A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST  2.3 ****

 

 

  Set in Arizona in 1882, the film stars Seth MacFarlane as Albert Stark, a mild-mannered sheep farmer living a mundane existence in the rough and tumble town of Old Stump. Stark has just lost his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) to a wealthy local businessman (Neil Patrick Harris), and spends his days drinking away his sorrows with his best (and seemingly only) friend Edward (Giovanni Ribisi) and his prostitute fiancée, Ruth (Sarah Silverman).Meanwhile, notorious outlaw Clinch Leatherwood (Liam Neeson) has dispatched his wife, Anna (Charlize Theron) to Old Stump to await his arrival while he and the rest of the gang pull off another stagecoach robbery. After a chance encounter during a bar fight, Theron takes an immediate liking to McFarlane, and agrees to help him win back the heart of his lost love, but fails to reveal that she’s Neeson’s wife which could cause grave consequences when Neeson shows up and finds out.

 

While the plot sounds like it could have come from any number of Western films, everything that occurs on the screen is seen through  MacFarlane's unique sense of humor (he’s also the Director). There are some funny moments but no laugh-out-loud kind… mostly just a few smiles and a few chuckles. The fact is that most of the film's humor is derived from the sort of R-rated content that MacFarlane can't get away with on television. There are only so many jokes about sex and bodily functions  that an audience can absorb before these topics stops being funny, and this film continues well past that mark. MacFarlane has proved time and again that he can write intelligent, thought-provoking comedy ( TV shows: “Family Guy” and “American Guy” and to some extent the movie ”Ted”): , but  he seems far too willing to cast that aside in favor of crude jokes and lame attempts to be offensive and shocking, just for the sake of being offensive and shocking.  

 

But, in fact, MacFarlane is the main problem because he's the one who's genuinely out of his depth. He doesn’t have a good sense of comedic timing and lacks a leading man’s charm and, thus is not capable of propping up a movie as the lead. The movie is far too long and veers off in a semi-serious direction that kills the humor.  MacFarlane assembled a good cast but largely ignores them in favor of himself (ego trip).

 

I will say the Arizona scenery is gorgeous and frequently used to the film’s credit.

Rated R for strong crude language throughout, sexual content, and some violence and drug material. |  

Also available in 3D but don’t waste your money (usually an extra $3) on it.. I did and regretted it… and almost the whole ticket price.

 

Clark

 

X-MEN: Days of Future Past   3.5***

 

            Including "The Wolverine", this is the seventh outing for the X-Men of the Marvel Comics franchise and Bryan Singer who directed the first two, is back as director . The movie begins in a not too distant post-apocalyptic future, where most mutants have been eradicated, Wolverine (Huge Jackman) Professor X (Patrick Stewart) Magneto (Ian McKellen) Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) Storm (Halle Berry) and a few other (lesser) superheroes find themselves cornered, with enemies quickly approaching. These new enemies are called Sentinels and they are the brainchild of Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage). These mutant- hunting robots were  designed to seek out and destroy all mutants and more importantly were constructed in such a way that, in large groups, they are  unbeatable. With death assuredly in their near future, the surviving X-Men's only choice is to send Wolverine back in time  to the inception of the Sentinel (the 1970's) in order to reunite young Professor X (James McAvoy) young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and find a way to modify history; hence the title.  

 

With such a complicated narrative we have good mutants, bad mutants, past mutants, future mutants, one who manages to be in both the future and the past, and another who uses his powers to have a conversation between his past and future selves . So it's not always clear exactly what's going on but it is loads of fun with some terrific scenes. (especially so in the 3D version which I chose over the traditional 2D) I especially enjoyed a freeze-time scene where the mutant called Quicksilver gets to do his stuff and a sequence in which Magneto raises an entire football stadium before putting it to a very novel strategic use.

 

My only gripe with this movie is that it has too many characters and   some of them don't get enough screen time despite the fact there are great actors playing those characters . Also, for those like me who have not seen many of the X-Men movies, you don’t know who or what some of the characters are.

 

But what really sets the X-men films apart from the ever more derivative comic-book adaptations is that I always genuinely cared for the characters, and 'Days of Future Past' is no exception. I love loud, spectacular action movies as much as the next guy, but if you don't always get to care for the heroes.  What we get here is a complex, smart Fantasy/Sci-Fi thrill-ride that respects its origins as much as it embraces the future, while never - ever - forgetting that its first job is to entertain the audience. For finding that  rare balance between character-driven human drama and no-holds-barred popcorn action spectacle, 'Days of Future Past'  sparkles and provides plenty of X-citement !!

