After watching the last two Transformer's films, I didn't have great expectations going into this newest release of Transformers directed, in part by Steven Spielberg. The last two I enjoyed but was easily annoyed by the teeny-bop love scenes and all the time their sappy antics took away from what I wanted to be watching - sci-fi, robots, and fighting.
However, very different and trending away from the last production, Transformers Age of Extinction packs a deep punch and is, flat-out, action throughout the entire 2 hours and 40 minutes. There was a few elements of cheesy loveliness and one sappy scene between two of the star teens but this movie roared to life and is nothing short of Optimus Primo!
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Transformers Age of Extinction propels itself into summer box office glory with good, hard fighting and battle scenes. There are hot chicks, swearing, and even some gruesome death that render this, easily, the most exciting and violent(Americans love their violence) of all the Transformer films.
What really made this film work for me were the storyline and plot. In this battle of good versus evil, there is a great deal written into its' depths about ancient aliens and the producers make a clear statement to the audience of just how foolish humans are that we believe we are the center of the universe. This resonates throughout the film and should serve as a fine lesson for our youth.
With this, there is also several references and inferences mixed into the theme that point at the Inquisition, The Knights Templar, and the Holy Grail. This gives the film such great depth and renders it even, profound, despite what we all may perceive to be nothing more than plastic toys. I found this a wonderful injection into an already exhilarating experience.
What makes the movie so exhilarating? Without giving away too much, let's just say that Mark Wahlberg takes on the role of single parent raising his super-hot teenage daughter and is thrown into the hell of a massive robot war and the potential extinction of humankind. His character works fine for me as a tough guy in most of his films but, in this, the action is unprecedented as he delves into a Bourne Legacy-like roll and the near misses are so much fun throughout this works' entirety.
There is one wine that comes to my mind that is the very best pairing for this film and that is the Cline 2010 Big Break Zinfandel from Contra Costa County. This deeply colored zinfandel is named after a big damn collapse that flooded the local farmland, some, 80 years ago. Its' fruit is deep and robust with just enough cracked pepper to spice up your summer barbecue and pairs very well with the intensity and destruction on the ride that Transformers Age of Extinction takes us. Have a great summer-
Showing posts with label Film critic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Film critic. Show all posts
Friday, June 27, 2014
Sunday, June 15, 2014
THE SIGNAL FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
What do you get when you cross The Blair Witch Project, District 9, Boxing Helena, and Area 51? The Signal. The Signal is a sci-fi horror sensation directed by William Eubank and starring Laurence Fishburne. It is nothing shy of a creepy freakshow that crawls and stretches into several different genres of horror.....and crawl and stretch it does, well.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
Wes Anderson has created a masterpiece in his latest work, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This film reaches into your heart and fills you with all the smiles and grins of a child's first puppet show. It is a movie to go and view to escape - to truly immerse yourself in another world full of smiles, deviance, drama, laughter, and ridiculousness, all, set into a landscape of depth and color that warms the soul.
The cast of the Grand Budapest is a line-up like no other. Usually, I fear such works where too many great actors are piled into one house as they seem to either drown each other out or bleed from the capacity that makes each of them so unique and great on their own. Not in this film. The casting is perfect and, surprisingly, some of the major players (of which there are many) only have small parts which really builds into the piecemeal menagerie that Anderson creates in his cookie-cutter approach to his brilliant set. Adrien Brody and William Dafoe were my two favorites - you choose yours.....it is so friggin awesome!
What really impressed me the most in this production was the color schemes of the set. The mauves, the pinks, the purples, the violets, and the light blues and yellows. So much mood was laid into the set that it could genuinely make you feel a specific mood or emotion with each different scene. With this, the hilarious parts and the dramatic events and even the episodes that may lead one to bite a fingernail or two were bound by color schemes that either fit or did not, depending on what, exactly, was transpiring in the story. As a patron, you were left laughing, reeling, shaken, horrified, or simply smiling at something that reminded you of your own childhood as the dreamy colors sped past your eyes.
To pair a wine that is so colorful and full of smiles that it fits this movie, one must look to color and fruit and depth to find confluence with this great film. As two very important characters sip brut over an important discussion in the hotel(no spoiler alert, here, sorry), I find so very fitting, to pair this film with the Brut Rose' from Canard-Duchene. Champagne is such a classy libation that it only seems appropriate. This, and its gorgeous rose and light cherry and strawberry fruit encapsulated in a pink foliage label that much resembles the color schemes of one of the sets of The Grand Budapest Hotel as they are stacked and folded high for our viewing pleasure.....you will see what i mean - enjoy!
