The Tall Man

 
In the poor town of Cold Rock, Washington, children disappear daily because of a man the town calls the Tall Man and the town that comes together to solve this mystery. Julia (Jessica Biel) is the local nurse who is just trying to survive in this tough town with her son but he too disappears at the hands of the Tall Man.

There are many reasons why this film could have been good. Director Pascal Laugier made the famous film Martyrs which some consider one of the most grisly horror films of all-time which also included some brutal scenes involving women. The Tall Man features the plot of lost children which is not the most original thing in horror movies but it is scary in it's own right. In the end though, The Tall Man is perfectly fine for what it is but could have been so much more.

The film relies solely on a twist near the end. It is a twist that shows the film has some creative bones in it's story but you can see it coming miles away. It also gives no back-story putting us in a position where it is hard to follow and we become lost. Once we get to know this villain, we see that it is a character that is not given much to do. We also have no idea how the Tall Man is able to take the kids, his motive for doing this and also the third act is full of well....nothing.

The Tall Man is a film with a few good ideas with a creative atmosphere but it is simply way too simple and plain. It is cool to see Jessica Biel in a horror film which is not a common thing but I also wouldn't be surprised if she was casted because of her sex appeal. The Tall Man makes fine watching for a dull day but there is nothing here that makes this more than a matinee film.

2.5/5

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier

It might have not came as a shock to others but the first Captain America movie of 2011 came out of nowhere for me. I found that the Captain American origin story in that movie to be one of the more interesting origin stories around and very much original. Steve Rogers was the slightly built soldier in World War Two who makes his way to the present day through a block of frozen ice. Captain America was a superhero that eventually brought the war, the Nazis, a cool villain and different time period to the Marvel universe in Captain's first ever film.

Now in 2014, Captain America is back with the sequel Captain America: The Winter Soldier directed by new directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. After Nick Fury (Samuel J. Jackson) is gunned down by a villain named White Soldier, Steve Rogers is now is a fugitive on the run and who must get down to business and solve the S.H.I.E.L.D vs HYDRA espionage battle in the Nation's capital.

Like the first movie, this sequel has a nice cast. Nick Fury is given more to do in this movie and even though the character goes some predictable ways, he still should be the character you most look forward to in upcoming Marvel films. As he was in the first movie, Chris Evans is flawless as Captain America. He plays the character as a very likable Captain America and adds depth and chemistry to the role. Scarlett Johansson is back as the Black Widow who again brings sexuality through her tight outfits. The newest member of the cast, and a very impressive character indeed, is Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce. Redford's character can be described as unlikable and it is very impressive for an actor like Redford at the age of 77 to be doing high levels action scenes as he does here. The only character that is lacking is Falcon (Anthony Mackie) who really does nothing noteworthy or interesting but a character that maybe I could see some change or development for the next film. Last by not least is our great villain, the White Soldier who does come off as creepy and pretty cool twist comes to him yet again.

I do question the film's running time and structure. You have to question as to why this film is as long as there are many obvious places that it could have been cut down. The pacing is all over the place and the action often comes randomly. The action scenes are still very well done and do show off the  big budget of this film but they are all kind of the same. The settings are numerous and kind of all over the place and the movie does drag big time.

Of course, one thing this sequel is doing is setting itself up for another sequel that has already been announced for 2016. This one works fine for what it is but between the other recent Marvel movies including two Thor films, three Iron Man films, the Avengers and the first Captain America film, it really comes up lacking. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a disappointing sequel to say the least.

3.5/5

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Divergent

After the success of the first Harry Potter movie that later that spawned a very successful series of movies or the Twilight movies that made big money off the " teenage vampires and humans in love" theme, it has become more and more common each year for the studios to look for successful teen novels that could spawn a film series. It does come at some risk though as a film like Vampire Academy from this year was a bomb and critically panned followed by a cancelled series. This was a prime example of a film based on a teen novel-based film that didn't quite work and there are other examples.

Being not a reader of the Divergent book series, I was clueless as to what Divergent was all about. Based off the popular teen novel written by Veronica Roth, Divergent is a three part trilogy with two spin-off mini stories on e-books. In total, this series could be possibly five films and by judging from strong box office from it's first week, you wonder what kind of money how much a movie series like this could make or how long it could last.

Based in the future in a dystopian society in Chicago, Divergent's setting is a world where everyone is put into specific factions based on their own virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) learns that she is a "divergent", an extremely rare condition in which a person can't be assigned due to one faction because she has the attributes of many factions. Divergents are considered threatening by the government because they are free-thinkers who cannot be controlled by the government. Later after Tris puts herself into Dauntless, a faction of people based on courage, it becomes evident that the main faction leader Jeannie Matthews (Kate Winslet) is planning to kill any divergent that they can identify. Tris must find herself, fight her enemies and learn to survive all at the same time.

