The Man Who Knew Infinity [2015]

MPAA (PG-13)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  RogerEbert.com (2 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmiBeat listing

ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (K. Rive) review

Hindustan Times (G. Bhaskaran) review
Times of India (TNN) review

The Guardian (P. Bradshaw) review
The Telegraph (T. Robey) review

The Man Who Knew Infinity [2015] [FiBt] (screenplay and directed by Matthew Brown based on the biography [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Robert Kanigel [wikip] [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] of Indian-born mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan [wikip] [IMDb]) is an high quality / excellent biopic about a person, non-white..., that most of us should perhaps know more about, but ... probably don't, or at least not yet.

Srinivasa Ramanujan [wikip] [IMDb] (played in the film by Dev Patel) was born in the 1887 near Madras, today Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India to a Brahmin (upper caste) family of Tamil origin.  As such, young S. Ramanujan was from a caste that both valued and had access to education, even if, still under British Colonial rule, the facilities available to young Indians of his time were limited.

So ... young S. Ramunajan did not necessarily have the _formal_ mathematical education that he would have had, if he had been born at the time in England.  Still ... he found himself fascinated by the abstract beauty of mathematics and became very, very good at it.

Early in the film, he explained to his wife Janaki (played by Devika Bhise) that he saw in Nature all around him "colors (mathematical patterns) that one can not see." Later to incredulous, famously atheistic "you can only trust that which you can verify (prove)" British professors of Cambridge University of the early 1900s, he declared every mathematical theorem that he discovered (OFTEN ENOUGH THROUGH THE MEDITATIVE PRACTICES OF HIS HINDU FAITH / UPBRINGING) "a thought of God" ;-).

He was thus -- to Western Eyes -- an unexpected genius, and fairly early on in his career as "a clerk by day" and "mathematician by night" he was encouraged by his Indian mentors / colleagues to send some of his work from Madras, India to England, eventually landing on the desk of G.H. Hardy [wikip] [IMDb] (played in the film by Jeremy Irons) of Trinity College, Cambridge who while lamenting the S. Ramanajan's "lack of vigor" (Ramanajan would conflate 5, 10 steps of a proof into one) appreciated the beauty even audacity of his results.

Thus eventually S. Ramanajan was invited by G.H. Hardy to Cambridge to work with him and a fairly interesting / honestly-portrayed friendship (of sorts) / collaboration (again, of sorts) proceeded from there.  This was, after all, a gradual "meeting of minds" and, indeed, a "meeting of cultures" one that IMHO we're still not even close to completing.

Throughout the story, G.H. Hardy is repeatedly confronted by the twin realities that S. Ramanajan is both BRILLIANT and VERY DIFFERENT than he is and that S. Ramanajan had very different (and often VERY PRACTICAL) problems than he had: (1) S. Ramanajan was a VEGETARIAN.  A good part of the story plays out during World War I (during a time of quite severe rationing in England).  The logic of Britain's war-time rationing simply did not take into account the needs of some like him.  (2) S. Ramanajan didn't just "drop out of the sky" when he arrived in Cambridge.  HE HAD A FAMILY (wife and mother) "back home" in Madras, India.  In contrast, G.H. Hardy, a quite typical "Western Intellectual" of his time, was "married to his work" and hence had NO ONE really to worry about (or even _care about_ ...) "back home." So S. Ramanajan's quite practical and very _human_ needs were often incomprehensible to Hardy.

All this reminded me quite well of a still quite recent Provincial Chapter that we had in my Order (the Servants of Mary) in which one of our South African (Zulu) Servite Friars (my Province, the USA Province of the Servite Order is responsible for Servite Missions in Kwa-Zulu, South Africa) noted that when it comes to "cultural adaptation" it seems always to be easier for those coming from the poorer countries to "adapt" to the ways / customs, etc of the wealthier ones than the other way around ;-).

And so it was here ... S. Ramanajan was being asked repeatedly, even by fairly sympathetic people (including G.H. Hargy) "to adapt" to the ways of the British.  And yet, he had things to offer, and not even just "his mathematical genius," to his British patrons / (sort of) colleagues.

