How The East Was Won..."Railroad Tigers"

Railroad Tigers (2017)

Not Rated

Starring Jackie Chan, Jaycee Chane, Zitao Huang, Kai Wang,

Directed by Ding Sheng

The Story:

Ma Yuan (Chan) and a group of ragtag railroad workers decide that to get much needed supplies to the poor, they are going to have to start robbing the supply trains that China is heavily guarding as they roll through Japan.

Going into a Jackie Chan movie, you pretty much know what to expect at this point.

Humorous situations. Great stunts.

You'll get all of that here in this movie.

The problem, it's a very slow film that has lots of boredom crammed around those fight scenes.

Creaking in at over 2 hours, the movie is just too long, and the pacing so uneven, that it's hard to gain a vested interest in what is happening onscreen.

Still, Jackie's still bringing it after all these years, and you get to see him team up with his son Jaycee, and see that the master has a willing protege to follow in his footsteps if/when he decides to finally retire.

It has since been added to the Netflix streaming library since I watched it, and is currently available to stream as of this writing.

Final Grade: C/C+ range

I Should Have Stopped At The Trailer..."Power Rangers"

Power Rangers (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Ludi Lin, Becky G., Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, Bill Hader,

Directed by Dean Israelite

The Story:

5 Teenagers stumble upon an ancient alien craft and receive powers from an ancient alien race. Under the tutelage of a robot (Hader), they must learn to morph into Power Rangers if they hope to stop an ancient evil (Banks) from finishing her plan to destroy the earth that she had attempted centuries earlier.

Well, let me first say that I never planned to see this movie.

However, seeing the trailer last year, it was very well done and seemed very interesting. I was actually hooked, and then they revealed it was for Power Rangers.

Well played studio marketing, I'm intrigued.

I never bothered with the show during the 90s for my kids, so I had no nostalgia or anything else driving me to see it or to compare it to.

That said, the execution left a lot to be desired.

I believe boredom sat in rather quickly, as all the charm and intrigue of the trailer quickly faded away as 2 minute fun from the trailer expanded to a bloated 2 hour run time that was far from fun.

Too long, too cliched, too bad.

Final Grade: C-

Actors Gotta Act..."Collide"

Collide (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Kingsley

Directed by Eran Creevy

The Story:

Casey (Hoult) loves Juliette (Jones) so very much, that when she needs a medical procedure, he turns back to his old way of life as a driver for drug runner Geran (Kingsley). However, Geran let's Casey know that the real money would be if they could hit the supplier, respected businessman Hagen Kahl (Hopkins). And then the real fun begins!

Sadly, that is a very true statement.

The movie opens with a terrific chase and crash, and then goes back to fill us in on the narrative of how we wound up at the opening.

And it's 10 minutes of Hoult and Jones saying "I love you...no, I love you...I love you more..."

Cue the fast forward button.

I was tempted to take the movie out, I mean clearly this is a budget film, no harm no foul; Kingsley and Hopkins are just collecting their paychecks.

Then I began to realize that I'm not very fond of Felicity Jones as an actress. Granted, I've not seen her in much, but she's yet to stand out to me as a great actress I look forward to seeing in a movie.

She was okay in Rogue One, but her supporting characters were infinitely more interesting.

And as the mum in A Monster Calls... ugh...so pathetic and sad as a character, I really didn't care that her character was going to die by the time the movie ended.

See?

The mind wanders when the movie creates boredom.

And I pause the fast forwarding and watch Hopkins and Kingsley interact for possibly the first time ever together on screen, and it's pretty interesting. They both try and dial their characters up to 11, especially Kingsley who seems to be channeling his Mandarin from Iron Man. :)

Which leads us to the 45 minute-ish mark.

That's when things get interesting as the movie veers back to the action caper the opening so promised us.

And yes, it delivers quite well on the back half of the movie.

So I'm torn on a grade for a film.

