Bryan Cranston

Totally Redundant

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Total Recall (2012)
  • IMDB: link

total-recall-2012-posterA little more than 20 years after Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Paul Verhoeven worked together to give us a theatrical adaptation of Philip K. Dick‘s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” Sony Pictures decided to tap Underworld director Len Wiseman for a remake. For fans who remember the original Total Recall, this dumbed-down remake will feel unnecessary and bereft of even a hint of intelligence in front, or behind, the camera.

Gone are the dreams of Mars and mutant rebellion. In their place screenwriters Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback give us a dystopian future where the Earth has become largely uninhabitable with the exception of parts of Britain and Australia. Australia, now referred to simply as “The Colony” is the condensed living quarters of all the worlds’ working stiffs including assembly line worker Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell). One of the only bright spots in the film is the imaginative set design that works in futuristic and ancient Asian styles into the creation of The Colony.

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Rock of Ages

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Rock of Ages
  • IMDB: link

 

 

rock-of-ages-posterBrought from Broadway to the silver screen by director Adam Shankman and screenwriters Justin Theroux, Chris D’Arienzo, and Allan Loeb, Rock of Ages is a celebration of classic 1980’s rock that gives us the story of a small town girl (Julianne Hough) and a city boy raised in south Detroit (Diego Boneta) whose paths cross in a famous Hollywood bar on the Sunset Strip known as The Bourbon Room.

Adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, the film makes both big and small changes in regards to both characters and music.

For two-hours the script weaves Drew (Boneta) and Sherrie (Hough), and countless supporting characters, through a story built on the back of several 80’s hits from the likes of Journey, Foreigner, Pat Benatar, Bon Jovi,  Whitesnake, Def Leppard, Night Ranger, Warrant, Poison, Guns N’ Roses, Twisted Sister, and REO Speedwagon which the characters not only perform, but live.

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Drive

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Drive
  • IMDB: link

drive-blu-rayBased on James Sallis‘ 2005 novel, adapted for the screen by Hossein Amini, Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver with no name who finds himself in a sticky situation when he breaks his own rules. If this sounds a little like The Transporter franchise, well it is, but director Nicolas Winding Refn decides to treat a rather ordinary action tale as an art house film drawing comparisons to dramatic action films of the late 60’s and 70’s like Steve McQueen‘s Bullit.

The Driver has everything he needs. His evident skill gets him consistant stunt car work and the far more lucrative (though far less legal) jobs no one else can do. His business partner (Bryan Cranston) has just closed a deal with a mobster (Albert Brooks) to buy a stock car which will allow the Driver to finally hit the big time. But when the Driver allows himself to be sucked into the troubles of an attractive neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and her young son (Kaden Leos) by agreeing to help her husband (Oscar Isaac) pull off a big score things go horribly wrong.

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Batman: Year One

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Batman: Year One
  • IMDB: link

batman-year-one-dvdThe latest straight-to-DVD animated release from DC Comics and Warner Premiere is extremely faithful adaptation of Frank Miller‘s retelling of Batman’s origin and the early days in the careers of Batman (Ben McKenzie) and Jim Gordon (Bryan Cranston).

Batman: Year One is a good, not great, entry into the DC Animated universe. It isn’t a success in terms of Batman: Under the Red Hood or Justice League: The New Frontier. However, it works better than the Superman/Batman animated films or Wonder Woman. In terms of a mixed success I’d compare it to Green Lantern: First Flight, and Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.

The film does a good job and capturing the look of David Mazzucchelli‘s art from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, although it does have a decided Japanese animated look and feel. With a couple of exceptions, including the opening shot of Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham and Gordon unburdening himself to Essen in the diner, the film follows the comic nearly as closely as Sin City.

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