Thor, The Dark World: Another rich superhero soufflé

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Thor: The Dark World</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/marvel/thorthedarkworld/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for rather grim action violence</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 11.8.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One must give considerable credit to the master planners behind the current Marvel Comics movie franchise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITCeOeGLJRi7yMWZ56CGUwitgTJFlUvhmyrI5OsTqr4iQt754WgFFGEY4EyQvHLecmgU1pmYXeObQ-jSFdfLbQwiE7SgtJk3-kDMMKK0k9WF8CaSKKJf1zIiN8Vr7_k7LxfsX4D5PNxk/s1600/Thor+2+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgITCeOeGLJRi7yMWZ56CGUwitgTJFlUvhmyrI5OsTqr4iQt754WgFFGEY4EyQvHLecmgU1pmYXeObQ-jSFdfLbQwiE7SgtJk3-kDMMKK0k9WF8CaSKKJf1zIiN8Vr7_k7LxfsX4D5PNxk/s400/Thor+2+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">After Thor (Chris Hemsworth, right) reluctantly frees Loki (Tom Hiddleston) from his<br />Asgardian cell, Jane (Natalie Portman, foreground center) angrily warns the "god of<br />lies" that she'll go postal on him, if he even thinks of betraying the good guys. The<br />Asgardian warrior Sif (Jaimie Alexander), carrying a long-term torch for Thor, keeps<br />her own wary eye on Loki.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting with 2008’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2008/05/iron-man-plenty-of-mettle.html">Iron Man</a></i>, and with no missteps, they’ve delivered a consistently entertaining blend of action, light humor and engaging character drama: no small feat, given the supplementary requirement of making these films accessible both to longtime comic book geeks and “regular folks.” Some films have slipped a little; others — notably <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2012/05/avengers-well-assembled.html">The Avengers </a></i>— have been excellent. All things considered, we’ve been having a rollicking good time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(The <i>X-Men</i> and <i>Spider-Man</i> series have been equally well mounted, and kudos to them, as well. But — thus far — they’ve not been integrated into the current tapestry that showcases Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, the Avengers and SHIELD.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Credit a blend of savvy directors, carefully calibrated scripts and strong casts, with equal attention paid to the all-essential supporting characters. It’s not easy to construct action epics this massive — with an ever-expanding back-story — while also penning droll, slightly mocking one-liners that demonstrate a willingness not to take things <i>too</i> seriously. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven’t seen that formula applied so capably since Sean Connery’s early James Bond escapades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of which brings us to <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>, which benefits from equally suitable acting talent. Broad-shouldered Chris Hemsworth is every inch the Asgardian warrior, absolutely fit to wield that marvelous magic hammer, and he also manages to look imperial — rather than silly — in that ridiculously ornate outfit. Anthony Hopkins brings regal Shakespearean sincerity to the florid dialogue we expect from Odin, ruler of Asgard; and Natalie Portman is a refreshingly brave, intelligent and resourceful human sidekick ... anything <i>but</i> a stock “girl in trouble.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as also was the case with <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2011/05/thor-smashing-good-time.html">Thor</a></i> and <i>The Avengers</i>, this film is darn near stolen by Tom Hiddleston, so <i>perfectly</i> cast as the villainous, duplicitous trickster god, Loki. Speaking of the Bard, Shakespearean actors have long known that the bad guys have the best parts and get all the grand lines, and Hiddleston’s Loki has become the modern template against which all future fantasy baddies will be judged. He’s simply marvelous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rarely have so many smug remarks and scathing denouncements been delivered with such brio. It becomes necessary to watch these films at least twice — no real punishment, that — in order to better savor the subtleties of Hiddleston’s body language: the frustrated fire he gives Loki’s gaze, the condescending set to his stance, the contemptuous sweep of an arm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Loki dismisses Earth’s inhabitants as being no more significant than ants, we can’t help believing that it’s true.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this said, Thor’s longtime comic book escapades don’t usually engage me as much as those experienced by other heroic denizens in Marvel’s universe. The scales are simply too large, the premise too celestial. Essentially invulnerable gods inevitably call on all sorts of <i>deus ex machina</i> powers whenever the chips are down; this necessitates enemies who are, somehow, stronger still — and sufficiently threatening — in order to deliver a satisfyingly challenging conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blending Thor’s realm with the Earth-bound moxie of human characters such as Portman’s Jane Foster helps a great deal, of course, and this film plays that card as often as possible. But this story’s universe-threatening menace — or twin menaces, really — is vaguely defined and rather too reminiscent of Tolkien’s <i>Lord of the Rings</i> saga (with spaceships and laser cannons tossed into the mix).