As you go into your day, think about who are the “Regular Joes” in your life and who could do with a fan, a cheer, a shout of “He Shoots, He Scores!”.

Here is the making of Flash Fans: 2012 Budweiser Official Big Game Commercial

Now that reference to the green ogre is where it ends. This movie stands alone as a backstory to the lovable rogue we have come to know again through Shrek’s introduction. Antonio Banderas returns to voice the feline Casanova and captures the humour and charisma of this sword wielding kitty. The Spanish accent proves they are one up on the French when it comes to the sound of love. This was a true cinema experience where the world fell away and you were able to enjoy a world where cat’s dance, fight and romance while a talking egg can roll your eyes.

The new storyline is ignited by characters like Salma Hayek’s Kitty Softpaws who provides both the love interest and the damsel in distress. Even director Guillermo del Toro makes a cameo as the Commandante. Zach Galifianakis fresh out of Hangover 2 and Due Date gives Humpty Dumpty a fresh approach with some eggcellent vocal talent. OK, I did it once and I apologise. No pun intended it was an eggception! But two of the ‘way out’ characters are how the movie interprets Jack and Jill the nursery rhyme favourites. In this setting Jack and Jill come across as country bumpkin trolls rather than the cute brother and sister who went to fetch a pale of water. The roles are perfectly voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris as they drive their stagecoach tank pulled by seven red-eyed hogs through the dusty sunsets and cow poke trails.

The movie itself has a great storyline which has enough happening to keep the adults guessing and the kids wondering. While we may traditionally know Puss in Boots as an Englishman’s tale of a cat in London this movie works the Spanish angle in order to Americanise the classic with a set that could have been 18th century California or down Mexico way. Along the way the writer allows us to experience betrayal and forgiveness in order to prove what real friendship is all about. We see each of the main characters come to terms with the fact that their past doesn’t define their future and tomorrows choices start with today’s decisions.

Director Chris Miller has moved into the commanders chair well and does a superb job on this production as well as throwing in a few voices like Little Boy Blue. It’s a big move from being a voice over artist however he obviously has learned his craft well since directing of Shrek the Third as this is a step up. The influence of New Zealander Andrew Adamson continues to feature in his capacity as Executive Producer.

This movie was probably the best quality 3D animation I have seen and with a 130 million dollar budget it obviously used all the right toys. Lighting is superb and the use of 3D effects in line with the story creates just the right ride with the occasional roller coaster loop. The clarity of detail in the production was both beautiful and impacting. What you take away when the special effects end though is a story and the characters in Puss in Boots live on for another adventure. From my first Toy Story experience in 1995 to this production we have come a long way in animated story telling and I’m excited where we are heading.

Looking at the movie poster you could be forgiven for thinking we’ve ended up back in the era of the 70s movie making. Remember ‘disaster greats’ like 1974’s Towering Inferno? You look down the cast list and see Newman, Wagner, McQueen, Astaire, Dunaway and even O J Simpson! That was the feel I had for Contagion with a cast list that reads like a red carpet who’s who to includes Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Lawrence Fishburne and Kate Winslet.

Now I’ve got that little retro flashback off my chest let’s look beyond the poster and ask how the ensemble cast measured up under Steven Soderbergh’s direction. The direction of this movie is superb. While taking a ‘real world’ plot and fleshing it out to a world changing event, Soderbergh has woven the credible with the personal. The opening scenes involving Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and their child played by Griffin Kane will challenge anyone not to be connected to the plot and a possible personal outcome when in touch with a virus that infects, spreads, adapts and kills.

The pivot point of the movie is based around Paltrow’s character, a global executive who acts as courier of disaster. Her relationship with Husband Matt Damon is called into question and the links that build a chain to ground zero construct a superb script. The lines of communication between those trying to protect us from imminent annihilation and the man on the street are well drawn. Along the journey we are asked to question our own morality as we look through the eyes of everyone from the academic elite to the solo dad scared his son may die in the wake.

