For Your Eyes Only

With For Your Eyes Only James Bond returns to earthly grounds - no outerspace or underwater adventures.

But first and before the credits we have to say some goodbyes. First, Bond visits the grave of his late wife and then disposes of his old foe Blofeld (for copyright reasons).

What follows is some old-school secret agent adventures. Almost immediately we start into a fist fight followed by a car chase (perusing the rather slow but cultish 2CV), but not 007 is behind the wheel but the latest Bond girl Melina, dead set on avenging her parents' deaths. So while looking for the culprits, Bond also has to keep Melina safe and keep her from killing people.

And where does a secret agent go the chase bad guys when beaches and exotic lands are not an option. Why, of course, the alps. There he meets Bibi, an infantile ice skating protegé, who offers herself up to him but gets turned down. By the notorious womanizer James Bond. Together Bibi and Bond go and watch the biathlon, primarily the east German champion Erich Kriegler, who of course is in cahoots with the bad guys...and he is armed and on skis. Cue ski chase (not a new theme in the series).

Also after Bond - a young Charles Dance as Claus. While he is after Bond they both jump of a ski jumping ramp. Obviously. Then Bond is off on his skis again, chased on skis and motor bikes. Later he gets attacked in the ice rink by guys in hockey gear. Lucky for him, his pursuit of the bad guys then leads him to warmer areas, namely Corfu (and later Albania).

Oh, the point of all this is to retrieve the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) before it falls into the hands of the Soviets, as the transmitter can order attacks by the Royal Navy's fleet of Polaris submarines' missiles. In the end, Bond makes sure nobody gets his/her hands on it by simply destroying it.

It ends with Bond in Melina's arms. Of course.

5/10

The Last Waltz

Listen up, kids!

This is what a concert should be.

No over-hyped auto-tuned 'singer'.
No crazy stage shows with colorful lights and vidiwalls.
No dance brigades and a gazillion costume changes.
Forget the Rhiannas and Beyoncés and Biebers and even the Madonnas.

Here is Martin Scorsese's version of The Band's last series of live concerts. Spiced up with interviews about their history and stories from various tours. It was a one-of-a-kind event thanks to the incredible list of guest performers that reads like a who is who of 1960's and 1970's music - The Staple Singers, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, even Bob Dylan and many more.

Not only is this the greatest concert film ever (not only in my opinion) but I will go as far as stating that this is Martin Scorsese's best film to date. There, I said it.

If there is one thing I envy my parents' generation it is the music. They really had something special in the time before pop took over and style became more important than the craft itself.

This is music.

10/10

The Take

Felix (John Leguizamo) gets kidnapped while driving his money truck and is forced to make the rest of his pick ups for the night before he gets shot in the head and left to die. Only, he doesn't die. Also, this is just the beginning of the film.

What it is actually about is the aftermath. How Felix deals with his dire situation, not knowing who to trust and only remembering bits of what happened. His family have to suffer through is mood swings and paranoia.

He feels like the police are not on his side and makes a few bad decision that incriminate him. The only cop appearing to be on his side is Agent Perelli (Bobby Cannavale), who tries to help as best he can while Felix undermines the law officials' work. He decides to take matters into his own hands and hunts down the guy who shot him in the head.

The shaky camera makes this slightly irritating to watch. Great performances by Leguizamo, Cannavale and Rosie Perez (as Felix's wife).

6/10

Men in Black 3

Will Smith saves the world. Like he does.

Boris the Animal escapes from a maximum security prison on the moon where he spent the last 40 years courtesy of young Agent K. After he escapes he gets a time travel device to go back to 1969 to do away with K before he shoots off one of his arms and locks him up.

After he kills K in the past, Agent J feels uncomfortable and appears to be the only one in the agency to know K ever existed - apart from Agent O who knew him back in the day and realizes what has happened. J goes off to the past to restore order and save K's life.

This is the story.

Unfortunately, there is not much of Tommy Lee Jones in this one, you know, having been eradicated and all. His younger self is played by Josh Brolin (not a bad choice). The big bad guy is played by a barely recognizable Jemaine Clement and the modern day Agent O is Emma Thompson.

Not a bad cast and a somewhat entertaining film, although the MiB films do lose some of of their initial shine and humor.