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hiddleston’s Loki is a far more interesting character, throughout, than Christopher Eccleston’s pouty Malekith, who — despite his power and ferocity — has no more dramatic substance than the massive stone creature Thor dispatches during an early skirmish. In a word, Malekith isn’t very interesting, and Eccleston does little to make him so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this respect, then, the film’s five credited writers — Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Don Payne and Robert Rodat — have stumbled a bit. Granted, it’s hard to emote beneath all the makeup that Eccleston is forced to wear, but his character certainly could have displayed more of the feral cunning that makes Loki so fascinating. Our writers have no excuse, really, since Malekith is a long-running “Thor villain” dating back to 1984. Surely, that much published material should have yielded <i>some</i> juicy, deliciously malevolent fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instead, by way of explanation, we get a prologue — narrated by Hopkins’ off-camera Odin, and also reminiscent of <i>Lord of the Rings</i> — that explains how, back in the day, Malekith and his fellow dark elf inhabitants of Svartalfheim, one of the “nine realms” of Norse myth, were defeated while trying to plunge the entire universe into darkness with the help of a roiling black mist dubbed the “aether.” Somehow, this corporeal octopus ink imbues its “host” with even greater dark powers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although believed dead, Malekith actually put himself and his surviving dark elves into hibernation, against a future time when celestial events would grant them an advantage. The Asgardians, meanwhile, were unable to destroy the aether ... just because. So they concealed it where it never, ever, <i>ever</i> would be found. (Yeah, right.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In passing, I must confess that I’ve never understood the motivations assigned to villains such as Malekith. OK, say he’s successful; he plunges all of Norse mythology’s “nine realms” into darkness, destroying everything and killing everybody. What’s left to do <i>after</i>lunch? Aren’t things, moving forward, apt to be a bit ... boring? Kinda dull? I can only conclude that such baddies aren’t very good at big-picture planning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(But I digress.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two years have passed since poor Jane last saw her blond, buff boyfriend; we catch her as she tries, reluctantly, to move on by agreeing to a first date with a nice-guy type (Chris O’Dowd, in a cute cameo). That goes awry when Jane’s assistant, Darcy (tart-tongued Kat Dennings, in a welcome return), pops up and jabbers excitedly about some weird readings on one of their quantum physics gizmos.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane, Darcy and a new intern named Ian (Jonathan Howard) track this disturbance; elsewhere, Jane’s astrophysicist mentor, Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), has noticed equally odd phenomena ... but nobody is paying attention to him, because the poor guy’s still off his nut after being possessed by Loki in a previous adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jane’s investigations lead to serious trouble when she “warps” into the precise cavern where the aether has been buried. (See? I <i>told</i> you they didn’t hide it well enough!) Worse yet, this ectoplasmic glop swirls into her body and, well, all sorts of bad things follow. Even from his galaxy far, far away, Thor can’t help but notice, and so — with some assistance from the Asgardian sentinel Heimdall (Idris Elba, also a familiar face) — he brings Jane to Asgard. Much to the displeasure of his father, Odin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cue Malekith’s revival and invasion of Asgard, in order to obtain the aether, and so forth, and so forth. Subsequent skirmishes play out on Svartalfheim and Midgard (Earth), as Malekith anticipates a once-every-five-thousand-year convergence of the nine realms. None of this cosmic nonsense really matters much, except that Thor is forced to accept help from his detested adopted brother, Loki. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which is when the fun <i>really</i>begins.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The broad action canvas allows some crucial participation by Thor’s longtime comrades, the “Warriors Three”: Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), Fandral (Zachary Levi) and Hogun (Tadanobu Asano). Jaimie Alexander also returns as the Asgardian warrior Sif, who in Odin’s view is Thor’s perfect match; the scripters missed a bet by not playing up this awkward romantic triangle, and amping up the tension between Sif and Jane.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rene Russo’s Frigga, Odin’s wife, plays a much larger role this time, the actress deftly delivering the proper blend of regal bearing and motherly angst (Loki having become <i>such</i> a disappointment).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director Alan Taylor displays just the right touch with this bombastic material, and no surprise; he’s a veteran of tough-edged TV shows such as <i>The Sopranos</i>, <i>Boardwalk Empire</i> and <i>Game of Thrones</i>. He and editors Dan Lebental and Wyatt Smith choreograph all the requisite battles with landscape-altering ferocity, but Taylor doesn’t overlook the all-important quieter, character-building moments. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also can’t help being impressed by the world-building involved, not to mention the intricate opulence of Asgard’s majestic structures: Take a bow, production designer Charles Wood and special effects supervisor Paul Corbould.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed, all the production elements are first-rate, as is typical of these recent Marvel Comics adaptations. Kramer Morgenthau’s cinematography is suitably lavish when on Asgard, and we can feel the grit between our teeth when the scene shifts to rubble-strewn Svartalfheim. Composer Brian Tyler keeps our pulses racing with a suitably heroic score.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything builds to a grand climax that involves clever and quite amusing use of realm-spanning portals. I’m not quite sure how (or even if) the aether is actually defeated, but then that’s the script’s weak link anyway. At one point, much is made of Jane’s mortal body being unable to contain this gloppy invader’s energy, but somehow that little problem just sorta vanishes. Script-by-committee does tend to leave such plot holes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comic book geeks will delight in the usual cameo by Marvel guru Stan Lee, and I got a kick out of an unexpected cameo by Chris Evans’ Captain America. And, as usual, you’ll want to remain in your seats for some closing-credits hints of Things To Come.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the final analysis, Thor’s sophomore outing is a bit, ah, casual with some core plot details ... but you’re unlikely to mind, since Taylor builds up plenty of good will while bringing in his film at a fast-paced 112 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looks like it’s another job well done, and full speed ahead for next spring’s <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i>.</span></span></div>

