Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 137min - PG

This movie is from my youth I enjoyed it and its held up for the most part. Take a flight down memory lane reading my article Here on Web Wombat. 

Lincoln

Lincoln – 150min – PG-13

Some movies are made in such a way that the only appropriate description is "epic". This is one of those films. This movie takes a look at a specific point in President Lincoln’s life toward the end of the war and the beginning of a new way of life for all of us. Lincoln’s impact on our history can’t be disputed. This movie takes you through that pivotal turning point for our country. It really speaks volumes to the filmmaker who can take a historical event and make it engaging and suspenseful. The performances were outstanding and I was completely entertained through the entire film. This movie gets a green light from me. I am also pleased to say that not one vampire was seen in this movie.

President Lincoln,(Daniel Day-Lewis) is trying to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which would formally abolish all slavery in the country. He is trying to use the war as a selling point to the population. His Secretary of State, William Seward,(David Strathairn) warns that if the war ends, this legislation will not pass because the people are not behind it. They decide to use help from some vote hunters. They employ Robert Latham, Richard Shell and W.N. Bilbo (John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson and James Spader). They must use any means short of bribery to get the votes needed to pass this through Congress. Politics is not the only battle that the President has to deal with; he also has to manage his family. His son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), wants to serve his country and join the Army. The President has to balance his son’s desire to grow up and be a man with the fears of his wife (Sally Field) at losing another child. They really added a depth to this historical figure by showing us the wonderful relationship he had with his youngest son (Gulliver McGrath).

Historical movies have their own spoilers written into every American history book. Unless you are going to play fast and loose with the facts you are never going to surprise someone about the outcome of your movie. Steven Spielberg is a master storyteller in as much as he made the vote a nerve-wracking event. I had a moment when I was unsure if they would get the votes needed. Even though I knew the outcome when I went into the theater, they made me fidget because it was a close vote. Well done sir, well done.

Some other really noteworthy performances are Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, the Republican who was outspoken about his anti-Slavery beliefs. His performance of a man who “would say anything” to get his legislation passed is exceptional.

This movie does make me think of where the Republican Party went astray, I was surprised at how much of a contrast in views the Republican Party of this time is with today’s version of itself. I am not going to get deep into politics here, but I am looking at a party that fought hard for the belief in equality of all men before their creator. Where are they now?

Warning Spoilers!!!!!! Only if you Vote YEA to this movie click on this link!!!!!!!!

I really only have one spoiler that I wanted to talk about. In the previous Lincoln movie, I really wanted the President to go to the theater. I was hoping that the theater was the next thing we would see, but this version I really was dreading the inevitable. I did not want to see this President die. Spielberg is marvelous at manipulating the emotions of the viewer. We do not see the assassination. We see the announcement and the reaction from his youngest son. That scene was way more heartbreaking than having to watch the event itself. Again, well done sir, well done.

The other point that was made by Rich, my brother in-law, is that they could have ended the movie with The President walking away and fade to black and it would have still been just as powerful an ending. I agree, the rest of the ending could have been skipped. It was well done but not needed. We all know what happened.


What historical event should Mr. Spielberg bring to life next?

War Horse

War Horse - 146min – PG-13

The trailer for this film lets you know you’re in for an epic emotional journey. Surprisingly, it does not give away anything about the film. I went in thinking that I had seen all of the good parts. I was so wrong. This movie has so much more than just the surface story. There are elements of family, war, pain and hope. It’s an intertwining of two stories during WWI: the horse’s journey and that of the boy. It’s an interesting study of the relationships the horse creates during the journey of the film. This movie is a green light film for its uplifting story about an indomitable spirit. Out of all of the horse movies I have seen this one is now my favorite.

The story starts out at the birth of this remarkable horse. Joey, the horse, has bonded with Albert (Jeremy Irvine) they work together on the farm. The family lands on hard times and Albert’s father, Ted (Peter Mullan), sells the horse to an Army officer (Tom Hiddleston) to make ends meet. We separate the horse and owner and watch the journey of Joey through the war.

I took the journey and was completely swept up in the story. I like the elements that you have to follow how family and connections are a constant theme. How a war is stopped if only for a moment to bring together two people who communicate and find very little difference between them.

Ted has been to war and his experience in that war has formed his life now. Rose (Emily Watson) Albert’s mother explains the reasons his father does the things that he does. As war has come to England and Albert is of military age this is foreshadowing of what is to come. It’s a transition into manhood. The son goes to war and comes back a man.

Steven Spielberg does a wonderful job of storytelling. He takes a horse and makes it a leading character. Without vocalization he gives the horse a definable personality. There are Rocky-esque story elements in this film, you have the little guy, sorry horse, fighting insurmountable odds but through a strong spirit gets the job done.

