John Wick

                                                         

John Wick – movie review by Tony Baksa 11/13/2014
Hamburg Sun

Rating – 4 Suns

Take one part Quentin Tarantino, one part Kung Fu and one part Clint Eastwood and you will have “John Wick”.  On their own, each is entertaining to their target audience. Mixed thoroughly and you have a superior entertainment for everyone.

Keanu Reeves stars as a retired high level hit man who encounters a trio of thugs hell bent on stealing his snazzy car. In the process they beat him violently and to top it off kill his adorable dog before they speed off with his Mustang. Their big mistake was not knowing who he is. He’s John Wick famous assassin – formerly known as “The Boogeyman” – an unstoppable force. Their bigger mistake was not knowing that Wick was a “colleague” of the father of the trio’s leader. Their biggest mistake was killing John Wick’s dog. You see, our beloved hit man recently lost his beautiful wife to a terminal illness. The dog was her parting gift to him. We are treated to scenes of Wick lavishing affection on the dog as he grieves.  With brief flashbacks of his deceased wife, there is a sense that he gave up his life of crime for her and the decency she represented. Therefore, this dog is everything to him – EVERYTHING.

Well, that is all you need to know of the movie’s plot. The remainder of the movie is all revenge played out in some of the most exciting action you will encounter. This is not an overstatement. Directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski we are treated to wildly enthralling fights and shoot outs that are brilliant in their execution. The directors know their material all too well. They are former stunt doubles for the film’s star, Keanu Reeves. What is even more interesting and, frankly astonishing, is that “John Wick” is the first film directed by Leitch and Stahelski. They must have been paying attention as stunt men on the many movies they worked. I am guessing they have also watched a lot of Kung Fu movies as well. “John Wick” plays like Kung Fu with guns instead of flying feet and fists.

The amazing fight choreography especially the shoot outs are unequalled in recent memory. Inspired by martial arts movies, it is fast and furious like a runaway train. The all-important editing in such a film cannot be denied. I am predicting an Oscar nomination for film editing.

As for the cast, they are fine especially John Leguizamo in a tiny cameo that is, nevertheless memorable. But it is all Reeves. He is so strong in presence. As a loner of few words - relentless for vengeance, he will surely bring to mind the revenge seeking Clint Eastwood in his younger days. Keanu Reeves has had a string of bombs in the last few years. As the title character he states in a confrontational prelude to his rampage, “I’m thinking I’m back!” Yes, Keanu, you are and welcome back.

The look of the film is strangely beautiful for this genre. With New York City as the backdrop, the choreographed violence is mesmerizing and, above all, exciting. It’s not real and we know it. It’s fun. It’s iconic movie making. It’s cowboys and gangsters – good guys and bad guys - Gary Cooper in “High Noon”, Spencer Tracy in “Bad Day at Black Rock”.  It’s classic. It’s movie time – popcorn and candy.  We leave the theater exhilarated and satisfied.

“John Wick” is currently in theaters.                                         

Men, Women & Children

Men, Women & Children - Movie Review by Tony Baksa

10/23/2014

Rating - 4 Suns

The internet, social media and all the modern day devices like Ipads, androids and IPhones provide us with great connectivity - or does it? Yes, we email and prolifically post on Facebook, Instagram, twitter, blogs and YouTube. We may feel involved in each other’s lives and to some degree we are. But to what degree? Have all these platforms for social discourse and self-expression actually made us less connected? That’s the irony presented to us by producer, director and screenwriter Jason Reitman in his cautionary tale, "Men, Women & Children.”

It is a powerfully sad film about private lives and enormous secrets. With a strong ensemble cast, "Men, Women &Children" pulls no punches in its frank story of the harm technology does to society - more accurately, the abuse of technology.

The large cast of characters includes teenagers with their constant texting - often times sending messages to friends who occupy their very same space. It should be funny but it is not. Then there are the adults surfing the web for companionship outside their marriages. With so much available on the internet from an abundance of news, games, gossip to misinformation and the illicit, a sort of worldwide obsession seems to have taken hold. 