Many of those in the review screening will have not have been lost on the irony of watching a movie concerned with public contact enhancing the danger of the spread of disease while in the a confined movie theatre sharing air-conditioning. The cinema scene from the 1995 hit ‘Outbreak’ sprang to mind as an occasional cough during the screening sent a nervous ripple through the audience.

The conflict in this movie happens at several levels. Health authorities argue about budgets, not lives. A nun volunteers in the face of death while nurses strike waiting for protocols to be delivered. The police chase down looters while the hungry don’t want to touch the food they find for fear of contamination. Add to that a father protecting his daughter from the boyfriend with disease status ‘unknown’ and you have the tension required to be both frustrated and annoyed at our ability to deal with our inability to control this undervalued asset we call ‘life’.

Some may call Contagion a herald of control, others a beacon on the rocks. It’s all about your perspective and you will be asked to question yours. One underlying question movies like this do it ask “What is man capable of?” This movie comes up trumps for walking you out of the cinema with questions to be answered. Ask yourself these questions. “If my child was dying would I fight for their life, their food, a cure?” “If a global outbreak took place would I trust the local government or global authorities?” These are the kind of questions you should be willing to ask and live with after seeing Contagion.

At the end of the evening people left alone, not arm in arm. Hands were in pockets and as I approached the underground carpark an attendee from the movie was holding the door open for others with his hand sheaved in his sleeve. No touching of public door handles for this movie audience.

For the 2011 event one of the key speakers was Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. As the event drew near a petition was formed by some individuals concerned that the CEO of Starbucks shouldn't speak at a church that they believed was anti-gay. Despite discussions with Starbucks to endeavour to work through the issue the perceived impact and threats from the group involved in the petition to boycott Starbucks meant that Schultz had to withdraw. For anyone that has had the privilege of reading his new book 'Onward' you will appreciate the disappointment that must have been felt by the GLS Willowcreek leadership. Yet the calibre of the way they dealt with the issue is found in this video.

Be inspired, go to a GLS, buy a Starbucks coffee and read "Onward"

As a fan of his works in The Truman Show (writer) and The Terminal (writer/director) the New Zealand born Niccol has mesmerised International audiences with his ability to challenge societal values through connected story telling. While Gattaca was his first release it wasn’t his first feature story as The Truman Show took so long to come to production primarily because of sourcing Peter Weir and Jim Carey. His first public release was never the less the Sci-Fi flic Gattaca which took Ethan Hawke and future wife Uma Thurman into the world of genetic engineering with a younger Jude Law. This is definitely worth watching again or maybe for the first time. On a side note watch for a possible remake of this one.

"Hollywood's only allegiance these days is to money. If they think there's cash to be made by making films with a conscience, then you might see a revival of that kind of film-making. Otherwise, forget it." – Andrew Niccol

When you hear quotes like this from Niccol, you have a perspective on what he is trying to achieve and deliver to customers through the Hollywood sausage machines. So if Hollywood has an allegiance to money then what is that value actually mean to you and I? In a not too distant future Niccol suggests through In Time  a world where genetic engineering means you don’t age past 25. Look in the mirror, like what you see? This is what you’re left with for as long as you have credit. And in this environment the credit for every transaction from taxes and loan repayments through to a bus ride are all paid in ‘time’.

Once you kick over your 25^th year like Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) you have a year’s time credit and if you want to keep on living then you need to earn more time anyway possible. Joining Daddy’s role at the factory could be the inheritance you’ve wished for. Hard working blue collar works get 24hrs of credit for a day’s production if they meet every increasing quotas while four ‘time-zones’ away the white collar elite like Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) live on Daddy’s money. A gap year here is talked about as taking a ‘decade’ to party. The economists give way to the ‘Capitalists of Time’ who play on a global scale creating the capitalist environment of haves and have-nots. This sets up a story where the phrase ‘Got a minute’ can have life and death consequences. Walk in Henry Hamilton, a supposed ‘Immortal’ with 1000s of years in credit who doesn’t feel the need to keep living and wanders into the ghetto flitting away time to the those with minutes to spare on a forgettable drink before he gives away his last 100 years to someone who ‘wouldn’t waste it’.

