Movie Review - Into the Storm

When I saw the preview for this I, along with I'm sure many others, thought here comes the twister remake.  Except of course this one had to have an even bigger tornado - not just an F5, but a never before seen F6.  Now I've never been in or near an actual tornado before, I get nervous just driving through Kansas.  I've always felt its crazy that people live in tornado bound areas, and even crazier that people chase them (for scientific reasons or just for fun). But I do love natural disaster movies.

This movie does deliver on intensity, special effects and making you feel that you are in the storm.  I still felt a little rush after I left the theater. Since it was an intense ride, the movie felt like it went by a little fast.  They could have added another tornado scene or perhaps added to the people storyline.  TJ and I both agreed that the plot was a little loose, it was good and they did it well, but there was an opportunity to add a bit more.  As Twister delivered it all, this movie wanted to be know for the effects of the storm.  More of an amusement park ride then a blockbuster film.

Now we are in the age of people videotaping everything, and this movie is shot in that documentary style.  Similar to Project X's style it shows the story through what is caught on tape.  It does add in some other non-on-film shots, but at least one character in the scenes has a camera (cell phone, hand held, professional grade) in hand at all times.  It's all done very well and gives a style to the film.  I'm sure there is some built in deeper meaning of how we are living in the age of video and the impact it has on our lives and society, but I just came to see a tornado action disaster movie.

Movie Review - Hercules

If you are like me you will go see this just because The Rock is in it.  Who better to play Hercules...and he is jacked up! I like this quote from an interview about his workout for the movie. "When I hit the gym, I'm coming! I train hard, I come to kick ass—clanging and banging."

This is a little darker version then the Kevin Sorbo's Hercules (what ever happened to him?).  It shows the man behind the legend.

Overall I did like it, but I felt it was missing a little something.  It had a great cast, good fighting scenes, twists in the plot and you care about the characters.  The Rock played a great Hercules.  I'm not sure what it was. TJ thought that the ending was a bit rushed - maybe they ran out of budget.

I just looked up what Kevin Sorbo is up to. He's kind of pisses that he wasn't given a cameo in this movie. Apparently he approached the director about having a cameo and he was turned down. Well I know he won't be seeing this movie.

If you are up for some good fighting scenes, like Greek mythology or just a fan of The Rock you'll be entertained by this movie.

Movie Review - The Purge: Anarchy

Yes, I actually saw this. Needless to say I wasn't the one picking which movie to see. As you all know I am not a fan of scary movies, but the concept of The Purge intrigues me.  I didn't see the original, but I did read the complete synopsis on Wikipedia.

The movie did a good job in building the story with a lot of suspense. It had a well thought out plot, good acting and of course a lot of people getting killed in imaginative ways. I'm glad it didn't cut corners just to bring you a movie with lots of killing. It's worth seeing, even though it's the poster child for the NRA.

There are a few things however that (if this was ever to become reality) don't make sense to me.

1. It is just a few hours before the Purge begins - why the hell are you still at work or driving somewhere? You should have been safe at home for days barricading yourself in.

2. Where's the home protection?? It showed some people boarding up their door with wood and getting a hand gun out.  The houses in the suburbs and the million dollar mansions have nothing.  People - the point of this night is anyone is allowed to go on a killing spree!! I expect an armed fortress to come up from the ground around your home. Plus something more than a hand gun.

3. This is only the 6th annual Purge, but everyone seems to be buying into it as the way to cleanse their soul and their right as a citizen.  I can understand the buy in of the crazy people who would be killing people anyway, but not everyone.  Maybe if this was the 30th annual Purge then it has some history, or if there was more emphasis on an event that lead to the Purge (like with The Hunger Games), it would be more believable.  Maybe I missed this in the Wikipedia synopsis from the first movie.

Personally I would not be someone who actively participates in the Purge.  I wouldn't however sleep at all during it (like people did in the movie). I would be watching my security cameras that have views surrounding my place, surrounded by my heavy duty arsenal. Just in case.

I did lean over to TJ in the middle of the movie to tell him that if this does ever happen here, we're moving to Italy.

The Danger Those Movies Warned Us About

Maybe it's because I Robot was on last night or maybe I'm just paranoid about what movies have warned us the future holds.  I just read an article about how everyone in the world will be connected to the internet by 2020.  People will have personal robots, and everything from our homes, work, personal devises and entire lives would be connected.  My mind flashed to the centralized robots taking over in I Robot and then to the aftermath shown in the Terminator series.