6/10

I Give It a Year

Nat (Rose Byrne) and Josh (Rafe Spall) get married after a 7-month romance and a short time later realize that they are not really made for each other. Determined to make it through their first year (at least), they work on their marriage with the help of what is possible the most ill-equipped marriage counselor ever.

Anyway, Josh is really still into his former girlfriend Chloe (an unfortunate looking Anna Farris) and Nat falls for Guy (Simon Baker), who she flirts with, mostly to get his account for her company. (If you know Simon Baker's Patrick Jane, he appears weirdly under dressed in just regular suits...I'm used to seeing him in three-piece ones.)

It doesn't help that Nat and Josh are surrounded by less-than-helpful friends and family, like Nat's sister Naomi (Minnie Driver), who is predicting that they will never last and is constantly annoyed by her own husband, or Josh's best friend Danny (Stephen Merchant), who is one of those people that says the most improper thing at the worst possible moment.

Through all this amusingly weird things are happening in the background and slightly out of frame.

Love, Actually... this is not, but still amusing.

5/10

Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

Of the many film versions of the Tarzan story, this is probably the one honoring the original tale thought up by Edgar Rise Burroughs, whose Tarzan was a much more intelligent creature than often portrayed.

The first part of the film is almost entirely without (human) dialogue and depicts young Jean/John/Tarzan as an infant growing up around and with apes, always protected by his caring mother. The film goes through four ages played by boys before settling on young Christopher Lambert. He loses his 'mother' to a party of explorers and in a tumult that follows (explorers, natives, apes) Philippe D'Arnot (Ian Holm) gets injured and left behind. John nurses him back to health and D'Arnot in return teaches him in language and the ways of the world.

They eventually return to John's grandfather's estate in England, who is overjoyed to welcome back a part of his family, having lost his son (John's father) after his ship wrecked, leaving him and his young wife stranded in the jungle, where both eventually died, leaving their infant son to be raised by chimpanzees.

At the estate he meets Jane, a relative staying with his grandfather. He appears to be settling in rather well but falls apart again after his grandfather also dies. When he, now Lord Greystoke, finds his ape 'father' caged in town, he breaks him out, but the ape gets shot during the escape. Losing yet another member of his family, John returns to what he believes to be his real home, becoming Lord of the jungle.

An ok version of the classic material.

5/10

Me and You and Everyone We Know

This is indie darling Miranda July's first feature length film as a director.

It starts with shoe salesman Richard (John Hawkes) getting thrown out by his wife and him setting his own hand on fire to entertain his sons. WTF? Right?

He meets and starts up a relationship with video artist and freelance taxi driver Christine (July), while she takes a client shoe shopping. Their relationship is in no way straight forward and often interrupted. They will, eventually, work it out.

Meanwhile, Richard's sons Peter and Robby spend (waste?) their time in an online chat room, possibly mistankenly using the emoticon ))< >((. This, apparently, translates to "pooping back and forth, forever". (But you probably knew that, anyway.) The emoticon prompts a woman to suggest a real-life meeting.

The woman on the chat room turns out to be the curator of an art exhibiton that accepts one of Christine's little videos.

Also, there are two teenage girls giving head to Richard's colleague because they want to know which one of the two is better at it. The guy decides they are equally good.

Strangely enough, all this weirdness is entertaining.

from Roger Ebert's review:
As Richard slowly emerges from sadness and understands that Christine values him, and he must value her, for reasons only the two of them will ever understand, the movie holds its breath, waiting to see if their delicate connection will hold.

7/10

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

This film is perfect.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features two of the greatest movie stars ever. What's more, both are at their most beautiful in it.

Elizabeth Taylor is Maggie, the 'Cat', married to Brick, who - when drunk one night - decided to relive his glory jock days by jumping hurdles in the dark. Not as agile as he once was, he falls and ends up on crutches. And this right when they are to celebrate Big Daddy's birthday with the family.

The relationship between Maggie and a ceaselessly drinking Brick is strained to the maximum, gleefully noticed by Brick's sister-in-law, Mae, who believes that her husband Gooper is more worthy of Big Daddy's love, always having stayed in line and produced grandchild after grandchild after grandchild.

But the difficult dynamics among the brothers and their wives are not all that is plagueing the family on this suposedly joyous occasion. Big Daddy has terminal cancer, a fact the doctor chooses to hide from him and Big Mama but shares with the sons.

