All That Glitters..."Gold"

Gold (2016)

Rated R

Starring Matthew McConaughey, Edgar Ramirez, Bryce Dallas Howard,

Directed by

The Story:

Kenny Wells (McConaughey) is a down on his luck miner who has one last shot at the big time. He heads to Indonesia to meet Michael Acosta (Ramirez) and promises to get him the money to search for gold. Kenny gets the investments to come pouring in, and Acosta gets Kenny the gold that he promised, and even more money pours in.

Of course if that were the full story, it wouldn't be a very good movie.

And since this story is based on true events, it seems like something is missing.

Ah yes, the fact that there was no gold, or at least, not where they were looking.

Acosta delivers some gold in the core samples to Kenny to pass off to Wall Street and other investors.

They hear "gold strike" and they literally threw money hand over fist to get in on the deal before it passed them by.

Follow the twists and turns as Kenny balances the high-wire act to secure the financing and all the ups and downs that met him along the way.

Then there is the finale of the movie and it resonates with a did it or did it not really happen that way?

Only a few people know for certain, and they sure aren't telling.

Final Grade: C+

To Remake Or Not To Remake..."Pete's Dragon"

Pete's Dragon (2016)

Rated PG

Starring Oakes Fegley, Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oona Laurence, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban,

Directed by David Lowery

The Story:

Pete (Fegley) becomes orphaned and is raised in the wild Pacific Northwest by a dragon he calls Elliot. As the years pass, he is discovered by a girl (Laurence) and her mom (Howard), the local forest ranger. The only real problem, Gavin (Urban) has learned that the forest has a dragon in it, and he's decided it would fetch him a fortune.

Well, Disney swung for the fences with this one, making a live action adaptation of a late 70s hybrid live action/animated feature.

The good thing, it's better than the original, unless you happen to adore that movie, then it's quite likely you might hate this one.

Hard to say, I've seen differing opinions all over the internet.

One lady was reduced to tears because of the changes between films.

Yikes.

Some people need to get out more.

:)

Personally, I was pleased that the musical numbers were gone, and so too the abusive foster parents that Pete had to endure growing up.

The problem, for me, that has plagued most of these live action remakes, is that they're still just average at the end.

Disney has taken beloved animated classics, or in this case, an older movie (heheheh...) and just put a new coat of paint on it and pushed it out the door.

Maleficent at least had the decency to tell an entirely new story, and it remains the benchmark of quality for these films.

The rest have come across as average, which for other studios might be okay, but when this is Disney putting out a Disney movie, it seems like we should expect a little bit more, and I'm still just not seeing it.

Again, there's nothing wrong with the film on its own merits, it simply exists.

Plus, like most movies, they severely underutilized Karl Urban and so his villainous turn is half-hearted, at best.

Perhaps I'm jaded because How To Train Your Dragon has already taken the story of a boy and his dragon and raised the bar so well, this one just didn't have a chance.

Final Grade:  C

You Must Be At Least This Tall To Be Eaten By This Ride... "Jurassic World"

Jurassic World (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, BD Wong,

Directed by Colin Trevorrow

The Story:

Built on the ashes of Jurassic Park, Jurassic World offers new thrills and chills for the dinosaur loving public. The only problem, people get bored with the same old same old dinosaurs. So the park has to get crafty and recreate new attractions. And if it can't breed them, they'll build them from scratch! Of course, when man creates dinosaurs, bad things are bound to happen.

Welcome to Jurassic World!

If you had said that the most successful movie of 2015 would be a near note for note remake/love letter to the movie that inspired it decades earlier...

Well no, you'd still be right.

Because before Star Wars: The Force Awakens shattered the box office records for weekend openings with a movie that seems awfully familiar...

Jurassic World did the same thing months earlier with a movie that feels a whole lot like deja vu.

But you know what?

They both did it to kind of wipe the taste of less than stellar sequels (or prequels) out of a movie-going public's collective mouth as a token of forgiveness and acceptance, all in one.

Audiences responded appropriately and made these popcorn flicks the must see films of the year.

These aren't movies: they are events.

That goosebumpy hair-raising that we got over 20 years ago when Spielberg first let his dinosaurs roam the planet, well that feeling was back in Colin Trevorrow's update.

The majority of the original cast is gone, save for the nefarious BD Wong, but it's filled with great new characters to give the next trilogy (I assume) some legs. Whether the franchise will continue to put 2 siblings in peril for the duration of the film remains to be seen, but so far the formula isn't broken, so why start fixing it now?

Naturally, you need a star who won't get overshadowed playing second fiddle to a bunch of dinosaurs, and Jurassic World Plus cemented Chris Pratt's name as box office leading man.

 However those of us who saw Guardians of the Galaxy, we already knew that.

If you liked Jurassic Park back in the day, you're going to love this one.

If you didn't like either...well, there's something messed up with your DNA.

:)

Final Grade: B+

Everyone Can Always Use a Little Bit of "The Help"

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

The Story:

In the mid 1960s in Jackson Mississippi, there's a change coming.  Skeeter (Emma Stone) wants to be a writer, and has an idea that she pitches to her editor in New York (Mary Steenburgen).  She wants a first-hand account of what the black maids in Jackson feel about their life, and about raising the children of the white folk in town.  At first, Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) are the only maids to come forward, but through the deplorable actions of Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and others, soon they all want to help Skeeter, and they tell their stories.  Then a book is published and the world as they all knew it will never be the same again.

Yes, I enjoyed this movie immensely.  It was one of my Ten Best from 2012, yet it never had a proper review last year, so I aim to rectify that today.  I have now seen it several times, and it gets better with each viewing.

It's thought-provoking but never insulting.  The relationships between the southern whites and their help ring true and not contrived.  Many felt love and affection for the extended members of their families, yet generations of that lifestyle ensured that the majority of people grew up...and grew apart from the very women who actually raised them.  In many cases, doing a better job than their own mothers.

The movie also doesn't sugar-coat the race relations of the south in the 60s.  Every action that any character takes in this film, regardless of color, has repercussions, both large and small.  They often affect many other characters, just by association.  I've heard complaints that the movie portrays the life of the help as not that bad, and should have been more turbulent and violent, like the 60s.  I counter that such a thing would have ruined the whole point of this movie, which was a quiet, gentle revolution.

In the end, what you do come to realize is that some people are simply ignorant and/or evil, regardless of color. 

Hilly Holbrook, I'm looking at you.

She is evil personified, and it is glorious to see her reaction as she is called out on it. Yet at the end of the day, she wins, and it is ultimately heartbreaking.

When Aibileen is forced to say goodbye to Mae at the end of the film, well, that one scene gets me every time.

I highly encourage you to give it a spin if you've never watched it before.

Final Grade: A

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Immeasurably rewatchable.  I have yet to purchase it, but due to a fairly steady rotation on cable, I haven't found a need to.  Yet.  : )