Am I just paranoid, or is a better question - why isn't everyone paranoid about this?

Just think of how your world and life has been changed and improved by what has happened in the last few years. Advances in the internet; smart phones - where you have access to your connected life on the go, from the internet to email, to built in cameras to apps for just about everything; social media platforms - connecting with people, companies and more in a way never before possible; online banking - connected to our banks on our computers and on our phones (including paying with our phones); streaming - video and movies on your computers and in your hands; cars with apps and smart phone connectivity; Google glass - where everything is right in front of you and you can record your life as it happens; and more.

Total connectivity has been the center of many movie themes - I Robot, The Terminator, The Matrix,  Eagle Eye, 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Black Hole, Tron  - all resulting in a catastrophic downfall. But the world keeps moving forward and developing these technologies, and everyone is buying.  The only complaint I've heard about these new connectivities are about people who have left Facebook because they think their personal information is being shared for marketing purposes.  Nothing about the dangers controlling your home security from your smart phone.  One word - hackers.  Someone hacked into Target to get over 100 million people's information. Even if there isn't a super computer going to take us all down, there's individuals that will.

TJ says: if the computers take over, just set off an EMP and we're all good.

Movie Review - Transformers

It's what you wanted the last few to be like.

You know what you are going to get with this movie - action, robots battling and destroying cities, and of course Marky Mark. This one still had its mega movie cheesy moments, but it took out the annoying factor (about time). If you have kids they'll still enjoy it, but you won't be rolling your eyes.  You can now enjoy the toys you grew up with, now with Dinobots.

Side note: Hasbro when you bring back Dinobots into stores, as we know you will. Make them a little easier to transform this time around.

Movie Review - Lone Survivor

There's a few movies like this that are so hard to review.  I don't want to wait too long after seeing it, but it's hard to write or form sentences about it.  I'm nauseous and shaky and in a mental daze. 

First off - I do apologize to the guy who sat next to me.  As anyone who has seen me in an action or gory movie, you know the reactions I have.  Thank you for putting up with my sudden knee jerk reactions to all of the bloody and beyond bloody scenes in this movie.

The movie starts with the Seals training.  I'm sure most of you have seen this before, which I have in many movies.  It's crazy what they put themselves through.  I always feel bad for the guys who get halfway or more through and then they ring the bell to tap out.  They came so far and didn't make it to becoming a Navy Seal.  When you watch this movie, as you should, remember the training.

One of my favorites, Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark), stars as one of the Navy Seals on a mission to take down one of the top Taliban leaders.  The mission becomes compromised when they are interrupted by three goat herders.  Communications break down, and they have to put their lives up against making the moral choice or the best chance for survival.

A band of four brothers quickly find themselves in a gun fight against an army of Taliban.  To say they fought against all odds, shot, injured and kept on going - is not enough.  If you broke your ankle, then other leg, were shot in the head, would you have the strength to stand up and run through the woods and keep shooting?  Would you risk your life to save your brothers? This movie, which is so well done, will take you through the intense journey of how much the human mind and body can take.

So back to the beginning of the movie with the training.  For the guys I felt bad for who tapped out after they made it halfway.  That feeling has passed, because - they didn't make it halfway.

Back to the Future II - Are We There Yet?

In 1989 Marty McFly traveled back to the Future to 2015.  With 2013 coming to an end how do we measure up with the 1980's vision of the future?  

Flying cars: 

Not there, and do we really want to be?  I'm not sure if we are ready for this.  Though after experiencing Los Angeles traffic last week, we might want to hurry up this process.  Imagine if highways could be two levels.  Also think of the tax money we would save with a decrease in road repair. One question - what happens when you run out of gas?

Weather Service can determine the weather to the minute:  

Ha!  The weather report is about 50% accurate if it will even rain during that day.  Maybe in another 30 years.

Clothing that adjusts to our size, power laces on shoes and clothing dry mode that automatically dries when wet: 

Why don't we have this?  We need to refocus technological abilities on this area of advancement.  Plus this could lead to self-heating or cooling clothing.  Imagine actually feeling warm outside during a Chicago winter.

Fashion sense:  

Well we all saw went on in the 80's, I guess this would have been a logical assumption of the direction the fashion industry would take.  Let's just all celebrate the fact that it didn't.  