It all makes for a great story ... and one that continues to unfold today.  One hopes that we are a few chapters further into the story of "the meeting of cultures / civilizations" but it's still an ungoing process.  Excellent film!


ADDENDUM:

As "quite excellent" as the current film is, to anyone truly interested in movies today, it is obvious that India (with a larger film industry than even Hollywood's) is more than capable of telling its own story.  As such, in much the spirit of last year, when I did a "Film Tour of Russia" (so that Readers here would get exposed to _more_ than just "ponderous" and _extremely boring/depressing_ Russian / or even still Soviet-era "epics"),  I'm going to do a "Film Tour of India" this year as well, focusing on the INDIAN FILMS that "made it" both _critically_ and _popularly_ IN INDIA in the past year.  I hope to do both such contemporary film tours (of India and Russia) annually from now on ;-)


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Captain America: Civil War [2016]

MPAA (PG-13) CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RE.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B+)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (M. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review


Captain America: Civil War [2016] (directed by Anthony and Joe Russo [wikip] [IMDb-1] [IMDb-2]  screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely based the Marvel Comics based graphic novel [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] by Mark Millar [GR] [WCat] [Amzn] [IMDb] characters by Joe Simon [IMDb] and Jack Kirby [IMDb]) left me MARVELING anew at the sensitivity / brilliance of those working for the Marvel Comics trademark.  For their products, certainly their films, are "comic books with a conscience."

For nearly a generation now, we've been inundated with comic book superhero movies.  And it has been _largely_ fun _watching_ various "superheroes" be they from the Marvel or the DC Comicbook Universes doing all sorts of feats that we, mere mortals, could never do.  Yet interestingly enough, both Marvel Comics here and DC Comics a few months earlier (with its Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [2016] offering) have quite bravely sought to confront head-on the nagging questions: Would actual "superheroes" be worth it?  Would we _really_ want them around?

In Batman v Superman, BOTH Bruce Wayne/Batman and Clark Kent/Superman MISTRUSTED each other (as did many other "civilians").  Both saw the Other as (at least potentially) UNACCOUNTABLE VIGILANTES who PERHAPS may "do good" for the "Average Joe" BUT THERE WAS NO _CERTAIN_ REASON TO BELIEVE that EITHER would have to continue to do so in the future. 

Near the the beginning of the current film here, Captain America: Civil War [2016], the Marvel superheroes, united under the title Avengers, are confronted by a perhaps "grateful" but also _frightened_ ("shocked and awed"...) humanity with the the COLLATERAL COSTS of having them around:  Yes, they do _seem to_ "save the world" from all kinds of strange / NEW Super Villains that now seem to arise / arrive OUT OF NOWHERE ...  BUT ... end up killing _a lot_ of innocents in the process.  So early in the film, after a botched Avengers' led anti-terrorist raid in Africa, the leaders of humanity, ask, nay DEMAND that The Avengers submit themselves to United Nations oversight, and ... SOME of the Avengers gang accept this, and OTHERS do not.

FASCINATING HERE is the composition of the two groups and their reasons for choosing one way or another..  My hat off to the makers of the film here.  THIS FILM can be used / REFERRED TO by Junior High / High school teachers ALL OVER THE WORLD to discuss the relative merits of freedom/sovereignty of the individual (or individual nations) vs responsibility to others / society ("to the collective") and to the other nations / peoples of the world.

IMHO this film _really is brilliant_ in pointing out that NONE OF US (or Nation) have the right to be COMPLETELY SOVEREIGN (to do whatever we like ...).  And yet, we have a Right even Duty (!) to be suspicious of those who lead Society ("the Collective") or the "Family of Nations."

