The Debt

This movie wasn’t really on my radar until I saw that it starred the great Helen Mirren, so I watched it as a double.  It’s not bad, although it’s also not memorable.

Synopsis: three Israeli spies track down a Nazi doctor responsible for countless deaths during WWII and plan on kidnapping him to bring him to justice.  Things don’t go as smoothly as they had hoped though, and a decision they jointly make will shape their future lives for several decades, until they have to take matters back into their hands.

Mirren is joined by the always excellent Tom Wilkinson, and Ciarán Hinds, who is good but has nothing more than a cameo.  Their three younger selves are played by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington and they all do a very good job.

The script is well written and the editing keeps the action going.  What I liked best about this movie though was its simplicity and the resemblance to the good thrillers of the 70s and 80s.  Maybe it’s the photography, maybe the script, maybe a combination of the two, but it works and it “feels” nice.

The Bottom Line: while The Debt won’t likely land on anyone’s Top Ten of the Year’s list, it’s a nice thriller with good acting.  The fact that it doesn’t just follow the typical Hollywood rules of a happy ending and a full-circle conclusion are a definite plus.

Grade: 7

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I’m a huge fan of 1968’s original Planet of the Apes and I watched all the sequels and the 2001 remake by Tim Burton, so I wasn’t going to miss the latest entry in the canon.

The reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes were quite good going in, and I too really enjoyed the movie.

Synopsis: James Franco is a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer, which affects his father’s brain.  He’s developing a virus that should spur the brain to rebuild itself and testing it on apes, where it causes genetic mutations.  Because of a violent accident, the program is shut down and he ends up with a baby ape (Caesar) whose mother was a subject of Franco’s experiments and passed the mutations on to him.  Caesar’s intellectual capabilities keep growing, allowing him to rise above all other apes, until one day being considered an animal isn’t good enough anymore.

Franco does a good job in a role that is neither substantial nor central, and Freida Pinto and John Lithgow are good supporting players.  However, the one who shines even from behind a computer generated layer is once again Andy Serkis, the man who brought to life The Lord of the Rings’s Gollum.

While some of the apes’ effects look too manufactured, especially the baby ape, Serkis’ Caesar looks totally real.  That guy deserves an Oscar for his talent, but they’d never consider him because you can’t see his actual face, even though every movement on Caesar’s face corresponds exactly to a movement of Serkis’ muscles.

The Bottom Line: Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great addition to the “Apes” series and will not disappoint thanks to both character development (the first half of the movie relies heavily on that) and action sequences (more prevalent in the second half, after the rising, and culminating in an adrenaline drenched sequence on the Golden Gate bridge).  It’s also nice to see how the whole thing started, so if you are a fan, don’t miss it.

Grade: 8

Alpha Dog

I’ll admit that the otherworldly hotness of a heavily tattooed Justin Timberlake is what drew me to this movie, but I’m glad to report that it is quite enjoyable and at times gripping.

Synopsis: inspired by true events, Alpha Dog tells the story of the face-off between two small time drug dealers and the unlucky half-brother of one of them, who ends up paying the price for their antics.

Timberlake’s acting skills (recently appreciated in The Social Network) are noticeable and Emile Hirsch (admirable in Milk and excellent in Into the Wild) proves once again to have a lot of talent.  Bruce Willis, Harry Dean Stanton, and Sharon Stone all do a good job (although Stone is a little too theatrical).  But the one who really chews the scenery whenever he’s on screen is the awesome Ben Foster.

While one can easily see how the whole story is going to ultimately tragically play out, a fair script and the good overall acting keep you engaged.

The Bottom Line: I usually like movies inspired by or based on true events, and this was no different.  The story is tragic and sad, but that makes the movie even more worth watching.

Grade: 7

Turning Tables

Adele performs “Turning Tables” on The Jonathan Ross Show:

I love this woman.

Irene

As everyone knows, Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast of the US last week, bringing devastation to several states and misery to millions of people, including us.  We lost power for 4 days and it was like living in the Middle Ages.  Luckily, that’s all we lost, unlike some people who lost everything in the storm.

Cleanup and reconstruction are on their way, and normalcy will come back little by little, but one thing we’ll never learn is to stop developing and building directly on the shore.  Yes, it’s a wonderful location and whoever can afford it obviously wants to live there, but it’s gonna be more and more costly to rebuild and it’s also not fair that taxpayers’ money is used to help these people and communities repeat the same mistakes of the past.

At any rate, some incredible before/after pictures of the devastation:

Click here for more.

