World War Z 3D

ACTION/ADVENTURE, HORROR

Mob Mentality

8.5 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Intense frightening zombie sequences and disturbing images
Release Date: June 21, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes

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Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof, J. Michael Straczynski, based on the novel 'World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse' by Max Brooks
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, David Morse, Fana Mokoena, Abigail Hargrove, Sterling Jerins

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SYNOPSIS: United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop the Zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments, and threatening to destroy humanity itself.

REVIEW: Director Marc Forster, helmer of the 2011 Machine Gun Preacher and 2008 Quantum of Solace, takes on a beloved genre novel and brings it to the big screen. Based on the book 'World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse' by Max Brooks and adapted by a cadre of writers and storytellers in the form of Matthew Michael Carnahan (State of Play), Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods), Damon Lindelof (Star Trek Into Darkness), and J. Michael Straczynski (Thor), we find out if we would realistically survive a global plague of the undead.

Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt, Killing Them Softly) is an ex-United Nations investigator enjoying life at home with his wife Karin (Mireille Enos, Gangster Squad) and two daughters Constance (Sterling Jerins, the upcoming The Conjuring) and Rachel (Abigail Hargrove, The Butterfly Circus). On their way to drop of the girls to school, explosions, gridlock, panicked pedestrians, and aggressive people attacking others drive Gerry and his family to escape out of the city to an apartment building in Newark, New Jersey where Gerry's ex-superior gets him and his family safe passage to an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean. Tasked with accompanying a brilliant scientist named Fassbach (Elyes Gabel, Body of Proof) on a mission to find patient zero or having his family sent off the safety of the aircraft carrier, Gerry heads out with the scientist and a Seal team to Korea in search of answers. Every stop made is wrought with little clues and many mortal perils. Can Gerry find the answers to this world wide plague before there is no humanity to save?

Based on the genre best-selling and highly regarded book 'World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie Apocalypse' by Max Brooks (Mel brook's son!!), Brad Pitt's character treks around the globe in search of the source of the zombie outbreak. Unlike the book, World War Z the movie does not take place five years after the initial outbreak. Instead it rides along at the moment of the outbreak and Gerry Lane's investigation. Some of the same elements from the book are included in the film. As Gerry travels around the Middle East, the Far East, and other locales, the events he witnesses and the information he learns to have a passing similarity to the journalistic writings from the book.

World War Z, in 3D, is worth the price. Unlike Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel already out this year, World War Z manages to use the 3D to good effect – for both scares and cinematic embellishment. From the undead lunging straight at the camera, two soft ash drifting down in a burned-out prison cell, to the simple use of added depth, the director did the right thing with his interpretation of the technology.

The film actually seem to work in reverse with some of the major action sequences occurring in the first hour of the film. From the gridlocked streets of New York, the rooftops of an apartment in New Jersey, a soldier protected camp Humphreys in South Korea, a walled off city in Israel, and a infected plane ride, each sequence is wrought with wartime intensity. In the last act of the movie, as Gerry gets closer to the answers he seeks in a W.H.O. research facility, the pace slows down to a more suspenseful and controlled crawl.

A worthwhile reel of cinema, World War Z encompasses more than just one genre to which it would be obviously affiliated. Horror, hard wartime action, investigative mystery, drama, and suspense thriller, this movie transcends a mere zombie flick into something a little bit more, following in the footsteps of greater than genre dramas like AMCs The Walking Dead.

There will be criticism for this film. From the uber fast and lightning quick undead ravaging citizens at the beginning of the movie, to their hive or insect mindset of singular purpose, some moviegoers may find these zombies not to the familiarity of the slow shambling zombies used to. Like 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake, the faster flesh eaters provide a powerful tension that the slower shambling zombies do not. Forster does give the audience slow zombies at the end of the film with near dormant zombies waiting for something to offer stimulus and warm flesh meat.

World War Z is surprisingly good as a standalone genre efforts. Fans of Max Brooks and his book may be a little disappointed in the overall film, but there is room to go back in into aspects of the books should be a sequel be greenlit. I would have liked to see World War Z made into the HBO miniseries like Tom Hanks and Ron Howard's Band of Brothers, but I was thrilled at what Marc Forster and Brad Pitt did create. Not exactly what I was looking for or what I expected, but I did leave the theater satisfied.

World War Z will give you plenty of action, drama, suspense, and zombies. Take it as a standalone film with a derivative spin from the book and you will just might want to take a bite out of this one.

