Jaw-dropping effects add to superb ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’
By Steve CrumIt has been years, maybe decades, since a movie has mesmerized me to the extent of not even once squirming in my theater seat from the opening sequence to the end credits. Such is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. What a terrific film, what a technical achievement. If you were impressed three years ago with the special effects in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and surely you were, prepare to be blown away with this sequel.
Director Matt Reeves’ previous work, Cloverfield (2008), remains on my all-time unfavorites list (all that hand-held camera nonsense!). A big however, however, is due since he has redeemed his reputation first with 2010’s Let Me In and now this Apes sequel. More good news: Reeves is set to make the next Apes chapter.
Of course, Reeves is not alone in deserving plaudits. Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver have fashioned a story line full of believable characters (including the apes), plot twists, and suspense. Acting is way above par, especially for a sci-fi production, but then again the script is packed with intelligent, telling dialogue. Michael Giacchino’s evocative score deserves recognition as well. The incredible Andy Serkis returns as Caesar, a chimpanzee who leads his ape colony that includes elder orangutan Maurice (Karin Konoval) and the ruthless Koba (Toby Kebbell).
Notable humans are played by Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Without exposing specific plot details, be aware the story is set 10 years after the last film, wherein a pandemic due to the ALZ-113 virus has supposedly wiped out every human on earth. Again, supposedly. Cut to a forrest shot in an undisclosed location as simian hunters led by Caesar down a deer but have to fight a ferocious grizzly bear to claim their prize. Throughout the jaw-dropping action, it appears an honest to goodness trained bear was used. Permit me to reveal that not only is the bear digitalized, but so is the deer. Add to that the ape actors (via “motion capture”), and the effect is awesomely accomplished. These apes are not humans merely wearing monkey fur and face masks, as in 1968’s Charlton Heston starrer, Planet of the Apes…as well as the string of Planet of the Apes films carrying that phase of the franchise into the 1970’s.
Updating to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, it turns out, as shown in previews, there are still humans alive, one large pocket of them living in the ruins of San Francisco. (Didn’t you see what’s left of the Golden Gate Bridge in the trailer?) It is inevitable the humans and apes meet, and so goes the storyline. Thanks to human experimentation on many of the apes 10 years before, Caesar and his crew have near-human intelligence, including speaking ability. Incidentally, the virus did not affect these apes. Distrust and disloyalty fester among both humans and apes, even though positive strides are taken to live and work together in peace. As in real life, peace rarely lasts, so a good deal of the film deals with explosive war. Amidst the bloodshed, however, is underlying humanity and desire to end the fighting. The human effort is led by Malcolm (Clarke), who befriends Caesar and his family early on, gaining trust and respect. Malcom’s wife Ellie (Russell) and teen son Alexander (Smit-McPhee) work with him to achieve camaraderie with the ape village.
Working against them, out of vengeance, is fellow human Dreyfus (Oldman). Caesar’s nemesis, Koba, is dangerously hateful against humans as well as his own leader, Caesar. It makes for a complex, compelling story that is greatly enhanced by the jaw-dropping digital effects. Seeing it in 3-D is frosting. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is all about survival and trust, and superbly told. This is not only the best picture of the summer, so far, but the best picture of the year, so far. Very likely one can say the same at the close of 2014.
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GRADE on A-F Scale: A+
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The official trailer of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSaTrW4leg
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The official trailer of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpSaTrW4leg
‘Tammy,’ tell me true, why couldn’t you have been funnier?
By Steve CrumMelissa McCarthy is a funny lady. That is, she can be. As the title character in Tammy, however, she has some funny moments, but that is about it. Those moments are sporadic and way overplayed. Here is a failed comedy suffering from SNL-itis. That is a Saturday Night Live sketch that drones on past its punchline, not knowing when to conclude. Sure there are some potentially choice comedy nuggets in Tammy, but they are obliterated by amateurish writing and editing.
