Open Letters Monthly: Riddick

I always like a well-examined science fiction tale. Take the story of Richard B. Riddick, for example. He (played by actor Vin Diesel) was the star of the unexpected hit Pitch Black over a dozen years ago, gathering quite the cult following. Four years later he got a big budget sequel - The Chronicles of Riddick - that sadly wasn't as good or as popular as it could have been. Almost ten years later, and the popular anti-hero is back to small-scale productions with Riddick, a return to the formula that made Pitch Black so beloved.

Betrayed by his army and left for dead on a dangerous planet, Riddick has no choice but to rediscover his animal instinct. After doing so, there's just the matter of getting off that rock and getting home. But two groups of bounty hunters, seeking him for two separate reasons, stand between him and freedom. As the three groups begin fighting one another, it's quickly determined that the former convict and murderer is not the most dangerous thing they have to fear, and all parties must work together if they are to have any chance to survive.

Riddick is directed by David Twohy and stars Vin Diesel, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, and Karl Urban.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Wolverine

Now that Marvel Studios have changed the way people see comic book movies, it's time the other major studios got on board. It's currently 20'th Century Fox's turn with The Wolverine, the second spin-off (and sequel to the much-hated X-Men: The Last Stand) of the popular mutant superhero team that first leaped onto screens way back in 2000.

Riddled with guilt over his actions in The Last Stand, the man formerly known as Wolverine is living the hermit's life in Canada when he is discovered by a Japanese agent named Yuki,sent to give him a message. A man the near-immortal Logan saved in World War II wants to say goodbye, but when Wolverine goes to Japan to give his farewell, he is made an offer from the dying clan leader. For saving his life that day at Nagasaki, Logan is given the deal of a lifetime: allow his mutant healing factor to be transferred to someone else, so that he can live a finite existence and eventually be given peace from the demons that haunt him. But some demons wear human skin, and the world just might need Wolverine alive and kicking, even if he doesn't always feel the same.

The Wolverine is directed by James Mangold and stars Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Svetlana Khodchenkova and Famke Janssen.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: RED 2

The first RED, released in 2010, was both a surprise hit and a critical darling. Turning the action genre on its ear by taking the likes of John Malkovich and Helen Mirren, giving them guns, and allowing them to go wild. Now they're hoping that lightning strikes twice with RED 2, the flick that brings back everybody's favorite retired secret agents for a globe-trotting adventure full of twists and turns.

When retired CIA agents Frank Moses and Marvin Boggs are publicly outed as having taken part in a top-secret mission codenamed "Nightshade," both are surprised, mainly because they've never even heard of the operation. Now they've got dangerous people from around the world hunting both them and an experimental nuclear explosive that was smuggled into Russia at the height of the Cold War, piece by piece. On the run from just about every government agency on the planet and with perilously few friends, it'll take everything they've got left in the tank to stop a madman from detonating that device.

RED 2 is directed by Dean Parisot and stars Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung-Hun Lee, Anthony Hopkins, Neal McDonough and Helen Mirren.

CLICK here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Internship

With The Wedding Crashers still popular after almost eight years, filmmakers decided that the Vaughn/Wilson paradigm wasn't done cranking out big money for the industry. Well, turns out they were wrong, but while Google commercial The Internship is no box office juggernaut, it's still a somewhat enjoyable comedy that makes good use not just of it's main two stars, but the bevy of supporting actors helping out.

When watch salesmen Billy and Nick lose their jobs due to the world's increasing internet literacy, it seems their hopes and dreams go with them. But they find themselves with a second chance when the pair succeed at joining an internship program at Google. Now they find themselves in an extremely competetive environment against a hundred or so college hopefuls with only a handful of guaranteed jobs available when all is said and done. Teamed up with a likely band of misfits, and possessing no computer skills whatsoever, Billy and Nick will have to work harder than they ever have before so that they can succeed in grabbing their dreams.