A major theme is played out in the story of a suicidal teen believing that nothing matters. The earth viewed from the perspective of the entire universe, he feels, is an insignificant dot.  Ansel Elgort as Tim Mooney has latched on to this theory after reading Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”. Tim should be enjoying his high school years. He is the star football player and admired by the student body as well as the faculty. Yet, he has gotten this notion into his head how unimportant football is and therefore winning is especially meaningless. Tim has come to hate football. So, he has decided to quit the team to everyone’s dismay including his father. All he seems to care about anymore is computer games – bloody war games – hours spent on this one lonely endeavor.  His only connection to his absent mother is through Facebook where, unknown to her, he reads her postings.

Another teen, full of innocence, is pushed into sudden maturity by circumstances she is ill equipped to understand. Rude awakenings and unlikely outcomes abound for all these innocents – young and old alike. All this technology has produced a world of people leading lives of quiet desperation. Misunderstandings and alienation are the order of the day.

Adan Sandler as suburban husband and father Don Truby heads the best ensemble cast of the year. Yes, Adam Sandler! Rarely associated with serious social drama, Sandler has probably the best written and most effective scene in the film that sums up everything Reitman wants to say. It is classic in style and chilling as Don (Sandler) responds to his wife after secrets and lies are confronted. I was shocked by his authority in the scene. I hope to see more of this caliber of work from him in the future.

Also outstanding is Elena Kampouris as a doe eyed waif disillusioned by her big crush. She is heartbreaking. Olivia Crocicchia as an aspiring model/actress and her conspiratorial mother (Judy Greer) bring a new twist to the stage mother myth. Dean Norris as a middle aged man searching for true love is also commanding. I was especially taken with Jennifer Garner as an obsessed helicopter mom tracking her daughter’s every move through a collection of devices. Garner gives an Oscar worthy performance. The fact is, the entire cast is extraordinary.

"Men, Women & Children" is a bold film. It is among the most compelling movies you will see this fall. The narration by Emma Thompson adds an offbeat and eerie quality to the proceedings. With her cool demeanor and British accent, Thompson's off screen commentary adds to the disconnect. It is a brilliant stroke.

With solid and compassionate direction, Reitman delivers the best movie to date on the dark side of computers, cell phones and the internet - truly a cautionary tale.

"Men, Women & Children" is coming soon to an area theater.

http://www.thesunnews.net/scene/973-Men_Women__Children_is_a_bold_cautionary_tale.html

Gone Girl

‘Gone Girl’ is a riveting ride

Sunday October 12, 2014 | By:Tony Baksa |

You know summer at the movies is over when films such as “Gone Girl” hit the big screen. All the superheroes and space zombies have been tucked away until next summer, to make room for smart, intelligent and complex fare.

Like the classic movies of directors such as Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock and William Wyler, David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” grabs hold of its viewers and never lets go. Even the surprise ending keeps its tight grip right to the very end.

The screenplay by Gillian Flynn, based on her novel by the same name, is full of twists and turns that are riveting. Director Fincher (“The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” and “The Social Network”) handles it all with a momentum that is so thrilling.

Watching this movie is akin to curling up with a great mystery novel on a chilly winter evening and not looking up until the final page is turned.

The unbelievable revelations throughout “Gone Girl” are made palatable by the sincere and committed performances of its superb cast. Headed by Ben Affleck with Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris as you have never seen him, the wonderful Kim Dickens and a host of entertaining cameos by Sela Ward, Tyler Perry and Missi Pyle as a Nancy Grace clone, there is not a boring moment to be had.

The story begins with two very attractive and charming people who “meet cute” at a party. You think you know the rest of this story already.

They fall in love, marry and live an idyllic life – or so it seems. Nick (Affleck) and Amy (Pike) have it all and would be the envy of anyone. After five years of wedded bliss, Amy goes missing. Her disappearance catches the eye of the media and the frenzy begins. Loving and devoted Nick is put front and center in this three-ring circus and eventually falls under suspicion for possibly murdering Amy. She is nowhere to be found and, based on incriminating behavior by Nick, the police and the media – even Amy’s parents – become convinced that this perfect husband isn’t all that he seemed.