2013 Anthony Hopkins Chris Hemsworth Christopher eccleston fantasy Four Star Films Idris Elba Kat Dennings Marvel Comics Natalie Portman Rene Russo Sequel Series superhero Tom Hiddleston Thor, The Dark World: Another rich superhero soufflé

Thor: The Dark World (2013) • View trailer Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for rather grim action violenceBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 11.8.13One must give considerable credit to the master planners behind the current Ma…

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Ender's Game: Well played

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Ender's Game</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/summit/endersgame/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for violence and dramatic intensity</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 11.1.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Celebrated sci-fi author Orson Scott Card was 26 when his first work, a novella titled “Ender’s Game,” was published in the August 1977 issue of <i>Analog</i>. In 1985, with much more ambitious plans for that tale’s young protagonist — and with the security of a rapidly blossoming literary career — Card expanded his debut effort into a novel that won both the Hugo and Nebula awards.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9g9X5vhu3pI7JFJlSqdfpLJitdw86oIUB6xgbXYAcLOsjzxjN2LMde4wPgcfeonEV-wkcy2Pc0RyPHWMSAymfryyYf_nUfl0nUHRf7SOOEKLYh89508YkfpGappOJAr6h9VMA-1o30Ho/s1600/Enders+Game+blog.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9g9X5vhu3pI7JFJlSqdfpLJitdw86oIUB6xgbXYAcLOsjzxjN2LMde4wPgcfeonEV-wkcy2Pc0RyPHWMSAymfryyYf_nUfl0nUHRf7SOOEKLYh89508YkfpGappOJAr6h9VMA-1o30Ho/s400/Enders+Game+blog.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">While Petra (Hailee Steinfeld) watches warily, the thuggish Bonzo (Moises Arias) angrily<br />warns Ender (Asa Butterfield) to stay out of his way. But Ender isn't one to remain on<br />the sidelines, which Petra senses immediately; things are destined to get quite ugly<br />between these two boys.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, the so-called “Ender series” encompasses — are you sitting down? — a dozen novels, a dozen short stories and roughly four dozen comic books (some adapting existing novels, some with entirely new material).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, fans can’t get enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More significantly, for our purposes, those same fans — and the general public — will thoroughly enjoy director/scripter Gavin Hood’s big-screen adaptation of the novel that started it all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The South African-born filmmaker is an impressively shrewd choice for this material, having burst onto the scene with 2005’s <i>Tsotsi</i>, which traces a week in the life of a young Johannesburg street thug who wrestles with his conscience after finding a baby in the back seat of a car he steals. The grim drama won that year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and Hood — a USC film school grad — went on to an eclectic career as a director, writer and actor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Ender’s Game</i> also focuses strongly on the warring conscience of a boy, while contemplating several big-ticket philosophical issues that include state-sanctioned child abuse, planetary resource depletion and the novel’s most controversial theme: the notion of meeting a bully’s brutality with a savage response designed to prevent ALL subsequent attacks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The setting is a futuristic Earth, decades after our planet just barely repelled an invasion by an insectoid alien race dubbed the “Formics.” Expecting that these swarming monstrosities have returned to their home world in order to mount an even larger assault fleet, Earth’s united military force has pinned its hopes on a multi-national “Battle School” designed to train our best and brightest military tacticians:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carefully selected children.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Young minds are much more agile and adaptable; we know this in our own real world. It therefore stands to reason that young minds weaned on a diet of strategy-laced computer games might be nurtured into becoming the next Patton, Napoleon or Hannibal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Needless to say, this rather disturbing notion — and the possibility that modern nations might be acting on it — is a helluva lot more timely today, than it was back in 1977. Among his many other talents, Card deserves credit for scary prescience.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We meet young Andrew “Ender” Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) during his early days at Battle School, where he has demonstrated a flair for besting older classmates in computer tablet battles. This does not make Ender popular with some of his more thuggish peers, although it does bring him to the attention of Col. Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and Maj. Gwen Anderson (Viola Davis), always on the lookout for promising students.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, this focus makes Ender even more of a target, leading to a confrontation with one of the school bullies. Ender attempts to talk his way out of the beatdown; when that fails, he surprises everybody by lashing out viciously enough to hospitalize his older, taller tormentor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally, that makes Ender even <i>more</i> interesting to Graff.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the aftermath, recognizing what he has done, troubles Ender deeply. Allowed a brief visit home, believing he has been washed out of the program, Ender takes solace from his older sister, Valentine (Abigail Breslin), who knows full well what he’s going through, having once been a Battle School student herself. (Valentine’s saga is covered elsewhere in Card’s canon.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In great contrast, Ender’s sociopathic older brother Peter (Jimmy Pinchak) delights in this apparent failure; indeed, Peter comes close to killing Ender ... which reveals precisely how the younger boy has learned to deal with bullies. Peter, as well, once was a Battle School student; he was expelled because of his uncontrolled violent rages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ender’s visible, guilt-ridden remorse has been the final test; it demonstrates the boy’s ability to empathize with an opponent, thus better understanding him. Graff swoops him back into the program, where Ender joins other children in a spaceflight to a huge orbiting military station designed primarily around its huge, zero-gravity “battle room.