The Internship is directed by Shawn Levy and stars Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Max Minghella, John Goodman, Jessica Szohr, Dylan O'Brien, Josh Brener, Tobit Raphael, Tiya Sircar, Aasif Mandvi, and Josh Gad.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Mothly: Now You See Me

All-star casts can be hit or miss. For every The Departed, The Expendables or Oceans 11, there is Mars Attacks or this year's absolutely horrid "comedy" Movie 43. To balance so many A-list personalities at once is a magic act in and of itself, and that is the perfect segue into Now You See Me, which has two former Oscar winners and three former nominees among its actors. It's magic act is nothing short of impossible, and that's what makes it so intriguing a premise for the big screen.

One year after four street magicians were plucked off the street by a mysterious benefactor, "The Four Horsemen" are headlining Las Vegas when they pull off the impossible: transporting a man across space and time to help them rob a bank in Paris. When the FBI gets involved and can find no way to see how they pulled it off other than "magic", the Horsemen are free to go. Now it's a race against time as the law tries to figure out how these seemingly harmless magicians are creating the impossible, and its a race against the clock to stop them from completing their final performance.

Now You See Me is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Melanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Croods

This year is a wide-open field for animated movies. There's no major Pixar release, there are more animation companies than ever putting out new material, and we just came off of a year in which every major studio put out some excellent material. DreamWorks is off to a great start with The Croods, a caveman comedy featuring an all-star cadre of voices and an some excellent storytelling from How to Train Your Dragon's Chris Sanders.

At the end of the beginning of time, the last neanderthal family, the Croods, live day by day due to the strict rule of their father Grug: "Never not be afraid." They live with the understanding that new is bad and dangerous, spending days at a time in a cave built to protect them from the outside world. But when the planet begins to change around them and forces them to follow the nomad Guy to a place called Tomorrow, the Croods learn that change is not a bad thing, and that they will have to adjust their way of life if they want to become part of the next phase of human existence.

The Croods is co-directed and written by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco and stars Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Clark Duke and Cloris Leachman.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Oz the Great and Powerful

Just in case you thought that there were still some sacred things out there, Disney popped out a prequel to the 1939 classic (and perennial top 100 movie) The Wizard of Oz this past weekend. While Oz the Great and Powerful is questionable to overtake the popularity of the film and book series that inspired it, I have to admit a certain fascination with the world and wonders of Oz, and even if you're a movie purist you have to admit some of your own. The real question is whether it makes James Franco worth watching.

Carnival magician Oscar Diggs wants to achieve greatness, to be one of the greatest men of all time. Unfortunately, he's a two-bit philanderer and actor, with his true self nowhere near the surface. When a twister violently whisks him to the world of Oz, he is immediately assumed to be a wizard of great power, tasked with ridding the land of the mysterious and evil Wicked Witch. But while he at first is only interested in riches, he quickly learns the benefits of his abilities, and strives to be the great and powerful wizard the people of Oz imagine need him to be.

Oz the Great and Powerful is directed by Sam Raimi and stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff and Joey King.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Jack the Giant Slayer

Wow, I've been gone for a little bit, huh? This week was an abysmal one for writing, almost as bad as the weekend grosses for Jack the Giant Slayer, 21 and Over, The Last Exorcism Part II and Phantom. I'll return to regular posts next week, but while it's generally accepted that nothing good hits the movies this time of year, you would at least hope that an up-and-coming star and a generally reliable director would be enough to carry a potentially fun movie.

In an ancient age of kingdoms and legends, Jack is just a simple farm boy, tricked into trading his pony for a handful of beans. When one manages to send his house and a wandering princess into the clouds via a giant beanstalk, he joins a group of knights seeking to rescue the young woman from her fate. But they'll have more to contend with than heights, as charlatains, Giants and other dangers threaten to make sure that nobody - Jack included - will ever make their way back down to Earth.