Like The Hunger Games and other sci-fi films, I am always interested in seeing a dystopian society if done right. Shot in Chicago, this dystopian setting offers real some cool shots of the city including Navy Pier and Michigan Avenue. Most of the film interior sets are placed in what seems to be abandoned warehouses which gives the film a different and hollow atmosphere. This dystopian society of Chicago is enclosed by a big wall and it seems as if this government wants it's people to be held up within the walls forever. The movie gives no hints as to why the city is walled up or what is beyond the walls and you really would hope a sequel will give some type of explanation on this. Still though, the setting here is a strength of the film.

With yet another correlation to Hunger Games, rising star, Shailene Woddley works as the young adult lead who's trying to rise up against this society and who you do root for. Her instructor for Dauntless, Four Eaton (Theo James) is both a mean and likable character and a romantic relationship eventually develops between the two. The chemistry between them is not there at first but it eventually falls into place. Peter (Miles Teller) is the mean member of Dauntless and you can say the only cast member who brings humor to the story. Divergent has a big cast filled with a lot of depth and emotions from the characters.

Where the idea of "training" as Hunger Games was only a small aspect of that movie, one of the main themes of  Divergent is training. The training is often brutal as we see many people trying to get into Dauntless who did not get to a certain level and then were thrown into the streets. Much of the training is people fighting one on one and further you are tested on your fears. For example, to even enter the training building, you have to jump down a big hole in a building where you do not know what is below.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies or The Hunger Games, this is a much more dark film based on a teen novel. The overall tone is quite dark with a suicide and an attempted sexual assault depicted among other things. This might not be some of the most fun things to watch but it does add variety and possibly brings a slightly different audience to Divergent than some of the other teen films mentioned earlier.

Divergent can be very long and also tiresome at points. It also has some lack of originality but there is still a lot to like here. Treat Divergent as another version of The Hunger Games, then it works.  

3.5/5

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Kicking and Screaming

As Jason Batman plays what seems to be every role as a character lost in the middle, Will Ferrell has been playing the same type of character for years but unlike Batman, Ferrell's niche can't really be described. As in the Anchorman films or The Campaign, Ferrell's characters are all over the place and can be beyond strange and hard to put a finger on. Throughout Will Ferrell's filmography, we are used to getting the same type of silly comedy from him but Kicking and Screaming is his most different role. In it, he is trying to be a father figure and also a motivator in a sports film. In the end, Kicking and Screaming is just too generic to work fully.

Phil Weston ( Ferrell) is the type of guy who has never been able to live up to his father's expectations throughout his whole life and was always a benchwarmer in younger days as a soccer player. After his son's soccer coach leaves the team, Phil steps in to be the coach and that also makes him the father that he never was to his son. At the same time, he is trying to win against his old man Buck (Robert Duvall) who is also a coach in the league.

Kicking and Screaming is in the same mold of the original Bad News Bears. Actually you could now say that about many sports films because Bad News Bears was such an influential movie and the influence here is even more obvious. Ferrell is someone who never had anything himself and eventually finds himself through coaching this team that is so dysfunctional but in the end, they learn how to to play a soccer somehow. Robert Duvall works as unaccredited villain who's eventually turns into the good guy at the end. Even Mike Ditka shows up as the assistant coach but really he's not given much to do and I assume he is here on name value alone and to sell some tickets.

As like "Coach Carter" of the same year, Phil makes it but in a very interesting way. In some ways, Ferrell is  pulling off some of his past character traits and the character even appears to be  channeling The Anchorman character which is not surprising considering the films were only released one year apart. Phil is a strange character no doubt and at times very unlikable. He yells at his team a lot and wants his opponents to be injured which I would think go against most parent's ethics. He does however does admit many of his wrongs in a lengthy speech near the end. We can like Coach Carter more as character but Phil Weston gives us another more silly version of the sports coach.

This movie does have a lot of soccer in it for people that are interested in that though I'm not one of those. It does produce more than it's share of chuckles and you can also say you say you saw Josh Hutcherson before his career really took off. Kids will love this movie because of the humor but it really is a mixed bag for the parents and also the teenager audience because that humor is too childish. By the end, Kicking and Screaming will have you kicking and screaming because it's kind of a mess that barely survives.

3/5

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Coach Carter

In 1999, head basketball coach Ken Carter of Richmond High School in Richmond, California made national headlines for benching his undefeated team due to poor grades. This was a story that caused a great deal of dislike towards the coach but brought up the always important ideas of leadership, grades and that there is more to life than just basketball.  In 2005, the story of Ken Carter story turned into the movie "Coach Carter" starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter.

What this movie all boils down to is Samuel L. Jackson who is a great asset and who makes this film. He brings this attitude and temper of a hard guy but eventually a likable basketball coach that makes this film move and succeed. This is the type of character that people look up to because of the fact that he is trying to bring something positive to the life of teenagers even if he's a little hard on them during the process. Some might call it "tough love".

