By Robin E. Simmons
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Director Paul Greengrass likes to create documentary-like dramas based on real, newsworthy situations. His FLIGHT 93 was memorable for the same reasons. It was a big story in 2009 when cargo captain Richard Phillips was kidnapped by Somali pirates and then rescued by the might of the U.S. government and a SEAL team’s skill.
Tom Hanks plays Phillips with dignity and fear. It doesn’t hurt that he also bears a striking resemblance to the real Phillips. The plot of the film is hardly existent. He’s kidnapped, endures terror and is rescued. It’s all very straight forward and at least 30 minutes too long. It’s a visceral experience for Richards as well as the audience. Much of the movie is shot at sea with a jerky, hand-held cameras. A Steadycam© mount would’ve helped a lot. At the evening screening I attended on opening weekend, the audience was sparse. As the credits rolled, some audience members complained of headaches and one woman said she was feeling queasy and couldn’t even look at the screen during the last 40 or so minutes because of the constant, unsteady scenes. Greengrass directed the second and third BOURNE movies in the same frantic, herky-jerky often telephoto close style under the assumption it ramps up the sense of immediacy and drama. It doesn’t. This film does not do for Phillips’ dramatic story what ZERO DARK THIRTY did for the killing of Osama bin Laden. No surprises here. We really learn nothing other than sometimes the U.S. government rescues a private citizen in distress in a remote place. But we already knew that. The best scene in the entire film was the cool professionalism and compassion a Navy nurse offered Phillips in the infirmary after he was rescued. It choked me up. It turns out the young woman (Andrea Phillips, R.N.) is the real thing on a U.S. Naval vessel. A suggestion: If you choose to see this realistic dramatization, be sure to bring some Dramamine® in the event of motion sickness. Now playing.
NEW FOR THE HOME THEATER:
A HIJACKING
I liked this alternate Somali hijack story more than the well-received CAPTAIN PHILLIPS. This may not be an overt action film but it is excruciatingly tense and compelling. It has received even better reviews than Tom Hanks’ film! The core story is about the ongoing negotiations between a Danish shipping CEO and the pirates. But the two main characters are the CEO (Søren Malling) and the chief cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbæk) held hostage on the cargo vessel. We learn a lot about both men and see the toll the lengthy, months-long negotiations take on both men when the pirates demand $15 million for a ransom. This movie was shot in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa on the real MV Rozen, a cargo ship that was actually subject to a hijacking. Some of the real crew played crewmembers in the movie. There is at least as strong a sense of verisimilitude as in Greengrass’ film. While they were shooting the movie, “over 1,000 persons were being held hostage less than 250 miles away and no one was doing anything about it,” according to director Tobias Lindholm. This nicely photographed film has already been discovered by many and is gaining a strong word-of-mouth praise, of which I add my recommendation. Don’t miss this nail-biting, tense, gripping thriller. Magnolia. Blu-ray.
PACIFIC RIM
Monsters (Kaiju) and robots go head-to-head in this action packed spectacle that looks even better in 3D on the hi-def home theater screen. Here’s the story: Legions of the monstrous creatures have started rising from the sea, starting a war that has taken millions of lives and is consuming humanity’s resources for the foreseeable future. As a last resort to combat the Kaiju, humans devise Jaegers – massive robots – that are controlled by two humans sealed in the “neural bridge.” But the Jaegers are defenseless against the monsters. On the brink of defeat, the human defenders have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes – a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi) – who are teamed to drive a legendary but obsolete Jaeger from the past. Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against a near certain apocalypse. The Blu-ray 3D combo pack has a ton of extras: An excellent audio commentary by director Guillermo del Toro, The Director’s Notebook, Drift Space, The Digital Artistry of Pacific Rim, The Shatterdome, Focus Points, Deleted Scenes and Blooper Reel. Warner Bros. Blu-ray 3D.
THE CONJURING
Directed by James Wan (SAW, INSIDIOUS), THE CONJURING stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as Ed and Lorraine Warren as professional demon hunters called to a case they (the real Warrens) have kept locked up in their files because it was “too dangerous” to tell until now. Before there was Amityville, there was Harrisville. Here is the true(?) story of the Warrens helping a family in a secluded (isn’t it always?) farmhouse terrorized by a dark presence with a complicated past dating to the Selma witches. When they are forced to confront a demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the “most horrifying case of their lives.” Wan is a strong director. He gives this story a terrific old school feel that does not rely on guts and gore for its jolts. And there are jolts. Warner Bros. Blu-ray.
EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE (UNRATED)
For those longing for a sexy reboot of the same titled cult fave starring Alyssa Milano (1995), here, just in time for Halloween, is a 2013 direct-to-video starring Sharon Hinnendael as Charlotte, the beautiful but timid teen fresh out of Catholic school who is beginning college life. But, and this is a big one, an ancient evil has followed her. Tormented by nightmares and tempted by forbidden desires, her only solace, satisfaction and ultimate satiation from the dark dreams is a “hunger for sensual pleasures and blood lust” — as the press release likes to remind us. Need I say more? I think you get the picture. Anchor Bay. Blu-ray.
Comments? RobinESimmons@aol.com