On the up side, Tammy has an impressive cast that includes Susan Sarandon in an untypical comedic role, and Kathy Bates, who similarly lowered her acting chops to play Adam Sandler’s swamp mom in The Waterboy. On the down side, both actresses made a poor choice by appearing in a no-brainer like Tammy.
McCarthy and her director-husband, Ben Falcone, have co-written and produced a comedy typical of the barrage of witless comedies hitting movie screens over the past two decades. The comedy of Melissa McCarthy has already defined itself in the handful of films she has made since 2011. She was vulgar and raucously funny in Bridesmaids, and raucous and vulgar in The Heat and Identity Theft. Her Tammy character is raucous as well, but this time more so pitiful. Tammy capitalizes on McCarthy’s forté of fall-down, slam-into humor. What continues to amaze is how she accomplishes this kind of physical schtick while being so overweight. Of course, therein lies the big laugh. It worked for silent film great Fatty Arbuckle, whose comedy thrived on pratfalls, and he was even named “Fatty.” 
The first half of Tammy is spent proving how idiotic a loser she truly is. After a confrontation with a deer, being fired at her fast food workplace, and discovering her husband having an affair with another woman, Tammy angrily packs up and heads to Niagara Falls on a road trip with her alcoholic, sexually charged Grandma Pearl (Sarandon). Tammy displays her anger in a rebellious way, more like a child running away from home. She obviously suffers from arrested development, and floozy grandma is a kindred spirit. Now and then the two behave like a jaded Thelma and Louise. (Sarandon fared much better in that movie.) Inspired by Grandma Pearl’s advice of “changing the trajectory of your whole life,” the two encounter love and lust via a father and son (Gary Cole and Mark Duplass) they meet in a bar. Not giving away too much, crime and jail occur before hooking up with cousin Lenore (Kathy Bates) en route. The crime sequence especially showcases McCarthy’s specialty of slam-bang laughs. The problem is it goes on too long, belaboring the core, sparse humor.
Again, the flaws are in the editing, writing, and direction. Melissa McCarthy is gifted at improv, but it does not work as well in a structured, 96-minute motion picture. Most likely the scene was scripted, and McCarthy was given reign to improvise. Add screenwriting to the failure list. During the final third of the film, Tammy miraculously becomes more mature, dresses better, and lightens up, per se, on the body slam yocks. The transition just does not sell. Was the scene where she gets a lobotomy edited out?
Look for cameos by Dan Akroyd as Tammy’s dad, Allison Janney as her mom, and Sandra Oh and Toni Collette in lesser roles. Director Ben Falcone shows up as Tammy’s boss.
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GRADE on A-F Scale: D
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The trailer tells us all we really need to know about Tammy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eejJiKQe50k
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The trailer tells us all we really need to know about Tammy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eejJiKQe50k
Fourth ‘Transformers’ visually impresses, should have been much better
By Steve CrumAll should have been well and good with the newest chapter (movie #4) of the Transformers franchise, Transformers: Age of Extinction, since this episode marks a major makeover in casting, locations, and story development. Unfortunately, there are production problems, mainly the movie’s bladder-busting, 165-minute running time.
Farewell, actor Shia LaBeouf. Hello, Mark Wahlberg and prehistoric-looking Dinobots. Ehren Kruger’s screenplay introduces central characters Cade and Tessa Yeager, an everyman single-parent and his teen daughter, who struggle to pay off the mortgage in rural Texas. That Cade is a really an amateur inventor, specializing in robotics, is apropos for a movie dealing with gigantic robots.
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Enter director Michael Bay, whose filmed excesses both dazzle and infuriate. (Reference his Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, and previous three Transformers.) Transformers: AE will definitely not disappoint diehard fans. Others should prepare for an onslaught to both eardrums and eyeballs. Wahlberg, Kelsay Grammer, and Stanley Tucci are competent in lead roles, while Nicola Perez is fine as Wahlberg’s daughter. Of course, the real stars in any Transformer flick are the Transformers themselves. Among returning Autobots are Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) as the leader; a personal fav of mine, Bumblebee; and Hound, a metallic-cigar “smoking” rough-houser who provides comedy relief. John Goodman’s voicing is apt.
