Month: November 2015

Learning to Drive: A Gentle Touching Comedy of Changes (Review)

Starring Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson, Learning to Drive is a gentle, touching comedy about life changes and growing up “later in life.” Directed by Isabel Coixet (who worked with the two stars earlier in Elegy – 2009) and based upon an article written by feminist author Katha Pollitt, (then turned into a screenplay by Sarah Kernochan) this could be seen as an older “chick flick.”

Patricia Clarkson and Sir Ben Kingsley Wendy and Darwin

Starring Ben Kingsley and Patricia Clarkson, Learning to Drive is a gentle, touching comedy about life changes and growing up “later in life.” Directed by Isabel Coixet (who worked with the two stars earlier in Elegy – 2009) and based upon an article written by feminist author Katha Pollitt, (then turned into a screenplay by Sarah Kernochan) this could be seen as an older “chick flick.” 

In reality, the film is more of a “coming of age” tale, coming  at a time in life where sudden change can mean a temporary return to the insecurities of childhood, even when this happens to a protagonist in her mid-50s.  An unfaithful husband leaving his wife; Wendy (Clarkson)  and a man ready to marry a bride he has never met; Darwin (Kingsley) meet and change each other’s lives.

Wendy’s husband takes her to a restaurant to reveal he is leaving her. As the couple storm from the eatery and grab a cab, driven by Darwin, they argue and continue the fight that began in the restaurant.  Ted (Jake Weber) gets out and tells Darwin to drive Wendy home. Once the cab reaches her home, she gets out and leaves a parcel in the vehicle.

Darwin shows up later to return the envelope and Wendy notices he is a driving instructor as well as a cab driver. She asks for his card and decides that she now must learn to drive. Learning to Drive follows these two disparate people who each teach the other something about life, trust and observation.

Wendy is a book critic with a grown daughter and a husband who has left her for another woman, an author she actually admires. Darwin is a Sikh who was imprisoned in India and took political asylum in America. The former university professor drives a taxi cab and works as a driving instructor.

Darwin’s sister in India chooses a woman for him to marry and this means that, like Wendy, his life is now in turmoil as well. With both people facing huge changes in their separate worlds, they learn from one another. Wendy, learns to take control of  her life and Darwin learns to adapt.

This film is rich in character study and looks closely at how people interact on a personal level. We follow Wendy and Darwin during their lessons. These driving tutorials reveal much about both people and the film also peeks at their lives outside the lessons.

Kudos to Clarkson for appearing nearly nude for her “love scene” at 55. The Oscar nominated actress owns her character from frame one and the audience gets behind the woman who faces this mid life direction change because of an unfaithful husband.

Kingsley gives the sort of  relaxed performance that one expects from an Academy award winner and looks much younger than his 71 years.  Appearances aside, this is the sort of character that the actor could portray in his sleep and the chemistry between Kingsley and Clarkson is sheer magic.

Grace Gummer has a cameo as the daughter caught between the soon to be divorced parents. There is something infinitely watchable about the real life daughter of Meryl Streep. When Grace is on screen the gaze is immediately drawn to her character and when she is not in the shot, one longs for more Grace.

Jake Weber acts his socks off when he is on screen, although there is not a lot of screen time for his character as Ted becomes peripheral after the break up.

This tale of discovery is not really one “just for the girls.”  Fans of gentle comedy, with a touch of romance and a little truth will enjoy this film. Coixet’s direction is firm and she guides the story smoothly and with feeling.  The script if full of dialogue that amuses and entertains on many levels.

Learning to Drive is up for a number of awards, Best Actress, Best Actor, Director and Best Original Score. If one takes a moment to read the original article by the source author Katha Pollitt it would not be surprising if  Sarah Kernochan gets the gong for Best Adapted Screenplay. (Remember you heard it here first…)

This is an enjoyable 5 out of 5 star film.  Everyone hits the right notes to make this a touching comedy about changes that gently serves up its message.  Watch this one and smile…a lot.

Into the Badlands: Clippers; the New Samurai (Review)

AMC’s new offering, Into the Badlands has “clippers” as the new samurai and is martial arts heavy with flashing swords, Katana blades and, in at least one scene, a fight in stiletto heels.

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AMC’s new offering, Into the Badlands has “clippers” as the new samurai and is  martial arts heavy with flashing swords, Katana blades and, in at least one scene, a fight in stiletto heels.  This action drama features  beautifully choreographed fight sequences, exemplary wire work and plot that moves at a snail’ s pace.

