Category: Movies

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The Paladin dug The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

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There is something about period spy movies that are just fun… or at least they can be. It a fine line of course. You can go too campy; trying to play on the sensibilities of the period and end up creating a very unreal world or you can also go too dramatic and suck all the life out of history. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. by Guy Ritchie walks the line perfectly – reveling in the colors, styles, and sensibilities of the 60’s. At the same time it is aware of the reality and tension of the time; thus keeping its feet on the ground. For reference The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TMfU) hews closer to the newer James Bond films than the Connery or especially the Rodger Moore films – but it has fun while it does it.

TMfU follows the unlikely paring of the CIA’s Napoleon Solo, played by Henry Cavill, and the KGB’s Illya Kuryakin, played by Armie Hammer as they try to stop a group of Fascists from arming a shadow Nazi regime with a Nuclear Weapon. Dragged into the middle is Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), a German mechanic who’s father might be helping to build the bomb.

The cast is a lot of fun, Henry Cavill really sells the charming and competent Solo, Hammer exudes barely controlled strength and malice, and Vikander’s Gaby is strong, brave, and intelligent. The “bromance” between Solo and Kuryakin is a lot of fun to see develop, as is the actual romance of the story.

The thing I loved about TMfU was the witty banter and the way it was shot. Ritchie certainly has his own style that infuses a lot of life and energy into his films and for TMfU he adds little touches you’d recognize from films from the 60’s. Layered cuts, long zooms during chases, and just a touch of technicolor give the movie a nostalgic feel and energy that sets it apart from say a Bourne movie or James Bond.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is a fun, witty, and energetic and I highly recommend you give it a try.

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Pride And Prejudice And Zombie Versus A Very Michael Bay Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 Trailer Showdown!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47We4NPxfvI

It is official, I think horror and period romance should always go together.  After Crimson Peak, I am so ready for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it is coming out around Valentines Day!  It looks like the perfect date movie, or anti-date movie.  So it is a great movie for both the loved and the lonely!  A Valentines day miracle.

Next up might be the most Michael Bay thing I have seen in awhile, and I have seen Transformers 4.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 isn’t even directed by him, but his fingerprints are all over it.  Here is the trailer for your viewing pleasure:

Just when the trailer kind of looks good, they Bay it up.  This movie is going to make sooo much money, and I am going to cry myself to sleep.

Clearly Pride and Prejudice and Zombies looks like the better film, but TMNT2 will no doubt make more cash, and that is a crime.

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Who is the Man in the High Castle?

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Mrs. The Paladin and I just finished watching Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle and to be honest we only really like half of it. Based off a Phillip K. Dick of the same name, this is a world where the Allied Forces lost the Second World War and now the United States in divided between the German Reich in the east and Japan in the west with a Neutral Zone between them in the Rockies.

Adolf Hitler is still Fuhrer in 1962 but he is aging and the world seems on the brink of another war. Our plucky protagonists obtain a film that show the world as we know it (‘MERICA!) and one of them embarks on a journey to discover how they are made and who is the Man in the High Castle; the other is a Nazi tool or a tool that also happens to be a Nazi or both. There are other characters and some of them are interesting, but for the most part they all run around and yell at each other for making stupid mistakes while making stupid mistakes of their own – all while not really doing anything.

The first half is the more interesting as it deals with more of the intrigue between the two powers and the uneasy truce between them. There is also more danger and intrigue in the “main” story line this first half as well.

What kept me watching was less the main story and more the world. The supporting cast is excellent as well, especially the phenomenal performances by this excellent actor:

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Cary-Hiroyuki “Zylyn“ Tagawa as the peace-loving Trade Minister of the Pacific States

and of course this guy:

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Rufus “Dark City” Sewell as Obergruppenfuhrer Smith of the Greater Nazi Reich, New York.

I wish the show was more about them and their plans than the other people.

I expect this will get picked up for a second season that hopefully will be more balanced and make a little more sense. Its of course not all bad and we wouldn’t have kept watching if we didn’t think it was worth our time, we were just left annoyed with the main characters and scratching our heads about others. I think there is gold here, they just need to dig a little deeper.

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The Mockingjay Comes Back For Part 2!

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The Hunger Games series has finally come to an end with the Mockingjay Part 2.  It is crazy to think that a series I was so hyped for after the end of Catching Fire, I almost forgot about this year.  Some of that is because of a movie involving space ninjas with laser swords, but most of it is because of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1.  The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 almost ends the series on a high note, but being half of a movie definitely hurt it.

The Mockingjay Part 2 picks up exactly where Part 1 left off with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) recovering from her attack by the brainwashed Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson).  She then sets out to help the rebellion finish the war with The Capital, and take out her own personal vengeance on President Snow.  Though it will be complicated with cameras in her face, and as she has to deal with District 13’s harsh methods.

The narrative arch in the first act of the movie really suffers because all of the build up is in Part 1, so they have to try and build up again in Part 2, but with far less material to use.  It also makes the two hour and fifteen minute running time of the Mockingjay Part 2 feel stretched out.  It was one thing for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows to be split up.  Its series’ epic scaled and loved characters earned its second bow.  Even then Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows is one of the weakest movies in the series.  With the Hunger Games, splitting up the final book was simply a naked cash grab that hurt their franchise’s legacy.  Thankfully once Mockingjay Part 2 does get moving it almost makes up for the weak start.

The actors all continued their good work.  Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss to perfection.  She is suffering from severe trauma, PTSD, and more than a little survivors guilt, but she still finds the strength to do what needs to be done.  The rest of the actors are all wonderful as well, but this movie more than any of the others is about Katniss, so Lawrence’s wonderful portrayal makes this movie work.

The Hunger Game: Mockingjay was always going to be hard movie to get right thanks to the oppression of its characters, and its divisive ending, but splitting it up made it even harder.  If it had been one movie with this cast and creative team I think they could have nailed it, and given the brilliant Catching Fire the sequel that it deserved.  Still, as it is the Mockingjay Part 2 is a good movie, very good even, but it could have been great, and that is disappointing.