So guess who chooses NOT to submit himself to United Nations oversight and WHY? ;-)  It's absolutely brilliant.  And yet the film also shows the cost, and the Avengers "on the other side" argue a good case as well (notably that A Just Order will have space for Conscience as well as the necessary checks and balances (if nothing else, bureaucratic levers / inertia) to keep the responsible (hopefully elected) Leaders of said Order (in Catholic parlance "Competent Authority") in check.  (So again, guess who's willing to submit to said U.N. oversight, while confident that there'd be NO "Order" that really could contain him anyway? ;-)  AGAIN, JUST BRILLIANT :-) ;-)  


Again, my hat off to Marvel.  This is one FASCINATING / FANTASTIC teen oriented film that teaches both responsibility to Others (Society / "the Collective" as a whole) and the need to _always be suspicious_ of the "Great Leaders" (perhaps even "really cool Super Heroes" ;-) of our World.

Four, Four Stars!  


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Mother's Day [2016]

MPAA (PG-13) CNS/USCCB (L)  ChicagoTribune (1 Star)  RE.com (1/2 Star)  AVClub (D-)  Fr. Dennis (1/2 Star)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (P. Sobczynski) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review


The SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW about the movie Mother's Day [2016] (directed by Garry Marshall screenplay by Tom Hines, Lily Hollander, Anya Kochoff and Matthew Walker) is that it's actually something of an UN-/ even ANTI-MOTHER'S DAY film.

So if you have a pretty good relationship with your mother, unless your mom has _a really good sense of humor_ AND _you honestly have next to nothing else to do_, I would _not recommend_ this movie as something for you to see with your mother on Mother's Day.

On the other hand, if you perhaps REALLY HATE YOUR MOTHER / ARE DEEPLY ESTRANGED FROM (NOT TALKING FOR YEARS WITH) HER or perhaps YOU ARE A MOTHER who REALLY FEELS THAT YOU'VE MESSED-UP YOUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR CHILDREN then this film COULD PERHAPS BE OF SOME COMFORT TO YOU (or honestly ... drive you over the edge).  It's _not_ a "happy film."

For NONE of the mothers in this "ensemble film" (set in and around up-scale Atlanta) are having a good time of it:

Sandy (played by Jennifer Aniston) is a late 30-something suburban divorced mom with two sons Peter and Mikey and (played by Brandon Spink and Caleb Brown) who, "yes we have a joint custody agreement, but can you _please_ make an exception here," is being asked to _share_ Mother's Day with her utterly emotionally tone deaf ex-husband Henry (played by Timothy Oliphant) AND HIS NEW still early-mid 20-something BOMBSHELL of a second wife Tina (played by Shay Mitchell), "It'd mean SO MUCH TO HER ..."   Honestly ('cept for the reality that one's going _have to deal with them_ for the rest of one's life anyway...) "F-you Henry and your cradle-robbing second wife..." 

Then there are grown sisters Jesse (played by Kate Hudson) and Gabi (played by Sarah Chalke) both in estranged complicated relationships with their "trailer trash / red-neck" mother Flo (played by Margo Martindale) and father Earl (played by Robert Pine).

Jesse simply broke-off her relationship with her parents rather than tell them that she was dating, let alone eventually married, an Indian doctor named strangely enough "Russell" (played by Aasif Mandvi).  And she apparently told Russell, who had never met her parents, that they were both "institutionalized" somewhere in Arizona and FOR SOME REASON that "story" was enough (rather than A RED FLAG) for him who didn't ask any questions / married her anyway because ... well, SHE WAS WHITE.  This plot point is absolutely ABSURD to me: "Honey, my family owns half of the Punjab, and I myself am a very successful Atlanta based medical doctor and could be set-up with / marrying any number of beautiful, young, rich, educated Indian women from good / similarly wealthy Indian families, heck perhaps even Bollywood starlets ... ) while I know NOTHING ABOUT YOU except for your blonde hair, skin color and  perhaps nice smile (and even that your family has a history of _severe mental illness_ ...), but hey you're WHITE so I'll present _you_ to _my parents_ and marry you.  THEY will be SOOO proud ..."

