Joss VS "Empire"

I was checking out moviepilot.com and saw a headline that immediately grabbed my attention.  "Joss Whedon has a problem with 'the Empire Strikes Back'" Just shouted click me click me!  So I did.  Turns out the author of the piece, Alisha Grauso was informing us that there is a 10 page interview with Joss Whedon in this week's EW (entertainment Weekly) and Joss says he has a problem with the fact that most people pick "Empire" as the best of the Original Trilogy.

Why, you might ask?  Apparently because Joss feels the film is incomplete.  It is incomplete because it doesn't really end.  Says Joss," 'Empire’ committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending. Which at the time I was appalled by and I still think it was a terrible idea."  

Joss elaborates: "Well, it’s not an ending. It’s a Come Back Next Week, or in three years. And that upsets me. I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn’t end I’ll go to a French movie. That’s a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself, it can’t just build off the first one or play variations."

Do I agree with Joss?  I do agree that it did not have a concise, definitive ending.  I was/am not appalled by it nor do I consider it a betrayal of trust.  I understand that Joss was being hyperbolic as he is prone to do.  

I do not agree that it needed to be complete and within itself because it was designed to be a part of what was to come.  I understand that Episode IV can stand alone but it truly and honestly isn't complete, the destroying of the death star is not the end of the story, the end of VI was when the Sith were destroyed and balance was restored to the universe.

It is a "come back next week or in three years" but it was designed to be.  Lucas was heavily influenced by the serial style story telling and intended the Star Wars films to be chapters in a larger story.  I think that the "cliff hanger" ending to "Empire" was compelling and I was ok with waiting for "Jedi" to conclude the story.

i'm first in line forever and always to throw stones at Lucas, figuratively speaking of course.  In general I don't disagree with Joss but in this case I think I am going to have to.  There is no flag on this play Joss.  I respect you and your opinions and I see where you are coming from but I just don't feel that it is a fair critique in this case.

If you want to check out more work by Alisha just click on this link and away you go:  http://moviepilot.com/Alisha

Gathr Film Series

Are you looking for the best in indie films?  Would you like to see them before places like New York or LA?  Lucky for you there is the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Hills.  There is a new film screened every week.  You can buy either a 1 month or 3 month subscription.  The 1 month will cost you $19 (less than $5 per film) and the 3 month will cost you $49 (a little more than $4 per film).

They did a great job remodeling the theater so not only will you see cool new indie films but you will see them in style!  Check out the web site for more info:  http://gathr.us/series/bloomfield-previews.

Also, you can check http://filmobsession.com/ for free passes!  I recently saw "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" via Film Obsession at the Maple for the Gathr series and I saw a very good film and had a great time doing it, win/win!!!!!

The Trials of Muhammad Ali – A Film Review by Mike D

The Trials of Muhammad Ali – A Film Review by Mike D

Greatness is not easy.  Greatness is tested and greatness must persevere.  In this case we are talking about the “greatest of all time,” Muhammad Ali.  With The Trials of Muhammad Ali, documentary film maker Bill Siegel delivers a heavyweight look into the literal and figurative trials that helped define Ali’s life and career.

Siegel eases us into the story by showing us 18 year old Cassius Marcellus Clay winning the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.  Through clips of interviews with Clay himself and his family we see he was a good young man who loved to box.  Clay would turn pro and set his sights on becoming the heavyweight champion of the world.

In 1964, Clay accomplished his goal.  Clay had been courted by the Nation of Islam (NOI) for a few years but had not been granted membership.  Clay had met Malcom X (in Detroit) and was also inspired by the song “A White Man’s Heaven is a Black Man’s Hell” by Louis Farrakhan.  He became increasingly enthralled with the NOI’s message of segregation and the importance of ending the white man’s power over the black man. 

Why did the Nation’s message take such a hold of the young Clay?  The movie doesn’t really address it and that is a shame because it would be fascinating to know.  Not providing that info did not diminish the quality of the narrative but the inclusion of it would only have made it better.  The movie made it quite clear though that neither Clay’s parents nor the members of his management team (11 white businessmen from his home town of Louisville) had the champ’s ear any longer.

Clay was officially admitted into the NOI and initially had his name initially changed to Cassius X.  Soon after that the leader of the NOI, Elijah Muhammad announced that Clay’s new name would be Muhammad Ali.  This is when his first trial would begin, his trial of public opinion.

His name change really riled up a lot of feathers.  Many reporters and announcers didn’t use his new name and some outright refused to call him Muhammad Ali.  Ali made it worse by adopting a “white man is the devil” approach.  There is a powerful clip of Ali appearing on the David Frost Show and calling Frost the devil to his face. 

There were a lot of clips of former NOI members talking about their memories of Ali and their role in his life.  The documentary gives the impression that although Ali did believe in what he was doing, he sure seemed like he was being led by the NOI and that they were using him, being such a public figure, to promote their agenda.

