Transcendence

I love Johnny Depp okay? But anyone who is completely honest has to agree that this man has been phoning in his acting since Jack Sparrow first pranced down that dock back in 2003. He has had a few glimmers of the old pre-pirates Depp in movies like Finding Neverland, Secret Window, and Public Enemies. I take nothing away from his zany characters but for too long has he been comfortable hiding behind prosthetics, pounds of makeup, and a quirky character. Wally Pfister has been nominated four times for Best Cinematography and won once. He was the Cinematographer on every one of Christopher Nolan's films. All of which I love so I was more than intrigued that he would debut as a Director for Transcendence. I am happy to report that Depp has transcended his stereotypical bizarre characters to actually acting again and Pfister has transcended Nolan's shadow to make his own mark.

Artificial intelligence is a tricky subject. We're beyond asking if it's possible because it exists. But what happens when AI becomes self aware? Becomes independent of human interaction? Dr. Will Caster and his wife Evelyn are leading the scientific community in search of these answers. But anyone who watches the Syfy channel can tell you some questions shouldn't be answered. There are some out there who believe this really passionately. So passionately they will stop at nothing to prevent an AI from actually being self aware. Nothing includes bombing research facilities, poisoning scientists, and even shooting Will Caster. (Those same people who watch Syfy will now speak up saying how that never stopped a good story)

I sometimes think that if aliens ever discovered earth they would just leave us alone: "Yep, no intelligent beings here!" Nothing reinforces this idea more than when a movie comes out that tries to get you to think. Some times movie are accidentally brilliant (I proudly tout The Purge as the greatest example of this) So many people hated Inception, The Prestige, and Memento. All Nolan movies yes, and also Wally Pfister was the Cinematographer on every one. So there are moments that you can see some Nolan (who served as Executive Producer) creeping through the frames but they are few and far between. But Pfister does something more, He creates an intelligent movie. At times a movie that is self aware in its own intelligence. And if there's one thing American audiences hate, its being made to think about what they're watching.
A

Draft Day

A lot of people watch football. It has become an American pastime surpassing the cultural importance of even baseball. Who better to portray a NFL team manager on draft day (the day that is surpassed perhaps only by the Superbowl in importance to football teams) than the actor known for his iconic role in Field of Dreams? Though it's been many years since Kevin Costner had the type of star power that you can just make a movie and they will come...


The Cleveland Browns suck. I don't say that just cause I'm a Steelers fan. They really do. Everyone, even their own fans know it. But they have a lot of potential. Sonny Weaver Jr. has big plans for the Brown and it all comes down to the big day: the 2014 NFL Draft. Draft day is when stars are born or fall into obscurity. It's also the day team managers can make a championship team, or make terrible decisions that land them in the unemployment office. In all the deals being hashed and decisions being weighed, Sonny's personal life problems keep coming up. His dad recently died (after Sonny fired him), his demanding mother shows up at his office with an unusual request, and his girlfriend is pregnant. Unfortunately, everyone doubts Sonny's ability to bring the Brown back from disaster and juggle all of these issues on the same day... including Sonny himself.  

You could call Draft Day a sports movie... or a drama... or a romantic comedy... Think like Jerry Maguire (Chadwick Boseman even plays a character similar to the one Cuba Gooding Jr. played. To the point where you expect him to begin yelling "SHOW ME THE MONEY!" at any moment) Just like it's tough to pin down exactly where this movie falls on the genre spectrum its also hard to pin down why it's good or bad.
To watch Kevin Costner play the heck out of a character again is fun to watch but otherwise this movie gets a resounding "Eh..."     C+

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I have a hard time liking Marvel movies. One: I'm a DC Comics man. Two: Every time a Marvel movie comes out I compare it to the greatest superhero movies ever made: The Dark Knight Trilogy. I've given up even pretending like I even watched The Incredible Hulk, I grudgingly admit liking Iron Man, I happily hate Iron Man 2, I really like Thor, Thor 2 and Iron Man 3, and even though I like The Avengers, I can quickly point out its many faults. The Marvel movie I like the most was always Captain America. Captain America 2 outdoes its predecessor in every way...

