A Great Reason To Move..."San Andreas"

San Andreas (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson, Paul Giamatti

Directed by Brad Peyton

The Story:

Los Angeles Fire Rescue pilot Ray Gaines (Johnson) grabs a chopper and heads north to San Francisco when a series of earthquakes shakes the San Andreas fault line and threatens to personally kill Ray's daughter (Daddario).

And when it's Mother Nature vs. Dwayne Johnson...

My money's on The Rock.

:)

Look, if you like popcorn disaster movies, you're going to have a pretty good time here.

The special effects are pretty good, and crazy scenarios aside (bay area boat race, I'm looking at you) it's all pretty good stuff.

The strained marital relationship seems a bit contrived simply to set up the damsel in distress scenarios, but it is what it is.

Everyone does a great job with their roles, no tongues planted in cheeks, this is straight-up end of the world how do we survive chaos.  Giamatti excels in his role as one of the scientists that finally comes up with a program that can predict earthquakes...

Just in time to see his machine go absolutely crazy with the mother of all quakes!

If you want to see more disaster on screen than you've seen since the last Roland / Emmerich production, look no further.

Final Grade: C+

"Dracula Untold" Was Worth Telling

Dracula Untold (2014)

Rated PG-13

Starring Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Art Parkinson, Charles Dance

Directed by Gary Shore

The Story:

Inspired by the true story of Vlad Tepes (Evans), this take on the legend of Dracula shows how the ruler became a legend in order to save his wife (Gadon) and son (Parkinson) from the cruel leader of the Turks (Cooper) who was going to enslave 1000 of the children under Tepes rule, including his son. Vlad found a way to get the power he needed to thwart the enemy, and it would last for 3 days unless he gave in to the hunger of the blood.

Oops.

:)

Well of course he gives in, he's Dracula after all!

However, it's the struggle to avoid being consumed by the power that is the heart of the story of Vlad who seeks only to save his family, and his kingdom from the tyrannical Turks.

Evans remains one of my favorite "B movie actors" who is finally getting a chance to work in "A Level material", undoubtedly thanks to the success of his turn in Fast 6. I welcome his arrival as the star and hope he lands more leading roles in the future.

Dracula Untold shies away from a lot of the bloodshed and violence that a movie like this seemingly demands.

However, I don't think that was a bad decision. We don't need to be drenched with blood to get the point of the film, sometimes not being shown allows us to think of the horror in our own minds, which usually is way scarier, and cooler, than the effects on screen.

Plus, bonus points for the creative way in which Dracula was shown to move in this film. Visually stunning, and very creative to the legend.

I enjoyed it, your mileage may vary.

Final Grade: B- (like the blood type)