Movie Reviews

Spectre

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Spectre
  • IMDb: link

SpectreFirst introduced in Dr. No more than 50 years ago, and not heard from since the pre-credit sequence of For Your Eyes Only, SPECTRE represented a global terrorist organization focused on achieving their own goals. The rebooted Bond films, which began with Casino Royale, finally get around to reintroducing us to the classic villains and their leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) in the fourth movie of the series appropriately enough entitled Spectre.

I’ve never quite warmed to the rebooted Bond which stripped away several important pieces of the Bond films in rebranding our hero as more thug than spy. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed large parts of both Casino Royale and Skyfall but they’re middling entries to franchise that don’t compare to the best of Connery or Moore. And if Spectre has a major flaw its that while attempting homages to previous entrants to the franchise it constantly reminds the audience of aspects of better films we’d rather be watching. Everything from Blofeld’s new secret lair to the close-quarters fight aboard a moving train against an evil henchman (Dave Bautista) hearkens back to better moments from better films.

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The Peanuts Movie

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  • Title: The Peanuts Movie
  • IMDb: link

The Peanuts MovieBlending together several storylines from Charles M. Schulz‘s comic strip, director Steve Martino and writers Bryan Schulz, Craig Schulz, and Cornelius Uliano offer up a tale that despite its modern 3D CGI characters still feels old fashioned (in all the best ways).

Although at 93 minutes The Peanuts Movie feels a bit long, particularly in the final half, the screening I attended appeared to be the rare family film to entertain both kids and parents alike. Included in the storylines are Charlie Brown‘s (Noah Schnapp) self-confidence issues and crush on the Little Red-Headed Girl (Francesca Capaldi), Snoopy‘s (Bill Melendez) battles with the Red Baron, and Lucy‘s (Hadley Belle Miller) psychiatric service and crush on the piano-playing Schroeder (Noah Johnston). We also get a talent show, Charlie Brown’s attempts to fly a kite, Peppermint Patty (Venus Schultheis) and Marcie (Rebecca Bloom), Linus (Alexander Garfin) and his trusty blanket, Sally‘s (Mariel Sheets) relationship to her big brother, a book report, and plenty of opportunities for the old blockhead to make mistakes, rise to the occasion, showcase heart, and learn valuable lessons.

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Burnt

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  • Title: Burnt
  • IMDb: link

BurntIt didn’t make me hungry. That’s an interesting response to have towards a film centered around food. Our story stars Bradley Cooper as talented chef, recovering addict, and all around asshole Adam Jones who basically blackmails the old friend (Daniel Brühl) he screwed over in his last job into hiring him as the chef for a mediocre London restaurant. Jones’ motives are two-fold. First, he honestly does want to make amends to those he’s wronged in the past. At least as important to him, however, is the chance to reclaim glory in the hopes of achieving the prestigious three Michelin star rating as one of the best restaurants (and chefs) in Europe.

I joke that the food on display didn’t wet my appetite but Burnt deals with a different side of the retaurant business by focusing as much on its burdens, costs, and obsessive personalities struggling to work behind the scenes as it does about creating the food. Even when the film puts the food first the perspective is always more about the presentation of the meal than the meal itself. Although the film constantly tells us that Jones is culinary genius it rarely shows us actual examples of this on-screen.

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Bridge of Spies

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  • Title: Bridge of Spies
  • IMDb: link

Bridge of SpiesSet in a smaller world during a darker time, the latest collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks takes place at the height of the Cold War and is inspired by the real events concerning Brooklyn lawyer James B. Donovan (Hanks) who found himself thrust into the middle of international intrigue by agreeing to defend Soviet spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) in an American court of law. Spielberg’s humanism is certainly on display in a film that feels a bit like a throwback to his movies from the late 90s and early 2000s.

While dealing primarily with Donovan and the effects and consequences of his defense of Abel, Bridge of Spies also introduces two subplots which eventually will be woven into the main storyline. The first of these concerns U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell) recruited by the CIA and shot down over the Soviet Union. And the last concerns an American economics student (Will Rogers) studying overseas during the erection of the Berlin Wall who gets in trouble while trying to help the daughter of his professor out of East Germany. Although competently presented, neither is as engaging as Donovan’s tale.

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The Martian

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  • Title: The Martian
  • IMDb: link

The MartianAdapted by Drew Goddard, Andy Weir’s novel about an astronaut left behind and stranded alone on Mars isn’t exactly what I was expecting from a Ridley Scott film. With more heart and humor than Scott’s usual fare, the film actually reminded me of a mashup of the space disaster from Ron Howard‘s Apollo 13 with the lone man survivor of Robert Zemeckis‘ Cast Away with a bit of MacGyver thrown in for good measure as our protagonist is constantly forced to think outside the box in order to survive a series of challenges that make his continued survival less and less likely.

When we meet botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) he is just one member of a crew of astronauts (Jessica Chastain, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Aksel Hennie), but things quickly change when a storm causes the group to leave the planet prematurely. Mistakenly leaving Watney behind, the crew begin their slow trek back to Earth. With the limited resources and safety of the outpost (neither of which were meant to be stretched for extended uses), Watney has to find a way not only to alert NASA that he’s still alive but find away to live on a desolate world until help can reach him.

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