Resident Evil: Retribution (+ UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

I don't get the people who trash these movies. What are they expecting? The RE series has never been about superb storytelling, characterization, and acting. It's about style and excitement! And that's what these movies are: High-octane action movies for guys. Especially their inner 14-year olds.
People here spend a lot of time trashing the RE movies, and this movie in particular. Why? It delivers what I've come to expect here. Some awesome action sequences, an interesting (albeit completely nonsensical) storyline, and some really incredible cinematography. What else do you want? I submit that if that's not good enough for you, then you're just watching the wrong kind of movie.
Those who trash the story of Resident Evil: Retribution as "the worst of the lot", or whatever, need to go watch something else. It is what it is. I for one think it is excellent!
I like how the storylines of the movies continue from movie to movie, which each one ending in a cliffhanger. You never know what the next movie will bring! Yeah, the story is complete garbage. But that's what's enjoyable about it! Invite a few friends, have a beer, put your brain firmly in the "off position", and enjoy!
And there's a lot to enjoy here. The awesomeness that is Milla Jovovich cannot be denied. Sure, the character of Alice is weak, and in this movie, she turns into Ripley. But when she's killing zombies with a chain and pistol, it's so awesome I don't care. My brain says, "This sucks." My inner 14-year old says, "THIS IS AWESOME, DUDE!" That's what happens, man. If you want to enjoy it, you just have to surrender to the awesome.
The movie has a lot of interesting ideas. I also like that it took a lot of elements from the RE 4 video game, which I loved. Leon Kennedy is here, and so is Ada Wong. They both certainly look the part, although their characterization is actually STRONGER in the video game than in the movie! Here, they're just generic action heroes, but I'm okay with that.
Another cool element from RE 4 (the game) was the introduction of the Los Plagues (sp?) virus. A lot of people were confused by the zombie nazi's driving jeeps. But in the context of RE 4, this makes more sense. In that game, a small European village was taken over by the Los Plagues virus. It doesn't turn people into zombies exactly - rather it changes their insides to be like bugs and changes their minds. So they still can operate weapons and such. And some of them were clothed in military style uniforms, same as the game and movie. If you haven't played the game, then this doesn't make so much sense. I thought it was a pretty cool tie-in.
Another thing I am really liking about the this movie and also "Afterlife" is the 3D. The 3D in these movies is really well done. Out of all the 3D movies in my collection, those two movies probably have the best 3D of all, and that's really saying something. Again, it just shows how good these movies are when it comes to the cinematography.
So the final verdict? Resident Evil: Retribution is awesome! It is my favorite of all the RE movies so far. Those who say it is "the worst" just don't know what they're talking about. They're watching the wrong type of movie, expecting the wrong things. I watch these movies with only a few expectations: Excellent fight choreography, excellent cinematography, and an interesting story (that I don't expect will make sense). This movie delivers on ALL THREE of those. And it sets things up nicely for RE 6.
So don't listen to the haters. This is not Oscar-worthy material. It doesn't pretend to be. It is a mindless-junk action movie for the mindless-junk action movie lover's soul! And it totally rocks.
Peace!

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Hit & Run (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (Blu-ray)

Not too many movies around that have this kind of exuberance. This moves like a freight train but you might not want to get out of the way.
Here's the scoop. Yul Perkins (writer/director Dax Shepard) is in the witness protection program with Tom Arnold as his protector. His girlfriend Annie Bean (Kristen Bell) has received a once in a lifetime job offer in Los Angeles. Does Yul break cover for the girl he loves, and if he does, what are the consequences?
I found this entirely engaging. The set up is pretty basic, but, as in any good plot, the details are doled out slowly so the picture becomes more subtle and involved as things progress. Yul is a cool character. He is truly trying to turn his life around and his girl Annie is a big part of that. They have some very witty, Tarantino-esque conversations. They feel good together. The other characters are written well also. Brad Cooper, as Alex Dimitri, is a real card. Too many movies write their villains as shallow, and/or stupid tough guys. He's anything but. His dog food scene alone is worth the price of admission. About the weakest link here is Tom Arnold. I like Tom Arnold. He plays a good second banana, but he is simply too inept to be a Federal Marshall. This is a crazy bunch of people with their own back stories, but the way all the factions come together is really cool and unexpected. Yes there's tension but these folks aren't just shooting at each other and threatening each other. They're having these really great conversations. The car chase scenes are directed really well. Car chases are such old news, it's always good to see some that rise above the fray.
This is a way fun movie. It's tense, funny, clever, well acted and well directed. Is it great art? No. But it delivers, in spades, what it sets out to deliver.