Starring Daniel Wu, Emily Beecham,Marton Csokas,Orla Brady and with Avatar’s Stephen Lang as the requisite “Hollywood” star on the cast list, Into the Badlands is a hybrid series. Shakespearean with a touch of Curse of the Golden Flower, mixed with Crouching Dragon Hidden Tiger and a tinge of the Spaghetti Western mythos.

The series also appears to be Influenced by role-playing video games  but with a post-apocalyptic vibe sans zombies, nuclear wastelands and dragons. There is, however a touch of the supernatural, or even paranormal as the young M.K. (Armies Knight) eyes fill with a unnatural light when his blood is spilt and he turns into a super martial arts warrior.

Despite the very obvious Akira Kurosawa influence (Yojimbo, Seven Samurai) and the John Woo nuances, the series feels cumbersome, except for the fight scenes that are, in a word; spectacular.

Like some of the best martial arts films to come out of Hong Kong in the past decade, the fight scenes are intricate set pieces that include brilliant, and seamless, wirework and breathtaking choreography.  At one point, a character called “The Widow” (played with impressive panache by Brit actress Emily Beecham) takes on a bar full of badmen wearing almost thigh high laced boots with a stiletto heel so long and sharp is could be counted as a lethal weapon on its own.

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Emily Beecham as The Widow, stiletto heels and kick-ass moves.

The cast is full of non-American actors. Most notably,  scenery chewing Kiwi actor Marton Csokas and Mancunian actress Emily Beecham (who features in the highly enjoyable, if improbable, martial arts fight scene where her character kills a number of foes whilst wearing those stiletto heels mentioned in the previous paragraph.)

Filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana, Into the Badlands has enough English actors filling “American” roles that  it is surprising that the SAG -AFTRA are not up in arms. This new action themed series also has another actor from “down under” filling a major/starring role. Although Csokas is from New Zealand and not Australia, like Blindspot‘s Sullivan Stapleton, this is, apparently the face of US television in the new millennium.

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Irish actress Orla Brady as Lydia

Show creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have given viewers a world full of modern day (Futuristic?) feudal barons who are all shoving one another in a power struggle to control the whole area.  There are, according to the verse, five barons in total, although the audience have yet to meet more than two; Quinn and the Widow.

Quinn is the son of a former worker whose father was beaten to death without ever lifting a finger in his own defense. When he got older, the lad volunteered to become a “Clipper” (this world’s version of a samurai) and kills his first man, by breaking his neck in five seconds flat.  The laborer’s son goes on to become baron and his faction grow poppies and produce drugs.

The Widow’s “oil” allows Quinn to process the poppies and at the start of this series, these two are engaged in a power play that eventually becomes a war.  Quinn has headaches and this violent man kills the family medical retainer who diagnoses his “death sentence.” We are spared the sight of the Baron killing his loyal doctor and wife, after the doc discovers that Quinn has a malignant brain tumor, but this becomes a defining moment in the life of his head clipper Sunny (Wu).

The Widow is searching for M.K. (Knight) who becomes a killing machine when bloodied.  The lad is saved from Nomads, hired by The Widow to find the boy, by Sunny who takes him to Quinn’s fort.  The boy escapes, with help from his savior, and stumbles onto the woman’s lands who wanted him kidnapped in the first place.

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Armies Knight is M.K. the lad with the dark power.

There is much subterfuge and double-dealings going in, similar to  the Shakespearean in scope, Curse of the Golden Flower, Quinn is turned into cuckold by his own son, like Emperor Ping in CotGF,  and The Widow’s daughter Tilda (Ally Ioannides) helps the boy by tricking her mother. 

In terms of plot versus action, Into the Badlands may prove to be too slow for its target audience.  Infrequent fight scenes, despite being incredibly well done, may not be enough to sell the plodding storyline.  The world that Millar and Gough have created is one without guns, only a few cars (and these appear to be outdated “classics”), at least one motorcycle, a few horses and a lot of people on foot. This means a verse that will, by necessity, move slowly.

This slow approach may alienate the very audience the show wants to ensnare.  Into the Badlands is  gorgeous and lovely to look at but this may not be enough to bring viewers rushing back to see the next installment. It airs Sundays on AMC and may turn out to be as addictive as the product of Quinn’s poppies.  With a  nod to the Bard, Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, this may prove to be the best of the network’s lineup or a complete turn off.

