The Place Beyond The Pines

theplacebeyondthepinesThe movie features Ryan Gosling as Luke. And after last seeing Gosling in Drive, I was expecting something similar. This time he is a motorcycle stuntman who finds out that he has a newborn child with his ex-girlfriend in one of the towns the circus passes through. He decides to stay and turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for their child. But it wasn’t so simple since his ex-girlfriend is already with another man, Kofi. Then he got shot and killed by Avery (Bradley Cooper) and that’s that for Gosling. Quite a surprise really.

The story is then picked up by Avery who is a rookie cop and a new father himself. The shooting elevated him to something of a local hero. This and his idealism eventually got him into conflict with the corrupt cops in the police department. He then leveraged the situation to become the district attorney and eventually a candidate for attorney general.

Then the story shifts to Avery’s and Luke’s sons who are now teenagers and studying in the same school. There’s the irony that Luke’s son had a father in his mom’s husband (Kofi). While Avery’s son didn’t since Avery got divorced and was very busy with his career. The two became friends, then enemies when Luke’s son realized who his friend’s father is. The story culminates in a confrontation in a place beyond the pines :P and with Luke’s son following his father’s tracks. Motorcycle tracks, that is.

Good watch. Almost like reading a good book.

Man of Steel

Finally a Superman movie that’s actually super. Not since Superman (and somewhat Superman II) has there been a worthy Superman movie. I hated Superman III and I don’t even remember Superman IV. And Superman Returns? Let’s just say he shouldn’t have.

The general story is familiar to those who have seen the first two original movies. Kal-El was sent to Earth, Krypton was destroyed, Kal-El grows up to become Superman, outlaw Kryptonian general Zod and underlings shows up, big fight, Superman wins.

But the execution is what makes it super. Fights were dynamic and titanic. Even the ones between Jor-El and Zod. Yes, a scientist kicking ass! Never has Russel Crowe been so cool since Gladiator. And wait till you see Superman vs Zod. No external underwear here. This Superman not just kicks ass but takes names as well. This is Superman for the younger set. Not necessarily good. But not necessarily bad. And it’s definitely a fun watch.

That Man of Steel wraps up the stories of Superman and Superman II makes the reboot complete and in one move (or movie) sets up the stage for what’s next. And that’s the question: What’s next? Given the height of success of Man of Steel, it’s easier to screw it up than make it better. But I hope they’re able to do the former. The franchise now shows so much potential.

Fast and Furious 6

Last Sunday afternoon, Jeanne, Michelle, and I caught a screening of Fast and Furious 6. Just like the previous installation, it’s a heist movie with cars. But this time around, there’s a hint of James Bond. The crew gets together for a job to stop an ex-SAS international villain from stealing and assembling some kind of doomsday device. See what I mean about the hint of James Bond?

Assembling the crew for the task was care of Hobbs (The Rock/Dwayne Johnson). I guess, James Bond was busy and he needed Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) uncanny ability for doing the impossible with cars (and anything with wheels). He accomplished this by dangling the possibility of Letty Ortiz being alive to the playing-hard-to-get Toretto. Of course he succeeded, otherwise there’d be no movie. First love never dies indeed.

But as usual, the whole point are the cars. It doesn’t matter where they are, what they’re doing. It’s all about the cars. The stunts are over the top and absolutely ridiculous. But there’s no denying it was fun!

You’d think it’s hard to come up with a crazier and more outrageous sequel. But they just may even be able to pull it off. Think Jason Statham of The Transporter fame. Wait for the post-credit ;)

Rating: 3/5

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is several stories interleaved together as consequences of actions and events ripple through time and space. It seems to be a mess but like a symphony, everything somehow fell into place imperfectly perfect. And beautiful. Two thumbs up! :P

Rating: 4/5

Zero Dark Thirty

zerodarkthirtyGot together with Jim, Crissy, and the Fenris boys to watch Zero Dark Thirty last night. Haven’t seen them in a while and I couldn’t recall the names of half of them :P But there we were waiting for everyone to arrive, having dinner, talking about the things we used to talk back then, and of course, watching a movie of common interest.

Make no mistake, Zero Dark Thirty is not an action movie about a SEAL Team assaulting UBL hideout and ending him with extreme prejudice. It is primarily a spy thriller with a sort-of-action segment towards the end. It’s about “Maya”, a female CIA agent, on her single-minded 10-year search for UBL aka the needle in the haystack, her struggles in a male-dominated workplace, brute-force approach (yes, torture), bureaucracy ridden government, unreliable allies, and the culmination of the search with an efficient little raid a little-known city in Pakistan. There’s a lot of social and political commentary somewhere there but I chose to ignore them.

Towards the end, the narrative of the movie sort of weaves in with the narrative of the book No Easy Day. For example, the female CIA operative leading the search and the way the raid unfolds. So having read the book helped me understand and appreciate the events as it unfolded on the big screen. Makes me wonder if Mark Owen/Matt Bissonette is a technical adviser for the movie.

I’m kind of a Kathryn Bigelow fan because of The Hurt Locker and her latest work didn’t hurt. Definitely a good watch whether you’re a spy thriller fan or an mil action fan.

Rating: 4/5