A Very Non-Zombie, Zombie Movie: "Maggie"

Maggie (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Abigail Breslin, Joely Richardson

Directed by Henry Hobson

The Story:

Wade (Schwarzenegger) has spent the last several weeks trying desperately to find his daughter Maggie (Breslin) and bring her home safely. Maggie has been infected, and within 8 weeks she will turn into a zombie, and Wade wants to make sure that she is with her family, and not just another number in one of the quarantine zones.

How far will a father go to protect his daughter, knowing at any time she could turn on him?

That's the bottom line on this movie.

It's not Ah-nuhld vs. zombies, which is probably why the movie didn't do much at the box office.

However, Arnold read the script and if rumors are true, he starred in the film for free to keep the production costs low.

I won't say it's the "thinking mans zombie movie".

However, it's the most un-zombie-like zombie movie that I can recall.

This isn't a tale about surviving the zombie plague...but it is, somewhat.

This is a look at what a person loses as they slowly slip into becoming a zombie, and the effect is has on the family around them.

Very little action, very few zombies. Very well done.

Still manages to tug on the heartstrings a few times during the movie.

Currently streaming on Amazon for Prime members.

Final Grade: C+ / B- range is about right.

War Is Just A Game With A More Serious Outcome..."Ender's Game"

Ender's Game (2013)

Rated PG-13 for violence

Starring Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight

Directed by Gavin Hood

The Story:

In the future, the Earth was threatened by an alien race.  Saved by a heroic pilot (Kingsley), the Earth regrouped and has formed a battle fleet that will chase down the aliens and ensure that they are never again threatened by the species.  To do this, the military uses children who they push and assess to see if they can find their next great leader. Colonel Graff (Ford) believes he has found such a prodigy in Ender Wiggin (Butterfield) and he is recruited to lead the forces into battle.  But is a child really the right leader in the balance of life and death?

Well, it was no After Earth, thank goodness!

But again, I've been stuck in a rut with a bunch of average movies.

Granted, at the end of the day, that's way better than a bunch of terrible movies.

This film feels like it could have used a bit of trimming to shorten it's almost 2 hour runtime down to 90 minutes.

A few tweaks here and there, could have lifted this one a little higher.

No complaints with Harrison Ford, thankfully growing his hair back.  His gruff demeanor lends more believability to the film and tries to anchor it with his performance.

Ben Kingsley is also a nice, but wholly underused, addition to the cast. The character is integral to the film, and I would have liked to have seen more.

Otherwise, the kids engaging in military games, pushing each other in the pursuit of their objectives and the final question of who were the real monsters keep this film from being a total letdown.

Final Grade: C

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I could watch it again, but I'd be in no hurry.

She'll Raise the Kids and They are "Raising Helen"

The life you need is not always the life you have...

The Story:

Helen (Kate Hudson) is a young star on the rise, working as an agent in the modeling world of New York.  Her work is a dream, and her life is a party.  Then one night, she gets a phone call that her sister, Lindsay (Felicity Huffman) and her husband were both killed in a car accident.  Stranger still, Helen has been granted custody of Lindsay's three children (Hayden Panettiere, Spencer Breslin and Abigail Breslin) instead of oldest sister Jenny (Joan Cusack) who is already a responsible mom.  As Helen has to completely reorganize her life, she begins to realize that she is not cut out for being a mom.  Plus, there's the local Pastor (John Corbett) who thinks Helen is pretty cute and would love to date her.  The deeper over her head she gets trying to care for the kids, the more she realizes that she wasn't cut out for this life, and Jenny would be the better caretaker.  Helen's going to have to make a choice, very soon, for the sake of the kids.

What a sad, yet sweet movie.

Another breezy film by Garry Marshall, they try and make the grief as painless as possible, this is supposed to be somewhat romantic comedy after all.

And yet...

The loss of the parents is never far from the surface, and the reasons why Lindsay selects Helen over Jenny are finally revealed in the final act, though it's fairly easy to piece it together as the movie goes along and the characters fully develop.

All of the actors do a great job, and it's a great time capsule in their careers almost a decade ago.

Kate Hudson looks great, very reminiscent of her mom.

This film provides cinematic proof that finding a good guardian to raise your children is the hardest decision any parents will ever have to make, and hopefully one they will never have to utilize.

Final Grade: B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: This is the second time in 10 years I've seen it.  I keep meaning to add it to the collection but forget.  Maybe around its 15th anniversary? :)

Don't Hang Up...You Need to Answer "The Call"

Don't hang up...

The Story:

Jordan Turner (Halle Berry) is a 9-1-1 operator.  One night she takes a frantic call from a girl who thinks someone is in her house.  The call gets disconnected, so Jordan calls back.  Sadly, the killer (Michael Eklund) hears the phone ring, finds the girl, and tells Jordan that it's too late for the cops to do anything, and kills the girl.  Obviously shaken, Jordan cannot dispatch any longer.  She now trains the new operators, and happens to be conducting training when another call from another girl, Casey, (Abigail Breslin) comes in.  The operator doesn't know what to do, and Jordan takes over.  She tries to calm her, but when she discovers that it is the same guy from the other call, Jordan cannot rest until she finds Casey.

This wasn't that bad of a movie.

Again, WWE Studios plays it smart by hiring real actors including Morris Chestnut and Micahel Imperioli to round out the cast, while slipping in a wrestler, David Otunga, who doesn't embarrass himself onscreen. 

I use the word "wrestler" loosely in Otunga's case.

:)

In fact, the movie crackles along fairly well for the first 2/3rds of the movie.  It's rather tense pacing and believable enough that you care for both women on each end of the phone.

After watching the movie, I think I have come to the conclusion that 911 operators probably do have one of the worst jobs in the world!  Talk about hectic and stressful.

The wheels slightly come off at the very end when this operator goes out to find the bad guy and confront him...alone!

Come on, really?

Fair enough, I see what they are going for, and the end is actually rather amusing because of what and how they did it.

But for that moment when Jordan takes to the streets, the movie suddenly grabs all the silly clichés and puts them on display.

Otherwise though, not too bad.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I don't think I would mind watching it again someday, but I'm in no hurry to add it to the collection.

Is The Movie Worth Watching? "Definitely, Maybe"

A story about love, divorce, and second chances.

The Story:

Will (Ryan Reynolds) is getting divorced.  This of course doesn't sit well with his little girl, Maya (Abigail Breslin) who wants to know about how he met her mom and maybe see what went wrong in the marriage.  Fair enough, so Will begins telling her the story of the loves of his life, of which there were three, only he changes their names so that Maya can't figure out which girl happens to be her mom.  Will it be college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks), good friend April (Isla Fisher) or sophisticated Summer (Rachel Weisz)?  And by telling the story, can Will learn any lessons and realize that maybe the one he was supposed to end up with is still out there?

Before there was "How I Met Your Mother..."

This movie works, for the most part, as a fun romantic comedy. 

I'm not sure what exactly is missing from the movie overall that keeps it from being a must see for me though.  While good, it never crosses the threshold and becomes great.

Ryan Reynolds is always a plus for me, and for the most part he is allowed to play his usual charming, wise-cracking self.

His chemistry with his leading ladies varies, but that is a hard enough trick to pull off with one star, let alone three.

About five years have elapsed since I first saw this, so it was pretty much like watching it again for the first time.

I absolutely think the correct choices were made, as even the daughter rules out her real mom in the story. : )

Will's second chance at love is both uplifting and heartbreaking for both characters, and that is a nice change of pace, when they could have made it so much easier on his character.

Glad I  got a second chance to revisit this one.

Final Grade: B-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: No hurry...should be up for it again in about 5 years. : )