The cast of the Grand Budapest is a line-up like no other. Usually, I fear such works where too many great actors are piled into one house as they seem to either drown each other out or bleed from the capacity that makes each of them so unique and great on their own. Not in this film. The casting is perfect and, surprisingly, some of the major players (of which there are many) only have small parts which really builds into the piecemeal menagerie that Anderson creates in his cookie-cutter approach to his brilliant set. Adrien Brody and William Dafoe were my two favorites - you choose yours.....it is so friggin awesome!
What really impressed me the most in this production was the color schemes of the set. The mauves, the pinks, the purples, the violets, and the light blues and yellows. So much mood was laid into the set that it could genuinely make you feel a specific mood or emotion with each different scene. With this, the hilarious parts and the dramatic events and even the episodes that may lead one to bite a fingernail or two were bound by color schemes that either fit or did not, depending on what, exactly, was transpiring in the story. As a patron, you were left laughing, reeling, shaken, horrified, or simply smiling at something that reminded you of your own childhood as the dreamy colors sped past your eyes.
To pair a wine that is so colorful and full of smiles that it fits this movie, one must look to color and fruit and depth to find confluence with this great film. As two very important characters sip brut over an important discussion in the hotel(no spoiler alert, here, sorry), I find so very fitting, to pair this film with the Brut Rose' from Canard-Duchene. Champagne is such a classy libation that it only seems appropriate. This, and its gorgeous rose and light cherry and strawberry fruit encapsulated in a pink foliage label that much resembles the color schemes of one of the sets of The Grand Budapest Hotel as they are stacked and folded high for our viewing pleasure.....you will see what i mean - enjoy!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Gravity Movie Review And Wine Pairing
Gravity, starring Sandra bullock and George Clooney, is a space-age thriller set in the realms of science labs and space stations orbiting the earth. Gravity is an incredible introduction into the workings of humans reaching out beyond our own planet, stretching ourselves in expansion into outer space, and the perils that can come with our dreams of worlds beyond our own.
What is so interesting to me is the, very, first three people that came into my wine bar and spoke with me about this film told me, essentially, that it was boring. They presented the film to me as an outer space love story that was slow and not very good, in general. So much for listening to the public. For the past few weeks I have heard from so many other folks how good it was that i just had to give it a try.
Gravity is far from boring. In fact, it kicks-ass and as much as i am not overwhelmed by anything Sandra Bullock has done, she plays her part just fine in this high speed disaster alongside George Clooney. Disaster is a word that, only, describes what transpires in this film, in the most mild of terms. There is prelude and hint of things to go wrong, right from the beginning - perhaps, even, some foreshadowing......and when the bells and whistles blow....the dramatic does stop coming rendering this film nothing short of a nail-biter.
Yet, as we are glued to edge of our seat, there is an ominous beauty in the cinematography....the shots from above looking down on the planet are, simply, dreamy. It gives the audience some perspective on just how small we are.....an angle from God's perspective, perhaps. However, with the deep hues and wide angle there is something horrible lurking in the background when you hear George Clooney exalt, "the Ganges looks so beautiful in the sunrise," as they spin round and round the planet at high speeds.
How is it they we learned to float this these craft....these ships....so high above the earth? Was it not just 50 something years ago and many people were, essentially, laughing at the guy who said we could land on the moon? Just 50 something years ago? Amazing. Amazing, yes, but with peril. As we are so new to this age of space, Gravity, presents us with a, both, a world and the outer space around it, fraught with danger.....and I will let you discover why and how and enjoy the ride from here.
For my wine pairing, I was, at first, thinking explosive, powerful....perhaps, a big zinfandel. But, after the first explosion, there came so much more that made me love this film. It is intense and nothing short. Did i say that, already? Good. My wine of choice for pairing is the Manzanita Creek 2007 Petite Sirah, Handal Vineyard, Alexander Valley, California. This wine has incredible structure with delicious, dark berry fruit and is inky, inky, inky......and intense....just like Gravity. Enjoy!
