

While Ray and his newest team member Marybeth Medina (played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson) work to find out who Christian is, Christian is called to "uncook books" at a legitimate robotics research and development company run by Lamar Blackburn (played by John Lithgow).  An accounting clerk who works at the company named Dana Cummings (played by Anna Kendrick) found some discrepancies and the company wants to make sure that everything is copacetic.

At the same time that Ray and Marybeth are converging on Christian and Christian is helping Dana to sort out the books, a situation is developing that appears to be leaving a trail of bodies leading straight to Christian.  Someone is intent on removing people that have recently interacted with Christian and so a mysterious man named Brax (played by Jon Bernthal) and his team are hired to take care of the people.  Brax is a shadowy elite assassin who is very good at what he does and has a skilled team of assassins working under him so it's just another day at the office for all of them.  Or so they mistakenly assume.

After Christian fends off an attack by Brax's team, he decides to rescue Dana as she is apparently the next target on the list.  Afterwards Christian determines to get to the bottom of who wants him and Dana dead.  At the same time, Ray reveals to Marybeth that the intention behind his investigation isn't as simple as potentially bringing Christian to justice.  It turns out that Ray knows more about Christian than originally revealed and he has a few secrets of his own.

The film was better than I anticipated.  The acting was good all things considered.  The story was well thought out and well executed all things considered.  Most of the characters were likable.  Even if you didn't like all of the characters, you could at least understand why they do the things that they do.  I also liked the more subtle aspects of the picture for example the character Marybeth, why Ray chooses to work with her, and her unexpected connection to Christian.

My biggest complaint about the movie is what I feel is an inaccurate fallacy connected to autism.  I've worked with and spent time around people with autism and I know it is a spectrum disorder but I have issue with the movie implying that Christian is a math savant because he is autistic.  Maybe that wasn't the movie's intention but that's what it seemed like it was implying.  On the other hand it was pleasantly surprising to see Christian portrayed as this bad-ass "Jason Bourne" type despite the fact that he has autism.

Ex Machina rated R for graphic nudity, language, sexual references, and some violence

I was intrigued by the look of Ava (played by Alicia Vikander) from the trailer but  I wasn't sure what the picture was about and didn't care enough to research.  After the film was released I got the impression that it was more critically acclaimed than commercially successful but I still didn't care enough to find out.  After a friend recommended this movie, I was receptive to watching it.  I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't thrilled.

A young programmer Caleb (played by Domhnall Gleeson) wins a contest at work to spend a week with the reclusive CEO of the company Nathan (played by Oscar Issac).  After arriving at Nathan's secluded house, Caleb is initially excited at the prospect of getting to know Nathan.  After greeting Caleb, Nathan reveals to Caleb that he has been brought there to work on Nathan's AI project.  Caleb is intrigued and excited at the prospect of learning more about the AI project and also contributing to it.  Nathan particularly wants Caleb to participate in testing his AI to confirm that the AI is legitimate.  The AI's name is Ava and Caleb is to interact with her as part of the test.

As Caleb spends time around both Ava and Nathan, Caleb starts to become suspicious of Nathan especially after Ava tells Caleb not to trust Nathan.  As Caleb's time with Nathan draws to close, new revelations come to light and Caleb finds more questions than answers. Who is testing who?  What is Nathan really doing in his secluded home?  Is Ava a pawn or a player?  What happens to whomever fails the test?

Overall the movie was ok in my opinion.  It was good to an extent but it was a little predictable.  The acting was very good all around.  The story was pretty good. It's worth watching if you are curious.  If you don't care either way, it doesn't matter either way if you watch it or not.

Ill fantasma dell'opera aka The Phantom of the Opera (1998) rated R for violence/gore and sexuality

After watching the first few versions of The Phantom of the Opera that I have previously alluded to in my blog, I decided to try to watch as many variations of the film as possible.  This version I came across on late night tv and I was intrigued.

With this version, we are treated to Dario Argento's vision involving the classic tale.  The Phantom (played by Julian Sands) isn't disfigured at all.  He's just a dirty creepy guy who was orphaned at a young age and raised by rats.  As such he is protective of his "family".  His enemy in this version is of course Ignace the rat catcher (played by Istvan Bubik).