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The children are divided into squadrons, with opposing teams meeting in the obstacle-laden battle room for a futuristic blend of paintball and quidditch. The hand-held “weapons” are paralyzers that temporarily freeze an opponent’s limb or torso; points are given for various anatomical hits, but a team wins immediately if able to maneuver one player through the enemy’s “goal.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ender quickly excels at this game, displaying a facility for unorthodox strategies that cleverly — but ruthlessly — sacrifice other squad members in order to achieve that ultimate victory. This earns him the growing respect of new friends Bean (Aramis Knight) and Alai (Suraj Partha), while isolating him further from jealous tyrants such as Bonzo (Moises Arias), leader of the Salamander squad.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ender’s effort to stand up to the cruel Bonzo has an upside: the growing respect of Petra (Hailee Steinfeld), also a member of the Salamanders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The battle room games continue, while — behind the scenes, unknown to the students — Graff nervously eyes a deep-space monitor that counts down the anticipated return of the Formic invaders.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Butterfield is perfect in the title role, his sallow complexion, sunken eyes and haunted gaze every inch the angst-ridden lad that Card created on the page. The young actor made a startlingly mature debut in 2008’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2008/11/boy-in-striped-pajamas-grim-bedtime.html">The Boy in the Striped Pajamas</a></i>, and more recently touched our hearts as the title character in 2011’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2011/11/hugo-true-sense-of-wonder.html">Hugo</a></i>. Butterfield is a richly expressive performer, and here he displays just the right blend of stubborn, defiant superiority and aching despair.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ford delivers an equally intriguing performance, on the one hand making Graff a gruff, seasoned proponent of the “tough love” school: the sort of cheerfully grumpy bearing we’ve come to expect from the veteran actor. But Graff also has another side that isn’t nearly as attractive, and Ford is equally persuasive when this hardened commander reveals his increasingly desperate allegiance to the belief that the end justifies <i>any</i> means ... even those that irreparably damage his prize pupils.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Too much is at stake to behave otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Davis is the yin to Graff’s yang; Anderson is a much more compassionate psychologist who worries deeply about what is being done to these impressionable young minds. She’s also greatly concerned about the degree to which Ender’s downtime activity — a solo, puzzle-laden computer challenge — has been “invaded” by images of his sister and Formic opponents. Davis’ increasingly defiant objections to Graff’s methods, however, become a bit too shrill: not the best showcase for an actress better known for the graceful subtlety of her performances.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steinfeld, still coasting on her Oscar-nominated work in the 2010 remake of <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2010/12/true-grit-larger-than-life.html">True Grit</a></i>, is plucky and sympathetic as Petra, Ender’s staunchest ally. That said, her performance shows little depth; she doesn’t dig deep into her role, the way Butterfield so thoroughly inhabits Ender.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fairness, Hood’s script more correctly deserves the blame for this. In the filmmaker’s desire to focus on the bond between Ender and Valentine — thus granting Breslin a better showcase for <i>her</i> acting chops — he short-shrifts Petra, Bean and Alai, all of whom play a much larger, and more emotionally crucial, role in Card’s novel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not necessarily a bad artistic choice on Hood’s part; he obviously struggled to compress the massive tapestry of Card’s novel into a 114-minute film. But those who vividly remember the book's handling of Petra, Bean and Alai are apt to be somewhat disappointed here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A heavily tattooed Ben Kingsley is striking as the half-Maori instructor who takes over when Ender graduates to Command School, and Nonso Anozie makes a strong impression in his brief role as a boot camp-style sergeant. Arias, as well, ensures that we’ll not soon forget the petulantly vicious Bonzo: quite a switch from the goofy free spirit this young actor played earlier this year, in <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-kings-of-summer-this-film-rules.html">The Kings of Summer</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Characters and performances aside, however, every fan of this novel will want to know how well the battle room skirmishes have been visualized. The news is good: Visual effects supervisor and his company, Digital Domain, have done a slick job. The zero-gravity environment is cleverly, persuasively constructed, and several of Ender’s best campaigns — most notably his squad’s odds-against battle with <i>two</i>opposing teams — leap faithfully off the page.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, some quieter scenes — such as Harrison Ford’s zero-g “swim” within a spaceship cabin — suffer slightly when compared to the far superior (and very recent) work in <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/10/gravity-grim-survival-drama.html">Gravity</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hood builds his film to an exciting, breathtaking finale, although an epilogue of sorts — also faithful to Card’s novel — gets too philosophically preachy for my taste, and even works against what we’ve seen to this point. Card could better establish the groundwork for this unexpected twist; Hood's film, of necessity short-changing such back-story, sends viewers out on a note that is intended to be upbeat, but instead feels dour and anticlimactic (while clearly setting up a potential sequel).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, the ride is crisp, energetic and well played up to that point. <i>Ender’s Game</i> also raises intriguing questions, as is intended; this is thoughtful sci-fi, designed to encourage debate while entertaining. It succeeds on both counts.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>