What is so interesting to me is the, very, first three people that came into my wine bar and spoke with me about this film told me, essentially, that it was boring. They presented the film to me as an outer space love story that was slow and not very good, in general. So much for listening to the public. For the past few weeks I have heard from so many other folks how good it was that i just had to give it a try.
Gravity is far from boring. In fact, it kicks-ass and as much as i am not overwhelmed by anything Sandra Bullock has done, she plays her part just fine in this high speed disaster alongside George Clooney. Disaster is a word that, only, describes what transpires in this film, in the most mild of terms. There is prelude and hint of things to go wrong, right from the beginning - perhaps, even, some foreshadowing......and when the bells and whistles blow....the dramatic does stop coming rendering this film nothing short of a nail-biter.
Yet, as we are glued to edge of our seat, there is an ominous beauty in the cinematography....the shots from above looking down on the planet are, simply, dreamy. It gives the audience some perspective on just how small we are.....an angle from God's perspective, perhaps. However, with the deep hues and wide angle there is something horrible lurking in the background when you hear George Clooney exalt, "the Ganges looks so beautiful in the sunrise," as they spin round and round the planet at high speeds.
How is it they we learned to float this these craft....these ships....so high above the earth? Was it not just 50 something years ago and many people were, essentially, laughing at the guy who said we could land on the moon? Just 50 something years ago? Amazing. Amazing, yes, but with peril. As we are so new to this age of space, Gravity, presents us with a, both, a world and the outer space around it, fraught with danger.....and I will let you discover why and how and enjoy the ride from here.
For my wine pairing, I was, at first, thinking explosive, powerful....perhaps, a big zinfandel. But, after the first explosion, there came so much more that made me love this film. It is intense and nothing short. Did i say that, already? Good. My wine of choice for pairing is the Manzanita Creek 2007 Petite Sirah, Handal Vineyard, Alexander Valley, California. This wine has incredible structure with delicious, dark berry fruit and is inky, inky, inky......and intense....just like Gravity. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 27, 2013
The East Movie Review
The East, (Sundance Film selection) directed by Zal Batmanglij, is a provocative thriller focused on an anarchist collective/commune that points its' efforts at major corporations that lay waste and ruin to, both, the environment and people's lives. This movie takes a hard swing at major oil companies that spill and kill, pharmaceuticals that profit on drugs that kill or mame humans, and dumpers who ruin rivers and land as they sit, fat, in their gated communities while people develop cancer downstream.
I love this film. Watching it, I was comforted with a sense of hope that there is, still in this corrupt world in which we live, a fighter, some resolve, an underdog that stands up to all that is the antithesis of life and living - corrupt corporations. It drives hard, is scary, and is very, very intense. It reminded of a day in 1991 when i lay in bed, shocked, reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle revealing that a geologic survey team inspecting the ocean floor just outside the Farallon Islands(our fishery) had discovered two fields(40,000 barrels, each) of the highest radioactive waste ever made. They had found the waste product of the bombs that we made in WW2 and dropped on Japan. The oil drums they used were rusted and rotting and there was mass leakage and no way to clean it up. It made me very upset. I had dreamed of joining some group like Greenpeace that, actually, gave a shit about the world. Unfortunately, I never became that success. So very refreshing to see that spirit I once had in this film - even if they do kill people. Those barrels, still, lay leaking in the heart of our fishing industry.....bet you didn't know that.....
The East takes us, deep, undercover with an ex-FBI agent turned into corporate spy who spies with the purpose, solely, to infiltrate underground groups seeking to expose and punish those very corporations who ruin our world. As the layers peel away, the plot thickens into blood-deep turmoil. There is betrayal, some Big Brother, raw sex and all the drama to draw you in to what equates to an "anarchists' breakfast club around a campfire. Think "V" for Vendetta crossed with a band of Anonymous/GreenPeace, underground rebels.
If I have to have a criticism(s) of this film, I will say, some acting parts were a little drab and the plot could have played out a bit more fluidly. Regardless, it succeeds in gripping and pulling you in. In its' layers, is a story within a story as the main character, played by Brit Marling, finds herself listening, learning, evolving as a human. Set in the season of fall on the East Coast of the United States, our ex-FBI agent finds herself in a metamorphosis - a butterfly amongst vigilant, intellectual, hippies that have welcomed her right into their home where the browning leaves, outside, fall from the safety of their home in the trees.