 

Rotor: DR1 – A Boy and His Drone (Review)

Directed by Ohio filmmaker Chad Kapper, starring his son Christian and written by four hobby drone enthusiasts. Rotor DR1 feels a little like “A Boy and His Drone” but this experimental community film is entertaining despite its slow pace and awkward acting by the cast.

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Directed by Ohio filmmaker Chad Kapper, starring his son Christian and written by four hobby drone enthusiasts. Rotor DR1 feels a little like “A Boy and His Drone” but this experimental community film is entertaining despite its slow pace and awkward acting by some of the cast. Christian acquits himself rather well, as does his romantic interest Maya (played by Natalie Welch). 

The setting is an indeterminate time in the future after a virus has decimated the world’s population and stopped the clock on many modern conveniences. This post apocalyptic world has energy pellets as currency and the only technology that seems to still work are the pilotless, and programmed, drones that fly through otherwise quiet skies.

Kitch (Christian Kapper) is a lad whose father worked on a cure for the virus and who the boy believes is dead at the start of the film.  Finding a drone that is different from any he has seen before, leads Kitch to believe his father is still alive somewhere.

Maya (Welch), whose uncle 4C collects energy pellets, goes with Kitch on his journey to discover whether his father is alive or not. The two youngsters meet several interesting people along the way and also get caught by two of 4C’s thugs.  They enter DR1 in a drone race, escape the thugs and eventually learn the truth about the virus and Kitch’s father.

Rotor Arc Pellet
Post apocalyptic currency, rotor arc pellets…

Rotor DR1 began life as a 10 part web series that was, in essence, written by fans of hobby drones.   As the webisodes progressed the makers asked the community for feedback every step of the way. Input received from the drone community and fans of the series influenced the storyline, character arcs and the show’s finale.

After the web series ended it was then edited into a feature film format and distributed via Cinema Libre Studio.  In many ways the final product feels like an overlong student production, or like a film version of the old Andy Hardy, “lets put on a show in the barn.”

While this may make it sound like the production is amateurish, it is not. Granted many of the actors feel wooden and not a little stilted. This does not, however, detract from the story or its conclusion.  Rotor DR1 is a family film where the action has no gore or needlessly explicit violence, sex or unacceptable language.

There is no attempt to give the drones, not even DR1, a “Wally-ish” type of interaction with Kitch or Maya.  The drone prototype does have a very limited interaction with the boy, but that is facilitated via a camera attached to the machine along with an amped-up power supply and A.I. capability.

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Maya (Natalie Welch) and Kitch (Christian Kapper) and DR1

What helps to sell the film and enable the viewer to overlook any shortcomings, is the voice over narration by Christian Kapper. His “internal” monologue with himself feels genuine and sincere. We believe his musings to be true because of his underplayed delivery.

Both Kapper and his costar Welch, have a good onscreen chemistry as the two disparate youngsters thrown together by their mutual interest in the mysterious drone. Their shared journey is made more interesting by their “genuine”  interaction.

The biggest complaint about the film  has to be that patchwork quilt feel as the movie was cribbed from a “group effort” based upon fan feedback.  That said, this is a fascinating experimental take on filmmaking.  Certainly the boy and his drone feel to the film keeps the audience watching in spite of the slow pace and somewhat discordant storyline.

Kapper is not a young Don Johnson and his drone cannot “talk” to  him like the Harlan Ellison inspired 1975 film A Boy and His Dog (the dog’s voice provided by Jason Robards). The boy’s search for his father and his travels are interesting though and this film does not rely upon a largely misogynistic theme or sex to maintain interest.

Rotor DR1 could almost be described as bargain basement Disney.  It is family friendly, has a tiny budget and contains nothing that is remotely controversial. This is standard fare with an interesting storyline and just enough action to keep the interest piqued throughout.  A 3.5 star film, out of 5, that is well worth the time spent watching it.

The Expanse: Space is Dirty and Biased (Review)

Not having read the novels that The Expanse is based on, the pilot feels a little like the subplot of Total Recall (1990). Where “Cohaagen” (played with suitable smarmy menace by Ronny Cox) punishes the local Mars denizens by shutting off their air. In this new SyFy space drama, the cosmos is dirty and full of bias. Extreme opposites mark the opening episode.