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Killing Them Softly

Slice of American Life

★ ★ ★ out of 5 buckets | Rental

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Rated: R - Violence, sexual references, pervasive language and some drug use.

Release Date: November 30, 2012

Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes

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Director: Andrew Dominik
Writers: Andrew Dominik, based on the novel 'Cogan's Trade' by George V. Higgins
Cast:  Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Vincent Curatola, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard, Trevor Long, Max Casella, Slaine

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SYNOPSIS: A local dry cleaner owner hires two down-on-their-luck thugs to rob an underground card game, knowing that the lackey running the game will most likely be targeted for the theft.

REVIEW: Andrew Dominik, writer and director of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Chopper, adapts the 1974 George V. Higgins novel 'Cogan's Trade' into a screenplay that reunites Dominik with his Jesse James star Brad Pitt. Gritty and raw, Killing Them Softly takes a different look at pre-Obama America and the occupational hazards of a hitman trying to make a living.

Struggling dry cleaner owner Johnny 'Squirrel' Amato (Vincent Curatola, Frame of Mind) and former convict hatches a plan to rob an illegal card game. Using two down-and-out thugs Frankie (Scoot McNairy, Argo) and his junkie partner Russell (Ben Mendelsohn, The Dark Knight Rises), 'Squirrel' directs the duo to steal from mob lackey Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta, Charlie St. Cloud) who had already stolen from his card game once before. When the job is done, a mob contact and driver (Richard Jenkins, The Cabin in the Woods) hires hitman Jackie (Brad Pitt, Money Ball) to investigate the crime and who was ultimately responsible. As the job gets more complicated, Jackie must bring in help in the form of old-timer Mickey (James Gandolfini, Where the Wild Things Are) and driver Kenny Gill (Slaine, The Town).

Killing Them Softly is somewhat a different film. Set amidst the backdrop of a changing America that was experiencing drastic and life-changing economical climate, there are no redeeming characters in the film. Each one as crooked as the one who came before them with varying degrees of badness, but with their own sense of code. Due to the failing economy, even the most staltworth former criminal finds that a return to a life of crime is all but inevitable. Well-loved mob runner Markie has stolen from his own house. Frankie just needs a break after he finds that the parole and work-release 'system' is counterproductive. Burnout Russell walks and sells dogs in the hopes of scoring drugs to sell, all in a pyramidal pursuit to make more and more money. Hitman Jackie, ever the professional and businessman, detests the bureaucratic nonsense that keeps him from being as effective as he needs to be.

Aside from the flawed but intriguing characters, director Dominik engages the audience with witty dialogue and wonderfully abstract camera work. Like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and his own Chopper, every shot is painstakingly handcrafted for maximum effect. Jackie's encounter with Markie in the pouring rain is a perfect example of what makes the film so interesting. Russell and Frankie's conversation during Russell's needle ride on his own supply of smack deserves accolades as well. The banter between Pitt's Jackie and Gandolfini's Mickey is both enlightening and poignant.

Dominik's take of a changing economic America and a changing illegal trade into a bureaucratic quagmire 'corporate' cooperative is fun, if a bit obvious. The continued radio broadcasts and television telecasts of then current President George W. Bush and current senator and future President Barack Obama sets the tone of what all of the characters are dealing with for their future prosperity. The business of illegal trade, betting, card games, and public perception all play their part in this drama.

Killing Them Softly finds itself in a precarious position. It finds trying to balance with fine acting, an interesting story, great dialogue, and unique camera work with a sometimes obvious forced moral and relevant perspective in a time that takes place years after the original 1974 George V. Higgins novel was published.

Killing Them Softly is a strange little tale of just trying to make it and getting the job done. The performances are cool and the characters engrossing. But will it appeal to all? I guess you will have to decide to on whether to take on the contract for yourself.

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Happy Feet Two

Fluffy Song and Dance

Director: George Miller

Writers: George Miller, Warren Coleman, Gary Eck, Paul Livingston
Cast: Elijah Wood, Pink, Ava Acres, Benjamin Flores Jr., Sofia Vergara, Robin Williams, Common, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Hugo Weaving, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter, Anthony LaPaglia

SYNOPSIS: Mumble and Gloria's offspring Erik finds that he can't find his voice or his happy feet. When Erik and his cousins Atticus and Carmen run off to follow Ramon back to his clan, Mumble searches after them.