 

Courts trying cases in hours, lawyers done away with:  

This might have been a pipe dream. Little did they know that in 1990 a show called Law and Order would come into the scene with such a following.  This would lead to more shows about crime and lawyers, forever sealing their place in our society.  

Hoverboards:

Still waiting.  You've got a little over a year future.  I want my hover board!

3D Ads: 

As seen when Marty McFly is walking down the main street in Hill Valley.  Ads are seen as digital 3D images coming off of buildings.  We see a 3D shark pop off of the movie theater and attack Marty promoting Jaws 19. 3D movies had a swing of popularity during the 80's and 90's.  One popular feature were images that seemed to be flying at you, so why not bring it out of the theater.  Without us wearing 3D glasses everywhere, I'm not so sure this one is possible.  Plus then we would have to put laws into place about billboards on roads.  People would be crashing their flying cars too much trying to dodge ads coming at them.

3D Ad - Cubs win world series: 

Hope is timeless, I guess.  

Video game without hands: 

Whenever I would watch this movie and would hear, "you mean you have to use your hands, that's like a baby's toy," I aways wondered what did he mean?  Playing games with your mind was all I could come up with, but thought this was to crazy to believe.  Today we do have video games you don't need your hands for, with motion sensors picking up you body movements. 

Computer/robot waiters:  

When Marty walks into the The Cafe 80's to order his Pepsi, the waiters are computer screens with the digital images of an actual person talking to the patrons.  (One is even Michael Jackson).  Our computers can talk to us now, and we even have voice commands.  Computers and robots make our lives easier, but they haven’t made it into our restaurants yet.  (I still don't understand what the purpose of the exercise bikes are in the Cafe).

Futuristic binoculars with a camera:

Doc uses these to check out the building when Griff and his gang crash into it.  I think we've one-upped the future, with not only cameras that can zoom like binoculars, but can do so much more.  Who would of thought of smart phones during the 80's?  It would be like the superman of devices, something our past selves would think too fantastical to believe.

Traffic board with times on highways:  

We do have ones that are available once you are on the highway.  But I think we have something event better - Thank you traffic apps.

The smart home

Thumb print house entry and cab payment:   

We see Jennifer enter her house and old Biff pay for the cab with their thumb prints.  This might not be too far off, and who knows we could see this by 2015.  We now have this to unlock our smart phones and for secure entry onto some computers.  We’ll just have to see how far this goes. 

Voice activated house commands:  

I’m guessing the writers were using their Clapper (1986) when they thought of this.  If lights could go on with sound, why couldn’t we have voice commands in the future.  Today we do have voice activation in the car, for phones, and I’m sure there is some app in the works for this to happen.  Let’s just hope no one turns on the oven accidently. 

Scenery channel, big flat screen TVs and being able to get multiple shows on the same TV:  

We did it future!  We now have flat screen TVs, picture in picture and also the ability to upload photos to our TVs or computers. 

Dehydrated food and the hydrator: 

The microwave oven gained popularity in the 1980s.  Though many improvements to the microwave have been made, we have not reached hydration level. This would save a whole lot of room in the freezer and make carrying grocery bags a lot easier.

Glasses that are phones, TVs, other digital items as well as act as rear view mirror glasses for driving:   

I think we are just about there – Google Glass. By 2015 these could become mainstream. 

Video phone calls:  

Older future Marty is seen talking to Needles on a video call.  I actually remember having a video phone in the late 80’s.  It was a special landline phone that had a little video screen.  You could only use this if the person you were calling had the exact same phone.  My parents got one for us and one for our grand parents.  Beyond that, it didn’t really catch on.  Today, however, we have Facetime, Skype and more.

Interfaced scan from a device in a briefcase:  

Future Marty scans in his card to seal a deal with Needles. Today we have something even better - laptops and tablets.  We now have scanners that can be used in the home as well.  

Home Faxes:  

We see a home Fax spit out a page which says Marty is fired.  Many businesses had faxes at this time, but having home faxes in every room would be a vision of the future.  Unfortunately this vision has come and gone, as the home computer and scanner has made faxes a thing of the past. 

We've come a long way in 30 years, and have achieved or exceed many of our 1985's expectations of the future.  We still have a little bit to go by 2015.  Seriously - let's get on this hoverboard thing.