I mean, dismal start, I actually fast forward past the 20 minute mark that I set for myself just to see if the movie had any potential on the other side, while other movies get yanked out of the player and returned to Netflix without the same courtesy.

I'm nothing if not a movie hypocrite sometimes.

So we'll grade fair, and say terrible first half, pretty good second half...

Final Grade: D+

Heed The Warning..."Get Out"

Get Out (2017)

Rated R

Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel, LilRel Howery,

Written and Directed by Jordan Peele

The Story:

Rose (Williams) is taking her boyfriend Chris (Kaluuya) on a weekend getaway to meet her parents (Keener & Whitford). There are a few odd things around the house that cause Chris concern, but even he is unprepared for the horrible fate that awaits him unless he can...

Get. Out.

Okay, I'm sorry, but this was not a horror film.

A thriller? Maybe suspense film?

Absolutely.

But when I think horror, this is not at all what I think of in a film.

There's a few parts that make you jump, but no, I'm going to have to say I was sold a bill of goods for one movie, and presented another.

That's fine.

It's like being told a movie is a comedy, and then not laughing.

As long as the film is a good one, I can adjust, no harm, no foul.

Just bad advertising.

That's where I'll put Get Out.

It's a movie I'm deliberately talking around, because I hate to spoil films for anyone that may not have seen it yet, even though I'm usually the last guy watching something.

:)

Otherwise, really good movie. Jordan Peele does a great job as first-time (I believe) writer-director for a movie that isn't a comedy.

Though yes, there is some humor to be found in the movie.

Kaluuya is phenomenal carrying the movie as pretty much 95% of the entire movie centers directly or indirectly around him.

Oh yeah, and not to scare anyone away, but the movie does tackle some weighty issues such as racism and classism, but not in nearly the "we have to hit you over the head with it" way that many films try and portray things.

Which makes this film the best kind of 'ism' film, escapism.

Final Grade: B-

To Catch A Killer..."Solace"

Solace (2016)

Rated R

Starring Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Abbie Cornish, Colin Farrell

Directed by Alfonso Poyart

The Story:

FBI Agents Merriweather & Cowles (Morgan & Cornish) have been tracking what they believe to be a serial killer. The attacks are grisly, the clues are nonexistent. So they turn to Dr. John Clancy (Hopkins), a psychic who has helped solve cases in the past. The only problem, it appears that the killer (Farrell) they seek is also a psychic, and he's way ahead of the FBI. And if John's visions are to be believed, not only can they not catch him, none of them may survive the hunt to track him down.

A fine thriller with a unique premise, having two people with psychic abilities on both sides of the law in a game of cat and mouse where it begins to become quite obvious that the cat and the mouse will change positions several times throughout the movie.

Now this may not be a Silence of the Lambs Academy Award winning performance by Hopkins, he does get more screen time and much more to do this go round than in the last dozen movies that I've seen him in, combined.

In fact, the main cast all are quite good in their roles with some interesting twists and turns of the plot along the way.

Farrell too seems to finally have a meatier role than I've seen him in, seemingly for ages. He seems to be enjoying himself in the role, and the ability to work with Hopkins was probably a plus for him in taking the part.

Overall, it kept me interested until the end, and with a few changes could've gone from pretty good to must see.

Final Grade: C+

The Man Who Fell To Earth..."The Space Between Us"

The Space Between Us (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Asa Butterfield, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, Britt Robertson,

Directed by Peter Chelsom

The Story:

Gardner (Butterfield) was the first human born on Mars. His mom died during childbirth, and there was no clue who his father was. Inquisitive, the astronauts that have been at the Mars facility have helped raise him, and he is very smart and inquisitive, but a tad socially awkward. Thanks to technology, he has been in contact with one girl, Tulsa (Robertson) on Earth. What Gardner wants more than anything is to come home to Earth and find his dad, meet Tulsa, and feel what it's like to be human. Unfortunately, since he was born in space, his body and organs are not used to Earth's gravity, and the trip very well may kill him.