2013 Abigail Breslin Asa Butterfield Ben Kingsley Four Star Films Hailee Steinfeld Harrison Ford Moises Arias Sci-Fi Viola Davis Ender's Game: Well played

Ender's Game (2013) • View trailer Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for violence and dramatic intensityBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 11.1.13Celebrated sci-fi author Orson Scott Card was 26 when his first work, a novella ti…

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Captain Phillips: Take-charge thriller

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Captain Phillips</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/captainphillips/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>4.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, violence and substance abuse</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 10.11.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some stories are so astonishing, they could only be true; you’d never believe them as plots in a novel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpyRHnZMkOY8CoPDwJM3nd2GggU65QB3WT_0QQamnn5kMKDzu1drIHa0-kUuhrj2FSybD9mRdmEtjFLjf51jhxaaFhBIzvoBot6APOM1cLvWA-3xrfcnhkgXYCF4K7oYNODLyOyZ3cQE/s1600/Captain+Phillips+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBpyRHnZMkOY8CoPDwJM3nd2GggU65QB3WT_0QQamnn5kMKDzu1drIHa0-kUuhrj2FSybD9mRdmEtjFLjf51jhxaaFhBIzvoBot6APOM1cLvWA-3xrfcnhkgXYCF4K7oYNODLyOyZ3cQE/s400/Captain+Phillips+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Utterly helpless at the hands of four heavily armed Somali pirates, Rich PHillips (Tom<br />Hanks, center) nonetheless weighs every option, primarily concerned about the safety<br />of his crew, but also — at all times — seeking a psychological edge that might allow<br />him to outwit his captors.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The credibility-stretching 2009 saga of Captain Richard Phillips and the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama is just such a narrative, and it has become a taut, tension-laden drama in the capable hands of documentarian-turned-filmmaker Paul Greengrass. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thriller fans know Greengrass for his superlative entries in the Jason Bourne series, most notably 2004’s <i>The Bourne Supremacy</i>, by far the best of the bunch. But Greengrass also is the writer/director who uncorked <i>United 93</i> five short years after 9/11, constructing a tense, deeply unsettling real-time depiction of what likely happened that horrible day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with <i>United 93</i>, Greengrass’ new film is ripped from disturbing headlines, with screenwriter Billy Ray (<i>Shattered Glass</i>, <i>Breach</i>) adapting the 2010 memoir <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Captains-Duty-Somali-Pirates-Dangerous/dp/1401310443/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381429248&sr=1-1&keywords=a+captain%27s+duty+somali+pirates+navy+seals+and+dangerous+days+at+sea">A Captain’s Duty:Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS and Dangerous Days at Sea</a></i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That book is written by Phillips, with an assist from Stephan Talty ... which does, by definition, dilute some of this film’s suspense. But that hardly matters; to a great degree, Phillips’ ordeal is well known by Americans who sat glued to their TV sets during five days in April 2009. The key point here is that Greengrass depicts this saga with a degree of verisimilitude, and an attention to detail, that border on documentary realism.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add superlative performances from Tom Hanks and the actors playing his Somali captors, and the result is can’t-miss cinema: You literally won’t take your eyes off the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film opens quietly, as veteran merchant mariner Rich Phillips (Hanks) packs in anticipation of another routine assignment; we get brief face-time with his wife, Andrea (Catherine Keener), but then she’s never seen again. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Which, just in passing, might be a missed bet: Just as much drama unfolded in Vermont, as media crews bird-dogged an agonized Andrea Phillips, while she followed these events ... and I’d love to have seen the impressively talented Keener play that role. Then again, Greengrass may have felt that her end of the saga would have diluted the drama.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Elsewhere, along the Somali coast, gun-toting thugs in the employ of a local warlord descend on the impoverished fishing village of Eyl and demand that its able-bodied inhabitants take to the sea in order to hijack another foreign vessel, the goal — maddeningly successful too many previous times — being to ransom it for millions of dollars. The none-too-subtle point is that these dirt-poor fishermen are caught between a rock and a hard place: mount the piracy expedition, or be shot for refusing.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The faces blend in chaos; it will be awhile before the key Somali players distinguish themselves ... although Barkhad Abdi’s feral, cunning and unexpectedly intelligent gaze makes an immediate impression.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once underway on the heavily laden Maersk Alabama, fully aware that they’ll be traveling through the pirate-infested waters of the Somali basin, a cautious Phillips orders first mate Shane Murphy (Michael Chermus) to put the men through safety drills. The captain/crew dynamic is intriguing, in these early scenes; some of the men clearly respect and smartly obey protocol and the chain of command, while others behave like union-coddled jerks who resent not being able to stretch their coffee breaks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everybody snaps to attention, however, when their ship’s radar detects the approach of two rapidly moving blips.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What happens next can be divided into three distinct chapters, each guaranteed to surprise viewers not intimately acquainted with this saga. The assault on the Maersk Alabama is riveting, as is Phillips’ crafty response to the crisis; he doesn’t miss a trick, despite having very little with which to work. We quickly come to admire the calm, calculating depth of Hanks’ performance; his portrayal of Phillips — by all accounts, an accurate reflection of the actual mariner — is equal parts unremarkable Everyman and quick-witted master of psychology.