This is just the beginning and what ensues is anything but clichéd. Outrageous surprises and plot turns will keep you glued to the screen. Anything more said will serve as a large heap of spoilers.

This is a masterwork by director Fincher and his cast. Affleck is so good in this movie. His naturalistic, low-key style matched with his commanding screen presence is perfect for a character that may or may not be a scoundrel. I am not familiar with Pike. After this film, I believe we will see much more of her in future movies. This is a star -making performance. I’d also like to single out Kim Dickens as the investigating detective. Her breezy, no-nonsense characterization is terrific and adds an amusing note to the serious proceedings.

I believe readers of Flynn’s popular book will not be disappointed. It was a very smart idea to have Flynn write the screenplay. I’m thinking she got it right.

Whether book or movie, “Gone Girl” is to be applauded as an exciting and satisfying entertainment rich in physiological thrills and chills.

“Gone Girl” is currently in theaters.

http://www.thesunnews.net/news/189-'Gone_Girl_is_a__riveting_ride.html

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES

‘A Walk Among Tombstones’ procedural does not disappoint

Saturday October 4, 2014 | By:Tony Baksa |

Liam Neeson’s career took a strange turn, a few years back. With a well-deserved rep for classical theater (Hamlet) and films (Excalibur), along with serious dramas (Schindler’s List) and sophisticated comedies (Husbands and Wives), it is interesting to note that this excellent actor has become Mr. Avenger. His “Taken” film series alone should solidify his tough guy hero status. Well, he’s at it again and I’m not complaining. Neeson is such a good actor that his mere presence adds weight to the proceedings.

In “A Walk Among The Tombstones,” Neeson plays a retired cop working as a private investigator. This kind of character is not new to movies. Let’s face it; it’s a well-worn cliché. But give Liam Neeson the part with an above-average script and taut direction, plus a wonderfully quirky supporting cast, and you have the cliché turned inside out. What you get is a very watchable movie filled with suspense, a good amount of fright and a deep-rooted edgy undercurrent.

It begins with a request by a wealthy drug dealer (Dan Stevens) for Matt Scudder (Neeson) to locate the men who kidnapped and murdered his wife. The drug dealer wants revenge because he paid the ransom for his wife but the kidnappers murdered her, anyway. Scudder reluctantly agrees to the job. He soon learns that what he is dealing with is not an isolated case of kidnapping, but a horrible case involving a pair of serial killers who target rich drug kingpins. They get the money from their victims but rather than stick to the usual agreement to return the captive – in most cases a wife or daughter – they gleefully murder them in horrific ways. Police are never called in, due to the nature of the client’s “profession.”

This is a riveting procedural laced with brutality and a film noir-like moodiness. I could easily picture Robert Mitchum as Scudder, back in the day. Throughout the film, we are treated with well-acted turns by a host of dark and brooding characters. Special mention goes to Olafur Darri Olafsson as the graveyard attendant with a thing for pigeons and Boyd Holbrook as a junkie attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The same meetings our hero, Scudder, attends – “8 years sober” he announces. Oh yes, Scudder has a regrettable back story.

One bright, albeit sad light, in this dark tale is the clean, straightforward performance by young Brian Bradley as T.J. a computer savvy vegetarian homeless boy – I did say the characters are quirky. T.J. latches on to Scudder. They are, in many ways, kindred spirits. After so much murkiness, the film’s last shot involving Scudder and T.J. is like a sigh of relief and hopefully a hint at a sequel – wounded souls – man and boy solve another mystery.

The film is set in the 1990’s in New York City. Attention to detail is wonderfully subtle. Y2K was on everyone’s mind. People were running scared. Looking back, we see how ridiculous it all was. My favorite line in this film uttered by the monstrous villain, “People are afraid of all the wrong things,” strikes a truthful chord chilling in its rendering by a psychopath.