D-DAY  Normandy 1944 3D  3.0***

    In a compact 43 minutes,  “D-Day: Normandy 1944”, as narrated by Tom Brokaw, delivers a concise but surprisingly comprehensive overview of the events leading up to the June 6, 1944, Allied invasion of Normandy. With clarity and an imaginative use of a variety of film techniques, the movie takes the viewer through the assault itself hour-by-hour, as Allied troops fought their way on and off the beaches under fire from German army defenders (particularly intense on Omaha Beach) and began the longer struggle to liberate France from the Nazis. The movie begins with "The Great Crusade" letter that Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower wrote outlining the invasion. Incredibly, that letter was delivered to the 160,000 soldiers, sailors and airmen  who took part in the invasion before the invasion began.

The movie uses animated battle maps, live-action re-enactments, computer-generated sequences of air attacks and naval bombardments, and colorized archival photos to tell the story.  Rather than show blood or too much violence for the battle scenes the Director Voong  employs a process called sand animation in which the animators manipulate grains of sand to produce images that “express something hard, violent and crude.”  This allows it to be an all family film.

The use of 3-D along with the I-Max, and other up-to-the-minute techniques make for a riveting and informative film experience.

Clark

NOTE: This is ONLY playing at I-MAX theatres .

 

GOD’S NOT DEAD  3.0***

 

            This is a Christian themed movie made by  Christian faith moviemakers and is pretty much what you should expect. This movie is meant to be inspiring to those who want to express their faith, but feel like they can't. It touches the hearts of many people: people with mentally ill or memory failing loved ones, people diagnosed with terminate diseases, people that feel that they can't express themselves, and even agnostics.   The movie was never intended to portray a cross-section of society with equal time but rather was aimed at putting out a Christian message, which it accomplished. The creators of the movie set out  to make people think about and react to their movie and its theme and they accomplished exactly what they set out to do. There have been harsh comments and reviews from some of the general public mainly atheist, non-Christian faiths and ‘liberal’ Christians. On the other hand there has been high praise and acclaim from many people primarily Christians. The movie does cause a polarizing reaction.

 

The movie is primarily about of a hardcore atheist college philosophy professor who gets his kicks by bullying Christians and other non-atheists by requiring them to sign a statement at the start of the course declaring that God is dead. The professor's portrayal may seem over the top, nonetheless he does represent an attitude of many in academia and the sciences.. The student that decides to take on this "out of line" prof and present his case for God's existence is allowed 3 class periods to do so. Some of the other class members are very interested in how this will go down and the prof tries many ways to bully his way out of the situation he finds himself in.

 

This film keeps the audience entertained by providing  other side plots. One example is a story about a young female atheist who is diagnosed with cancer, is quickly dropped by her boyfriend and follows her journey to come to terms with her fate and find Christianity

I understand that this movie was primarily meant for a Christian audience and it is biased in that way. Overall, I enjoyed the plot of the movie and its theme. However, I felt it was somewhat too preachy. I would recommend this movie to anyone as thought provoking and especially  for Christians as a nice “faith feel good” movie.

 

Clark

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HEAVEN IS FOR REAL   3.2***

    "Heaven is for Real" is a timely film for these increasingly materialistic times.   The story is based on true events, as related in a book of the same title, written by the main character, Todd Burpo. Todd is hard-working part-time Christian pastor who lives and serves in a small town in Nebraska with his wife, Sonja, and their two small kids, Cassie and Colton.

One day, four-year old Colton survives a very critical illness including a near death experience. Upon recovery, Colton tells  his father that he has been to heaven and actually sat on Jesus' lap. When the public gets wind of these stories though, they are met with disbelief and disdain. Todd Burpo has to wrestle with his own personal doubts and beliefs.

The cast is effectively led by Greg Kinnear as Todd Burpo. Kinnear delivers a touching performance of the pastor who has to face the doubting public and his own congregation regarding his son’s story about going to heaven. A good supporting is provided by Thomas Haden Church and Margo Martindale as the Burpo's neighbors and close friends and Kelly Reilly as the wife. The adorable Connor Corum as Colton is quite enchanting and charming … and believable in his sincerity.

This film is about the matter of religious faith.  Faith is about accepting mysteries and miracles which cannot be proved or explained by  human intelligence. There will always be those who feel that the burden of proof lies with the believer. But a true believer will feel that they do not have to prove anything since faith alone is enough. For me, I thought the movie succeeds (without being preachy )  in inspiring people to reflect on their own lives and  what happens after death… and the overriding importance of love.

 

This is an excellent family film … good for all ages above 5 .

 

Clark