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also can’t help being dismayed by the fact that Phillips and his crew are unarmed, and without at least a few trained soldiers; Somali piracy had been a well-established concern for several years by 2009, with every ship’s crew unwittingly involved in a ghastly, ocean-bound lottery. International shipping conglomerates clearly preferred to play the numbers, and risk the odds, rather than spend the money to protect individual ships. The mind doth boggle ... and although Ray’s script doesn’t blatantly name-check this heinous mind-set, the implication is clear.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, Ray’s entire script is a masterpiece of nuanced subtlety, taking its cue from the way Phillips described the pirates in his book (and I’m quoting a <i>Booklist</i> review here) as “alternately conciliatory, vicious and simply not all there.” The latter results from the fact that these pirates are in a constant state of amped-up euphoria/anxiety, thanks to the amphetamine-like khat that they chew in lieu of eating.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To say the least, it makes their behavior unpredictable ... which Phillips recognizes all too quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eventually, the various pirates sort themselves out and only four become involved in the action. They’re led by Muse (the intense Abdi), who regards himself as a fellow captain and playfully insists on calling Phillips “Irish.” Muse is all business: He expects Phillips to call the shipping company, which will contact its insurance carrier, send along a ransom, and allow ship and crew to move along. We sense that it has gone down just this way, at least a few times, in the recent past ... but not this time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks to Phillips’ cagy machinations — the American captain, at all times, deeply concerned about his crew — the situation quickly escalates out of Muse’s control. Meanwhile, imminent loss of life is a very real possibility, thanks to the instability of Muse’s three companions: the imposing Najee (Faysal Ahmed), with his hair-trigger temper; the taciturn Elmi (Mahat M. Ali), unexpectedly handy as a mechanic; and the youthful Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman), wholly out of his depth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All four — Abdi, Ahmed, Ali and Abdirahman — are first-time actors, selected from among more than 1,000 candidates living in the States’ largest Somali-American community, in Minneapolis, Minn. Their performances are authentic — and subtly complex — to an astonishing degree. We simultaneously loathe and pity these four men, and in a way almost admire their utterly insane courage, as they attempt to take command of this huge ship — and, later, defy what seems like the entire U.S. Navy — all by themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But make no mistake: Greengrass and Ray do not sugar-coat these pirates. They’re dangerously ruthless, unexpectedly violent and prone to irrational, drug-hazed behavior; they obviously wouldn’t lose any sleep after killing an American or three. (Well ... Bilal might grieve a little.) But it would be wrong to call them evil; that label more accurately applies to the much-feared Somali warlord Garaad, who orders the assault.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The closest Ray’s script comes to moralizing occurs during a brief exchange between Phillips and Muse, late in game. “There must be more than fishing and kidnapping,” Phillips desperately insists, subtly referencing the fact that Somali piracy grew in response to illegal over-fishing and the dumping of toxic waste in Somali waters, which deprived coastal villagers of their livelihoods.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Maybe in America,” Muse replies, the bitterness evident in his voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Max Martini is appropriately crisp and commanding as the SEAL officer who enters the final round of what eventually becomes an ocean-bound circus; Yul Vazquez is quietly efficient as Frank Castellano, commander of the USS Bainbridge, the Navy destroyer initially sent to negotiate a peaceful solution to the mounting crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just in passing — between this film and last year’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/01/zero-dark-thirty-ultimate-manhunt.html">Zero Dark Thirty</a></i> — Navy SEALS never have looked so good. I fully expect recruitment to take an upward bump.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always, Greengrass surrounds himself with equally accomplished technicians, starting with cinematographer Barry Ackroyd — Oscar-nominated for <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/07/hurt-locker-explosive-drama.html">The Hurt Locker</a></i> — who works impressive magic during difficult night shoots and the confined, narrow hallways of the container ship. The result is solid <i>cinema verité</i> and intensely real.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Academy Award-winning editor Christopher Rouse (for <i>The Bourne Ultimatum</i>) similarly tightens the screws, deftly shifting between the varying perspectives of Phillips and Muse, each a casualty of circumstances. Eventually, this cross-cutting grows to include various Navy personnel, but the narrative landscape never gets cluttered, and the tension never flags.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hollywood often gets rapped, justifiably, for the way factual events are distorted on the big screen. Although Greengrass takes a few dramatic liberties here, he nonetheless distills a significant bit of recent history into a socio-political document that analyzes cultural disenfranchisement, in 134 minutes, far better than any lengthy textbook is likely to do, in years to come. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of which, Greengrass also delivers a rousing, suspenseful and thoroughly engaging drama that is certain to garner numerous Oscar nominations, starting with Hanks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When cynics insists that movies are too commercial to be regarded as art, <i>Captain Phillips</i> is a great way to prove them wrong.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->