Directed and written with great economy by Scott Frank (The Wolverine), “A Walk Among The Tombstones,” based on a novel by Buffalonian Lawrence Block , is a no-nonsense thriller that, unlike many movies in this genre, does not disappoint.

“A Walk Among The Tombstones” is currently in theaters.


http://www.thesunnews.net/news/384-'A_Walk_Among_Tombstones__procedural_does_not_disappoint.html

Boyhood

Boyhood - film review by Tony Baksa

Rating – 2 Suns

Director Richard Linklater has a body of very interesting work that deals most essentially with real time. In real time we are witness to human behavior at its most authentic. His past films such as “Before Sunrise” “Waking Life” and “Before Sunset” are fascinating and entertaining studies of people – mostly young people – who talk and behave in a true to life fashion. What they have to say and how it advances the plot is Linklater’s modus operandi. These films along with his other movies – “Dazed and Confused” and “School of Rock” all share this essential characteristic – more specifically a moment in time.  The moments Linklater seems most interested in exploring are youthful passages – growing up – getting to the brink of adulthood.

“Boyhood” is such a movie. Filmed over twelve years beginning in 2002 using the same actors, we witness through episodes in the life of young Mason his growing years from age five to eighteen in Austin, Texas. It is an intriguing premise. I so love this idea that I wish I could report that it works. Because of the mundane screenplay by Linklater and obvious improvised scenes, “Boyhood” isn’t fully successful.

When an exciting premise such as this is offered, one would think it is because an exceptional story needed to be told. What unfolds is a series of dull scenes in the life of Mason and his family – all cliché moments spread out over three long hours. The usual sibling rivalry, awkwardness at school, peer pressure, first love, first car, graduation and the predictable off to college finale is all there as anyone would expect. If we are being told this well-worn story, shouldn’t there be a fresh spin? The unusual premise that Linklater employs just isn’t enough to elevate “Boyhood”. 

What is especially jarring is the unfortunate fact that little boy Mason played by Ellar Coltrane is a better actor than teenage Coltrane. Apparently, Coltrane’s ability as an actor wans as he ages. Not so with Lorelei Linklater the director’s daughter, as Samantha, Mason’s older sister. She is the most compelling character in the film. Her earlier scenes are so well acted and truthful. It is the film’s major shortcoming that interest in Samantha falls away as she ages. She all but becomes a nodding presence – subjugated to clear the way for the less interesting story line – that of her brother, Mason.

Ethan Hawke as the divorced father and Patricia Arquette as the much married hard working mother of Mason and Samantha turn in very good performances. Strong performances in a weak movie seem like such a waste.

I would like to see Linklater continue this idea by filming his talented daughter, Lorelei Linklater as Samantha, for the next 12 years. Have someone else write the screenplay. Call it “Girlhood”. Avoid the cliché’s and give this interesting actress a through-line she so richly deserves.

“Boyhood” is currently in theaters 

The Hundred-Foot Journey

Thursday September 4, 2014 | By:Tony Baksa |

Three suns.
HAMBURG — Director Lasse Hallstrom has given us quirky, moody comedies with a gentle storybook touch: “The Cider House Rules,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” and “Chocolat.” He is back to enchant us again with a lovely human comedy, “The Hundred-Foot Journey.”

Based on a novel by Richard C. Morais, “The Hundred-Foot Journey” tells the tale of a family seeking success on their own terms. They come to France, leaving tragedy and loss behind them in Mumbai, full of talent, ambition and love. At the center of this journey is Hassan, a young, gifted cook eager to elevate himself to chef status. With support from his formidable father, there is no question he will succeed. His success is not the story. His journey to culinary stardom is.

Hassan’s father, referred to as “Papa” in the film, is a force of nature. Papa collides with another force of nature, Madame Mallory, who owns a renowned French restaurant across the street from where he plans to open an Indian eatery. What ensues is a battle of cultures. Played by seasoned actors Om Puri as Papa and Helen Mirren as Madame Mallory, their frequent skirmishes are delightfully comic and heartwarming. These two charismatic pros anchor a movie that teaches tolerance and grace without ever getting preachy or maudlin.