Gabi, on the other hand, still "skypes" with her parents (retired or just unemployed, driving around the country in their mobile home...), while lying to them about her life.  For she's a Lesbian with a wife named Max (played by Cameron Esposito) and an 8 year old son produced by artificial insemination.  Instead, Gabi's telling her parents that she has some kind of an investment banker (male) as her fiance', one who they, of course, have never seen.

Then there's Bradley (played by Jason Sudeikis) retired Marine now upscale gym owner with two young daughters Vicky and Rachel (played by Ella Anderson and Jessi Case).  He lost his wife / they their mother (played by Jennifer Garner) also a Marine while she was deployed in Afghanistan during the past year. 

There's also a young 20-something couple Zach (played by Jack Whitehall) and Kristin (played by Britt Robertson) who get by working in a bar.  Together they have a young baby.  Zach would like to get married, while Kristin, who was first adopted, then lost both of her adopted parents in her teenage / young adult years to illness has (unsurprisingly) abandonment issues.

Finally, there's Miranda (played by Julia Roberts) a "Home Shopping Network" celebrity who's hawking all kinds of  "Mother's Day" gifts on her show throughout the whole film BUT ... didn't seem to have a family of her own.

So these then are the characters inhabiting the 5-6 interweaving story-lines of this "Mother's Day" movie.   Again, this is NOT a film celebrating "the joys of Motherhood" ...

... but it may have a place (outside of Mothers' Day) if one's own relationship with one's mother / parents is not particularly good (or if one's felt that one's really messed-up in one's parental role...).

So ... "yuck" to this film at least as a "Mother's Day" offering and perhaps "yuck" to the film in general.  Sigh ...


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Eye in the Sky [2016]

MPAA (R) CNS/USCCB (A-III)   RE.com (3 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (K. Jenson) review
RogerEbert.com (G. Cheshire) review
AVClub (A. Nayman) review

The Guardian (B. Lee) review


Eye in the Sky [2016] (directed by Gavin Hood screenplay by Guy Hibbert) is a TRULY EXCELLENT contemporary military thriller set around a fictionalized joint British-Kenyan capture / rendition operation assisted by real-time surveillance offered by an (armed if necessary) American drone set to take place in a Nairobi slum against a number of high value operatives from the Somali Al Shabaab terrorist organization (affiliated with Al Queda).

Among those slated for capture were the #2 man of Al Shabaab along with his British-born but radicalized wife (played by Lex King).  British / Kenyan intelligence had been tipped-off that they were to meet two arriving recruits, one from the U.S. and the other from Britain in a nondescript if (now that B/K intel knew about it) surprisingly insecure safe-house near the edge of a Al Shabaab controlled Nairobi slum. 
 
A British colonel Katherine Powell (played excellently by Helen Mirren) who had been tasked with  searching for / tracking the Somali-British terrorist power-couple for five years, is in overall tactical command of the operation from a British military base in Southern England.  She is in real-time communication with a staggering array of far-flung personnel:

(1) Kenyan intelligence agents Jama Farah and Damisi (played by Barkhad Abdi and Ebby Weyime) staking-out both Nairobi's airport (for the arrivals of the two recruits) as well as the said home where the meeting is to take place;

(2) the leader of the Kenyan Special Forces detachment (played by Bronson Mwangi) massed in a warehouse nearby awaiting her order to storm the house in question;

(3) U.S. Air Force personnel, 2nd Leut. Steve Watts and 1AC Carrie Gershon (played by Aaron Paul and Phoebe Fox), operating out of a self-contained 2-person air conditioned "module" (one of many) at a U.S.A.F. Base outside of Las Vegas, from where they pilot the armed Reaper drone flying 20,000 ft over Nairobi with its "television eye" fixed on the building in question;

(4) a U.S. presumably NSA imaging expert Lucy Galvez (played by Kim Engelbrecht) operating out of the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii tasked with giving quick confirmation of the presence of the people being targeted through the application of state-of-the-art facial recognition technology on images supplied to her by both the Kenyan intel operatives on the ground (at the airport / by the house) and the U.S.A.F. personnel operating the overhead drone; and finally

(5) her superior Lieutenant General Frank Benson (played by Alan Rickman) observing the operation from his office along with military lawyer Maj. Harold Webb (played by John Heffernan), the British Attorney General George Matherson (played by Richard McCabe) and finally a representative from Parliament Angela Northman (played by Monica Dolan) present in the room with him as well.