2013 Barkhad Abdi Barkhad Abdirahman Catherine Keener drama Fact-based Faysal Ahmed Four Star Films Mahat M. Ali Max Martini Michael Chermus Paul Greengrass thriller Tom Hanks Yul Vazquez Captain Phillips: Take-charge thriller

Captain Phillips (2013) • View trailer 4.5 stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, violence and substance abuseBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 10.11.13 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false fals…

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Gravity: Grim survival drama

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Gravity</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/gravity/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, disturbing images and fleeting profanity</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 10.4.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Jan. 11, 2007, the Chinese military destroyed one of its orbiting satellites with a ground-based missile. Although China insisted that this was the best way to “retire” the aging satellite, visions of a surface-to-space missile race naturally alarmed more than a few nations around the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6gezC-8hONmhdraSbiZ7vHrDEXJf_RYZoTMxhiQTqAqL1j4XvhTFK2_RYg0JzgueaWBhVU_AsW_AVHeR5hHQ0FhsxHrbwbswD31APmyvNiLYcgGRs6usEdWWmlkH_KY3VvsE6qIjmTc/s1600/Gravity+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6gezC-8hONmhdraSbiZ7vHrDEXJf_RYZoTMxhiQTqAqL1j4XvhTFK2_RYg0JzgueaWBhVU_AsW_AVHeR5hHQ0FhsxHrbwbswD31APmyvNiLYcgGRs6usEdWWmlkH_KY3VvsE6qIjmTc/s400/Gravity+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">When things go wrong in space, they go very wrong, as Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra<br />Bullock) quickly discovers. Situations that would be bad enough on the ground, with<br />gravity operating in one's favor, quickly turn catastrophic in an environment where a<br />small space suit puncture likely would mean instantaneous death.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saber-rattling aside, the much more serious issue was the orbiting “debris cloud” of up to 300,000 bits of satellite that resulted, which still could pose serious danger to other satellites or spacecraft en route to the moon and beyond. (NASA, worried about this since 1978, has dubbed the frightening possibility of cascading collisions the Kessler Syndrome.) For this very reason, the U.S. and the Soviet Union halted such anti-satellite experiments in the 1980s.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clearly, filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón smelled an opportunity. The result, which he directed and co-wrote with his son, Jonás, is <i>Gravity</i>: one of the very few feasible space-based dramas ever released via conventional channels. (I say this to distinguish Cuarón’s film from numerous sci-fi and fantasy entries, or jes’-plain-silly action epics such as <i>Armageddon</i> and <i>Space Cowboys</i>.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Gravity</i> is both a suspenseful nail-biter and an impressive visual achievement: a studio production that comes close to the on-screen authenticity of an IMAX space documentary. The special effects are stunning, from the gorgeously depicted EVA mission that opens the story, to the weightless activity that takes place within a space station. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Sandra Bullock “swims” her way from one end of the station to another, passing all sorts of floating debris along the way — not to mention little globules of liquid, or zero-G electrical sparks — everything looks absolutely real. We can’t help a “how the heck did they <i>do</i> that?” sense of wonder, despite our frequent ho-hum reaction to what CGI effects have wrought these days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and visual effects supervisor Tim Webber — and the latter’s company, Framestore — have done stunning work. Indeed, their efforts are almost <i>too</i> good; at times it’s hard to focus on the story, since we’re so frequently dazzled by the on-screen visuals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But only at times. Cuarón has orchestrated a taut survival drama that masterfully exploits claustrophobic terrors, not to mention related fears of drowning, suffocating or simply being hurled, alone, into the depths of space, able to do nothing but count down the seconds before the oxygen runs out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time could be now, or perhaps just a bit into the future, under slightly different circumstances that have allowed our space program to remain robust. A routine shuttle mission commanded by veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) includes a civilian passenger: medical engineer Ryan Stone (Bullock), clearly anxious about her surroundings, despite six months of training and preparation back on Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The story begins with the Shuttle Explorer docked alongside the Hubble Telescope, as Stone struggles to install a new scanning system. She’s tense, and not only because of the expanse of space; the scanning unit isn’t cooperating. Kowalski, meanwhile, is punctuating his final voyage into space by scooting around in a test-model jet pack that allows movement unencumbered by the usual tethers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kowalski, alert to the rising tension, lightens the mood by joking with Mission Control — we recognize Ed Harris’ off-camera voice (nice touch, that) — and sharing oft-heard personal anecdotes that can’t help raising a smile on Stone’s nervous face.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, suddenly, a crisis: On the other side of the planet, an obsolete satellite has just been destroyed by a ground-based missile strike. The resulting debris field, on the same orbital path, arrives much faster than expected; the consequences are catastrophic. To make matters worse, the debris destroys numerous communications satellites along the way, and all contact with Mission Control is lost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stone and Kowalski are the sole survivors, and Explorer has been rendered useless. Stone is running critically low on oxygen, and Kowalski’s prototype jet pack has limited fuel. Their only hope: a bit of a “hike” to the nearby International Space Station, just visible to their naked eyes, and the Russian Soyuz capsule that Kowalski knows should be docked alongside.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right about now, most viewers will be biting lips and digging fingernails painfully into palms.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such reactions, of course, depend on the degree to which we invest ourselves in this scenario. Cuarón and co-editor Mark Sanger do a masterful job with this, as well. The characters are introduced and sketched just well enough to elicit our concern — the script doing so with “reasonable” conversation, as opposed to dumb dialogue solely for our benefit — and then things happen rapidly enough that we willingly hang on for the ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The character contrast is well played and quite credible; Clooney and Bullock deserves plenty of credit, particularly since they do most of their “acting” via vocal inflection and the limited facial expressions that are partially obscured by space suit helmets.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clooney’s calm voice and easy manner bespeak the seasoned professional that Kowalski obviously is; he’s a well-trained professional who (no doubt) has long anticipated such a crisis, while clearly hoping never to face one. Clooney’s tone is light but instructive, gentle but persistent. Kowalski knows full well that his sole remaining companion is just this side of total panic, which is bad for all sorts of reasons ... starting with the fact that a frightened person breathes more heavily, and wastes more oxygen.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anticipating this film, I must confess to having had doubts about seeing Bullock as a space scientist; that seemed just as daft as casting Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist, in 1999’s James Bond epic, <i>The World Is Not Enough</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I needn’t have worried; Bullock imbues her character with just the right blend of professional competence and landlubber anxiety. Her terror is reasonable; Kowalski may be comfortable in space, and regard it as his majestic back yard, but Stone has no such sang froid. We can readily believe that she signed on for this mission via a mixture of excitement and pride, for having been selected in the first place. After all, who <i>wouldn't</i> want to experience space first-hand?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So most of us imagine, of course, with the unspoken caveat: As long as nothing goes wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bullock gives us a character we both respect and fear for; Cuarón’s skill lies in constructing a credible — if horrifying — scenario, and then making Stone the ultimate surrogate for our own resourcefulness. What would <i>we</i> do?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cuarón has dealt with grim speculative fiction before, specifically with 2006’s apocalyptic and quite unsettling <i>Children of Men</i>. Despite a premise that was extremely unlikely (we hope), Cuarón nonetheless drew quite persuasive performances from his cast. He does the same here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lubezki’s gorgeous cinematography is further enhanced by this film’s 3-D effects, which are real enough to induce vertigo or even nausea, particularly when (for example) Stone tumbles out of control, spinning upside-down and sideways, after the initial impact. This film probably should come with air-sickness bags.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Composer Steve Price’s electronic-based score is deeply disturbing, operating on a subconscious level that greatly enhances this story’s fright factor. The sudden crescendos are enough to make you jump out of your skin.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My one major complaint concerns the script’s tendency toward crisis overkill. The eventual plot hiccups represent a single bad-luck day taken to truly ludicrous extremes ... which, in turn, makes this depiction of human endurance a credibility-stretching improbability. Those familiar with the space program and EVAs also likely will balk at the <i>speed</i> with which Kowalski and Stone confront each new problem; every action in a bulky space suit, operating in zero gravity, should take an ... agonizingly ... long ... time. Cuarón pretty much ignores that little detail, no doubt claiming dramatic license (and a need to move things along).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In contrast — and to be fair — the scenario is quite a bit more accurate when it comes to the ghastly consequences of Newton’s laws of motion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this said, at a modest 90 minutes, you’re unlikely to be bothered by such issues. <i>Gravity</i> — clever title, by the way — is a thoroughly absorbing drama that’ll make you think twice about booking a ticket on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.</span></span><!--EndFragment-->