Steve Rodgers looks pretty good for 95 years old, he jogs every day, enjoys catching up with old friends and the current times, and the occasional top secret mission keeps him young and healthy. See, Steve isn't just any old WWII vet, he's Captain freakin' America! A symbol of justice, freedom, and sit ups! But now in a modern, complex, post 9/11 world, Captain America is having a hard time being those symbols anymore (except the sit ups). Now with cyber spying, wire tapping, and preemptive strikes, Steve feels like the old values of freedom and privacy are being lost. As he puts it: "This isn't freedom, it's fear." After the loss of a close friend and the new threat of a super assassin, The Winter Soldier, Captain America is a little out of his element. Not knowing who to trust the ol' Cap goes on a search for answers in a world fraught with unseen dangers.

Let me get right to the point: It is my personal opinion that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is by far the best Marvel movie. Its action is breathtaking, its dilemmas relate to the real world, and in a time when anti heroes and complex heroes and sometimes downright villains are the main draw (which to be honest, I love) in The Winter Soldier we find a hero who is truly heroic. He the all American boy scout, the never tell a lie role model, and at the same time the arm breaking, butt kicking, head cracking war hero that he needs to be. It is a downright, unashamedly American, feel good action movie. And I loved it.        A+

Noah

I was so excited for this movie from the moment it was announced. I followed every tidbit of information as it was released. I was disappointed but intrigued when atheist and controversial director Darren Aronofsky signed on and super excited when one of my favorite actors, Russel Crowe, joined as the namesake character. Then came the rumors of controversy... By the time it was released I was wary and went into the theater with an open mind but a small sense of dread... (Warning: I couldn't resist a flooding this review with puns. Sea?)

We all know the story: In the years following creation, man has fallen into depraved sin. God is going to destroy the world but finds one righteous man, Noah. He commands him to build an ark and save his family and two of every kind of animal. After the flood, mankind begins anew. Now scratch pretty much everything above that we thought we knew about this story except Noah, Ark, Animals and Flood because you wont be seeing the Noah you're familiar with here. Instead here's the gist of this tale: The Creator (purposely left ambiguous) creates man, man sins, Creator kicks man out of Eden, Angels feel bad for man and want to help him, Creator banishes Angels to roam the earth as giant rock monsters, man begin to eat animals, Creator doesn't like meat eaters and never intended for man to have dominion over earth, Creator plans to destroy man with flood and commands the last son of Seth, Noah, to build an ark to save the innocent animals, Noah does so with help from rock ents, battles meat eating bad men, flood wipes earth clean, Noah realizes the Creator demands all men to die to preserve utopia, herbivorous, animal world and decides to kill his grandchildren when they are born, flood ends, Noah realizes he's wrong, blesses family, rainbow in the sky, end.

This is pretty much Noah in a nut shell. Even if it didn't pretty much abandon all religious accounts of Noah, the movie in itself is a pretty meandering, boring film. But couple that with its ocean of errors and you have what my one friend called: "A complete washout."  F  

God's Not Dead

Let me be honest: I am incredibly critical of independent Christian films. There are only a few that I really enjoy and am willing to watch multiple times. They're one of the reasons I became interested in film making. I hate how they sacrifice quality for positive messages and demand both. I had incredibly low expectations for God's Not Dead after reading more than one less than positive reviews (including one from a Christian reviewer) but I am happy to report I was pleasantly surprised.

Though the film focuses on several story lines the main one involves a university student, Josh Wheaton, who gets more than he bargained for after enrolling in a philosophy class that is taught by an avid and hostile atheist. On the first day of class the professor demands his students to turn in a signed paper declaring that God is dead. When Josh refuses, he is challenged to prove the opposite in a series of lectures and thus puts his academic standing in jeopardy.

God is Not Dead occasionally falls into familiar Christian film tropes so let me start with the negatives: One thing that annoyed me to no end was the name Josh Wheaton...which sounds a lot like Joss Whedon. But that is probably just the nerd fanboy in me. But seriously, sometime the drama is overdone, overacted, and the villain over-villainous. The Newsboys product placement drove me crazy. Despite all that, I found at the end, a positive message and an overall enjoyable movie.    A-