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‘Dark Shadows’ underwhelming |
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
After eight films together, director Tim Burton and star Johnny Depp seem to have perfected how to mesh their talents, but it’s too bad their latest venture, “Dark Shadows” is pretty underwhelming and features quite a few one-note characters.
“Shadows” is the story of Barnabas Collins, a wealthy man in Maine in the late 1700s (Maine became a state in 1820), whose family built the town of Collinsport from the ground up, literally.
After spurning a young woman Angelique, (Eva Green) who turned out to be a witch, Barnabas’s true love Josette (Bella Heathcote) is bewitched to walk off a cliff and Barnabas is cursed to live as a vampire, buried for centuries.
He awakes in 1972 Collinsport to find the remnants of his family a shut-in ruin and his old home in disarray. Barnabas must learn to cope with the 20th century and defeat the witch Angelique to return his family to their former glory.
But at the same time when the film switches to 1972 we’re led to believe the primary plot would involve young Victoria Winters, played by Heathcote, coming to the family home to be the governess of 12-year-old David (Gulliver McGrath) because he apparently is suffering from mental issues. |
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‘Avengers’ assemble perfectly |
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
I had to see “Marvel’s The Avengers” twice over the weekend, once to fully absorb all of its splendor and a second time trying to figure out how to objectively review what is the greatest comic book movie ever and also, the most fun I’ve had in a movie theater in years.
I’m a huge comic book nerd, so I’m not even going to pretend that I won’t slip into a bias on why “Avengers” was so good, but I’ll do my best here.
Of course, if you haven’t heard, the film puts our heroes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) against Thor’s conniving brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).
Loki is out to obtain the “Tesseract” or “Cosmic Cube,” a source of unlimited power, and hopes to lead an army of aliens called the “Chitauri” to conquer Earth. The heroes must assemble to stop his machinations and learn to work together in the process.
The strength of “Avengers” was on the shoulders of its writer and director Joss Whedon, to manage the actors and top tier characters in such a way that is convincing and true to the great history they have.
Whedon succeeds with flying colors in dealing with the major characters Iron Man/Tony Stark, Thor, Captain America/Steve Rodgers and most splendidly Hulk/Bruce Banner.
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Upcoming “Avengers” film caps a comic-book movie decade |
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
One month from today, this summer’s potentially biggest blockbuster is opening in local theaters, and “The Avengers” will signal the comic book movie industry’s greatest achievement, after over a decade of billions earned.
While the film certainly doesn’t need more hype, “The Avengers” is the story of a group of clashing personalities and grandiose heroes coming together to fight a common enemy. It’s a huge gamble for Marvel Worldwide Inc. (Marvel Comics) and Disney (who now owns the comics giant).
The film is the culmination of about four years worth of planning by Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who has produced all of that studio’s films thus far, and many others.
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‘Hunger Games’ sports strong female lead, hints at social commentary |
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012 |
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PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
“The Hunger Games” raked in tons of cash at the box office this past weekend, and while complaints about the teen violence seem to be racking up, too, the film presents a strong female heroine, robust characters hints at some major social commentary.
The film, which is based on the first in a trilogy of young-adult novels by Suzanne Collins and directed by Gary Ross, tells the story of a dystopian futuristic North America, now known as Panem. Collins, Ross and Billy Ray wrote the script for the movie. The nation is divided into a wealthy, decadent “Capitol” city and 12 dirt-poor districts that toil for resources that the people living in the Capitol need.
What payment do the district inhabitants receive for giving the Capitol all the necessities they need? They have to offer one male and one female, age 12 to 18, each year to the “Hunger Games,” so that they can fight to the death in the mass-media public spectacle to “honor” their district.
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'Jump Street' earns R-rating, still hilarious |
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012 |
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By PATRICK HALL
The Wilson Post
As the final credits rolled for “21 Jump Street,” I was asking my wife how I would appropriately review a film that was less like the original television show and more of a recent comedy filled with sexual jokes, gratuitous violence and language, but the film did entertain.
I will go ahead and point out this movie definitely earned its R rating.
“Jump Street” is loosely based on the late 80s, early 90s television show featuring young-looking police officers sent into local high schools undercover to crack cases among teens and often dispensing a moral lesson or public service announcement afterward.
The film certainly abandons the public service announcement angle opting instead for a recent formula that has brought success to comedies about high school or college-aged characters.
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