Hector and the Search for Happiness

Hector and the Search for Happiness - 114 min - R

Simon Pegg takes a world win trip around the world to see if he can define happiness. As a travel film and some really profound thoughts on what makes a person happy.  See what I wrote on Web Wombat. 

Kingsman: The Secret Service

Kingsman: The Secret Service - 129min - R

I enjoy the spy genre of films. James Bond films are an institution in Hollywood. I have enjoyed the new gritty realistic standpoint that those movies have taken. Kingsman takes the spy movie to new heights and/or depths depending on how you look at it. I am not fazed by graphic scenes in films and I almost never flinch when someone breaks a bone in a fight scene. This film has found my breaking point for violent images. I liked the film even with the sour feelings it left me. I did want to go home and dust off my Disney collection and watch something wholesome to repair my soul.

Harry Hart, code name Galahad (Colin Firth) takes young Eggsy (Taron Eggerton) under his wing because Eggsy's father sacrificed himself for his team, saving Harry. Harry offers to give Eggsy a chance to try out for the Kingsman. During his training a criminal mastermind known as Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) starts to develop a plan that will have devastating effect across the world.

The film was put together well. It has a nice balance between action-adventure and campy spy gadgets. The performers were all top notch, there didn't seem to be a person out of place or out of their depths with the performance. The touches of humor fit in nicely with the story and weren't overdone. I don't know if they were enough to lighten up the level of violence that really starts off the film and doesn't end until the film is over.

I'm going to talk about the more bloody scenes here so if you are not wanting spoilers please look away, I'm sure you would have in the movie as well.

I think I was past my comfort level about a quarter of the way through the test of Valentine's weapon at the church. You would think that a church based on hate and bigotry would not make me flinch to see them all die horribly, but it did affect me, I was over my violence quotient for a movie. It was completely horrific, the ways that people killed one another in that church. It kept escalating to a darker and more brutal place.

I found it interesting that the movie set the stage for me to not feel bad for the victims as they were intolerant jackwagons, but as the scene continued on I was feeling bad that even intolerant jackwagons didn't need to die that way.

To offset that level of killing there is a scene further in that has a lot of heads exploding. Instead of showing us all of the heads they covered over them with a CGI firework display that took the place of all of the heads. That really softened the blow of the event that took the heads of hundreds of people.

I think that what this movie has going for it is the like able characters. I felt a solid connection with everyone. The fight scenes were outstanding and well-choreographed and the car chase was one of the better ones I have seen.

At its heart it's a really good spy film that has potential. I do hope they will make a sequel. But I also hope that the violence experiment is over and we never ever have to watch a scene like that one in the church again.

Where is your violence tolerance level?

The Cobbler

The Cobbler  - 99min - PG13

Adam Sandler has a very specific skill set in his acting. When he has no one to mind him he tends to run his jokes into the ground.  His brouhaha about womanizing female actresses and also his issue with the Native Americans walking off his set. BUT this movie is fine.  Take a look at my review on Web Wombat. 

Ex Machina

Confessions of a Sci-fi-fan

Ex Machina - 108min - R

I have always been an easy sell when it comes to science fiction. From the first moment I saw the robotic woman from Metropolis I was hooked on the genre. Obviously this film is going to be rated with an easier eye in my book...

Or so you would think.

Perhaps my love for this kind of film makes me look at it with more scrutiny. I found the movie to be a wonderful idea poorly executed. At best, it's a yellow light. There are some captivating cinematic elements, but the pace of the film kills any tension that it starts building. Plus, some of the messages in the film rub me the wrong way.

Nathan,(Oscar Isaac) is the very creepy owner of Big Blue, the world's largest Internet search engine. He holds a lottery and invites one of his minions - sorry, employees - to take part in a new project. He's creating a woman and wants to see if his employee can be taken in by a bizarre and highly sexualized Turing test.

I have to tell you how uncomfortable I am with the implied subtext in this film: Women are objects that are best experimented on. To make a perfect one, make her unable to communicate and sexually available whenever the need arises. The emotional connection it creates with you is all an act to get something from you and if you do give them any freedom they will kill you.

There, it just had to be said. I know I have a pro-feminist streak but I can’t be the only one who saw this, can I?

The cinematography is perfectly done to bring out the maximum amount of creepy, and the soundtrack works to heighten the tension. The problem is the long stretches of tension are interlaced with characters watching each other staring introspectively. When you have so much tension, your audience gets numb to it so when things happen in the story that should elicit a reaction of surprise or enlightenment they are more likely to respond with "Oh. Well that happened. Finally."

Nathan is ultimately way too creepy from the start. To make the end work better they should have slowly shown us his oddness. It should have started out with him being a fun eccentric. Instead he starts off being someone who would make the family robot say “Danger, Danger Will Robinson!”

Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb, the hapless employee, was a great casting choice. He was the perfect test subject and he played his role really well. Alicia Vakander, who played the robot, Ava, did an amazing job at simulating emotions like a robot trying to... simulate... emotions. Your head can go wonky if you think about it too long. How well a performer does at playing a robot is hard to gauge. Are they doing a good job because they are a great actor or are they simply robotic in their performance? Imaging how confusing that direction would sound like from the director. “Ok do these lines but don't emote because you're a robot. BUT you are faking like you have emotion”.

Comparing her work in Seventh Son and this film gives you a better understanding of her range. She is someone to keep an eye out for. Hopefully we can see her (I can't believe I am saying this) with more clothes on.

Alex Garland is one of my favorite directors. His work in 28 Days caught my attention and I enjoyed Dredd, so I was looking forward to this film. This one is not among my favorites in his portfolio. I know he can do a less disturbing story.

What popular movie has a subtext that rubs you the wrong way?