After the first "jam" they pull off - their first act of revenge - one where people die.....I found myself asking the age-old question, "do two wrongs make a right?" At first, I was looking for the right thing in my mind, the Ghandi, the pacifist, the moral. But, then, I caught on and was absorbed into the horror that this group and its' ideals rain-down upon their targets. If they kill the CEO of a company that is giving children brain tumors down river, then, it is a RIGHT to kill one bad guy to save multitudes of innocents....especially if this CEO knew....as so many of them do....that they were reaping earnings based on the sickness and demise of others that they were causing. If the law is not doing its' job, then, somebody else should. Hard swings should be taken when babies are forming brain tumors. Examples should be made and, then, what is being poured into the river will stop.
Pairing this movie with a fine wine is a no-brainer. Deep and intense, I would grab a bottle of the 2011 Rock Wall Petite Sirah from Jack's Dry Creek Vineyard. 100% estate fruit, this wine is dark and inky with layers upon layers of blackberry and dark raspberry with violet notes and a silky finish that makes it, all, balance so well. Mostly, it is the intensity and dense, dark fruit of this wine that render it a perfect pairing for such a disturbing and moving film as The East.
I love this film. Watching it, I was comforted with a sense of hope that there is, still in this corrupt world in which we live, a fighter, some resolve, an underdog that stands up to all that is the antithesis of life and living - corrupt corporations. It drives hard, is scary, and is very, very intense. It reminded of a day in 1991 when i lay in bed, shocked, reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle revealing that a geologic survey team inspecting the ocean floor just outside the Farallon Islands(our fishery) had discovered two fields(40,000 barrels, each) of the highest radioactive waste ever made. They had found the waste product of the bombs that we made in WW2 and dropped on Japan. The oil drums they used were rusted and rotting and there was mass leakage and no way to clean it up. It made me very upset. I had dreamed of joining some group like Greenpeace that, actually, gave a shit about the world. Unfortunately, I never became that success. So very refreshing to see that spirit I once had in this film - even if they do kill people. Those barrels, still, lay leaking in the heart of our fishing industry.....bet you didn't know that.....
The East takes us, deep, undercover with an ex-FBI agent turned into corporate spy who spies with the purpose, solely, to infiltrate underground groups seeking to expose and punish those very corporations who ruin our world. As the layers peel away, the plot thickens into blood-deep turmoil. There is betrayal, some Big Brother, raw sex and all the drama to draw you in to what equates to an "anarchists' breakfast club around a campfire. Think "V" for Vendetta crossed with a band of Anonymous/GreenPeace, underground rebels.
If I have to have a criticism(s) of this film, I will say, some acting parts were a little drab and the plot could have played out a bit more fluidly. Regardless, it succeeds in gripping and pulling you in. In its' layers, is a story within a story as the main character, played by Brit Marling, finds herself listening, learning, evolving as a human. Set in the season of fall on the East Coast of the United States, our ex-FBI agent finds herself in a metamorphosis - a butterfly amongst vigilant, intellectual, hippies that have welcomed her right into their home where the browning leaves, outside, fall from the safety of their home in the trees.
After the first "jam" they pull off - their first act of revenge - one where people die.....I found myself asking the age-old question, "do two wrongs make a right?" At first, I was looking for the right thing in my mind, the Ghandi, the pacifist, the moral. But, then, I caught on and was absorbed into the horror that this group and its' ideals rain-down upon their targets. If they kill the CEO of a company that is giving children brain tumors down river, then, it is a RIGHT to kill one bad guy to save multitudes of innocents....especially if this CEO knew....as so many of them do....that they were reaping earnings based on the sickness and demise of others that they were causing. If the law is not doing its' job, then, somebody else should. Hard swings should be taken when babies are forming brain tumors. Examples should be made and, then, what is being poured into the river will stop.