The backdrop of the story is laced with metaphorical nuances that address our values from time for pleasure and work through to possessions and family. All can be bought and earned. From the ghetto life we see the pitch of the “99 second” stores through to the toll gate to riches that can cost you a ‘year’ of time. When the real push of this Robin Hood story approaches its crescendo we’re playing for big bucks and a Million Years of time doesn’t seem enough to change the balance of power. The story is paced by each human’s matrix green time clock running up their forearm. Allegiances are bought and sold and family members can be those we die for or those we live to destroy. Time comes and goes in mere seconds and the ups and downs of a life worth living or acquired through ill-gotten gain keep the characters in a heady momentum.

When the poor become desperate they can approach a time pawn shop as a hope against the ‘Minutemen’; the Swindlers and Thieves willing to pray on those near death. If they succeed the poor are granted relief from this world while those who survive to chase the cheese another day are trying to avoid the Timekeepers. These are Police, the supposed keepers of justice making sure that every man has his day or minute and only as much as he deserves. A challenge thrown through the script is the quote; “For a few to be immortal many must die.”

Be prepared to be disturbed one key aspect of the movie. If we all stop aging at 25 then what would your 60year-old mother-in-law look like? If you’re introduced to a mother and daughter then how do deduce the roles and engagement of a relationship? It brings a whole new game to “whos who in the zoo”. This brings another interesting side discussion to the movie when the cast of mid thirty aged actors are playing 25year-olds on screen. Mad Man, Vincent Kartheiser (32yo) is typical of this decision with a hairline most 25 year-olds would run from. He plays ‘distinguished’ well but some characters were a distraction from the supposed storyline. An aging more rugged Cillian Murphy (35yo) plays the timekeeper Raymond Leon, a man from the ghetto who for seventy five years has ruled the roost, in keeping time. Big Bang Theory’s Johnny Galecki (36yo) plays a mate of Will Salas who pays the consequences of drink and the ripples of time while a more appropriately aged Alex Pettyfer (21yo) brings out the thug side to keep the suffering minions in line. One cast member who steals a scene or two is Shyloh Oostwald. After small roles on House, Criminal Minds and iCarly this young lady may steal a feature movie or two in the future.

A wide supporting cast keep the action moving but this isn’t a vehicle for Timberlake or Seyfried to shine rather they are carried through the story. Maybe this perception speaks to the power of a strong story that doesn’t need a dramatic leading actor. The tone and backdrop of the movie bring a distinctly Detroit feel to the screen reflected in Mad Max style police vehicles and industrial concrete settings. Combine that with some CSI: Miami style sunsets and you constantly feel time like the sun is running out. In Time does Andrew Niccol justice in telling the story but I can’t help feeling it could have been paced better to create more tension that possibly another director may have brought to the script.

So walking away with time on my hands what has In Time done for me. It made me think about my next 23hrs and 59min for 109min and if I keep thinking about it I will value my time against living and family and not possessions.

Justin Time!

Worth 3.5 stars out of 5

Note:

Did this review bring back memories of Logan’s Run then watch for the remake scheduled for 2014 with Ryan Gosling and Rose Burne. Apparently they are dropping the age from 30 in the 1976 movie back to 21 to align with original book. It’s said the original movie was re-scripted to make the story line work for Michael York to be lead actor in the production when he was actually 34 at the time of the movie’s release.

The 2011 release “The Tree of Life” is his written as well directing work and one could assume it brings elements of the director’s personal life journey to the screen. Visually it is a masterpiece from abstract cell to birth transitions and elemental earth and water pieces through to the camera circling contemplative 1950s characters as they absorb their environment. One of the conflicting pictures that typifies the movie is of young 1950s 10-12 year-old boys joyfully playing in a cloud of spray highlighted by the sun’s mid-afternoon rays. As the picture of joy drives past we realise the truck the boys are running after
is spraying the pesticide DDT to kill the mosquitos in the area and our perceptions are challenged.

