A husband and wife team of computer scientists work to advance artificial intelligence as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.
Two hours of digital effects plus some possibly thought-provoking discussions are more or less the content of this not especially important sci-fi film.
As for actors you might recognize Johnny Deep, Paul Bettany (the priest in “Priest”), Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow in “The Dark Knight Rises”), Kate Mara (Zoe Barnes in “House of Cards”), and Morgen Freeman.
In case the plot is not abundantly clear you can always read the Wikipedia summary.
Middle-aged Fioravante and Murray are an unlikely gigolo and pimp in this farce about two cash-strapped friends who turn to the sex trade to make ends meet. Their new enterprise is fruitful, but things get complicated when romance enters the picture.
Accepting Woody Allen as a pimp is easy. But would you ever think of John Turturro as a professional male whore with Woody Allen as his pimp? Despite appearances, Turturro as “Fioravante” is convincing not so much because of his sexual prowess but because he understands the emotional needs of his women clients. Actually touching is the way he brings the repressed and lonely Hassidic widow Avigal back to life while falling in love with her. Live Schreiber is perfect as the Hassidic cop who also loves Avigal.
Sharon Stone tries desperately to redo her sexy legs movements from “Basic Instinct”.
While not an especially worthwhile film, it was good enough to watch on a plane ride to Ireland.
After a terminally ill secret agent retires to spend his remaining time with his family, he’s asked to complete a dangerous last mission in exchange for an experimental drug that might save him — if he can survive its hallucinatory side effects.
At his current age of 59, Kevin Costner in this film does indeed look like a tired and sick aging man. But here he is as much Kevin Costner, neither better nor worse, than in any of his other films. It is amazing how he never misses a shot with his many weapons.
So what makes this story different from any other “secret agent lethal assignment” story?
He is dying of a brain cancer.
He has ignored his wife, from whom he is separated, and daughter throughout his career. Now is his chance to reconcile.
Not too terrific actress Amber Heard, playing supposedly sexy Vivi Delay, trades one last killing assignment for a series of experimental shots that may cure Harrison.
One side effect of the drug is that whenever Harrison’s heart beats too fast (think “Shootout at the OK Coral”) he gets dizzy and nearly faints. This effect is annoying when he is confronting each of the really mean bad guys.
When 50-year-old Chris is released from prison, his younger brother Frank, an up-and-coming member of the police force, welcomes him with open arms. But when Chris has trouble staying straight, Frank is trapped between duty and family.
We should probably coin a name for those films featuring two brothers, one of whom is a crook and the other a cop. How about “Good Brother, Bad Brother”? There are an awful lot of such GBBB films. What makes this GBBB film a bit better is the fact that Bad Brother is Clive Owen and Good Brother is Billy Crudup. In this case we might change “Good Brother” to “Conflicted Brother” although that is often the case in GBBB films.
Remember Marion Cotillard who played Edit Piaf in that wonderful 2007 film “La Vie en Rose“? Here she plays a drug-addicted woman sadly misused by Bad Brother.
James Caan is the aged and dying father of the two brothers.
A pianist returning to the stage five years after a public meltdown learns that a sniper will shoot him and his wife if he plays just one wrong note. But the gunman’s twisted motives go far deeper than anyone suspects.
Although the idea behind the story is novel (some say ridiculous), the film itself was nothing special. Critics panned the film.
After the film was over I still did not know the motives of the killer. Even Wikipedia offered no clues.
When their father disappears, three strong-willed women return to their childhood home and to their equally strong-willed mother. As they search for their patriarch, the dysfunctional family members wind up facing difficult truths about themselves.
What an impressive collection of actors for the family ensemble from Hell! Watching this soap opera may seem familiar because there are so many “family get-together” films just like it. For some reason this new addition to the “Dysfunctional Family Hall of Fame” was for me enjoyable. But then let’s take a look at the roster.