Pairing this movie with a fine wine is a no-brainer. Deep and intense, I would grab a bottle of the 2011 Rock Wall Petite Sirah from Jack's Dry Creek Vineyard. 100% estate fruit, this wine is dark and inky with layers upon layers of blackberry and dark raspberry with violet notes and a silky finish that makes it, all, balance so well. Mostly, it is the intensity and dense, dark fruit of this wine that render it a perfect pairing for such a disturbing and moving film as The East.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Iron Man 3 Movie Review and Wine Pairing
In this 3rd episode, we find our hero, Tony Stark( Robert Downey Jr.), in as deep of trouble with the bad guys as he is in sarcasm. Although slightly faded, he is, still, a smart-ass that we love to watch make fun of people - even when he picks on a young boy who lost his father. How does he do this? He is full of love - joyous and bubbling with the dark, sometimes silver tone that he exudes from his true past of sordid follies in his own life. We love him. I love him. He reeks of hero in life and on film and a toast of wine to the superhero who, really, knocked the shit out of himself and came back to produce, yet, another blockbuster that I, thoroughly, enjoyed.
Iron man 3 kicks right into gear with his flamboyant gallivanting at some fundraiser...super-hot women trying to get near him as he prances around like some feathered rock star of the 70's. Here, he meets a another genius - a super dorky one -, mind you - The Mandarin(Guy Pearce) that he doesn't pay much attention to as his priorities are in his suite, upstairs. The young scientist has this idea....but Tony Stark doesn't listen.
If you love rocket fire and big explosions, well, this one has more than the rest. Lesson-learned on listening when you didn't. Dorky guy comes back with a vengeance and down comes the kingdom. Fortunately, his beautiful savior - Gwenyth Paltrow - comes to his rescue, yet again, and saves his ass.
She saves his ass because he is an ass and, for some reason, beautiful women love confident idiots. A donkey in every respect of the word, but, it is Downey's humility that keeps him honest and keeps his fans thinking that being a cocky, jackass, is somehow, OK. After all, he is IronMan. I forgive him.
Downey's ego rolls throughout the film. I believe he sneaks in more one liners and smart ass comments than in any of the previous films. They aren't quite as sharp or quick as the last one but they are, still, very funny and the film falls nothing short of great and highly enjoyable.
Left with nothing in the middle of nowhere, Downey rebuilds, again, with all his love and technical know-how of robotics and scheming and comes back swinging. But, the plot is full of surprises and his mind at work bring out new warfare and technology that has you shaking and laughing at the same time.
Iron Man 3 is, yet another, wonderful, wild ride and deserves a full glass of well-aged, 2010 7&8 Napa Cabernet. Like Robert Downey Jr., this wine is big but balanced. It reaches out to grab with deep, berry flavor and reels you in. It does so swimmingly on the palette that you think something must be wrong with this, something is going to crash, our hero is going to fail - but Tony Stark doesn't disappoint. Nor does Robert Downey Jr. and this glass of one of Napa's stars!
Iron man 3 kicks right into gear with his flamboyant gallivanting at some fundraiser...super-hot women trying to get near him as he prances around like some feathered rock star of the 70's. Here, he meets a another genius - a super dorky one -, mind you - The Mandarin(Guy Pearce) that he doesn't pay much attention to as his priorities are in his suite, upstairs. The young scientist has this idea....but Tony Stark doesn't listen.
If you love rocket fire and big explosions, well, this one has more than the rest. Lesson-learned on listening when you didn't. Dorky guy comes back with a vengeance and down comes the kingdom. Fortunately, his beautiful savior - Gwenyth Paltrow - comes to his rescue, yet again, and saves his ass.
She saves his ass because he is an ass and, for some reason, beautiful women love confident idiots. A donkey in every respect of the word, but, it is Downey's humility that keeps him honest and keeps his fans thinking that being a cocky, jackass, is somehow, OK. After all, he is IronMan. I forgive him.
Downey's ego rolls throughout the film. I believe he sneaks in more one liners and smart ass comments than in any of the previous films. They aren't quite as sharp or quick as the last one but they are, still, very funny and the film falls nothing short of great and highly enjoyable.
Left with nothing in the middle of nowhere, Downey rebuilds, again, with all his love and technical know-how of robotics and scheming and comes back swinging. But, the plot is full of surprises and his mind at work bring out new warfare and technology that has you shaking and laughing at the same time.
Iron Man 3 is, yet another, wonderful, wild ride and deserves a full glass of well-aged, 2010 7&8 Napa Cabernet. Like Robert Downey Jr., this wine is big but balanced. It reaches out to grab with deep, berry flavor and reels you in. It does so swimmingly on the palette that you think something must be wrong with this, something is going to crash, our hero is going to fail - but Tony Stark doesn't disappoint. Nor does Robert Downey Jr. and this glass of one of Napa's stars!
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