The Phantom lives and creeps about the Paris Opera House and ,like the original, he doesn't want to be disturbed.  He changes his attitude about having visitors after he sees and falls in love with the beautiful Christine Daae (played by Asia Argento).  As in the novel (although with a change of title) Baron Raoul De Chagny (played by Andrea Di Stefano) is also in love with Christine.  Christine finds herself torn between the two and so on and so forth.

Another variation in this version was that Christine actually seems to be more in to the Phantom instead of  Raoul.  This was the first time that I even heard of the idea of the Phantom and Christine having sex with each other much less actually seeing it displayed.

All in all this version was not horrible.  It has the expected gore of Italian horror and the special effects were pretty good.  The changes that were incorporated into this picture were a little silly at times but they didn't necessarily take away from the original story.  The acting was ok.  The chemistry conveyed between Christine and the Phantom was more believable than between Christine and Raoul.  It seems to me that it would a little challenging to realistically appear to sing opera but unfortunately Asia and the voice that was used for Christine's singing voice did not remotely fit at all.

Chappie rated R for violence, brief nudity, and language

I had heard great reviews of this film and kept getting recommendations to watch it.  While I had enjoyed District 9 I was a little worried that Chappie would end up being sad.  After seeing a clip involving Chappie getting a book from his maker I was sold on watching the picture.

In this film, Johannesburg South Africa has been experiencing a high volume of crime that is overwhelming the local police force.  A company named Tetravaal has released robots called Scouts that work alongside police officers to help the beleaguered police department.  Scouts can be deployed instead of people thus reducing injuries and deaths to the police while safely neutralizing dangerous situations.  The "hero of the hour" is the engineer of the Scouts named Deon (played by Dev Patel).

Deon has been secretly working on a project in his off time to develop an AI.  After he succeeds, he goes to his boss Michelle (played by Sigourney Weaver) to sell her on his ideas.  She rejects his proposal and forbids him from further testing..

Meanwhile another engineer named Vincent has been waiting in the wings of Tetravaal for his big moment to shine.  He has jealously watched as Deon has been showered with accolades for his Scouts.  Vincent has developed his own project involving a massive robot called Moose.  Moose has a huge amount of firepower as well as the nifty aspect of linking with the mind of the operator so that Moose can remotely neutralize threats.  The problem is that Moose has too much firepower to be safely utilized in urban areas.  Moose is subsequently rejected by the local police and Vince is left to stew in bitterness.

While all of this is going on, a trio of criminals Ninja (played by Ninja), his partner Yo-Landi (played by Yo-Landi Visser), and their friend Amerika (played by Jose Pablo Cantillo) have run afoul of a criminal overlord named Hippo (played by Brandon Auret).  They have three days to come up with a huge payoff of over a million for Hippo or else they will be killed.

While Ninja, Yo-Landi, and Amerika are talking over their options of a heist, they realize that they have a big problem in the form of the Scouts.  How can they accomplish their heist if the Scouts show up and stop them?  And it is guaranteed that the Scouts will show up at the first sign of trouble.  Yo-Landi suggests that they find a way to turn off the Scouts and that they get the guy who developed the Scouts to give them their solution.

Back at Tetravaal, Deon is determined to try out his AI program and decides to take a Scout that is scheduled for destruction after being too damaged for repair.  While enroute to his home with the broken Scout in the back of his van, Deon is kidnapped by Ninja and his gang.  After Ninja demands Deon's help in the form of turning off the Scouts, Deon tells them that there is no way to turn off the Scouts and pleads for his life.

While Ninja is threatening to kill Deon, Amerika discovers the broken Scout in the back of Deon's van.  In an effort to save himself, Deon reluctantly reveals the option of uploading the AI program into the broken Scout, making it so that the Scout would work for Ninja and his crew.  With a heavy heart Deon uploads the AI program into the Scout.

Happily the upload is a success with unexpected results.  Yo-Landi is the first of Ninja's crew to be won over by the Scout and names him Chappie (played by Sharlto Copley).  Chappie starts out as a child and rapidly learns from his new "family".  Yo-Landi even becomes "Mommy" to Chappie while Ninja eventually becomes "Daddy".  Thus begin Chappie's adventures.

At first Chappie is simply learning from his "family".  Much to Deon's dismay the majority of Chappie's "education" seems to be oriented around committing crimes.  Fortunately Deon and Yo-Landi are more positive influences to balance out Ninja's influence.  Some aspects of Chappie's adventures are sad.  Some are hilarious.  Some are sweet and simple.