Jack the Giant Slayer is directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, John Kassir, Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner and Ewan McGregor.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: A Good Day to Die Hard

For those of you that have clamored for it, the ultimate blue collar hero has returned. John McClane travels to Russia in A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth installment of the franchise that started twenty-five years ago and has seen our hero face a multitude of cartoonishly deadly villains.

This time it's about family as McClane visits Russia to try and help his son Jack, who has been arrested and faces life in prison. Little does he know that his estranged son is actually a CIA operative, tasked with rescuing a political prisoner and escaping with a file incriminating a high-ranking government official. Everything goes south when McClane arrives on the scene, and soon father and son must team up to prevent a major terrorist plot from coming to fruition.

A Good Day to Die Hard is directed by John Moore and stars Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch, Yuliya Snigir, Cole Hauser and Rasha Bukvic.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Hobbit

Behind the criticisms of 48 frames per second, spin-the-wheel options for director, and allegations of animal cruelty, one thing has not been forgotten: Peter Jackson has brought Middle Earth back to us! Todd and I have been eagerly awaiting this movie's release, and we have now witnessed - along with an IMAX exclusive first ten minutes of geek dream Star Trek Into Darkness - the first part of Jackson's newest trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

When Gandalf the Grey arrives unannounced on the stoop of mild-mannered halfling Bilbo Baggins, little did the Shire resident know it would be the beginning of a grand adventure. A small company of dwarves led by the warrior Thorin Oakenshield is determined to recapture their homeland from the covetous dragon Smaug, and they need Bilbo's assistance. Along the way they will face many dangers, including trolls, goblins, orcs, and even a strange, ring-wearing creature named Gollum...

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is directed by Peter Jackson and stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, and Andy Serkis.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Sessions

Right now the Best Actor category is getting a little crowded. Modern-day legends Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington and Anthony Hopkins are all but guaranteed three of the five slots for Best Actor when nominations are announced next month, and a slew of named actors that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Hugh Jackman, Bradley Cooper, Richard Gere and Bill Murray will be competing for the final two. One actor that might have an inside shot is John Hawkes, the recent indie sensation who also pulled in a Best Supporting nod two years ago for Winter's Bone.

In The Sessions, Hawkes plays real-life journalist and poet Mark O'Brien, who contracted polio at a young age and spent most of his adult life stuck in an iron lung. While researching for an article on sexuality and the disabled, Mark decides to see a sex therapist in order to lose his virginity. A romantic, he also hopes that God will help him discover a woman who will love him for the man he is, and not pity him for not being able to move anything below his neck.

The Sessions is directed by Ben Lewin and stars John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, Moon Bloodgood and William H. Macy.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Rise of the Guardians

Dreamworks finally makes their presence felt in the 2012 Oscar race for best Animated Feature with the release of Rise of the Guardians, the folk-tale inspired film based on the Guardians of Childhood series of books by William Joyce. Though Dreamworks has often lived in the shadow of Pixar as far as their animated features have gone, they are always capable of putting out something extraordinary, such as the original Shrek or How to Train Your Dragon. Likely to be nominated, and with Pixar putting out a great-but-not-Pixar-level product in Brave, and Dreamworks might actually have a shot at the big prize this season.

Jack Frost doesn't know why he suddenly came into existence almost 300 years ago. All he knows is that he controls the cold weather, isn't seen by anybody, and wants to live without rules and restrictions that would compromise the fun he has every day. But when the Boogeyman returns from centuries of isolation in an attempt to rule the world with fear, Jack finds himself summoned to join the Guardians of Childhood, led by the legendary Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Sandman. Together, they have a chance to fight back, and Jack may just discover the person he was meant to be.

Rise of the Guardians is directed by Peter Ramsey and features the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher and Hugh Jackman.

Click here for the complete review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Cloud Atlas

It's the film that launched a thousand differing opinions. If there's one thing people can agree on when it comes to Cloud Atlas, it's that it is something different to everyone who watches it. Based on the similarly-polarizing novel by David Mitchell, the movie uses actors in multiple roles thanks to unhealthy amounts of makeup and prosthetics, telling an expansive story throughout time.