Jama Farah, the Kenyan intelligence agent at the airport, and then the operators of the U.S. drone are able send images to the NSA imaging expert in Hawaii that confirm the arrival of the two British / American recruits into the country and then to the house in question.  But who else is in the house?  Powell asks the Kenyan intel. agent Damisi staked out in a surveillance van nearby to investigate.  Agent Damisi then flies a hummingbird like drone by the windows of the house to try to peer in but to no avail.

Then, suddenly, the two recruits, said #2 man for Al Shabaab AND A WOMAN (but covered with a headscarf) appear to step-out of the building and into a van ... QUICKLY LEAVING the COMPOUND and heading into the Al Shabaab controlled slum nearby.  The aerial drone operators are able to keep eyes on the van until it stops at another house now definitely in the midst of the Al Shabaab controlled slum.  At this point, any "capture" option has become impossible (it would be a pitched battle in the middle of a heavily defended urban neighborhood).  HOWEVER a "drone strike" (targeted assassination) remains possible.  But ...

Do Col. Powell (and her superior Lt. Gen Benson) have the authority to do so?  Powell believes that she does, Lt. Gen. Benson is not sure, and the rest of the "observers" in his office are even less so.  After all, an attack on the said house would _kill_ two British nationals and an American one.  Yes, one was married to an Al Shabaab leader and two were recruits.  However, Maj. Harold Webb counsels "referring the matter up" to the British Foreign Secretary (played by Iain Glen).  They track him down AT A TRADE CONFERENCE in SINGAPORE.  He wants the affirmation of American support as well.  The U.S. Secretary of State (played by Michael O'Keefe) is at "a ping pong exhibition" in China and when he gets the call, doesn't understand the problem: The Al Shabaab leaders in question were already on U.S.'s "kill list" and the recruits were already considered enemy combatants.  Still the British were squeamish

In the meantime, Powell -- remember she's been following the two Al Shabaab leaders for years now -- asks the Kenyan intelligence people to get at least somebody close to the house in question.  Agent Jama Farah gets close and even flies a _insect (beatle) sized_ drone INTO THE HOUSE where TO THE HORROR OF ALL it's discovered that there are two suicide vests ready for the two new recruits to wear.  Al Shabaab itself seems to have something imminent planned ...

So ... the order is sent to the drone pilots there in Las Vegas that they want them to prepare to fire a Hell Fire missile at the house.  While certainly trained to do so, NEITHER of the two young pilots of the drone have actually been ordered to do this at an actual target ... and then ...

TO THE HORROR OF ALL ... the drone pilots spot A LITTLE GIRL (Alia was her name, played by Aisha Takow) SETTING-UP A TABLE RIGHT NEXT TO THE HOUSE IN QUESTION TO SELL BREAD.  What now???  The rest of the story follows ...


This is an excellent film, and I really do wish that EVERYONE that could conceivably be involved in a scenario like this SEE THE FILM -- Americans, Brits, RUSSIANS, CHINESE, AL SHABAAB, EVERYBODY.

It's such a tough call: Do you KILL _one kid_ TO SAVE _MAYBE_ 80?  (and of course, one is not targeting the kid, one's targeting the terrorists next door, but the collateral damage would probably kill the kid ...).

I thought that THE PILOTS (both YOUNG PEOPLE) played their roles EXCELLENTLY.  I thought that Helen Mirren played _her role_ EXCELLENTLY as well (after all SHE knew what those people inside the house were capable of).    I thought that Monica Dolan playing the representative from Parliament PLAYED HER ROLE _EXCELLENTLY_ telling the General that she did not come to this action to observe a targeted assassination let alone the slaughter of an innocent, that Parliament itself needed to discuss and Vote (!) on the "Rules of Engagement" for situations like this.   And Alan Rickman as SAID GENERAL played _his role_ EXCELLENTLY reminding the M.P. "not to lecture a military officer about the cost of war."