The adventures culminate in a race against time to meet Hippo's demands, save Chappie, stop Vincent, all while everyone else is trying to stay alive.  There's a lot more that goes on that I've only vaguely touched on.  I would call this film a mash-up of Pinocchio,  with a dash of the original Robo Cop, and the feel of District 9 .

As always (in my opinion) Sharlto Copley gives an amazing performance this time as Chappie.  It was nice to see an AI not immediately or almost immediately decide to destroy humans.  Even nicer was that this particular AI seemed to view himself as living like his human family.  Sharlto did a great job adding more than enough humanity to Chappie to make him interesting as well as endearing.

Everyone else in the cast did an excellent job too.  It was interesting how the four main human characters Ninja, Yo-Landi, Deon, and Amerika all showed at least some growth and depth beyond their personas.

Even though Deon was the "educated one" versus Ninja and his crew the "criminal element" neither side was perfect.  Deon, not being a criminal, would technically be considered a "good" person but he still makes some very bad choices that lead to pain for Chappie.

Obviously one expects Ninja to be something of a "bad guy" and while he definitely isn't a "good guy" he finds some semblance of goodness as a result of his interactions with Chappie.
Hugh Jackman as Vincent is also an interesting villain.  It's easy to get where he is coming from and why he does the things that he does.  Half of his reactions seem to be due to fear of the unknown/different while the other half are just based off of his efforts to succeed at his goals.  He truly believes that his Moose is a great idea and completely discounts any contrary suggestions.

The story was well written and well executed.  It gave wonderful food for thought on the subject of AIs as well as just general commentary on people and how they can be moved in a positive direction beyond their current state of thinking and acting just by being around others who are different than them.

A very good movie.  Not necessarily recommended for children mostly because of the language but a very very excellent movie.

A Very Long Engagement rated R for sexuality and violence

My movie snob friend sort of recommended this film to me based off of my enjoying Amelie and after she watched more of Audrey Tautou's films.  She cautioned me that the film is long and is aptly named.

Just before the Battle of the Somme in World War I, five soldiers are sentenced to die following a court martial.  They have all been court-martialed for cowardice after they have all become injured on their hands.  The idea is that they were trying to injure themselves so that they will get sent home.  Everyone in the trenches is weary of war and many are experiencing shell-shock too so it isn't a stretch.  Unfortunately the penalty is death by being sent out to No Man's Land between the German and French lines.  The men will have nothing but the clothes on their backs.  It is expected that the Germans will finish them off.

Fast forward to about four years after the war has ended.  Mathilde (played by Audrey Tautou) is a young woman who lives in Brittany.  She was engaged to one of the soldiers who was court-martialed and his name was Manech (played by Gaspard Ulliel).  He was the youngest of the soldiers who was court-martialed.  Everyone tells Mathilde that Manech was killed in a battle that followed his being sent to No Man's Land.  Mathilde refuses to believe that Manech isn't dead and determines to find him.  Using her inheritance money to hire a private detective and her own ingenuity with a goodly amount of luck, Mathilde searches for Manech.

Along the way Mathilde faces ups and downs as she listens to various accounts from the events of the day of the battle that Manech was supposedly killed during.  Some of the accounts come directly from soldiers who were there as well as from her private detective's research.  She learns of some of the corruption that plagued the French military that seems to have directly affected Manech and his fellow court-martialed soldiers.

Mathilde also thinks on her life with Manech so far starting from childhood and continuing on to just before he left.  Mathilde was afflicted by polio as a child and as such has limp.  Manech was first her best friend, then her first love.

While Mathilde is searching for Manech, it turns out that someone else is doing research of her own.  The lady is named Tina Lombardi (played by Marion Cotillard).  Tina was dating one of the five soldiers who was court-martialed and she appears to be on a vendetta against the system that killed her beloved.

The movie is long but since I was prepared for it, I wasn't bothered.  Also it is a French film and as such is subtitled so if you don't like subtitled films, you're missing out on a great movie.  The story is apparently based off of a novel that I am assuming is excellent because the movie was so good.  The acting was great.  While I don't agree with desertion, this movie did a great job of depicting the desperate measures that people can be driven to in the face of vicious circumstances beyond their control.  The twists and turns that occur throughout this movie played out well and the movie had a great ending.