Archive for March, 2017

Weightless “Life” Portrays Menace In A Vacuum

Posted by Duane Dudek
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“Life.” You’ve played the game and eaten the cereal. But should you watch the movie?

“Life” is a jeopardy-in-space B movie tale about a crew on the International Space Station that comes across a dormant form of life that wakes up and tries to kill them all, within the confines of their floating tin can.

The life form starts out looking like baby Groot but ends up a giant squid like thing that likes to eat you from the inside out.

Every dramatic beat is telegraphed in part because we’ve seen it all before, but also because of the ubiquitous commercials. “Life” even advertised on the Super Bowl.

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“T2 Trainspotting” A Ghostly Sequel With Subtitles

Posted by Duane Dudek
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What do you do after you’ve won an Oscar and produced the opening ceremonies at the Olympics?

“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle chose to dangle his toes in “T2: Trainspotting,” a sequel to his 20 year old “A Hard Days Night” type cult romp about heroin addicts.

In the original Boyle’s jagged and disorienting style reflected the lives being chronicled and the culture around them.

The sequel also has a distinctive visual ebb and flow – in one quick scene a woman who has died is shown as a shadow at the dinner table. But while the first film felt cuttingly precise, the new one feels stagey.

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“The Salesman” Is A Bleak Iranian Allegory

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Beyond the best picture snafu Oscar night there was another upset – the Iranian film “The Salesman” winning best foreign language film over German language frontrunner “Toni Erdmann.”

It was only the third Iranian film nominated for the Oscar, two of which were directed by Asghar Farhadi, who won Oscars  for “The Salesman and “A Separation”  political and social allegories in the disguise of domestic dramas.

If all you know about Iran is what you hear on the news you have a right to be afraid.

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Brutal “Logan” Either End Of A Franchise Or Birth Of One

Posted by Duane Dudek
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“Logan” steps out of the digital superhero fantasy world and into a more realistic, one leaving a trail of sometimes headless bodies behind.

“Logan” is the new and “final” entry in Marvel’s X-Men Wolverine series, and is either the end of a franchise or the birth of one.

It’s 2029 and mutants have been put down or like Professor X are hiding. X has a dementia that results in earthquake type effects that Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman, controls with medication. The grey and infirm Logan is not in great shape either.

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