What Else I Watched This Week

• Inglorious Basterds 
• Fetching Cody
• Hard Knocks (HBO)
• Witness: Rio (HBO)
• Heir To An Execution (HBO)
• George Harrison: Part 1 (HBO)
• Community (Hulu)

New Star Wars Taking a Cue From Original Trilogy

Many people have mixed feelings about Disney's acquisition las year of LucasArts for the tidy sum of $4.05B, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't one of them, especially after they announced that there would be three new films. This new trilogy will be the first not to be headed creator George Lucas, and instead by Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. Fan boys can breath a sigh of relief, as Abrams has announced that still untitled Episode VII will be shot entirely on 35mm Kodack film.

Abrams has long been a proponent of film over digital when it comes to shooting his movies, saying it makes it "feel real" and that film gave "a familiarity and comfort, a real warmth." The switch back from the all high definition of the prequels should help evoke the feel of the originals. Though Disney has released very little information about the story, George Lucas did come up with some story treatments back in the 80's, some of which can be found here.

Ben Affleck to Play Batman in Superman Sequel

Ben Affleck has been a hot name in Hollywood the past couple of years, the. The Oscar winning Actor/Director/Writer/Producer behind films such as Good Will Hunting, Argo and The Town has been reported to have shifted his sights back to the world of superheros. Affleck will be donning Batman's cowl and cape opposite Henry Cavill for the 2015 Man of Steel sequel directed by Zach Snyder (300, Sin City). Not since his role in Daredevil has Affleck played a comic book character. It should be interesting to see how Affleck approaches the role compared to the way Chirstian Bale portrayed the Caped Crusader in Christopher Nolan's iconic Dark Knight trilogy. The film will also feature Amy Adams, Lawrence Fishbourne, and Diane Lane.

Quick Review: Jobs

Director: Joshua Michael Stern

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine, Dermot Mulroney, Lukas Haas

Genre: Biopic

Year: 2013

Run Time: 122 Minutes

How: Theaters

If you have been alive within the last 10 years, chances are you have heard the name Steve Jobs. The late Apple founder undoubtedly changed our world, but does this new biopic really do justice to the man who brought us personal computing and so much more. 

The film opens with an older Jobs about to unveil the iPod. Ashton Kutcher does a solid Jobs impression for the most part, but occasionally the makeup seems obvious and all to often I found myself seeing too much Kutcher and not enough Jobs.

Soon enough we find ourselves in 1974 Portland, following young Steve, who has dropped out of Reed College, but is still attending classes, including a calligraphy course which made a deeply impactful for him. After studying at Reed and experimenting with LSD, Steve spends  seven months in India studying Zen Buddhism.

Jobs returns to Palo Alto and begins working for a budding Atari, designing  the circuit board for Brick Breaker. Even at Atari, Job's berating aggressive management style is apparent, as he yells a developer who insists color isn't possible on the primitive machines. Jobs recruits his neighbor, computer wiz and fellow Steve, Steve "Woz" Wozniak (Gad) to help. Jobs stumbles upon one of Woz's pet projects, which allows a computer to be hooked up to a monitor and keyboard. Steve sees the massive potential of Woz's creation and quickly works to convince Woz that they should sell the primitive Apple 1. After a presentation at the Homebrew Computer Club, Jobs gets an offer from the owner of computer parts store. The pair begin producing computers in Job's parents garage (actually filmed at Job's childhood home), bringing on a few friends to help.

Selling the Apple ones, Jobs immediately begins work on the Apple 2 which will be a all in one device, complete with keyboard, monitor and color graphics. The film explores the growth of Apple, the failures of the Lisa, Newton and original Macintosh, as well as the boardroom drama that unfolded in the 90's, which led to Jobs being ousted and eventually brought back to run his struggling company.

Kutcher does manage to capture Job's silver tongue as well as his rage. Kutcher even became a fruitarian and  went barefoot in order to channel the real Jobs, something which landed him in the emergency room. Job's attention to detail and desire for perfection are not overlooked, as seen when he fires a programmer who doesn't share his view on the importance of type face .Josh Gad is an endearing, laid back Woz, complete with crazy hair. His presence and technical know how is a strong counterpoint to the outspoken Jobs.