2013 Amy Warren drama Ed Harris Four Star Films George Clooney Paul Sharma Sandra Bullock Sci-Fi Gravity: Grim survival drama

Gravity (2013) • View trailer Four stars. Rating: PG-13, for dramatic intensity, disturbing images and fleeting profanityBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 10.4.13 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false f…

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Rush: Quite a ride

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b><i>Rush</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/rush/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><b> </b><br /><b>Four stars. Rating: R, for profanity, nudity, sexual content, brief drug use and disturbing images</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 9.27.13</b></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument></xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles></xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]><style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friends tell you what you want to hear. Enemies tell you what you need to know.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Director Ron Howard’s <i>Rush</i> isn’t merely the fact-based account of an intriguing sports rivalry; it’s also the most exciting auto racing movie to roar into theaters since 1971’s <i>Le Mans</i> ... which, given Steve McQueen’s passion for authenticity and the superb efforts of cinematographers René Guissart Jr. and Robert B. Hauser — not to mention a team of five (!) editors — is high praise indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8tvAbKddeXMFrNvFtjRheetm7NkF_rv5Hi2NSrnh43ydqaADolzc0tPs9z4-AjRgM11TLk2aDBNGX7ygzD6C_4jFI5Fz0qdnPKt4mx_qOK1rhqTNUI7Gd_09waWDzhX8GkjGnhU5Khc/s1600/Rush+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8tvAbKddeXMFrNvFtjRheetm7NkF_rv5Hi2NSrnh43ydqaADolzc0tPs9z4-AjRgM11TLk2aDBNGX7ygzD6C_4jFI5Fz0qdnPKt4mx_qOK1rhqTNUI7Gd_09waWDzhX8GkjGnhU5Khc/s400/Rush+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The calm before the storm: No love is lost between rival racers James Hunt (Chris<br />Hemsworth, foreground left) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl), each determined to<br />out-drive the other en route to a Formula 1 World Championship. But that isn't the<br />whole story by any means: Their saga is the stuff of sports legend.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No matter. Howard’s collaborators — cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and editors Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill — are up for the challenge. They’re also given a sensational assist by sound designers Danny Hambrook and Markus Stemler, whose ear-splitting attention to detail delivers everything except the pungent, eye-watering stench of high-octane fuel. Which you’ll probably imagine anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But while the visceral exhilaration is palpable, it’s mere backdrop; this film gets its emotional heft from the fascinating narrative crafted by British scripter Peter Morgan, whose well-deserved Academy Award nominations for <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/01/frostnixon-battle-royale.html">Frost/Nixon</a></i> and <i>The Queen</i> — not to mention his work on <i>The Last King of Scotland</i>, <i>The Damned United</i> and quite a few others — demonstrate considerable skill when it comes to sketching characters through well-composed dialogue.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Simon Wallis Hunt (played by Chris Hemsworth), British to the core, and Austrian Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) meet — and immediately clash — as ambitious Formula 3 drivers. They couldn’t be more different: Hunt is a womanizing, hedonistic toff who wears flamboyant aristocratic superiority like a cloak, while Lauda is solemn, remote and blunt to the point of insolence. Hunt is the pluperfect London playboy, Lauda the Teutonic precision; neither apologizes for his behavior, or would think of doing so.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hunt loves the champagne-hazed thrill of victory, and is happiest when posing for photographs as he clutches an award. Lauda quite famously gave his trophies to a local garage, as “payment” for having his car washed and serviced.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But they both take racing seriously, albeit from different sensibilities. Hunt is as bold and reckless on the track as in real life, embracing the challenge for its romantic, death-defying aura; Lauda, meticulous to a fault, calculates odds and works them to his favor. Hunt relies on the largess of sponsors he can impress; Lauda drives mechanics crazy by ordering design changes ... which inevitably prove advantageous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result, Morgan’s script focuses on the <i>attitude</i> of racing, as much as the sport itself. At a time when drivers were expected to die every season — as Brühl’s Lauda informs us, in his dryly ironic, off-camera narration — professional racers truly were a breed apart. (It could be argued that NASCAR, with its ever-safer vehicles and protective body gear, has stripped some of the rogue spirit from auto racing.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Casting director Nina Gold did a sensational job, as both Hemsworth and Brühl look, sound and move very much like the real Hunt and Lauda. The physical similarities are truly striking, but of course it’s deeper than that. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anybody who thus far has dismissed Hemsworth as little more than a pretty face, based on bombastic fluff such as <i>Snow White and the Huntsman</i> and his ongoing role as the Asgardian Thor, needs to reassess; Hemsworth nails the blithe insolence of, say, Peter O’Toole in his prime. This portrayal of Hunt is charismatic to the point of bewitchery; we can’t help admiring the man despite his obvious superficiality.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet there’s fire in his eyes, as well. The glad-handing Hunt seems incapable of anything as boorish as genuine temper, and yet we suspect, based on the steel that Hemsworth's performance doesn’t quite conceal, that this guy’s fury would be breathtaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rest assured, Morgan allows us a highly satisfying glimpse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Spanish-born Brühl is unlikely to be recognized on these shores, aside from his supporting performance in 2007’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2009/09/inglourious-basterds-paths-of-gloury.html">Inglourious Basterds</a></i>, but I suspect that’s about to change. His Lauda displays his ferret-faced features proudly, even defiantly, no doubt operating from the belief that one cannot be teased or humiliated by others, if you pre-emptively remove their ammunition. Lauda is chill psychology and intellectual arrogance, an attitude that Brühl conveys <i>perfectly</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a result, although Lauda is equally hard to like, he emerges here as the underdog ... even though, as the two men graduate to Formula 1 racing and engage in the very public antagonism that fueled press coverage during the early 1970s, he certainly doesn’t need the sympathy. When Lauda blasts past Hunt in order to win the 1975 World Championship, it seems a triumph of intellect over emotion. But of course Hunt, finishing fourth, isn’t about to slink off quietly. There’s always another season.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rich fascination of Morgan’s script, and the marvelous subtlety of Hemsworth and Brühl’s performances, are best defined by our dawning realization that — somewhere along the line, almost without our awareness — enmity blossoms into respect. As the 1976 season begins, the two men still don’t like each other, but their mutual regard has shifted. Glances toward each other become more reflective, less hostile; clipped conversations are less contemptuous, more ... well ... collaborative.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Racing fans well remember what happened during that tempestuous 1976 season, and I’ll not spoil the suspense here, for the benefit of viewers lucky enough to come to this story cold. But that’ll be a difficult feat, since Lauda has been highly visible for the past month, and likely will remain so between now and Oscar season. Hunt, sadly if perhaps predictably, died from a heart attack in 1993, at the age of 45.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The supporting performances are equally strong, starting with this saga's significant women. Olivia Wilde, whose smoldering, come-hither sensuality literally drips off the screen, is well cast as free-spirited professional model Suzy Miller, whose jaw-dropping 1974 marriage to Hunt made headlines around the world. We’re certainly not surprised when this relationship doesn’t last, although Miller’s subsequent husband will raise your eyebrows.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite this, Wilde shades Miller generously, suggesting that she feels deep affection for Hunt, his glaring flaws notwithstanding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Romanian-born Alexandra Maria Lara is even more engaging as Marlene, the woman who catches Lauda’s eye during a meet-cute sequence that Howard stages for maximum amusement. If it truly happened this way, you couldn’t imagine a better first encounter; either way, it’s a great movie moment. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lara gets considerable screen time, and Marlene’s presence clearly changes Lauda. Their most powerful conversation also is the calmest, as Lauda reflectively confesses that happiness may have crippled him; henceforth, every time he squeezes into a race car, he’ll know that he has something to lose. The expression on Lara’s face, at this moment, is heartbreaking; we understand that Marlene suddenly wonders if loving her new husband is such a good thing after all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian McKay is memorable as Lord Hesketh, the colorful racing enthusiast who bankrolls Hunt’s early career with a large inheritance. (Hesketh later became chief whip in the House of Lords, for John Major’s government.) Julian Rhind-Tutt is wholly convincing in his small role as Anthony “Bubbles” Horsley, Hunt’s chief mechanic; Pierfrancesco Favino delivers an engaging blend of admiration and frustration as Lauda’s Ferrari teammate, Clay Regazzoni.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cinematographer Dod Mantle won an Oscar for <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2008/12/slumdog-millionaire-it-is-written.html">Slumdog Millionaire</a></i>, and his camerawork here is sensational. Quite inventive, as well, with cameras fastened to racers’ helmets, in order to place us, quite literally, in the drivers’ seats. Mantle also cross-cuts between dozens of camera set-ups, in order to convey the raw intensity of the racetrack footage; Howard, in turn, blends these many images for maximum excitement.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Howard has a gift for tackling well-known factual events that lose none of their suspense in his hands, despite our knowledge of what’s coming. I can think of no greater compliment, than the fact that he sends us from the theater wanting to know more about these subjects: the Apollo 13 miracle, John Nash in <i>A Beautiful Mind</i>, James Braddock in <i>Cinderella Man</i> and now this engaging rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. (Lauda has written five books, and I suspect his sales figures are about to climb.)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Rush</i> is a solid sports drama about two genuinely fascinating road warriors. Monday evening’s preview screening drew applause as the closing credits appeared, and I’m not the slightest bit surprised.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><!--EndFragment-->

2013 Alexandra Maria Lara Chris Hemsworth Christian McCay Daniel Bruhl Four Star Films Julian Rhind-Tutt Olivia Wilde Pierfrancesco Favino Sports films Rush: Quite a ride

Rush (2013) • View trailer Four stars. Rating: R, for profanity, nudity, sexual content, brief drug use and disturbing imagesBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.27.13 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 fals…

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