Race to Witch Mountain (2009)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Thriller

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Rob, Alexander Ludwig, Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino, Tom Woodruff Jr.

A UFO crashes on the western coast of the United States and the government is desperately looking for any clues of the aliens within it. The two aliens, Sara (Rob) and Seth (Ludwig) in reality look like normal human children and posses great power. Jack Bruno (Johnson) is a taxi driver in Las Vegas and Sara and Seth take his taxi to get to an isolated place in the middle of the desert. The children explain that their planet is apparently getting destroyed due to environmental degradation. Their government wishes to invade and occupy it but the children's parents started an experiment on Earth to prove that an invasion on Earth is not necessary and their own planet can be improved. The children have come to Earth in order to obtain the results of the experiment since their parents couldn't come and must get back to their own planet on time if the invasion is to be avoided. However, it is not all that easy for them since an alien warrior known as Siphon (Woodruff Jr.) intends to kill them and make sure that Sara and Seth don't go back home. Jack, along with a failed scientist Dr. Alex Friedman (Gugino) are evading the U.S government and the Siphon to safely get the children back to where they belong. The movie starts on an interesting plot but doesn't manage to contain that interest till the end., where it gets boring and slow. The lack of highly-destructive action sequences and average performances are partly to blame. Nice movie but could have been much better. A remake of the 1975 movie, Escape to Witch Mountain.

Thumbs up: Decent plot, good start
Thumbs down: Bad ending, average acting

Rating: 5.9/10

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9 (2009)

Genre: Animation/Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Drama/Fantasy

Starring (voice): Christopher Plummer, Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reiley, Martin Landau

A scientist created a robot known as B.R.A.I.N, which would serve mankind and help it evolve and thus improve society. The machine, however, went against the humans which eventually led to a war of machines versus humans. The scientist realising his mistake, built miniature human-like robots out of cloth known as 'Stitchpunks' and gave each of them a unique number from 1 to 9. Humankind is destroyed and the machines rule over Earth. Each of these 9 Stitchpunks come to life and form an alliance to protect themselves. They are led by 1 (Plummer) the eldest of them all who has been evading the machines and keeping the Stitchpunks safe. 9 (Wood) comes to life and joins the clan. He is not satisfied with 1's defensive approach and wishes to take on a more aggressive role. 2 (Landau) is kidnapped by a machine and 9 is determined to save him. 2's close friend, 5 (Reiley) accompanies him on this quest. They meet a warrior 7 (Connelly) who helps them save 2 but 9 accidentally brings to life a dangerous machine manufacturing factory. The Stitchpunks are now in a worse condition than what they were earlier and are faced with a do or die situation. The story progresses at a very rapid face for the first half, which is slightly disturbing but manages to collect itself together and end on a high note. The graphics are superb and are almost life-like. The fundamental plot is nothing new but the entire concept of Stitchpunks is indeed innovative. A nice watch for all age groups and the lack of humour in bits and pieces was sorely missed.

Thumbs up: Graphics, entertaining watch
Thumbs down: Lack of humour

Rating: 6.9/10

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Black Sheep's Blu-Tuesday: LORD OF THE RINGS

Yes, I realize that it is Wednesday and this is a Blu-Tuesday post. It was a busy day yesterday; what can I say?

Every so often, a new title comes along that eclipses all other titles being released that day. Today is one of those days as Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY is making its first appearance on BD. I will not make judgments about the films themselves. That hardly seems the point considering how well-loved they are by fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novels. It seems even less relevant when you consider that the three films made a combined amount of $2.9 billion and collected a total of 17 Academy Awards between them. No, the only thing that matters right now is whether it is worth upgrading from the existing DVD copies you almost certainly have on your shelves already.

Here is what's new about the BD releases. All three films are in 1080p and DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1. This is the BD touch and considering that all three films won Oscars for visual effects, this should be what drives you to go out and get them. Personally, I did not find the transfer itself to be anything spectacular. Yes, Middle Earth looks great but it already looked great last I checked. The only other new inclusion in this set is a set of digital copies for all three films. Great! Now I can watch Frodo and friends on my iPad.