Manish Dayal, as Hassan, couldn’t be more perfect as he shares his culinary love with another chef, Marguerite, portrayed by Charlotte Le Bon. Of course they fall in love. And their road to love is as bumpy as their road to fame. This movie isn’t concerned with the bumps. It’s the hundred-foot journey that Hassan, Papa and Madame Mallory take that bring a soulful peace to all, the distance between the establishments run by Papa and Madame Mallory.

This film symbolizes how close we all are to fulfilling our dreams and the obstacles in our way. Hallstrom provides beautiful visuals — a long country road that seems to stretch into infinity divides the two properties — just a hundred feet is the distance to understanding.

Here is another “foodie” movie that will send you out of the theater and into the nearest restaurant. I settled for a hot food and salad bar that fortunately offered both Indian and French cuisine, located five minutes from the theater. With close-ups of samosas, sea urchin and French omelets, you will be salivating too.

Directed with gauzy luster and cozy sentimentality, Lasse Hallstrom sustains the fairytale quality that feels nostalgic.

Produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is that rare family film that doesn’t pander It is a fine moral and entertaining movie that inspires the very best in human nature.

“The Hundred-Foot Journey” is currently playing in theaters.

http://www.thesunnews.net/scene/579-The_Hundred-Foot_Journey.html

Lucy

‘Lucy’ shows off Scarlet Johansson’s screen skills

Saturday August 9, 2014 | By:Tony Baksa |

In 1994, at the tender age of 10, Scarlett Johansson appeared in a movie entitled “If Lucy Fell.” She played the tiny role of Emily. Well, you’ve got to start somewhere. Twenty years later, she is Lucy – a different Lucy. I’m so glad she stuck with acting. This 2014 movie puts her in the title role. “Lucy” is a tantalizing sci-fi mystery that is all the more interesting because Johansson is its star. She is a terrific actress that instinctively strikes just the right notes to deliver an original character for us to marvel at and, more importantly, care about.

Scarlett Johansson is the modern-day Barbara Stanwyck – hard edged on the outside and smoldering hot under the cool exterior. This quality couldn’t be more perfect for a movie that wants to make profound statements in an exciting and adventuress way. Her minimalist performance speeds the plot along and never gets in the way of the screenwriter’s very interesting ideas.

Directed and written by Luc Besson, of “The Fifth Element” and the “Taken” movies, he is a master of the fast-moving fish out of water plots. “Lucy” finds our title protagonist in a kind of dark and dangerous Alice in Wonderland nightmare.

Coerced into taking part in what seemed like a simple delivery of a locked briefcase – contents unknown to her, Lucy is captured, tortured and forced to take part in an international drug smuggling scheme. Lucy turns the tables on everyone, in one of the wildest and most original revenge scenarios imaginable. Aided by an expert on the human mind, Professor Norman (Morgan Freeman), “Lucy” takes us into “Twilight Zone” territory.

This concise and compact rollercoaster ride plows through the past, present and future – literally. It begins in the present, zaps back to prehistoric apes and dinosaurs, stops off briefly in Colonial times and then plunges headlong into the future cosmos and mind expanding visuals – straight into infinity. This is accomplished by nearly a hundred special effects and art direction teams that realize Luc Besson’s vision.

Aside from its “Twilight Zone” influences, Besson is surely paying homage to the great director, Stanley Kubrick. The last 10 minutes of the film just may blow your mind as “2001 A Space Odyssey” did, way back when. It doesn’t reach the greatness of that movie, but “Lucy” is thrilling entertainment. It deals with subjects like the power of the mind, unending human potential and spiritual awareness, in a way that only good science fiction can. And it delivers it disguised in an action-packed 90 minutes.

“Lucy” doesn’t overstay her welcome. She gets the job done and then disappears. You’ll see what I mean.

“Lucy” is currently in theaters.

http://www.thesunnews.net/news/810-'Lucy_shows_off_Scarlet_Johanssons_screen_skills.html