All things considered this is a fascinating story and Kutcher give a great amount of effort, but ultimately it falls short. The film seems like it can't make up its mind, trying to focus on both the company and the man, but doing neither too spectacularly. It often felt like parts of the story were merely glossed over and barely addressed, like his rivalry with Bill Gates or his girlfriend becoming pregnant and his prompt declaration that the child was not his. 

The film ends with a side by side comparison of all the real people and their actor equivalent, which seemed like a "look how well we cast these people" ploy, which would be cool, if this was a better movie.  It is a truly ambitious film, but lacks execution. Director Joshua Michael Stern was probably not the man who should have been trusted with this project, based on his limited and unimpressive track record (Swing Vote, Neverwas). 

The film has received backlash from Woz himself, saying that while the acting was on point, he was "abhored" by the script. It looks like anybody looking for a great Jobs biopic might just want to hold out for the Aaron Sorkin adaptation of the Walter Isaacson biography, which is currently in the works.

Ultimately for a film about the Machiavelli of the Mac, a man  whose vision revolutionized the computer, music, and communication industries, the film fails to live up to the man. A shame for a movie that could have been so much more.

Rating: 5.3

What Else I Watched This Week 8/12

• Hard Knocks (HBO)
• Dexter (Showtime)
• 30 For 30: The Marinovich Project (Netflix)
• Eastbound and Down (HBO)
• Drunk History
• Goldfinger (Netflix)
• Momento (Netflix)
• Too Big To Fail (HBO)
• Jobs (Theaters)
• Bobby Fischer vs The World (HBO)
• The Newsroom
• Steve Jobs: One Last Thing 

Eastbound And Down Returns

Kenny Powers will be back on HBO for a fourth and final season. Danny McBride's absurd character will once again be gracing us with his brash antics in 8 new episodes.

It has been confirmed that Lindsay Lohan, fresh out of rehab, will be joining the show as the daughter of one of the main characters.

Eastbound and Down will premier on HBO  at 10:30 on September 29th.

Exit Through The Gift Shop

Director: Banksy

Starring: Thierry Guetta, Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Space Invader

Genre: Documentary

Year: 2010

Run Time: 87 Minutes

How: Apple TV (Netflix)

Notable Awards

Academy Award For Best Documentary - Nominated

Thierry Guetta is a strange man. There is no way around it. Thierry has spent the better part of his life filming...everything. As we learn, Thierry's obsession spawn from childhood trauma and a need to immortalize every moment on film.

Thierry got into the street art scene completely by accident. While visiting family in France, he meets up with his cousin, Invader, a prominent street artist known pasting mosaics of the classic  Space Invaders arcade game in public spaces. Invader lets Thierry tag along while he does his nocturnal activities, and Thierry immediately becomes hooked.

When Invader comes to LA a few months later, he arranges for Thierry to meet Shepard Fairey, a notable street artist most commonly known for the Barack Obama Hope posters. Thierry shadows Shepard as he plans, makes, and places his art, learning the all about the world of street art. Shepard is confused by Thierry's enthusiasm for the subject, not knowing what he plans to do with the hours upon hours of footage he has filmed. Thierry, faced with this question, declares he is going to make a street art documentary, and the two travel around the world, filming several other artists.
Through their travels there was one artist that continuously eluded Thierry, that man was the mysterious Banksy. Banksy, known for his political commentary and style, has gone to great lengths to conceal his identity. By sheer luck, Thierry is put in contact with the enigmatic artist by Fairey and Thierry quickley makes himself indispensable to Banksy, showing him walls, as well as filming the reaction to the art. 

Banksy was intrigued by the enigma that is Thierry. 

Rating: 8.0

What Else I Watched This Week 8/5

• The Newsroom (HBO)
• Snow on Tha Bluff (Netflix)
• Hard Knocks (HBO)
• Spinal Tap
• Comedy Bang Bang (IFC)
• Vice (HBO)
• Portlandia (IFC)

Sharknado Sequel Title Announced

A sequel to this summer's absurd hybrid movie: Sharknado has already been announced. Syfy's so bad its good made for film took the internet by storm earlier this year, so not ones to pass up a buck, the network has begun production on Sharknado 2: The Second One. I personally think they should have called it Sharknado 2: The Sharkening.  The sequel, which will definitely not be devoid of shark spewing tornados, is to take place in New York. Not much else has come out about the abusurd movie, but we can only hope it lives up to the many other Syfy hybrid pics such as: Piranhaconda, Sharktopus, and Aztec Rex (where Mayans worship a pair of living T-Rex). The movie is slated to be out July 2014.