THIS BECOMES A VERY POWERFUL FILM that does not let ANYBODY escape without SQUIRMING.  THIS WOULD BE A REALLY TOUGH CALL.


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The Meddler [2015]

MPAA (PG-13)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RE.com (4 Stars)  AVClub (B)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review 


The Meddler [2015] (written and directed by Lorene Scafaria) is a Mother-Daughter film that's finding its way to theaters in the U.S. a week before Mothers' Day. 

And while there are aspects of the story that I'd change -- I do think that the title "Meddling" character, Marnie (played by Susan Sarandon), is portrayed as being WAY TOO RICH to be completely credible to most audience members.  Then the wedding of her daughter's friend that Marnie bankrolls (because she has the money to just "drop" on such things ;-) is, of course, _a lesbian wedding_ which while au courant (and I'm not necessarily entirely unsympathetic, I've written about the credibility-in-the-culture costs to the Catholic Church for its "self-boxing-itself-in" opposition to gay rights / gay marriage before) is not exactly (and probably will never be, because of demographic percentages) a "common experience" to most viewers or even a particularly "need driven" situation (she wasn't exactly bankrolling the wedding of a refugee couple from Honduras or Syria ...) -- it's _not_ a bad film, and certainly one that "rings true" in other aspects.

Marnie's a widow.  Her husband died two years prior and missing him / missing her sense of family that was built around him, she moves to Los Angeles from New Jersey to be close(r) to her daughter Lori (played quite credibly / marvelously by Rose Byrne). 

Lori's a struggling late 30-something Hollywood screenwriter who's also trying to get-over / move-on after a painfully significant loss in her life: Her appropriately aged 30-something actor boyfriend Jacob (played with plausibly sincere "that's just life" cluelessness by Jason Ritter) had dumped her sometime still fairly recently for a more attractive / significantly younger actress (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke).   Mom's emotionally sudden arrival (to stay...) in Southern California _wasn't_ experienced by (would have probably preferred to keep her basketcase-ness largely to herself) daughter as "helpful."  And mom, who of course _just loves her daughter_ "doesn't understand."

So Mom Marnie trying "to be helpful" spends the first half of the story crossing _all kinds of emotionally charged boundaries_:  She finds out about and goes to _a baby shower_ that her daughter Lori had been invited to, even though daughter Lori, depressed (and _not_ wanting to be around sincere / supportive friends who at the end of the day _wouldn't be able to help her anyway_ ...) herself did not attend.   And what does Marnie do?  She gets herself involved in the lives of daughter Lori's friends (including in the above mentioned wedding plans of one of them ...).  At one point, Marnie even finds THE PSYCHOLOGIST that Lori is going to and tries to talk to her (the _psychologist_) in hopes of "getting information out of her" about Lori's emotional state (YES, those are a couple of pain scenes to watch ...)

So, eventually Lori leaves Marnie to "watch her two dogs" and flies to New York to be present (for a number of weeks ...) at the taping of screen-pilot that she had written for some sort of a TV show.

That leaves Marnie, alone, in Los Angeles (remember she's come there from _New Jersey_, right next to New York, where her daughter has now gone to ...).

The rest of the story -- in somewhat "Forrest Gump-ish" fashion -- unfolds from there ...

Again, this is _not a bad film_.   And it's often quite emotionally charged with some very poignant and heart-rending situations.  And that's why I wish they had made Marnie "a little less rich" and perhaps resisted a bit more the temptation go give-in to needless cultural tendentiousness.  

At its heart though, this film remains a good Mother-Daughter film that will have the audience tearing-up in parts as well.