Not your typical coming of age storyline, but one that I found enjoyable to watch, cliches and all.

Gardner has pretty much learned anything and everything in life from NASA engineers and technology at his disposal, but he has to still learn what it's like to be human.

He has found a kindred spirit in Tulsa, who longs for a life that is anything but the life she currently lives.

Of course how can a boy who cannot live on Earth come home, find his father, find true love and survive all in the span of 2 hours?

While not perfect, for the most part the movie works just fine from start to finish.

The cast does a fine job, and it's always a pleasure to see Oldman and Gugino in just about any movie.

The ending really works for the film and ties up the narrative nicely

Final Grade: B-

A Tale As Old As Time..."Beauty & The Beast"

Beauty & The Beast (2017)

Rated PG

Starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Kevin Kline, Hattie Morahan, Ewan McGregor, Ian McKellan, Emma Thompson

Directed by Bill Condon

The Story:

A prince (Stevens) who rejects the needs of an old beggar (Morahan) is cursed to life as a beast unless he can find love, and have someone fall in love with him despite his looks. With the chance of the spell being broken in time to stop the transformation from being complete, chance sends Belle (Watson) to the castle in search of her father (Kline) and then the race is on to see if these two will fall in love and break the spell.

Egads.

Where do I begin?

I consider the 1991 animated version to be one of Disney's very best movies they've ever made.

So I've tried to approach each of the Disney live action remakes with an open mind that they're taking a good movie, trying something new-ish with it, to varying results.

Maleficent - loved it. It was actually a different take on the Sleeping Beauty story and was quite enjoyable. Later efforts, like Cinderella offered no new take on the classic, and were downright boring. Even The Jungle Book, it started off okay, but when it began singing, I totally lost interest in the film and would never bother with it again.

Which leads us to Beauty & the Beast.

It's probably unfair of me to judge this film based on the animated classic, but it's hard not to when it follows nearly every beat of the story identically.

I have no idea how close/far it follows the Broadway musical, as I've never seen it.

And for much the same reason that I was worried about seeing the film version.

Can they do the story justice?

In a word: No.

Now if you've never, ever, ever never seen the animated movie, then you'll likely enjoy this film.

I'm happy for you.

The story itself is a great one.

And the songs, especially those that were in the original, are beautiful and very catchy.

Yet when transposed to this movie...

For me, it just didn't work.

Belle's opening number has some pauses in the song that just kill the flow of the song.

Nearly all of the songs are like that, close, but not quite catching the spirit and oomph that the original had.

The cast..

Luke Evans actually pulled off Gaston very well, and of the entire cast, I think he did the best job of making the character his own.

I suppose I might as well get the sexist label out right away:

Belle, whose name means beauty (says so, right in the song) is played by Emma Watson.

Yeah... so I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that this casting was about as smart as casting Kristen Stewart as Snow White against Charlize Theron as the evil queen. Who's the fairest in the land?

Exactly.

But whatever, she's the star, but as I watch the movie I become painfully aware that her acting and emotions are rather stilted and wooden.

In one scene, where the Beast finally lets her go, what should be a face of relief, or happiness, or just about anything is conveyed with a look of anger. Or constipation. I'll let you decide.

Stevens does fine under the makeup (which is tremendous) as the Beast.

In fact, the whole movie is gorgeous, I will always give credit where it's due, and it's a beautiful movie to watch.

But again, I can't help but compare it to what came before, and this one comes up lacking.

Big time.

I liken it to having a delicious dinner, possibly the best you ever had.

Then going to another restaurant, or maybe a friend's house, or even trying it yourself.

All the ingredients are pretty much the same, or as close as you can muster.

And it's okay at the end, but it never does quite taste as good as the meal you're trying to recreate.

In the end, the more I watched this film, the more I wanted to turn it off and watch the animated version.

That leads me to a Final Grade: C no... C-....D+