The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh

Director: Rodrigo Gudiño

Starring: Aaron Poole, Vanessa Redgrave
Genre: Horror

Year: 2012

Run Time: 77 Minutes

How: DVD (Redbox)

Usually, horror movies are not my thing, not because they are scary, but mostly because I feel that the vast majority of them are wildly cliche and just plain bad. The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh reaffirms that belief.

As you may have gathered from the title, Rosalind Leigh is dead. She  has left everything to her estranged son Leon (Poole), who has now returned to her predictably creepy house. Cue the classic Scooby-Doo plot line. The house is full of weird objects, one in particular is a giant black mannequin with stark white eyes, another, the shrine conveniently located in the bathroom. Leon's mother (Redgrave) narrates much of the movie, but really fails to set up the plot. We spent a fair portion of the movie trying to figure out her relationship to Leon and why Leon would stay in the strange house without any real incentive. Leon, of course stays alone in his childhood home, only be scared by the old house and left questioning his sanity.

Leon's parents were part of a strange angel worshiping cult, as seen by the plethora of angel statues found in the house. Leon has rejected his parents faith, which why his mother believes hes no longer "protected by the angels."  Leon's father died as part of a cult suicide, something that is featured several times throughout the film, though it seems more a triviality than belabored plot point.

Poole's character is cold and unengaging, which is unfortunate since he is essentially the only one in the entire film. Oddly enough, he is completely calm as he's being terrorized by a Gollum looking creature.  He also seems too young to be the son of the Rosalind who only appears in pictures, which leads to some confusion. Leon is an underdeveloped character who gives us little reason for us to to care what happens to him. As Aaron gets more and more creeped out by the house, we cant help but wonder, why doesn't he just leave. 

If you are looking for scares, The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh does not deliver. The film does, however, deliver plenty of run of the mill tension, achieved through long shots which have you searching for something to jump out. Despite the creepy house, there are maybe only two instances that might make you jump. The movie commits too many of the classic horror faux pas and has no real ending, which is just laziness on the part of writer/director Rodrigo Gudiño. The film is slow, not scary, and ultimately accomplishes very little.

Rating: 2.5

Arcade Fire, Spike Jonze Team Up Again

Filmmaker and name enhancer Spike Jonze, has once again joined forces with Canadian indie rock band, Arcade Fire to score his next film. The band is scoring Jonze's new film Her, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely writer and Scarlett Johannson as the voice of the worlds first artificial intelligence.

The last time Jonze collaberated with Arcade Fire was in Where the Wild Things Are, where the song "Wake Up" was used in the trailer. Jonze has said that he wrote the entire Wild Things  script while listening to the the band's 2004 album Funeral. 

The Newsroom

Creator: Aaron Sorkin, 

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Olivia Munn, Sam Waterson, Dev Patel, Allison Pill, John Gallagher Jr., Thomas Sadoski

Genre: TV Drama
Years: 2012 - Present
How: Apple TV (HBO)

Notable Awards

• Golden Globe For Best Drama Series - Nominated
• Golden Globe For Best Actor in a Drama Series- Jeff Daniels

Legendary showrunner Aaron Sorkin has struck gold again, this time on HBO. The West Wing creator's return to television takes us behind the scenes at a cable news network ACN, a hybrid between CNN, NBC, etc. anchored by moderate Will McAvoy. Set in the not too distant past, The Newsroom examines many of the major news events of the last few years through the lens of the producers and analysts who are learning of these in real time. 

McAvoy, played by Jeff Daniels, is likable newsman more concerned with not upsetting viewers than taking a stance on issues, being called the Jay Leno of news. His image begins to change after a disillusioned outburst at a Northwestern debate. Will's team, including his executive producer Don, leaves News Night  for a new show on ACN, leaving him to find a new one.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie "Mac" McHale (Mortimer), Will's former EP, returns from years abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan with her crew. Mac is both mentally and physically exhausted and just wants to get back in the news room, much to the discontent of Will. They make it clear that Mac and Will used to be together and the there is some unresolved tension between the two but, insist on not revealing why. When Will's boss, Charlie (Waterson) hires Mac as the new EP, Will storms off to his agent's to renegotiate his contract to give himself power over her.

