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'Argo' not entirely true, but still a thrilling film |
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
Special to The Wilson Post
Sometimes stories in films are just too crazy to believe, but in the case of the based-on-a-true-story film, “Argo,” the reality is more entertaining than most of what Hollywood cooks up these days, and it finally tells a miraculous story that saved the lives of six Americans.
Directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars as Tony Mendez, “Argo” tells of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, where the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was stormed and 52 Americans taken hostage. But there were six who escaped the embassy to the Canadian Ambassador’s home.
Mendez devises a plan to get the six embassy personnel home, by disguising as a Canadian film producer and the six Americans as his crew on a location scout in Tehran. It was, as Bryan Cranston’s Jack O’Donnell put it, “The best bad idea we have.”
“Argo” finds a balance between tension, humor and the heavily emotional events to create a narrative that is deadly serious, but breaks tension in key moments with witty humor. However, not all of its best moments actually happened.
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'Taken 2' a disappointing rehash of the first |
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Friday, October 12, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
Special to the Wilson Post
With lines and situations pulled almost verbatim from its predecessor, the sequel to the surprising hit “Taken” (2008), aptly titled “Taken 2” is disappointing, too familiar and an indicator of the current recipe in Hollywood: if it makes money the first time, just make a sequel.
“Taken 2” picks up not long after retired CIA Agent Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) rescued his kidnapped daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) from Albanian human traffickers in the film’s predecessor. The first leap of faith is to believe Mills is still free to obsessively wash his car after the events in “Taken” that had him kill dozens of bad guys and cause mayhem all over Paris.
But, when Mills takes a job protecting a diplomat in Istanbul, Turkey, his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Jannsen) and Kim pay him a surprise visit for a vacation. Of course, the relatives of the guys Mills dispatched in the first installment come back for revenge, particularly, the father of one bad guy, who is actually never named in the film. |
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‘Looper’ is smart, gritty and awesome |
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Wednesday, October 3, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
In 2044, an unnamed city in Kansas is ruled by the mob, filled with poor people in tent cities and zipping through this wasteland in fancy sports cars are brash, young assassins called “Loopers,” who work for the mob killing people sent to them from the future in the year 2074.
The film "Looper" focuses on the assassin Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who is billed as one of, if not the best at his job. In Joe’s world of 2044, time travel doesn’t exist, but 30 years in the future it does, so mobsters pay Joe and his fellow Loopers to kill those who cross them and the Loopers live a seemingly wealthy life.
That is until someone starts “closing the loops” by sending the assassins their older-selves to kill, meaning Loopers have a 30-year shelf life. When the mob sends Joe’s older self (played by Bruce Willis) for execution, older Joe is ready and waiting. He outsmarts the younger Joe and goes on the run. |
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Hoffman, Phoenix put on a mesmerizing show in ‘Master’ |
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
Like its two main characters, “The Master” is enigmatic and engaging, but its message is lost in the wake of two outstanding acting performances and provides more questions than answers.
Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, “Master” is the story of World War II Naval veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), an alcoholic drifter wandering the country following his discharge from the service, and intellectual cult leader Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), as they collide and their relationship fumbles through alongside the growth of Dodd’s cult movement “The Cause.”
First and foremost, Phoenix is phenomenal in his major acting return since his “meltdown” of a few years ago. Quell is an enigmatic disaster, destroying every situation he enters from a job as a department store photographer to a social outing with cult followers. His alcoholism shows no signs of soothing any pain but merely adds to his violent nature.
Hoffman delivers an extraordinary performance as Dodd, a.k.a. Master, who is jovial and charismatic, although when his cult is questioned, his anger always finds a way to briefly erupt. When he meets Quell, he sees him as the subject through which he can prove his theories.
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‘Avengers’ best movie of 2012 so far |
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Wednesday, September 5, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
Labor Day weekend is considered the end of the summer season for the film, and here is a look back and handing out some awards for this year’s movies that have come out so far, based on wholly subjective criteria.
Unfortunately, I’m going to start with this year’s Worst Movie, which would be “Battleship” hands down, although “Dark Shadows” and “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter” sure gave the board-game-based film a run for its money.
Directed by Peter Berg, “Battleship” is the story of some international sailors left to defend against an alien invasion. It is loud and there are explosions galore, but they aren’t exciting at all, which is a shame. For a film that tried to follow in the footsteps of “Transformers” it did succeed in being pretty awful, like most of those films.
Star Taylor Kitsch is uninteresting as are all the characters, save for Col. Gregory D. Gadson, a double amputee U.S. Army veteran who played double-amputee Lt. Col. Mick Canales. Out of all of this year’s movies coming out on DVD soon or already out, I’d avoid “Battleship” at all costs.
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