Big Daddy, annoyed with all the attention and the bickering, retreats to the basement where he talks and fights with Brick and evantually learns that he is, in fact, dying and Gooper and Mae are already in the process of securing Gooper's place in the family succession.

Wonderfully acted by all. They don't make films like that anymore.

Love it!

Bonus pic of one of the most handsome actors ever!

10/10

Butter

US State Fairs are wondrous and exciting things. Of course, one wants to be the one to represent one's county at the State Fair in the butter carving contest. I understand this.

I have been to the Iowa State Fair in the year 1990 (yes, a long time ago) and I generally like films set in places I have been - here, besides the Fair itself we also have a car dealership in Iowa Falls. I lived a 20 minute drive from Iowa Falls! OMG!

...

(C'mon, now! Calm down!)

...

Right, Butter.

In the Midwest, people value family and the little joys in life - like winning the regional butter carving contest. Professional wife Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) is not at all happy with the committee's decision that her husband Bob (Ty Burrell), the carving champion for 15 years running, will be kept out of the competition and is supposed to be 'promoted' to judge status.

Laura is not one to take this lying down and takes matters or, rather, butter into her own hands and plans to keep the crown in the family, when out of nowhere this little foster child Destiny, who appears to be a natural in sculpting butter, comes to compete with her. Destiny is backed by her new foster parents (Rob Dorddry and Alicia Silverstone) and Bob's discarded lover/pole dancer Brooke (Olivia Wilde). Not even lies and manipulation, all courtesy of Laura's car dealer/lap dog (Hugh Jackman), can keep young Destiny from beating Laura.

Kinda cute.

6/10

Roger Ebert, 1942-2013

Roger Ebert passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.

He was the first film critic to win a Purlitzer Prize and to receive a star on the Walk of Fame. And he wrote some of the most entertaining and honest reviews of films.

Roger Ebert's Journal

Roger Ebert Dead at 70 after Battle with Cancer (Chicago Sun-Times)
Roger Ebert Dead: Legendary Film Critic Dies at Age 70 (Huffington Post)
I Do Not Fear Death (Salon)
A Critic for the Common Man (NY Times)

I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter.

Big Fan

Paul is a die-hard NY Giants fan, hanging out in the parking lot of the stadium with his friend Sal, because they can't afford the tickets. Paul still lives with his mother, works as a cashier of a garage and spends his working hours composing little speeches to give when calling into his favorite radio show, where he is known only as "Paul from Staten Island".

When he and Sal run into their favorite Giants player Quantrell Bishop one night and follow him into a night club before going up and talking to him, what starts as light banter turns ugly when Bishop, who is intoxicated at this point, realizes that the two fans have been following him. Paul gets beaten to a pulp by his hero and spends a few days in the hospital.

He has a difficult time coping and deciding whether or not to pursue a law suit against Bishop, who has not been playing because of pending legal issues in connection to the beating. The Giants, meanwhile, cannot seem to see any land without Bishop, which prompts Paul to tell the police he 'can't remember' the incident and basically shutting down the investigation.

When his lawyer brother initiates a law suit without telling him, his name gets published in the papers and his radio talk show nemesis 'Philadelphia Phil' makes the connection that the victim is actually the regular caller 'Paul from Staten Island', Paul's little life comes apart at the seems. He takes off to Philadelphia to confront Phil.

Nice little film.

6/10

Winged Creatures (aka Fragments)

This is the story of a random shooting spree in a diner and how the survivors deal with what they have been through.

The waitress, probably not a good mother to begin with, neglects her infant son and tries to get close to a doctor, who left the diner just before the shooting started. In fact, he held the door open for the shooter on his way out. In the aftermath, he starts giving his wife medication that cause her massive headaches.

The black guy, who apparently just go the news that he suffers from cancer, starts to have incredible luck and takes it into a casino where he wins massively before getting in bed with the wrong people and having his arm deliberately broken by them.

The daughter who loses her father goes all born again Christian (as if Dakota Fanning wasn't annoying enough simply by being Dakota Fanning) and tells tale of her father's bravery. Her friend simply stops talking altogether, until the very end when he finally makes her tell the truth about her father's 'bravery'.

Aiming to make you cry, which doesn't quite work. It is just too sentimental.

3/10