Spielberg’s attention to the details of the setting and the story never fails to enthrall me. Not all of his work has this effect on me but he does a great job here.

Spoilers are here, if you don’t want to read them gallop past this point.

David Thewlis does an excellent job as the landowner, Lyons. His snobbery and grudge against Ted is played well, so well that I wanted to smack him. It was glorious to see Rose tell him off about how to raise her son.

Watching the horse run through no man’s land was hard to watch, seeing Joey get caught in all of that barbed wire. Still hurts me to think about. But it was necessary to set up the moment of calm in the war. The truce to save the trapped horse was a great scene. A connection was made between the British solder (Toby Kebbell) and the German solder (Hinnerk Schönemann) it was great to see the bond forming, but both knowing that after this moment it’s back to business as usual. An act of kindness brings two opposing sides together.

The section with Emilie (Celine Buckens) was great and a good break in the tension. She and her grandfather (Niels Arestrup) made the horrors of war seem miles away, but it was heart breaking to see the realities of what surrounded them come back and take everything away.

What is your favorite horse movie or if you have none what is your favorite horse from a movie?

Super 8

Super 8 – 112min – PG-13

When I go to a movie I take a notebook. I usually jot down a few items about the movies as I watch. I can look back at my notes and see the movies that really engaged by the amount of notes I take during a movie. For this film, I have only one note in my book: “loved it! “ I was completely engaged throughout the picture. Every aspect of this movie was masterfully done. The acting, the storytelling, set design -- everything was done really well. The pace of the story was fine and the balancing act between all of the human emotions is awesome. Some people have said that it’s a cross between The Goonies and Cloverfield. I would say “yes and no”. I will explain more later. Right now let me go into other aspects of the movie. I am going to give this movie a full-on green light. I count this as a win for J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg.

The story surrounds a group of kids who are shooting a movie for a super 8 film festival. Super 8 refers to the type of film they are using, not a motel. While they are filming a scene at a train station, a train derails. The crash lets lose something that begins terrorizing the town. The rest of the movie focuses on things that happen while the kids try to figure out what is going on in the town, while finishing the movie, dodging their parents, finding young love and dealing with town familial politics. There are enough elements to keep you involved on several layers in the movie. The complex story is fun to watch as it rolls out. I liked how the kids and the grownups were trying to solve the same things, but were going from two different aspects.

The kids: Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills, Riley Griffiths, Gabriel Basso and Elle Fanning all did wonderfully in their roles. I enjoyed the characterizations that each brought to this young film crew. The kids’ production reminded me of some of my films shoots where you had several people doing roles and also working on the crew. The dynamic between them was well-played. I bought into the friendship they portrayed and enjoyed watching them argue and bicker like friends do from time to time. It felt real to me as I watched them go through this event. For the adult cast they had some challenging elements to bring to the screen, the relationship between Jackson(Kyle Chandler) and Louis (Ron Eldard) was well-performed. There were some really well played-out scenes where the characters grow and evolve and truly enjoy watching the development of the people as well as the story. A movie that has a depth of character is almost more entertaining for me to watch as the story is.

J.J. Abrams did a spectacular job. He made a well-balanced and entertaining film. This movie built to a good pace with the suspense and plenty of emotional story elements to satisfy several different viewers’ tastes. I have been a fan of his work in the past I was truly won over with his version of Star Trek. As a side note I have to admit I was extremely nervous when I heard they were remaking the series in a movie. I was willing to give him the Benefit of the doubt and went to see it with as much as an open mind as I could, I was not disappointed with his take on the earlier years that I surprised and pleased with the outcome. He had me as a fan from that point on. He is spectacular storyteller and does a wonderful job putting them up on the screen. The cinematographer (Larry Fong) did a great job of visualizing this film. His style of filmmaking can be seen in his past projects and they carry over to this one as well. His scene set up for the more suspenseful parts of this film defiantly have his touch to them. The sweeping long shots of the action and the composition of the perspective shots were “Mint”

I still want to address the comparisons to The Goonies and Cloverfield. There are some elements that are really Goonies-esk, you have a bunch of kids going out on an adventure and facing dangerous elements while they pursue their goal. If you take out all of the campy elements of Goonies, it’s not that far off. I have not seen Cloverfield but to the comparison seems to lie in how you do not get a good look at the monster until the very end of the movie. Many films in the past have used this technique so I don’t know if Cloverfield can take credit for it. Aside from that I can’t comment on how much alike those two films are.

Ok this week I am going to ask you what was one kids movie that you liked when you were young and when you watched it as adult it lost some of that wonder, It’s a sad questions but I had to ask, because I was watching Goonies again and I just can’t get that same feeling I had when I was a kid. My tastes have matured I guess.