In six different eras of human history (and future), mankind is striving to redefine itself. Cloud Atlas takes us from a sailing vessel in the 1850's to a post apocalyptic future where there are staggeringly few of us left. In each time, we are introduced to amazing people - from a young composer to an investigative reporter to a cloned slave - destined to amazing events, connected in unique ways through the timeline. Do they have the strength to overcome their obstacles? Will they be able to influence the coming era?

Cloud Atlas is directed by Tom Tykwer and Lana and Andy Wachowski, and stars and ensemble cast of Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Sturgess, Bae Doona, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, Zhou Xun and David Gyasi.

Click here to read the complete review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Alex Cross

Let's go down the checklist, shall we? Film adapted from a popular book series? Check. Popular second-tier actor in the lead role? Check. Excessively-talented man parading as the villain? Check. Murder, revenge, violence; check, check, and check. Story and budget? Hmmm, maybe Alex Cross will be okay without.

Dr. Alex Cross and his team of Detroit Police Department detectives are among the best the city has to protect its innocents from the madness of the world. When they are tasked with solving a violent multiple murder in an upscale neighborhood, Cross quickly uncovers a conspiracy to kill the high-ranking members of an international corporation with offices in Detroit. But when he interrupts an attack in progress, the assassin turns his attentions to Cross and his team. To protect his family and his friends, our hero will have to straddle the line between the law he is bound to uphold and doing whatever he must to catch a cold-hearted killer.

Alex Cross is directed by Rob Cohen and stars Tyler Perry, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns, Rachel Nichols, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo, Giancarlo Esposito, John C. McGinley and Jean Reno.

Click here to read the fill review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: Frankenweenie

When a once-great director's work becomes so reliably mediocre that people stop showing up to the theater, do you really expect them to come back when that same director actually creates something fun? Frankenweenie, the latest animated film from Tim Burton, ended up disappointing at the box office this past weekend, and one has to wonder how strong Burton's brand is outside of his collaborations with Johnny Depp. It doesn't help that Burton has released an uneven batch of films so far this century, from Planet of the Apes to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Alice in Wonderland to Dark Shadows. He hasn't made a truly great film since Big Fish, and even I'll admit that particular title didn't tug the same heartstrings of everyone out there.

But Frankenweenie, Burton's remake of a short film he shot for Disney, is certainly different, if perhaps only because it's a story he's told before. In it, Victor Frankenstein lives with his family in idyllic New Holland. Not the most outgoing young man, Victor's best friend is Sparky, his dog and constant companion. When Sparky is accidentally killed in a car accident, Victor is distraught, unable to let go of his favored buddyt. And so he hatches a plot to revive Sparky, using the methods taught to him my an enigmatic school teacher, and New Holland will never be the same again.

Frankenweenie features the voices of Charlie Tahan, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Atticus Shaffer and Robert Capron.

Click here for the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Open Letters Monthly: The Master

Have any interest in Paul Thomas Anderson? Or Scientology? Then you've probably been hearing about The Master, Anderson's newly-directed effort that came out a few weeks ago. It tells the story of mentally traumatized WWII sailor Freddie Quells, who attempts to discover his place in the world during peacetime. In his travels, he discovers a religious group calling themselves The Cause and their enigmatic leader Lancaster Dodd. At first Freddie thinks he has found his calling as Dodd's right-hand man. But Dodd's methods to help heal Freddie seem to have no effect, and more and more Freddie hears from others that Dodd is making the whole thing up as he goes. As Freddie becomes more and more frustrated with The Cause, they are growing weary of his violent, immature attitude, with only Lancaster Dodd arguing his importance to The Cause.

The Master is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers and Jesse Plemons.

Click here for the complete review at Open Letters Monthly.

