June 2012

Red Tails

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Red Tails
  • IMDB: link

red-tails-blu-rayProducer George Lucas began developing the story of the Tuskegee Airmen as a theatrical project way back in 1988. Originally developed as a trilogy, Red Tails languished in development for years as Lucas moved on to other projects (including the Star Wars prequels). As a historical drama the film is problematic, but as an action film centered around real-life African-American heroes Red Tails is not without some charm.

The story focuses on Tuskegee training program, specifically the 332d Fighter Group of young African American USAAF fighter pilots (Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, Kevin Phillips, Marcus T. Paulk) under the command of Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) and Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who finally get their shot at real action during WWII and prove skeptics and critics wrong with a near miraculous display of ability.

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The Newsroom – We Just Decided To

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: The Newsroom – We Just Decided To
  • tv.com: link

the-newsroom-we-just-decided-to

Starting in 1998, for the better part of a decade, writer/producer Aaron Sorkin created three primetime shows for network television. One centered around the White House produced critical and mass appeal. The other two, neither of which received the same notoriety, were about a subject dear to his heart – television. Sorkin returns with a new show, a new network, and a familiar subject matter with The Newsroom. It’s not television, it’s Sorkin on HBO.

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Coming Soon

/ / Film News & Trailers
  • Title: Robot and Frank
  • IMDB: link

Set in the near future, Robot and Frank stars Frank Langella as a grumpy old man whose children (James Marsden, Liv Tyler) purchase a robot servant to look after him. However, the retired jewel thief finds another use for the robot and sets out on a new crime spree. Susan Sarandon, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jeremy Strong also star. The unconventional heist film from writer Christopher D. Ford and director Jake Schreier is set to open in limited release in select cities on August 24th.

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Winter Soldier #7

/ / Comics

winter-soldier-7-coverFor two months the Winter Soldier and Black Widow have tracked Leo Novokov, the third Soviet sleeper agent trained by Bucky who is loose in the world and leading the pair, and S.H.I.E.L.D. on a scavenger hunt filled with the bodies of government agents, soldiers, a doctor, a bellhop, and one of Bucky’s oldest friends.

The pair get a break with Novokov kidnaps a former Soviet scientist and member of the Red Room (the experimental science and training program that produced the Black Widow). However, Volkov has one more trick as he lures Buck and Natasha into an exploding Winnebago all to separate the two and reveal his true target.

Okay, so it doesn’t have gorillas with machine guns, but a motor home of death is still pretty cool, and Brubaker keeps the tension taught as Bucky does his impression of Sandra Bulluck from Speed. Another strong issue with a nice (if far too foreseeable) twist at the end. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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The Grey

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Grey
  • IMDB: link

the-grey-dvdLiam Neeson stars as one of seven oil workers (Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie, Ben Bray, Dermot Mulroney) to survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. A skilled hunter hired to keep the wolves off the workers in the fields, Ottway (Neeson) takes control of the survivors who have been marooned in the middle of the hunting grounds of a large pack of hungry, and vicious, gray wolves.

When the film sticks with the tension of the men’s fight for survival it works well enough. Sadly, the plot is also filled with flashback dream sequences of Ottway’s life with his wife (Anne Openshaw), Ottway and Diaz’s (Grillo) cliched alpha-male dick-measuring in the wilderness, and the heavy-handed sequence involving the man bemoaning the state of his life and contemplating suicide as the film opens. Is it better than most dead of winter theatrical releases? Sure. Is it worth owning on home video. Not really.

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