Another reason this story and film are so successful is due to the atmosphere of the setting of the movie, Richmond, California. Richmond is a rough area that nobody expects good basketball teams to come out of. People don't expect kids to get good grades with the graduation rate being so poor. Considering this, Ken Carter deserves even more credit for trying to accomplish something that would seem doubtful and highly unlikely.

As a person who loves basketball and has followed the NBA for years, I especially should have loved Coach Carter due to the basketball theme. Well the basketball scenes aren't bad and are set-up ok but they are generic and very unrealistic. We can see where most of these scenes are going as we go along. We also don't know much about the players or who they are which is common in sport films and the ending is predictable. If this film improved the basketball scenes and added something there, who knows how good this could have been.

Coach Carter works the motivation angle pretty well but falls off from there. In the end, this is a sports story which you should probably skip because you have seen all this before. This likely will  be one of the forgotten films of Samuel L. Jackson career and rightfully so.

3/5 

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Non-Stop

It's hard to believe but it really seems like Liam Neeson has been around forever in the film world. First starting out in the early 80's with the medieval and sci-fi films, "Excalibur" and "Krull", then close to twenty years later in 1999 where we first recognized him as Qui-Gon Jinn in the Star Wars prequel "Phantom Menace". Then to "Taken" in 2009 and to "Unknown" in 2011, Neeson has turned himself into a action star over the last five years and you could say he has found a niche at this stage of his career.

In his new action film, Non-Stop, Liam Neeson is Bill Marks, a drunk and a lonely Federal Air Marshall who must save his plane after a text message is sent to him from an unknown source wanting $150 million or else a person will be killed every twenty minutes on the flight if the the money is not sent. With the recent disappearance of Malaysian Flight MH370, this is the type of plot that fits perfectly into our modern society in a scary, eerie way.

You really can't say that there are many films are like Non-Stop. Liam Neeson really works as Bill Mark because Neeson is (past) middle age and he's fits right into the Bill Marks character timeline. The film centers on Marks as a federal marshal which itself is somewhat uncommon. The movie is also set only on an airplane and for just one setting, it's gives more than usual, and many, supporting characters and also very well developed characters. This different and confined atmosphere is stuffy and creates tension and also explains the film's rather low $50 million budget. Julianne Moore plays Jen Summers perfectly as a passenger lost in the middle of the attacks and brings out some possible hints of a romantic side to Marks.
   

 With a film like this with a twist at the end, much of this film comes down to the ending and how effective the last act is. You can say the villain is not that hard to figure out and is someone who seems to know too much about Marks and he also delivers a motive that is very far-fetched. The ending does bring good action scenes and special effects but the premise is beyond impossible and it has the notion of trying to be too happy and sweet. It is the type of twist and ending that doesn't ruin it's film like others but it's more sour than sweet.

Non-Stop had the potential to be a great action film with such a bright idea but some wrong turns and phony ending turned this into an uneven mess. Non-Stop does eventually stop but not into the film that we wanted.

3 /5

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Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

In 1993, news of the West Memphis Three Killings swept through the nation and made it's way into the history books. Three eight-year old boys Steve Branch, Michael Moore, Christopher Byers were killed in the woods near a busy truck stop in West Memphis, Arkansas and three teenage boys were then convicted of the murders. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is the conclusion of the Paradise Lost series regarding the West Memphis Three and chronicles their release from jail and what lies ahead for this unsolved murder case.

This documentary first points to why Jessie Misskelly, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were convicted of these murders. From the ludicrous theories of satanic rituals, their past history including how they liked to wear black and listen to Metallica, the film presents much evidence of how wrong the police were in bringing these boys to trial. Through this evidence, you get a feel for these teenagers and who they are. Baldwin seems to be the quiet guy of the group who wouldn't seem to hurt a fly. Misskelley is the tough guy of the group and Echols is lost in the middle but of course, all were in the same predicament.

The documentary also goes into details about Mark Byers, the adoptive father of Byers who we know through neighbors was with the kids before they died and how his DNA was found at the scene of the crime. There were some interesting facts about this suspect but the film includes calls to the police to look into this guy more.

Even though it did start to drag a little, the ending of this movie has a feel of watching history. This HBO film release date was postponed two months to show the prison release of the West Memphis Three and it was quite worth it. The ending feels fulfilling, and has a interesting legal side to it.
                                                                                 

 
With the beautiful shots of West Memphis, Arkansas, some great Metallica tunes, and a compelling story, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory is quite an accomplishment. Some of these facts we could obviously have been found online but this documentary brings so much more depth to this story. Even though we got what we wanted with the release of these innocent men, this investigation is far from over and we have to wonder what more there may be to come for this film series as more facts are known. This third installment leaves the possibility of future movies in this series wide open.

4.5/5

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