So overall GOOD JOB ;-)


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Rachet & Clank [2016]

MPAA (PG) CNS/USCCB (A-1)  ChicagoTribune (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C-)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing

Darren's World of Entertainment  review of the new PS4 game
FanBoyNation (K. Fenix) review of the new PS4 game

LanceGaming (Big Al) live stream of new PS4 game (Note that while the gamer's language as he plays / reviews the game is perhaps "quite realistic" ;-), it's also kinda appalling ;-/)

CineMagazine (M. Meijer) review* 
CineVue (J. Neish) review 
KinoFans.com (J. Zunker) review*
SpielFilm.com (C. Moll) review*

CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
BeliefNet (N. Minow) review

ChicagoTribune (K. Walsh) review
AVClub (I. Vishnevetsky) review


Rachet & Clank [2016] (directed by Kevin Munroe and Jericca Cleland, screenplay by T.J. Fixman, Kevin Munroe and Gerry Swallow) based on the Ratchet & Clank video game a new PS4 [2016] version of which rolled-out in conjunction with the movie) is _both_ NOT AS BAD as the NON-GAMING MOVIE REVIEWERS (above) make it out to be, _and_ WILL CERTAINLY HAVE ITS FANS.  There's a whole generation of young parents who played the PS2 version as kids and have something to share with their own kids now.

The film basically follows the trajectory of the original PS2 game with a number of expansions taking into account characters that entered the story in subsequent modules.

Conceived as a "Star Wars" like scenario (only for kids under 10, hence necessarily "dumbed down" a bit) the story plays out in the distant "Solana Galaxy" far far away.

Main character Rachet (voiced in the film by James Arnold Taylor), a Lombax that is an intelligent if relatively small, big-eared "mousy" being, has been growing-up, working as a mechanic's apprentice (fixing hovercraft / space-ships) on a remote, quite desert planet.  But, of course, he has been "dreaming of greater things..."  Well, one day, one quite random day, his dreams begin to come true as he finds himself pulled-into story of cosmic (or at least "galactic") importance after the craft of a small talking refugee-robot, who he names "Clank" (voice by David Kaye), crash-lands near his home.

Clank had been a "reject" of a "war-bot" factory run by an evil slug-like alien named Chairman Drek (voiced by Paul Giamatti) and his "mad" (or more precisely "vengeful") scientist cohort Dr. Nefarious (voiced by Armin Shimerman) who've designed a giant "deplanetizing" starship that would blow-up planets, shatter them really, allowing the two to pick-out pieces from the remains which they would use to build a new planet for themselves and "their kind" (apparently, evil, slug-like beings ...).

The only ones standing in the way of their quite "nefarious plot" would seem to be the four "Galactic Rangers" -- Captain Qwark, Cora, Brax Lextrus, and Stig (voiced by Jim Ward, Bella Thorne, Dean Redman and Alexandro Giuliani) -- who Rachet (and half the galaxy) idolized, but who proved to be just a bunch of "preening for the cameras" "shoot 'em up" (if they _must_ do anything at all, 'cept bask in their previous glory) showboats.

So it's actually Rachet & Clank who (quite accidentally) "save the day" the first time that Chairman Drek's / Dr. Nefarious' army of War-bots comes to attack the "Galactic Rangers" "Justice League" HQ, allowing Rachet to be hailed (by the grateful populace) as a _fifth_ "Galactic Ranger" to the irritation of the other four and especially Captain Qwark who didn't like to share the spotlight.

Well immediately after becoming said fifth "Galactic Ranger," the "glory of it all" starts going to _his head_, and the internal battle within him begins as well (even as he and the other Rangers are being tasked to "save the galaxy" from the clutches of Drek / Nefarius): Is RACHET _also_ going to be LAZY about his task and just expect to "shoot himself out of complex problems" (like the other four preening Rangers) or is HE at least going to listen to the advice of his intelligent but soft-spoken robotic friend Clank as well as the capable / insightful but previously largely ignored Elaris (voiced by Rosario Dawson) of the Rangers' technical / intelligence support staff?  The rest of the story ensues ... ;-)

Again, it's actually _not_ a bad story, kinda reminding one of both Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy [2014].  Yes, purists of all kinds of stripes -- some gamers, most cinephiles, probably "a lot of confused civilians" ;-) -- will find the film irritating.  But I do believe that as long as one understands that this film is intended for TEN YEAR OLDS, one will probably appreciate it for what it is. 