Movie Monday: Dredd Life

How far can you possibly run from a Sylvester Stallone movie? Dredd has used excellent acting, a well-told story and major contributions from the character's creator in distancing itself from the horrible 1995 flick Judge Dredd. With screenwriter Alex Garland directly behind this reboot, we have a Dredd who doesn't enter romantic relations and never EVER removes his helmet. Thank you, Hollywood!

In the nuclear wasteland that is North America, one light of life is Mega-City One, stretching from Boston to Washington, populated by over 800 million people. With so much humanity crammed together, chaos and criminal activity run the streets, with innocents often trapped in their hellish nets. The city's response to the overwhelming violence? The Judges, granted the combined powers of judge, jury and - when necessary - executioner. Judge Dredd is one of the best, but even he knows that there's only so much the Judges can do in such a large city. While tasked with assessing the potential of psychic, rookie Judge Anderson, they find themselves on the bad side of drug kingpin Ma-Ma, who traps them in a slum complex and sends her men in to wipe them out. The only way out is up, and without backup Dredd and Anderson must scale 200 floors to shut down Ma-Ma's criminal enterprise if they want any chance at survival.

Dredd is written by Alex Garland and directed by Pete Travis and stars Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.

Click here to read the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

The Danger Zone

I'll make no bones about it; despite the critiques of its detractors, I have overall enjoyed the Resident Evil films from Paul W.S. Anderson. The first movie I thought was an underrated gem in its ability to weave the hostile environments of the Capcom survival horror game series with a new cast of characters and in a story Anderson exclusively penned for the big screen. And while Resident Evil sequels Apocalypse and Extinction slowly deteriorated the quality of the franchise, Afterlife rejuvenated my love of heroine Alice's tale by being infused with much character and class while raising standards with its amazing special effects. It was arguably the best genre film of 2010.

Resident Evil: Retribution takes place immediately following the cliffhanger ending to Afterlife, and features Alice being taken captive by the global supercorporation Umbrella. Escaping from their top-secret base is the first step, as Alice slowly begins to uncover Umbrella's master plan, joining up with new allies in preparation for the ultimate final battle with the company responsible for all but wiping out the population of the planet.

Resident Evil: Retribution is written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, and stars Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez, Johann Urb, Kevin Durand, Li Bingbing, Boris Kodjoe, Oded Fehr and Shawn Roberts.

Click here to read the full review at Open Letters Monthly.

Movie Monday: The Apparition

This week Todd wanted to see a scary movie, and so with three weak-looking wide releases hitting theaters, we decided to gamble on The Apparition, the season's first horror film. We've seen some interesting ghost stories in the past couple of years, from the excellent Insidious to well-done fare like The Woman in Black. Can this new title live up to it's scary brethren?

When an experiment designed to "create" a spirit from pure belief goes awry, young couple Kelly and Ben discover strange things happening in their new home, from open doors that had been locked shut to moved furniture to a strange-looking mold in the walls and ceiling. Soon they discover that this is the effect of the ghost that Ben helped summon to their world, a malevolent spirit with murder on its agenda. The couple pair up with Ben's former classmate Patrick to try and eradicate the spirit, but it already may be too late to send the creature back to where it came from.

The Apparition was written and directed by Todd Lincoln and stars Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan and Tom Felton.

Click here for the whole review at Open Letters Monthly.

Movie Monday: ParaNorman

Looking for the best animated film of the year? Look no further than ParNorman, the latest stop-motion picture by Laika, the company behind Coraline. In fact, this is the #4 movie for 2012, and for good reason.

In the small Massachusetts town of Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock is a withdrawn, shy boy who just happens to be able to talk to the spirits of the dead. It has caused friction with his parents, his sister, and the kids at school, many of whom bully him over his "weirdness". But one person does not think Norman is strange. He gives Norman the task of protecting the town from a witch's curse, one that threatens to raise the dead unless countered by Norman's ability. For the first time in his life, he will have the chance to prove his detractors wrong and become the hero he's destined to be.

ParaNorman is directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler, and features the voices of Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, and John Goodman.

Click here for the complete review on Open Letters Monthly.