Meryl Streep (Violet Weston) – drug-addicted widow of recently self-destructed husband, world-class alcoholic Sam Shepard (Beverly Weston)
Julia Roberts (Barbara Weston) Violet’s daughter – married to but separated from Ewan McGregor (Bill Forham). Their daughter is the renowned vegetarian Abigail Breslin (Jean Fordham)
Margo Martindale (Mattie Fae Aiken) Violet’s sister – married to Chris Cooper (Charlie Aiken). Their son is the stammering neurotic Benedict Cumberbatch (Little Charles Aiken)
Julianne Nicholson (Ivy Weston) is Violet’s unmarried daughter who is the girl friend of Little Charles Aiken.
Juliette Lewis (Karen Weston) is the scatter-brain daughter about to marry her latest boyfriend, thrice-married Dermot Mulroney (Steve Huberbrecht).
Once you get all those relations straight the rest is easy. If you are really confused try the Wikipedia summary.
Just be prepared for some ugly surprises. Nothing special.
Martin and Claudia, top-flight lawyers who happen to be former lovers, become targets when they’re teamed up to defend a notorious terrorist. As the trial unfolds, the danger causes the pair to reevaluate their allegiance to justice.
If the plot confuses you in any way, you can read the Wikipedia summary. Nothing special distinguishes this story from other cloak and dagger films. MI5 is painted as a ruthless organization not above murdering their agents in order to cover up MI5 mistakes. But then clandestine government organizations are never suspect, are they? (Parlez-vous CIA?)
Eric Bana as Martin Rose and Rebecca Hall as Claudia Simmons-Howe play well as a team. Other notable appearances are from Ciarán Hinds as Devlin and Jim Broadbent as Attorney General.
High above a war-torn future Earth, Cmdr. Jack Harper is maintaining the planet’s defensive drones when a crippled starship enters his territory. Its sole occupant, a mysterious woman, leads Harper to shocking truths about humankind’s legacy.
Good digital graphics, plausible plot and the usual really bad guy (a machine named TET) versus some nice survivors make this nothing-special sci-fi film bearable. Fortunately Tom Cruise does not try to act, pulling instead that old trick of keeping a perfectly straight face and letting you supply appropriate emotions on his behalf.
If the ending confuses you, you might try believing the plot description in Wikepedia.
If you have nothing better to do, then the adventure may not be a total loss.
After staging an unsuccessful suicide to get her boyfriend’s attention, a struggling playwright moves back home to live with her mother, her mother’s boyfriend and a handsome lodger who sings with a Backstreet Boys cover band.
Exaggerated family disfunction is the basis for this comedy, and indeed there are some good laughs. Annette Bening (as crazy mother Zelda) and Matt Dillon (as crazy boyfriend “The Bousche” of the crazy mother Zelda) are probably the best known actors. Kristen Wiig (as mixed-up daughter Imogene) will play young Lucille Bluth in the 2013 addition to “Arrested Development”. Darren Criss (as the roomer in crazy mother’s house) and Christopher Fitzgerald (as mixed-up bother Ralph of mixed-up daughter Imogene) are two newish faces that do well in the film.
Just sit back and take in the antics of these improbable personalities in this light-hearted disposable comedy.
After losing a lot of money to online poker, a Princeton student confronts the site’s shady CEO, Ivan Block — and soon becomes Block’s protégé. But when an FBI agent tries to take Block down, the relationship between mentor and protégé goes south.
Here is your opportunity to see Ben Affleck as the bad guy and Justin Timberlake as the “good guy”. Anthony Mackie is an FBI agent who is another “good guy”. Take that phrase “good guy” with a grain of salt. Makie is just plain ruthless and not beyond murdering in the course of obtaining “justice”. Note how cynical films have become? Timberlake starts out as an intelligent but somewhat naïve Princeton student gambler. Rather than ruthless, he is just plain cunning. Affleck eventually reveals his sociopathic personality.
You more or less have seen this plot in other film incarnations and it is nothing special. But, and correct me if I am wrong, I do not remember Affleck as a villain in any previous film.