Then there are the five Dinobots, led by Grimlock, who transforms into a mechanical T-Rex. Violently opposing the Autobots and/or the Dinobots at various junctures are the take-no-prisoners, evil Decepticons. Cons they indeed are. Like we have repeatedly seen in giant monster movies over past decades, when the big guys slam and zap each other downtown, the city is virtually destroyed. That tradition continues here. And that segues into where and when Transformers: Age of Extinction begins. It is five years after the great Battle of Chicago, and CIA-led soldiers are still rooting out Autobots that have gone into hiding. Now considered enemies of the state, our once heroic bots are incognito, and destroyed when found. The movie trailer makes it clear that Cade discovers Optimus in hiding, so without divulging specifics, let us say that the CIA is soon after both Cade and Optimus. Factor in Joshua Joyce (Tucci) as a rich and famous robot designer, and the story weaves from one explosive battle to another. The plot’s larger scope is something else altogether. In fact, it could be hyped in ads with “Torn From Today’s Headlines!” Attempting to be timely, there are drones galore, a corporation out of control, and government corruption personified by Grammer’s power-mongering, murderous CIA officer, Harold Attinger. Grammer plays it huge hammy.
As good as this Transformers looks, and the visuals are the only reason to see this spectacle, the flawless effects become overbearing after nearly three hours. (I was checking my watch after 90 minutes.) Enough is too much. But I have to note one sequence involving Optimus Prime rescuing falling humans. Like 99 percent of the movie’s action sequences, Bay films it in slo-mo, and in this case the result is simply superb. Slowing down the motion here accentuates how far digitalized effects have come. Also, if you choose to see it in 3-D, be aware this is reprocessed 3-D, and it shows. Nothing really stands out as a result, and with 3-D there should be a whole bunch standing out.
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GRADE on A-F Scale: C-
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Recalling ‘Beau James’ with high Hope for DVD release
By Steve CrumMy favorite of the few dramas Bob Hope made is 1957’s Beau James, wherein Hope portrays New York’s mayor of the Jazz Age, Jimmy Walker. Although I revere my LP of the movie’s soundtrack, which features Hope, Jimmy Durante and Jack Benny, the film itself has never been issued on DVD. Nor are there plans to do so, even though it is a very entertaining, albeit tragic, story. Beau James is seldom shown on TV. Go figure.
An atmospheric highlight of the film is Walter Winchell’s narration heard at the beginning and end. His voice, evocative of the Roaring Twenties, fits perfectly…much as it did in TV’s The Untouchables. However, the British release of Beau James substituted Alistair Cooke’s voice for Winchell’s. Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. England!A trivia bit: Vera Miles lip synchs Imogene Lynn in the song sequences. FYI, Miles’ scream in the basement discovery scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho was dubbed by actress Jeanette Nolan.
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Mae West: a visual pioneer in show business
In 1912, a Variety review of Mae West’s act described her as “one of the many freak persons on the vaudeville stage where freakishness often carries more weight than talent, but Miss West should be coached to deliver the full value of her personality.” Mae might have misinterpreted those last few words. When she appeared later at the American Roof with the Girard Boys, she wore a trick dress with a strap that broke easily, delivering the full value of her personality. The manager of the Roof would yell, “Don’t you realize I’ve got a family audience?” Mae would calmly shrug and insist she couldn’t help it when her strap broke. Said Variety, “The gal was always making a dress adjustment.”
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It would be great to see a video of Mae West on stage with the Girard Boys, but instead enjoy her with Rock Hudson, dueting on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” during the 1958 Oscars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZUVP_nsRjw