This 139min epic is no popcorn flick. Be prepared to walk a lifetime in the characters moccasins as they interact in the dance of life and death. The life of ‘Jack’ is a pivot point as a son reflects on his life, his Father’s views on morality, work and death and the longing we all take of looking to our parents for acceptance. The ‘old Jack’ played by Sean Penn is one of longing, reflection and acceptance as he nears his own end of life retrospective.

‘Young Jack’ is also an anchor too for Brad Pitt’s character to foster his own struggles through the eyes of the 50s. Pitt is both believable as well as detestable in the role of the father, Mr O’Brien. He plays the aloof moralistic role well, creating a chasm between himself and his wife and children.

This is where Jessica Chastain bridges a gap in supporting her boys on the merry-go-round of life. Her almost ethereal character seems to dance from tragedy to triumph no matter how large or small. The boys rally around their mother while still reaching out to a distant father. It provides a stereotypical tale that you are drawn into yet feel there is no conclusion that would satisfy.

Ultimately “The Tree of Life” is art rather than entertainment. In many ways you won’t be taken ‘away’ from your life but rather the silverscreen becomes a mirror on your own life and journey to discover the Tree of Life and you walk away asking what are the unresolved relationships that have yet to be pruned.

4 out of 5 for the discerning movie goer.

Don’t take these thoughts for cynicism. This movie delivers and aside from a couple of ‘why did they do that’ moments, it climbs on every level. Kenneth Branagh has surprised many detractors on this project. Could the man who brought us Frankenstein and The Magic Flute as follow-ups to his 1989 hit Henry V deliver a comic book superhero? He does, and he’s brought the right combination of artistry and superhero action to a script that is also able to bring in the nuances of Norse myth lore. Combine that with some great ‘God meets Humanity’ humour points and we’re loving it. The preview audience were vocal in both their laughter and post screening praise.

So what were those ‘why did they do that’ moments? Simply put, the extensive CGi backdrops under 3D conditions took the fantasy meets realism aspect to the extreme. Sadly under 3D conditions many of the Asgardian sets looked plastic and blurred in comparison to the CGi shots that took place on our big blue planet. Some shots seemed to overplay ‘expanse’. When done once to develop a sense of the backdrop to a story its understood but it was played time and time again with horses riding across Bifröst, the rainbow bridge to Asgard looking like a CGi shot from 20 years ago in what overall was a brilliant special effects movie.

Great parts are picked up by actors like Colme Feore as Laufey. Think of this villain as Dr Freeze meets Voldermort. His depth of character in the closeups was incredible. Battling for screen space was the character of Loki. A god of mischief and Thor’s under appreciated younger brother, Tom Hiddleston nailed this character with great presence. Natalie Portman as the love interest Jane Foster shows versatility when combined with her recent role in Black Swan. She delivers the balanced damsel with depth and a vibe that keeps her front and centre to the story while Anthony Hopkins continues his double act of doing the voice over routine combined with King of Asgard, Odin. This keeps the tension of father and son relationships in focus as Thor and Loki fight for affection and acknowledgement from the winner of ‘Dad of the Universe’. Speaking of voice-overs, the role that steals some ‘thunder’ comes from Idris Elba who portrays the gatekeeper of Asgard, Heimdall.

Watch for the cameos we love like Stan the Man Lee and an intro for Hawkeye played by Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) from the upcoming Avengers movie. Clark Gregg renews his Shield Agent role to be a key thread in these Avenger themed movies. 

All in all this THOR gets a FOUR out of five popcorns. From the hammer to the shield to the kick the back out of the monster’s skull moments you’re going to love every minute of this movie. It keeps you cheering for the hero, laughing with some classic lines for both comic and literature buffs and at the end it leaves you wanting THOR!