Mac wants to rebrand Will's show as a moderate forum where facts judged on their merits are presented in the context of humanity, rather than a soapbox from which guests get to spew the agenda. Will's love of truth and his unfettered, sometimes aggressive style of interviewing, gains him enemies among a number right wing talking heads. 

The team of analysts, researchers, and producers behind Will is both talented and entertaining. Featuring Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as Neal a blogger and all around citizen of the internet. Allison Pill plays up and coming Maggie Jordan, an Associate Producer on the show, who is in a relationship with Don. Sloan Sabbath (Olivia Munn), is the show's resident economist, and devoid of most social skills. 

The show is fast paced and pulls stories from the headlines, much like you would expect from a Sorkin penned show. The covers major stories of the last couple year such as: The BP Oil Spill, The Tea Party, The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and many more.

Quick Review: Bourne Legacy

Director: Tony Gilroy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton
Genre: Spy Thirller
Year: 2012
Run Time: 135 Minutes
How: Laptop (HBO)

The Bourne Legacy had big shoes to fill. The previous three films had set the standard for action over the last 10 years and that's one of the main issues that plagues this installment. The Bourne name carries expectations, expectations that the fourth installment was not ready to fulfill.

This film feels like its trying to hard to be the previous three, despite the new story lines. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, who also wrote the first three, the film doesn't have the same hyperkinetic style that previous director, Paul Greengrass brought to the series. The action is still there but, some scenes, like a rooftop/alley/motorcycle chase through Manila feels very similar to the one Jason Bourne does in Morraco.

In this iteration, Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, an enhanced CIA assassin much like Bourne. The film takes place during the same time frame as Ultimatum, though any hope of seeing Matt Damon is limited to a few pictures. Cross is a part of Outcome, another behavior modification program much like Treadstone or Blackbriar, only in this version Cross's abilities derived from a pair mysterious viruses, which he maintains through a regimen of pills.

Aaron quickly loses his supply of pills in the mountains of Alaska and spends most of the film searching for more. After nearly getting blown up and eaten, Cross's quest for "chems" takes him all the way from Maryland where he meets up with Marta Shearing (Wiesz). Shearing is a biochemist who is engineering the chems and preforming tests on the Outcome agents.  After a grizzly and somewhat disturbing workplace shooting scene, which feels like it goes on too long, Shearing is nearly killed once again by agents trying to cover up Outcome but, she is inevitably saved by Cross. Wiesz's is reminiscent of Julia Stiles' character in the first three movies, slightly aware of what the CIA is up to and gets roped into helping Cross weather she wants too or not.

Cross and Shearing end up flying to Manila, and as one might expect, shoot and punch their way to the drugs. The action is entertaining but sometimes absurd; like when Cross manages to dispatch a number of gunmen, then climbing up three stories on the outside of a house in a cool 10 seconds.

Top: David Straithairn as Noah Vosen
Bottom: Norton

The acting is not stellar but it is adequate enough to carry the sometimes convoluted story. Edward Norton plays Eric Byers, a character that just seems like it was written for David Straithairn's character from the third film, but then given to the younger Norton. Rachel Wiesz's performance is strong, though not aided by the movie's sometimes clunky script. Renner, on the other hand, while he's not pummeling anonymous baddies, is trying to find his next fix of chems. This reliance on the drugs for his performance seems like something out a mild science fiction movie rather than the gritty action series the Bourne series has built on.  Unfortunately for all involved, the film doesn't really have and conclusion, it kind of just meanders towards the finish line and does little to actually wrap up the plot.

The film is not a bad one, but its not a masterpiece by any means. The story adds to the Bourne universe, but you cant help but wonder: What if Damon had reprised his role as the movie's namesake amnesiac assassin? That's ultimately whats what sinks Legacy. It simply feels like its trying to hard too be something that its not.

Rating: 5.5/10

What Else I Watched This Week 7/29

• Jiro Dreams of Sushi
• Hunt For Somali Pirates
• Bourne Legacy
• Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
• Manhunt (HBO)
• Exit Through the Gift Shop
• 30 For 30: Pony Excess
• Gasland Part II (HBO)
• The 5 Year Engagement