The title of this blog is what I say at the box office. I go to the movies at a random time and I ask ”what is showing next?” and if I have not seen it already I get a ticket and go in. These are the reviews of the random movies I see.
I am Jon Rutledge, a man ,trying to find a little entertainment in-between obligations and life. This Blog is dedicated to movies. I enjoy falling into a really good one.
This film is a step back in time and a fantasy about one man who beats his demons. Not a very original story but fun to journey through. I would love to spend a winter in a Japanese village. You can rad my review here at Web Wombat.
I wish the filmmakers really did have a time machine so they could go back in time and prevent themselves from making the choices that lead this interesting idea down the road of paradoxical disaster. Amongst their sins are: found footage gimmick: not playing by their own rules: and an ending that makes the whole journey not worthwhile. I so wanted to give this movie a green light on the concept, but its execution gets a red light from me.
David(Johnny Weston) is a high school senior. He finds a camera in his dead father’s belongings with a recording of his 7th birthday party. He sees his 17-year-old self in the mirror in one of the shots. This leads him to find what his father was working on before he died, a time machine. With the help of his sister, Christina (Virginia Gardner), and his two closest friends, Quinn (Sam Learner) and Adam (Allen Evangelista), they finish the time machine. They start out with small jumps that only go back three weeks and then further. They include David’s crush, Jessie (Sofia Black-D'ella), after borrowing the battery in her Prius for a test.
Found footage is a one trick pony, the person who came up with it gets to claim that trick and it should have stayed there. This concept in a horror can work because we see what people have recorded before their demise. As other genres try this technique, it starts getting more and more absurd. Not only am I a crazy person who has to film everything I do, I have to get coverage from two cameras. Then there is the mutant-like power to set the camera down in a hurry and have it land so that the entire room is in frame and you are not looking at the floor or a blank wall. EVERY TIME you set it down. Let’s just agree to be done with this style of filming. It’s a shame, the story itself could have stood on its own merits without the filming gimmick.
It took a long time for the movie to get to the point. It could have been a much better if they tightened up the introduction. They also fell down with following their own rules. It's established that one you go back and change time it ripples and changes and it gets out of hand. David chooses to go back to stop all of the craziness. He goes back ten years and destroys the time machine before they have a chance to screw things up. So he does, and he disappears but for some reason the camera he used doesn't get affected by the paradox. If he destroys the time machine, he never goes back so he disappears from existence but not the camera? Blink....Blink... Nope you lost me.
The one good thing in the film is how they start using the time jumps for small things and then they go larger and larger. They do build tension, because anyone who enjoys time travel movies knows that jumping to the past has consequences. According to the butterfly effect, a small thing has an effect on other larger things. As a viewer I did feel more and more uncomfortable waiting for the temporal shoe to drop. It's too bad they didn't know how to manage the velocity of the story once it got out of control.
What was your favorite time travel film? If it's this one, forget I asked.
I would like to see a Christploitation film that was really good, I am not getting that here. See what I wrote on Web Wombat. Less preachy and more time sorting out the dodgy script. It's too bad, there are thousands of Christians looking for a good movie that caters to them.
I am honored to be in a society that was blessed to include Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I remember reading about the march in Selma. But it was out of a school book. It lacked the depth to show how compelling this story truly is. It is set in a time where racism is prevalent. The start of the civil rights movement was a dangerous time. This is a green light film that leaves you with much to think about. I recommend you see this movie with someone else so you can enjoy the conversation this movie will undoubtedly create.
Dr. King (David Oyelowo), fighting against voting inequality, heads down to Selma to stage a peaceful protest. The small town is the backdrop of the bigger fight between Governor Wallace (Tim Roth) and the changing views of America under the leadership of President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson). The first march was attacked by state troopers. Being televised it was a galvanizing event in the civil rights fight. Dr. King calls on everyone who feels that people are equal to come and march with them. Together thousands marched from Selma to Montgomery but not without its costs.
This film had me engaged from the moment it started. This is the kind of movie that sparks some wonderful conversation about its themes and some of the history we have been through. It would be easy for historical films that focus on race and how we as a country have fought long and hard for equality to push an agenda in today's political struggles. This movie does set the stage for conversations that could include racial views today but keeps focused on what has happened on the past.
David Oyelowo is remarkable as Dr. King. The sprit of the man faced with such a hard choice in a world on the brink of change can be seen in his demeanor and his face. The enormity of the journey and its impact on us as a people can be felt in every word delivered on screen. Tom Wilkinson has always impressed me as a performer and in this production he raises the bar. He has a line in this movie that really resonates with me and should resonate with all political figures. I am going to horribly butcher the real line but I am paraphrasing. "We should not be thinking about 1965 we should be thinking of 1985, and how they will see us when they look back." Simply powerful.
Ava DuVernay is now one of my favorite directors. This picture masterfully tells a very moral story without beating us over the head with morality. She tells us the events that happened and gives us a glimpse into the personal lives of those affected. Her work on this picture gives us all a connection point to our shared history and should be listed among the other directors up for consideration for best director.
Removing race and gender from the argument the movie stands on its own merits to be considered for best director. It's almost too ironic that a black woman who did a stellar job, making a spot-on movie about inequality gets overlooked by an Academy that is primarily white males. Her work clearly out matches anything else on the ballot.
What do you think about the lack of diversity in the Academy?
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