REVIEW: Who would have predicted that Mad Max and The Road Warrior writer and director George Miller would find himself gathering recent success with dancing and singing animated penguins! Was the 1998 animated pig adventure Babe: Pig in the City a turning point for a career birthed from the motorcycle patrolled sandy wastelands of a post-apocalyptic Australia? Maybe Miller is getting soft (and fluffy) in his old age. Whatever the reason, the winner is the audience. Re-teaming with Happy Feet writer Warren Coleman, and joined by  new writers Gary Eck (The 50 Foot Show) and Paul Livingston (Good News World), Happy Feet Two shuffles, scats and sings its way back into our hearts.

In Happy Feet Two, two-stepping Mumble (Elijah Wood, LOTR trilogy) and Gloria (now voiced by Pink) are raising their new hatchling Erik (Ava Acres, Weeds) who is struggling to find either his singer's voice or his happy feet. Unsure of how he should find the song that is in his heart or how to express it, a depressed Erik chases after a fed-up Ramon (Robin Williams) who journeys to return to his own colony, Followed by Seymour's (now voiced by Common) son Atticus (Benjamin Flores Jr.) and Miss Viola's (Magda Szubanski, The Golden Compass) daughter Bo (Meobh Campbell), the trio and Ramon leave their own colony behind. When Mumble realizes that Erik and the other fluffy hatchlings are gone, he waddles off to corral and return them home. But the task is not as simple as one thinks.

Socially relevant, Miller uses the the vanishing ice caps to make Mumble's and Erik's journey much more difficult. Ice quakes, warming temperatures and a mammoth break away glacier make the journey arduous, as well as returning to the colony impossible. All the while, Mumble finds himself insecure as a father figure as Erik is taken by a strange penguin, Sven (Hank Azaria, The Smurfs), who has the unique ability to fly and to bolster the spirits of those around him. Adding more struggles, always boisterous Ramon struggles to find a mate in standoffish Carmen (Sofia Vergara, Modern Family), butting heads with the beloved large beaked Sven.

Almost as a aside, we also get to follow the story of rebellious Will the Krill (Brad Pitt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and his friend Bill the Krill (Matt Damon, Contagion). Tired to being a nameless part of the Krill swarm, Will swims to the edge of his universe to find that there is more to life. Bill follows in an attempt to bring Will back into the fold. As Will decides to become an evolved predatory species, we are treated to beautifully detailed, expertly choreographed and hilarious sequences. When Will the Krill tries to take on a seal, every detail of ice crystal and strand of fur are beautifully rendered.

My only complaint is Robin Williams. His Latino-tinged Ramon and tent preaching colony leader Lovelace sound more distracting than endearing, but his characters are colorful enough to get the job done.

Touching, funny and heart-felt, Happy Feet Two is a fine follow-up to the Oscar winning Happy Feet. Choreographed by tap maestro Savion Glover, you will be tapping your feet in the dark. The songs sung by Pink's Gloria are uplifting and heart wrenching. And when Erik finally finds a way to express himself, you should come away with goosebumps, I mean, penguin bumps.

WORTH: Matinee and DVD

Moneyball

The Romance of Baseball

Director: Bennett Miller

Writers: Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis (book: "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game")

Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop

SYNOPSIS: Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland A's, struggles to put together a baseball team on a budget, ultimately bucking the tried-and-true established tradition of recruiting baseball players by employing computer-generated analysis.

REVIEW: Bennett Miller, director of Capote from 2006, returns to the captain's chair to direct te new sports drama Moneyball. Based on the book "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" penned by Michael Lewis and brought to the big screen by Steven Zaillian (Scindler's List, Gangs of New York), Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network) from a story by Stan Chervin, the film follows the struggles of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and his struggles to field a competitive and competent baseball team with a monetary budget a fraction of the amount that successful winning teams have.

Centering around the General Manager of the Oakland A's from the end of the 2001 season where the A's lost the ALDS series to the Yankees, getting to the play-offs with stars like Jason Giambi, Jason Isringhausen, and Johnny Damon. After losing the series, big-market ball clubs pick off the A's premier stars with bigger paydays. Trying to rework his team, former player turned scout turned A's General Manager Billy Beane struggles to replace and rebuild due to the monetary cap of the small-market club. Where the New York Yankees have $142 million to spend on their players, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) attempts to put a competitive team together with a 1/5th that amount. Realizing that the tried-and-true "five tools" method of scouting and recruiting isn't going to help him develop a winning franchise, he runs across Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale graduate with a economics degree providing player analysis for the Cleveland Indians, and starts prospecting for the 2002 season with players that are undervalued on paper according to Brand but contradicts all the scouting wisdom that had become the mainstay for recruiting.