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Cloud Atlas (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)

Have you ever felt hammered by a movie? Has it ever taken you days, weeks,
to integrate a movie, in your head and heart? Read on ...
If you see this movie, you'll probably see why some people don't like it. In
fact you may see different reasons for different people. A great movie allows
the individual to bring their own positive interpretation. Cloud Atlas also
allows the individual to bring their own negatives.
My own personal bitterness was "How come my heros always die, but your heros
always live happily ever after?" This hit me hardest as I was walking out of
the theater, but it still galls me to think about it.
You see, its like this: Cloud Atlas goes for power and effect. If they hit
something positive in you, you rave about it. If they hit something negative,
you hurt big time. This movie isn't about entertainment, its about achieving
enough kinetic force to shake you up. Its wrenching. And some people do not
like being shaken like a rag doll. More so, because as people have said,
Cloud Atlas is unlike any other movie ever made.
In a broader sense, I think almost everyone has at least one scene where you
ask yourself "Do I really wanna sit here and watch this?" The whole diversity
thing, not just diversity of people, but diversity of fates, gets close to the
point of overload with Cloud Atlas, and anyone who feels pushed over the redline
will walk out, having better things to do.
Again, its like this: If you can hold the movie at arms length, you're ok, but
if you step inside it, then its really disturbing. And I'm not talking about
the sex and violence either. Its the ideas, plural. There are so many ideas in
this movie, at so many different levels, its like a living fractal. Not ideas
just for the sake of ideas, not ideas just to shake you up, but ideas that
speak to you as a unique individual.
For me, Cloud Atlas is the most disturbing movie since Donnie Darko, although
they are radically different movies. But then again, some of it is funny, and
parts of it are exhilarating too. It has a mix of light and dark, it isn't all
dark. And it isn't "comic relief" either. Somehow, the lighter parts of the
movie are woven directly into the fabric of the story. It works amazingly well.
In technique, Cloud Atlas takes the concept of an ensemble movie, and re-invents
the entire purpose and effect of having an ensemble. And it isn't just in how
the actors are related, and who plays what role. One of the foundations of a
conventional movie is to build an association in our minds, between 1 actor and
the 1 role they play. Cloud Atlas demolishes that foundation and replaces it
with its own unique creation. Its disorienting, to such a degree that you can't
grasp it from other people's words. You have to experience it for yourself to
appreciate the *power* of it.
Cloud Atlas is also a film that has a voice, in particular on the subject of
artificial life. This topic has been around for many decades in science fiction
books and movies. But as technology seems to get closer to actually creating
it, fiction has gotten more sophisticated in how it expresses its message about
artificial life. That message is the most disturbing part of Cloud Atlas for me.
The writers see a storm coming, a new kind of storm that no one has ever seen
before.
I'm not talking about things like the Terminater and SkyNet. Cloud Atlas doesn't
deal with machines, it deals with souls. Sure, Cloud Atlas is fiction. But our
past is not fiction. We have an ugly history of repeating our mistakes. And some
mistakes only become fatal after they've been repeated over and over and over
again.
Regarding the "everyone's connected" philosophy, I thought this works great
as a narrative device, without me feeling (today at least) that I personally
subscribe to that philosophy. I would hope this philosophy doesn't deter
anyone from seeing the movie, because I think they turn it into a positive
thing, even for people who don't agree with it. Its part of how the story
is built, and built very well.
Another area where Cloud Atlas pushes the envelope is in taking all the actors
and doing radical, (sometimes humorous) make-overs to fit them into a character.
This itself has offended some people, because Cloud Atlas doesn't apply any
limitations at all, and it has dozens of makeovers. This is very different than,
for instance, Looper, where the make-up and acting are all focused with
overwhelming skill into changing 1 single person into another single person,
with absolute conviction. In Cloud Atlas, the transformations are beautiful,
striking, uncanny, other-worldly. It becomes another way in which this movie
hammers at you.
If you decide, like me, that Cloud Atlas is indeed a masterpiece, you will
probably have one moment, one scene, which pushes you over the edge and into
the realization that it *is* a masterpiece. Not necessarily the most powerful
scene in the movie, but the scene where the sum of it all finally overloads
your doubts.
For me, that scene was where we first see Doona Bae as Tilda. I've never seen
anything like that in a movie, and it took me about 15 seconds to just begin
to parse what I was seeing. The sheer creativity, the imaginative beauty of
the character, connecting outwards into 2 hours of the vast scope of the movie,
just blew me away. Truly, a masterpiece.

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