That's pretty much it. Everything else in this set is unchanged from previous releases, literally. The extras, none of which are new, are still in standard definition on DVD. There are certainly plenty of extras to make the LOTR experience that much more meaningful but anyone who owns these films already - and let's be honest here, how many people who want the films don't already own them - has already been through the extras already as well.

I think my biggest gripe about the LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY BD release is that it seems simply designed to take advantage of its core audience rather than honour it. Fans who have been waiting for this BD release will buy it but they're getting a rushed release with little to nothing new. The featured versions of the films aren't even the extended versions that most generally considered even better than the theatrical versions. That's fine though because they can just buy those too when they inevitably come out in time for some holiday.

ALSO NEW ON BD THIS WEEK

Nicolas Cage stars in Werner Herzog's remake of BAD LIEUTENANT.

Francis Ford Coppola insists he's indie with TETRO.

And Madonna gets STICKY AND SWEET with her first tour BD.

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Matchstick Men (2003)

Genre: Drama/Crime

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman

A smooth con artist Roy Waller (Cage) has one big problem. He suffers from agorophobia, mysophobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and a tic disorder and not to mention that he yells 'pygmies' whenever something upsets him. He along with his partner in crime Frank (Rockwell) have been successful so far in what they have been doing. Roy's wife left him 15 years back and hasn't heard from her since. He doesn't know if he has any children and with the help of his shrink, he manages to meet his daughter, Angela (Lohman). One of the consequences of his long list of disorders is the obsession to keep everything clean and organised else he feels uneasy. He cant get along with Angela initially due to her messy habits but they eventually learn to live with each other. He teaches Angela the tricks of the trade and starts using her for smaller tasks during some of his jobs. The once daughter-father relationship that never existed suddenly comes to life and becomes very strong. Nicolas Cage, needless to say puts on an amazing performance, something that has now become habitually expected from him. The story gets a tad boring somewhere down the half-way mark but improves later on. It has a nice climax with a good twist, but something even more twisted would have made the movie a more sensational watch.

Thumbs up: Nicolas Cage
Thumbs down: A bit boring at times

Rating: 6.8/10

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Open Season 2 (2008)

Genre: Animation/Drama/Comedy/Adventure

Starring (voice): Joel McHale, Mike Epps, Jane Krakowski, Crispin Glover, Cody Cameron, Billly Connolly

Elliot (McHale) and Boog (Epps) are still partners and best friends. Elliot is all set to marry Giselle (Krakowski) but is having last minute butterfly's in his stomach. To begin with, he breaks his huge antlers, and by huge I mean at least three times his flimsy body and they were possibly the only thing the chap could be proud of. On top of that, he starts getting second thoughts about his life's future commitments and gets cold feet right before their wedding. The wild animals have a new domestic addition to the group, Mr. Weenie the dog (Cameron) who has escaped from his owner in a bid to taste freedom. His owner manages to hunt him down and takes him back with her, which becomes an excuse for Elliot to call off the wedding and go on a hunt for Mr. Weenie. It's a crazily hilarious mix up which includes an over-aggressive, foul mouthed and half-foot tall squirrel, McSquizzy (Connolly) along with an evil poodle, Fifi (Glover). The movie doesn't have fall-over-your-seat humour but decent to make it a breeze to watch. The only person who can really make you laugh is the character of McSquizzy which too takes some bit of understanding to get the true meaning. It aims to make your kid brother laugh and it will.

Thumbs up: Fun and smooth to watch
Thumbs down: Not overtly funny

Rating: 7.2/10

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The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Mystery/Science-fiction