The Expanse - Season 1

Not having read the novels that The Expanse is based on, the pilot feels a little like the subplot of Total Recall (1990). Where “Cohaagen” (played with suitable smarmy menace by Ronny Cox) punishes the local Mars denizens by shutting off their air.  In this new SyFy space drama, the cosmos is dirty and full of bias.  Extreme opposites mark the opening episode. 

The “subway” system on Ceres, where the series begins more or less, is loud, like real subways, or the tube in England, and compared with the relative calm and low level decibel emissions on the surface, is too loud.  The show’s main protagonists are, thus far, Detective Miller (Thomas Jane) a “Belter” cop, Holden (Steven Strait) acting XO on an ice freighter. 

There are other characters in and around the periphery and the most important of these is Julie Mao, played by Florence Faivre, who we see at the very start of the premiere episode. This young woman, first encountered in a locked room which she has to escape from, is the motivator of this story. Detective Miller is assigned the job of locating and returning the rich girl to her home.

The Expanse follows recent popular ideas of what space in the future will actually be, an uneasy alliance of miners, companies and a certain hostility between same.  In this instance, Mars, Earth and the “belt” are at odds and the currency is powered by air and water; precious commodities in the future.  There are also  other nods to existing science fiction themes and films.

The splendid character actor Jonathan Banks has a minuscule cameo in the pilot as the stressed out XO who suffers a breakdown.  In the scene where Holden has to break into the executive officer’s room,  Banks’ character is treading  barefoot in dirt;  from his plants, and softly singing “Daisy, Daisy.” (The character is also muttering other things, not least of which is the oft seen “why did we not bring more light” from teaser trailers.) This singing of “Daisy”  is a clear nod and wink to the Stanley Kubrick film A 2001 Space Odyssey and HAL’s singing of Bicycle Built for Two.

*Sidenote* It has to be pointed out that only Banks could so solidly steal an entire episode from the rest of the cast with his killer breakdown. 

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James Holder, Earther and reluctant hero?

In this future world of mankind’s move to the stars, people who are born and live in space, i.e. the Belters, suffer from birth defects because of the minimal oxygen levels and dirty air, along with the lower gravity and smaller G forces.  Michael Jane’s character has “spurs” at the top of his spine where the bones did not knit properly.

Later in the opening episode a Belter is taken to Earth for questioning. The too skinny prisoner is held up against a wall. The suspect is in agony as his lungs and body cannot cope with the crushing gravitation forces that are killing him.

The Expanse may spotlight a future that is dirty and full of biases based upon which world one is born on, but it is, thus far, an intelligent mystery.  Unlike other futuristic settings in space, there are no aliens, unless one counts that large bulging mass that envelops an unidentified crew member while Julie Mao screams in horror.

In some ways, the Julie Mao character feels like a McGuffin, or at the very least like the female character of Laura Palmer in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Time will tell whether this new offering really is a space age “TP” or not…

This hungry “mass” could well be a ball of energy or some space anomaly, there is no real indication that aliens are part of this verse. Once again, not having read the novels that the series is based on, any observations are from this version of  James S. A. Corey’s world  (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck).

Clever nods and winks to other science fiction works aside, this world appears bleak and life is, apparently, cheap and very disposable.  This is pointed out when the ship that Holden is on received Julie Mao’s SOS.  The crew on the bridge, consisting of the ship’s captain and the new XO all vote to ignore the distress beacon and erase it from the freighter’s logs. All done in a matter of seconds.

Only later does Holden rethink what he has done and recovers the erased log entry forcing the ship to answer the beacon.

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Jay Hernandez and Thomas Jane as Havelock and Miller two of Ceres’ finest.

Viewers expecting a fast-paced,  action-packed space opera will be disappointed. The Expanse is moving slowly forward taking its time introducing the players and the plot. The series premiere, which can be seen now via the Internet with VoD and on SyFy’s site, will debut properly Monday, December 14.

This looks pretty impressive, if not a bit slow, tune in and see what you think.

Z Nation: Party With the Zeros (Review)

After last week’s Native American tribute, along with a nod to Hannibal Lector…Z Nation this week revisits the Zeros and the gang end up attending a party, in their and Murphy’s honor.

Gina Gershon as La Reina with a minion...

After last week’s Native American tribute, along with a nod to Hannibal Lector…Z Nation this week revisits the Zeros and the gang end up attending a party, in their and Murphy’s honor. A familiar face turns up,  Dr. Kurian (Donald Corren), who was last seen in Batch 47 being taken away by Escorpion (Emilio Rivera) and his henchmen.  Although the entire episode is quite serious, compared to last week’s show, and the ending a real cliffhanger, there are some comic moments.