For the novice or the sports ignorant, Billy Beane's quest for the Oakland A's to return to the post-season is illuminating and riveting. Can a team from the "...island of misfit toys..." complete and excel against powerhouse ball clubs? Will the fans, sports radio and the public turn against Beane because of his unorthodox decisions? Will Beane and Brand have the support of the A's ownership, the coach, the scouts and the players?


Brad Pitt is worthy of the role he embodies for Moneyball. With an easy smile that hides an uneasy major league ball player past, a failed marriage and a daughter he only wants the best for, Pitt's character is both fearless and fearful, filled with regret and desire to change the game for the better. Jonah Hill's Peter Brand statistics analyst is stoic and smart. His deadpan deliveries during interchanges with Beane get quite a few laughs, even while Hill plays the straight man. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays A's coach Art Howe like a lumbering bear, reluctant to work with Beane's new strategies while he tries to keep his own job and reputation above reproach. Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreations) joins as unsure first baseman Scott Hatteberg and Stephen Bishop rounds out the primary cast as over-the-hill unwanted veteran David Justice.


Not as epic as The Natural, silly as A League of their Own, or nostalgic as Field of Dreams, Moneyball is a grounded and interesting look at a real-life modern major league ballclub, looking at Beane and Brand as both innovators and madmen, daring to throw away decades of tradition surrounding America's Favorite Pastime. The aforementioned films serve to romanticize a sport that is engrained in our national consciousness, but Moneyball throws in a solid sliding pitch into the sports drama genre.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD

Megamind

Mega Hit, Maybe

[Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Davis Cross, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill]

image from screenrant.com

RANT: I was lucky enough to get a free movie ticket yesterday when I went to see "Due Date" because I regularly use my Regal Movie Rewards card. Of course, when I was going to redeem it today for "Megamind", I couldn't! That's what happens when you try to use a freebie at a no-pass movie on opening weekend. Oh well, maybe next week.

SYNOPSIS: Megamind and Metro Man, having Superman beginnings from dying planets, end up as archenemies as adults. Constantly plotting Metro Man's demise by using reporter Roxanne Ritchi as the damsel in distress, Megamind is faced with a uncertain future when he actually defeats Metro Man for the first time.

Tom McGrath, director of both "Madagascar" movies and an actual voice actor in both movies and many of their spin-offs, takes on a different popular character set with caped superheros and villains. As with "Despicable Me" where the villain is the protagonist, "Megamind" delves into the megamind of Megamind! What happens when two infants from neighboring dying planets are jettisoned into space and head to earth? What happens when one infant lands under the Christmas tree in a mansion and the other bounces like a skipped stone on a quiet pond into a state prison? And what happens, after years of competition and constant failure, to finally be handed a victory?

All of the voice talent is pitch perfect in this new animated adventure. Will Ferrell provides just the right amount of wit and wickedness for the large bald blue-headed menace. Brad Pitt, although maybe just a little mature for a superhero in real life, gives Metro Man just what's needed in a city's flying invulnerable protector. Tina Fey continues her film career as Metro Man's constant damsel in distress as Metro City's reporter Roxanne Ritchi, almost unrecognizable in her voice work as her usual snark was tempered just a bit. David Cross plays Megamind's fish out of water side-kick, Minion to great effect, especially as Megamind builds him more and more elaborate cybersuits. And lastly, Jonah Hill plays Roxanne's cameraman with aspirations for greatness and Roxanne's heart.

The movie is funny, adventurous, touching, and visually pleasing. The comic geek in me enjoyed the cityscape battles between good and evil. Meanwhile, the inner child enjoyed Megamind's drones biting him on the arm as he was desperately trying to exude menace with Roxanne as his captive. And the rest of me enjoyed both the witting one-liners and the deeper story of an extraordinary alien with moral dilemmas and the search for purpose and, in fact, love.

"Megamind" is a little "The Incredibles" and a little "Despicable Me". It is not a better amalgam of those films, but it does try its best to deliver. This is an animated film that has a good story both kids and parents can enjoy, plenty of heart, and cuteness to boot. At the end of the day, that is all you can really expect.

Worth: Matinee and DVD

I am also trying out a new rating system shown below based on reader reaction to my somewhat complex monetary rating scale. I will give both ratings and see what kind of reaction I muster. A movie can receive up to 5 popcorn buckets. Why popcorn buckets? Because I am a slave to the thousand + calorie delight! Enjoy!