And it does actually have a message that's not altogether bad: To be a hero does involve more than just preening for camera or "shooting up an enemy" ... it means TO LISTEN TO ADVICE and then to REALLY WORK FOR THE BENEFIT OF EVERYONE (not just for oneself).

Again, not altogether a bad lesson to teach / learn ;-)  


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Elvis & Nixon [2016]

MPAA (R)  ChicagoTribune (3 Stars)  RE.com (2 Stars)  AVClub (C+)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing

U.S. National Archives exhibit "When Nixon met Elvis"

Smithsonian (P. Carlson) article about this famous if odd encounter between Elvis and Nixon at the White House on Dec 21, 1970

ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (M. Zoller Seitz) review
AVClub (J. Hassenger) review


Elvis & Nixon [2016] (directed by Liza Johnson screenplay by Joey and Hanala Sagal and Cary Elwes) is a rather funny comedy of sorts about an encounter between Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll (played in the film by Michael Shannon) and the famously brooding even paranoid President Richard Milhous Nixon (played in the film by Kevin Spacey) immortalized in a picture of the two together that, strangely enough, has become the requested picture from the U.S. National Archives in history.

The film begins with a caption noting that only in February, 1971 did Nixon install his (in)famous audio-recording system that subsequently recorded every single conversation that occurred in the White House's oval office.  So ... with a wink and a smile ... the caption teases, there is _no_ definitive record of this meeting (except for the picture(s) (them)selves ;-). 

No matter, no matter at all ;-)  This is story that just _cries-out_ to be told ;-) and there were witnesses ... both Elvis associates (played by Alex Pettyfer and Johnny Knoxville) and Nixon staffers (played by Colin Hanks and Tate Donovan the latter playing the infamous H.R. Haldeman who ended up spending time in jail for his role in the Watergate affair) who had recollections of this strange encounter with _no lasting impact_ ;-) except to put smiles on the faces of those trying to wrap their heads around it ;-). 

So WHY did this encounter happen at all?  Well the story goes that Elvis, rock star Elvis, rock God Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, was becoming "increasingly frustrated with the way things were going in the country," and he simply decided that he'd like talk to the President about it and offer his services "to help out in anyway."  That, and then he apparently wanted to be given a title (and a badge) of "Federal Agent at Large."  Apparently, a fair number of local police departments, including that of his native Memphis, TN had given him honorary titles / badges as well.

But, of course, to get an honorary title / badge from the Memphis P.D. is one thing, to get a similar title and badge from the F.B.I. or Bureau of Narcotics is another ... But then, he was ... "The King" ;-)

So Elvis decided to pick-himself-up one day, fly-out (from Memphis - in the Midwest on the Mississippi) first to L.A. (on the West Coast) to pick-up his friend Jerry (played by Alex Pettyfer) and then fly-out (cross-country ...) to D.C. to "talk to the President."  Did he have an appointment?  Of course not ;-).  But who's gonna say no to ELVIS... even if, well, apparently kinda a gun nut ... he wanted to take a GUN ON A COMMERCIAL PLANE (even in the 1970s ;-), and then A GUN OR TWO (or FIVE ...) to the White House ;-)

On the other side, if you were a staffer for Nixon ... How do you get THE PRESIDENT especially THAT PRESIDENT to take a _spur-of-the-moment_ meeting with someone like Elvis? Best line in the film (after his staffers tried to sneak-in a meeting Elvis on the Nixon's schedule on that (random) day: "Who the F... put that on my schedule?" Nixon asks ;-)

But Nixon's staffers think that a meeting "with the King" could actually be good for his image "with the youth" (and even THE SOUTH) so ... they "find a way..." to make it happen.

It's a 1 1/2 hour telling of a joke ... but ... for many the smiles it repeatedly produces _may be_ well worth the ticket price / time ;-)

Elvis has entered the White House ... LOL, LOL indeed ;-)


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