The episode begins with   Vasquez shooting through a door, marked “Training” and clearing a path through a huge group of Z’s.  Lt. Warren, Doc and Addy help a wounded Murphy through a Mexican compound full of zombies. Apparently Murphy is still recovering from being shot in Corporate Retreat.

After being cornered, the gang check their ammunition levels and Warren tells Murphy to act like the “Zombie Messiah” he is supposed to be and produce a miracle. Cue the Zeros coming to the rescue as Murphy weakly tells the group that there are too many Z’s to control.  Escorpion opens a door in the wall and tells Warren and the rest to come in.

Z Nation: Party With the Zeros marks a higher level of subtlety from previous episodes.  It also self references previous episodes, most importantly the episode RoZwell and the mysterious “Zona.” Escorpion questions Vasquez toward the this installment and asks who they are working for, after listing “obvious” choices like the Russians or Chinese, he then asks:

“Those rich b*stards in Zona?”

Guest star Gina Gershon (Killer Joe, Red Oaks) is “La Reina de los Muertos, Queen of the Zeros Cartel” who offers to either pay Roberta and her group the CDC bounty or welcome them into the Zeros gang. What follows is an initiation, but only after Warren spares Kurian’s life. The “examination” has the group fighting off a zombie horde and surviving.

Stand out moments:

Stand out moment number one is during the build up to the zombie cage battle in the dark. After being given some rudimentary weapons by the Zeros, Warren chooses a knuckle duster and knife, the Murphy leader “zeroes” in on Escorpion and mimics the legendary Bruce Lee with a thumb brush to the nose.  (On a cool scale, with 10 being the pinnacle of coolness, this ranks an 11. #TeamWarrenOwnsEscorpion)

Stand out moment number two occurs when Murphy, after being reluctantly reunited with Dr. Kurian, has a “Marx Brothers Duck Soup” interaction with a Cassandra type Z created with his blood by Kurian.  The doctor injects the “volunteer” who then turns. The new Z immediately goes for Murphy who controls the creature.

What then happens is a brief “Z see, Z do” scene which culminates in a  very brief recreation of the classic “mirror scene” from the 1933 Marx Bros film.

Stand out moment number three is the “Z piñata scene”  where Zeros gang members are “breaking” the party favor open to get bags of drugs instead of small toys and sweets.

Honorary Mention:

The Vasquez execution attempt of Escorpion. The slow motion “dance” between the mercenary and the Lieutenant works beautifully. As the three players, one who is unaware of his role in this waltz, finish, La Reina believes that Warren has saved her life and Roberta becomes a member of the “royal” circle.

Plot Hole:

Earlier, in the previous episode of Down the Mississippi Escorpion tries 10K, Sketchy and Skeezy for stealing from the redneck zombie traders. Despite being “up close and personal” enough to pass a sentence of death on the three, Escorpion fails to recognize the sniper in this episode. Considering that this storyline has the Zeros following The Murphy and his group of protectors, which is used to explain a myriad of plot threads, it makes no real sense that the Zero enforcer would not recognize 10K.

Cliffhanger:

Kurian, is working  on a ploy to escape La Reina and the Zeros. He is using Murphy’s blood to create more “Cassandra” hybrids that Murphy can exclusively control.  After announcing that he has developed a vaccine, Kurian demands he test it…on Vasquez, cue one hypodermic needle being slowly moved to the DEA agent/mercenary’s neck.

Rivera (who is best known to television viewers as Marcus Alvarez in Sons of Anarchy) continues to rock as the Zero enforcer/middle management “right-hand” man to La Reina. Gershon turns her guest starring role into something memorable as well. Her power mad leader of the cartel can be seen as an ethereal relation to the female leader (in Ray Donovan) of the  Armenian  mob, Mrs Minassian (played brilliantly by Grace Zabriskie).

By the time the end credits roll on Z Nation: Party With the Zeros, Murphy confesses he likes being treated like a  Saint, although he should be wary of the honor Saints, after all, have to be dead to have been bestowed this status and Vasquez looks as though he will  become a new “Cassandra.”

There are three episodes left in this season on SyFy, the series airs on Fridays, and despite the titles all sounding a bit “final” The Asylum show will be back in 2016. Tune in and see whether or not Matt Cedeño‘s character become’s Murphy’s newest pet.