Starring: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, Kimberly Elise

A remake of the 1962 super-hit with the same name, The Manchurian Candidate retells the story of a 1991 Gulf War hero, Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Schreiber) and his troop leader Captain Ben Marco (Washington). More than a decade after the war, Captain Marco is approached by a former colleague who complained of hallucinations, bad dreams and flashbacks of the war. After ignoring him at first, Ben realises that he too has the same symptoms and starts investigating deeper. Captain Marco's investigation reveals that the entire troop was brainwashed and was made to believe a story that never too place. Sergeant Shaw, who was conferred the Medal of Honour for his courageous act during the war, is now running for the post of Vice President of the United States. Raymond hails from a prestigious family who have always been into politics and his mother Eleanor (Streep) is always calling the shots on his behalf. Ben approaches Raymond for help but Raymond doesn't give in to his story as easily. Ben looks like a mentally unstable man to society who is adamant on convincing everyone that there is nothing wrong with him. I haven't seen the original movie and hence a comparison at this point cannot take place. The movie in itself does a good job which was backed by an amazing performance by Denzel Washington. The movie did go a little damp somewhere around the half-way mark but it picked up the pace to deliver an astounding climax which is even more thrilling for someone who hasn't seen the original movie.

Thumbs up: Climax, Denzel Washington
Thumbs down: Weak and slow at some points

Rating: 7.8/10

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Capitalizing on Capitalism

An interview with director, Michael Moore

When I first heard I was getting face time with the infamous non-fiction filmmaker, Michael Moore, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Whether you watch his movies or not, you likely have an opinion about him and his politics and opinions about him tend to be extreme. His detractors don’t give him a fair shake and even his supporters can tell you a thing or two they don’t like about him. Is he really the champion of the people he purports to be or is he riding their miserable coattails all the way to the bank? After having spoken with him though, I can tell you plainly that Moore doesn’t care about what anyone thinks of him. Moore only cares about one thing – America – and what people think of her.

The reason I know this is not because Moore couldn’t stop gushing about America but rather because he couldn’t stop apologizing for it when we spoke. “We Americans, let me tell you, and you can believe me if you want to, we are really good people,” he tells me after he discovers I’m Canadian. I assure him that I like Americans just fine, that some of my best friends are Americans. Perhaps I wasn’t convincing enough because he goes on. “We have a good heart; we come up with a lot of great ideas. Somehow lately though, we have gone into a dark place and ignorance is our wall we can’t climb out of.” I’m used to Moore wagging his finger at behaviour he deems bad on camera but hearing the disappointment in his country direct from his mouth was disconcerting.

In CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, Moore’s latest controversial feature, he directs his lens at a facet of the American foundation that has been crumbling at the base as of late – the economy. Following the economic crisis or collapse or catastrophe, depending on what media inspired catch phrase you are partial to, Moore decided to explore the system that was falling apart in an effort to see if it is truly worth saving. “I want people to get angry enough to become active citizens and try to get this country back into the hands of the people and not the corporations,” Moore says of what he hopes people take away from the film. His initial aspirations make way for doubt though soon enough. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen or if it is even possible,” he continues. “It may be too late.”

Moore has been at this for a long time. His first feature, Roger & Me, was released in 1988 and he has been churning out films about gun control, health care and abuse of governmental authority ever since. It may not be possible to quantify exactly how much impact that has had but it is fair to say that, as a non-fiction filmmaker, he has had a greater influence on the general public than any other before him. “I have the privilege of making non-fiction films and reaching an audience of people who don’t go to non-fiction films.” Despite his disappointment in some aspects of his influence, he is certainly proud of how wide his reach is. “Studio surveys have shown that seven times out of ten, a person coming out of my movie is seeing a documentary in a theatre for the very fist time.”

I don’t know what’s more disturbing about that statistic – that so few people see documentaries in the theatre or that Michael Moore actually reads studio surveys.

At the time of our interview, Moore has no other project on deck. As he sits in front of me, looking like he should be drinking a beer in the backyard instead of promoting an internationally distributed film, I wonder if his exploits are starting to discourage him more than he realizes. Even as he begins spitting out random trivia bits about how 11% of Americans polled in a recent survey couldn’t find America on the map, I’m not swayed. Even as he follows these stats by saying, “This is what I’m dealing with. Sadly, this is what the world is dealing with,” I refuse to give up on him. One just needs to turn to one of the last things Moore says in Capitalism to remember his resolve. “I refuse to live in a country like this and I’m not leaving.”

Capitalize on that, Mr. Moore.

For Black Sheep's original review of CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, just click the title.

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