THE FINEST HOURS Review

Watching The Finest Hours is like going to a restaurant you know and trust and despite being satisfied when you leave, feeling as if there was definitely something lacking. The contents are all inviting and have an undeniably charming quality to them, but upon consumption you simply aren't as full as you'd hoped given the dish wasn't as rich as it had the potential to be. The Finest Hours is a handsome film, directed by Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm, Fright Night, Lars and the Real Girl), and features both impeccable costume design and an earnest soundtrack not to mention a story that is genuinely thrilling. Pair these strong qualities with an all-around impressive roster of cast members not only in the key roles, but in supporting and minor parts throughout and it's nothing short of a guarantee that the film wasn't going to at least be a rather solid venture. And it is. In fact, that's exactly what The Finest Hours turns out to be with there not necessarily being any issues other than the fact it doesn't feel like an exception in the long line of cinematic adventures we're given throughout the year despite the story being one of an exceptional heroic act. For this reason, the movie adaptation of the story and of Casey Sherman and Michael J. Tougias' novel feels as if it is something of a missed opportunity in representing a story that could have really produced a great or even "exceptional", piece of fiction. Instead, The Finest Hours gives audiences what we expect in that it is consistently engaging, naturally tense in moments, and hits just the right amount of emotional beats to make the harrowing rescue mission all the more affecting in the end. It is in this emotional connection though, that the film doesn't connect as often as it should. Even without the love angle from which the film comes at the story there should be more than a handful of emotionally charged moments given both men at the head of these dueling narratives are staring death in the face. And yet, we never feel as emotionally invested in the proceedings as the characters clearly are. There is a disconnect and while it doesn't destroy the film, it certainly keeps it from realizing its full potential.

First Trailer for NINE LIVES Starring Kevin Spacey

Well, this may be the first contender for the worst trailer/idea/movie of the new year. Sure, it's January so we've had some stinkers already, but nothing has looked as outright terrible or as bad a decision as this does. In what is essentially The Shaggy Dog, but with a cat Kevin Spacey (yes, Kevin Spacey) teams up with the guy who made the Men in Black movies and Wild Wild West to play a titan of industry that has ignored his family and by some twist of fate gets turned into the cat he bought for his daughter for her birthday to further serve as a distraction for his absence. But, get this, the guy hates cats, so it's really quite humorous. How this thing was greenlit is beyond me, but I guess I could see how it might be a fine enough time for the whole family given it's a tired premise that has shown promising results before, but the final product that seems to have come out of that intention looks like something that wouldn't even appeal to the lowest common denominator of any single person's brain. Oh well, given its August release date it seems distributor Europa is looking to slide this one under the radar and make a few quick bucks off its family-friendly premise and attractive to older demographic big names. Spacey is still something of a draw, especially given his current run in House of Cards and while it would be nice to see the actor play something a little lighter than the politically sadistic Frank Underwood I would have much rather seen him put his time into something closer to Horrible Bosses than Nine Lives. Oh well, if you're intrigued at all-hit the the jump to check out the first trailer. Nine Lives also stars Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken, Malina Weissman, Cheryl Hines, Robbie Amell and opens on August 5th, 2016.

New Trailer for Laika's KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

While I wasn't necessarily on the Coraline train, I jumped on the Laika bandwagon with 2012's ParaNorman and have been excited to see what more they have to offer ever since. That late August, but fully fall-inspired release was an experience I didn't see coming and that it took me by such pleasant surprise is one that I'll never forget and am eager to re-live each Halloween. I was somewhat disappointed in 2014's The Boxtrolls in that I didn't mind it, but ParaNorman was always going to be a tough act to follow and it seemed Boxtrolls couldn't even compete if it wanted to. That said, I'm very much looking forward to this years late August offering after getting an extended look at the gorgeous visuals in this latest trailer. The film tells of Kubo who lives a quiet, normal life in a small village until a spirit from the past turns his life upside down by re-igniting an age-old vendetta. This, of course, causes all sorts of havoc as gods and monsters chase Kubo who, in order to survive, must locate a magical suit of armor once worn by his late father, a legendary Samurai warrior. While the trailer is heavy on visual splendor we glean little of the actual plot and I really dig that. Laika and Focus Features are selling their product purely on the promise of an adventure unlike any other and the beautiful splendor of their combined stop motion and computer animation. The inventiveness looks to be notched up to eleven here and while Finding Dory, Zootopia, and The Secret Life of Pets all look and sound promising this may be the animated movie I'm most excited to see this year. Kubo and the Two Strings features the voice work of Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Rooney Mara, George Takei, Ralph Fiennes, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro and opens on August 19th, 2016.

MOJAVE Review

Knowing nothing about it, the plot, or its characters Mojave begins and quickly takes on a sense of aimlessness. Like its Hollywood wasteland setting, the hopes and dreams of whatever writer/director William Monahan (Oscar winning writer of The Departed) aspired for this to be seems to get lost in the shuffle of the day to day, and the existing lives that thrive purely on indulgence and artificial and material accomplishments that never get around to tapping into their true desires. Mojave, while constantly striving to be more, ends up doing little more than wasting away and ultimately wasting our time. More than feeling like wasted time though, Mojave feels like a missed opportunity due simply to the talent involved. Not only do we have the on-fire Oscar Isaac and the legitimately talented Garrett Hedlund for Isaac to both verbally and physically spar with, but we also have the likes of Walton Goggins and Mark Wahlberg in supporting roles. I won't even harp on the fact Monahan has charismatic folks like Dania Ramirez, Matt Jones, and Fran Kranz in minor supporting roles that he only utilizes for single scenes, but even the likes of Goggins is criminally underused in that a talent of his stature wasn't necessary for his six lines of dialogue. Sure, Mojave has some interesting things going for it as Monahan is a capable writer and pens some interesting back and forth about the measure of success and how it affects the narrative of one's life, but in the end none of it means anything. For all the flowery language and high-brow quotes our two leads pull out of their asses there is no substance in their actions, which I guess is the kind of demons they are attempting to chase away in the first place. How can their lives symbolize their deepest desires and greatest ambitions rather than simply being an on-going conversation about those dreams and desires? Bleak, no doubt, but that seems the writer/directors desired tone which in turn causes his movie to drag.

On DVD & Blu-Ray: January 26, 2016