Someone Like You

We lost power Saturday night because of Hurricane Irene, so we had no TV or anything, but Adele’s performance is a must see:

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music, Adele

“Tax us more, please.”

Who would ever expect to hear a statement like that, especially when uttered by the rich?!

From BBC:

Sixteen executives, including Europe's richest woman, the L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, offered in an open letter to pay a "special contribution" in a spirit of "solidarity".

Later the government is due to announce tighter fiscal measures as it seeks to reassure markets and curb the deficit.

They are expected to include a special tax on the super-rich.

Before the announcement, expected on Wednesday evening, a letter appeared on the website of the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur.

It was signed by some of France's most high-profile chief executives, including Christophe de Margerie of oil firm Total, Frederic Oudea of bank Societe Generale, and Air France's Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

They said: "We, the presidents and leaders of industry, businessmen and women, bankers and wealthy citizens would like the richest people to have to pay a 'special contribution'."

They said they had benefited from the French system and that: "When the public finances deficit and the prospects of a worsening state debt threaten the future of France and Europe and when the government is asking everybody for solidarity, it seems necessary for us to contribute."

Astounding.

Now compare that to the threat made by the Republicans to bring down the American (and world) economy if even a small increase in the tax rate of the rich was considered a few weeks ago, which resulted in the downgrade of the US’ credit rating by one of the 3 main agencies.

9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 Memorial is getting ready for its close up:

From Towleroad.

Perry matches Jackson

Katy Perry made history by matching the record held by Michael Jackson of having 5 singles from the same album reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:

Katy Perry becomes the first woman, and second artist overall following Michael Jackson, in the 53-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to send five songs from an album to No. 1, as "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" becomes the fifth chart leader from her Capitol Records set "Teenage Dream."

The historic Hot 100 coronation follows the album's prior No. 1s "California Gurls" (featuring Snoop Dogg), the lead single from "Teenage Dream,"; the title cut; "Firework"; and, "E.T." (featuring Kanye West).

While Perry is the first woman to achieve the honor, she is the second artist to manage the feat after Jackson. The late King of Pop sent five songs to No. 1 on the Hot 100 from "Bad" in 1987-88: "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (with Siedah Garrett); the title track; "The Way You Make Me Feel"; "Man in the Mirror"; and, "Dirty Diana."

Jackson notched his quintet of No. 1s from "Bad" over nine months and two weeks. Perry's five toppers from "Dream" spans one year, two months and one week, dating to the first week at No. 1 for "Gurls" on the Hot 100 dated June 19, 2010.

While Jackson earned the achievement more quickly, Perry has spent more time atop the Hot 100 in each artist's respective commanding stretch: Jackson's five No. 1s from "Bad" totaled a combined seven weeks in charge. With the first week on top for "Friday," Perry is up to 18 total weeks at No. 1 with her No. 1s from "Dream."

Perry's streak of five Hot 100 No. 1 singles promoted to radio is the most by a lead artist since Mariah Carey scored a similar run in 1990-91. Whitney Houston holds the chart record with seven consecutive leaders in 1985-88.

Additionally highlighting Perry's stretch of dominance, she has inhabited the Hot 100's top 10 for an unprecedented 66 consecutive weeks, dating to the arrival of "Gurls." Perry shattered the prior mark of 48 straight frames in the top 10, set by Ace of Base in 1993-94.

While not a huge Katy Perry fan, I do enjoy her music and promptly congratulate her on her achievement, especially considering the fact that a piece I read some time ago (sorry, I can’t find it anymore) mentioned the stark difference in how songs are tracked nowadays compared to when Jackson’s Bad dominated the charts in the late 80s.

Basically it said that back then a label could better control how much airplay a single would get, quickly moving on to the next one once the #1 position was reached, making its tracking and tallying a lot shadier than it is with today’s rules, which makes Perry’s achievement that much more impressive.

One annoying tidbit: I read that Perry’s label, after matching Jackson’s record, is not so sure it wants to attempt to break it by releasing a sixth single from her album.  What the reasoning behind such a decision would be is beyond me.  Are they afraid the people in the music industry would be upset that the late King of Pop is bested??  By a woman (GASP!!) on top of that?

At any rate, a commendable achievement.  Go Katy!!

A Quote By

Historian Bruce Bartlett, a former domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan, on the GOP’s handling of the national debt increase negotiations, which almost resulted into the first ever US government default, which would have had catastrophic effects on the US and world economies:

“I think a good chunk of the Republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards, who are desperately afraid of the tea party people, and rightly so.”