The fact is, this first trial of his, the trial in the court of public opinion will go on for as long as he is alive, probably even after.  He evoked such strong emotions and opinions from people, both for and against, that it will be a topic discussed for years to come.  The fact is though, the man changed his name so who among us has the right to tell the man no?  You may not like his in your face style but at the end of the day, isn’t it up to him what he wants to be called?

In 1966 Ali’s second trial began, this one literal.  Ali was drafted into the U.S. Army to fight in the Vietnam War.  Ali refused to go, claiming “no Vietcong ever called me nigger.”  Ali, through interviews stated clearly he would not fight in the “white man’s war.” 

He requested to be considered a conscientious objector, claiming that the Qur’an prohibits a Muslim from fighting in a war that is not declared by Allah.  The court felt that he was objecting to the war based on racial grounds and not religious and therefore denied his request and ordered him to report for service.  He refused and was sentenced to 5 years in Jail and a $10,000 fine.  Coincidentally, this would have been the same punishment served as his spiritual mentor Elijah Muhammad.  Ali’s case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

This trial really infuriated people.  Jackie Robinson said,” He made American money but he won’t fight for America?”  Boxing legend Joe Louis said,” He doesn’t deserve the honor to be called champion.”  Ali was not only stripped of his title but his boxing licenses were revoked. 

Ali goes on the lecture circuit where he really refines his public speaking ability. He always had a natural charisma and larger than life personality but the movie seems to indicate that this is where he polished those skills and is where he really learned how to truly captivate people with not only what he said but HOW he said it.

One of the things this film does really well, which is very important for documentaries, is that it presents the information to you and allows you to formulate your own opinion.  The truth is that this film does leave a little on the plate so to speak, it leaves you wanting to know more.  You have to remind yourself that this is NOT a full biopic on Ali, merely a focus on his trials.

The fact is, as Ali’s daughter Hana put it, Muhammad Ali should be considered the 8^th Wonder of the World.  He is larger than life and in fact his legacy will live much many generations past him.  There is no way any film could satiate on such a hearty subject but for the narrow focus of The Trials of Muhammad Ali, Bill Siegel delivers a complete gem.

I would give this film 4 out of 5 stars.  It entertains, educates and promotes discussion, everything you could ask for in a documentary.

You can check out a shnazzier version of this review, along with other reviews, give-a-ways and free movie passes at http://filmobsession.com/movie/review-the-trials-of-muhammad-ali/.

Who should play Wonder Woman?

Screenrant.com did a piece on who could/should play the iconic role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming (2017) Justice League movie.  I'm going to share my thoughts on their strongest choices and then offer one of my own. The thing about Wonder Woman is that she is intelligent, strong and beautiful so clearly an actress would have to be all three things as well.

Their List:
1)  Morena Baccarin who is known for her role as Inara the companion from Firefly.  There she excelled at displaying exotic beauty and intelligence and was a strong female character.  She is also quite beautiful and strong in her current role on the hugely successful Homeland.  She is a very good choice and has many positive qualities that she would bring to the character but I think the biggest drawback is that she is not so physically imposing and I am not sure how believable she would be as a butt kicking super hero.  Also, she might be too big of a name and people might see too much of her and not enough of Wonder Woman.

2) Gina Carano who is a former MMA fighter and american Gladiator turned actress.  She is physically imposing and a legitimate butt kicker.  She is smoking hot and looks like a believable Amazon.  Her acting leaves a little something to be desired though.  She was adequate in the 2011 film Haywire where she played an assassin.  Her delivery of lines was very monotone and dry and I question whether she could show enough emotional vulnerability that comes along with Wonder Woman as well.  Out of all the candidates she physically is the most believable Wonder Woman but her limited acting skills I think are a bit too limited.  I really hope she doesn't read this because she would kick my ass in no time flat.

3)  Jaimie alexander who played Lady Sif in Thor and will reprise that role in the upcoming sequel Thor: The Dark World.  She plays a warrior and did a great job in the first Thor film.  She is a close friend of Thor and gets instant credibility by being able to fight side by side with him.  From what I hear she will have an even bigger role in the sequel.  The problem here is that she is already associated with being another super hero and that might hinder the audiences ability to take her seriously as Wonder Woman.  Ryan Renolds struggled with the transition from Deadpool to Green Lantern.  There was even concern about Chris Evans playing Captain America since he had already played the Human Torch Johnny Storm.  Obviously it worked out well for Evans but it took Joss Whedon's writing and a great ensemble cast to solidify that.  His first role as Cap in Captain America: The First Avenger was rough.

They have 4 more candidates but you can check out the link at the end of the post to see the rest of their options.  I would like to share my choice for you now.

Drum roll please, my choice to play Wonder Woman in the upcoming Justice League movie and/or TV show if they can ever get their act together is..................Olivia Munn!  Yes, you read correctly, the current co-star of HBO's The Newsroom is my choice to play Wonder Woman.  She has the exotic beauty, she has shoulder length jet black hair and could easily grow it out to play the iconic hero and she has an amazing body and would look absolutely phenomenal in the costume.  From her time on Attack of the Show and The Daily Show we see she has the intelligence and the humor to bring to the role.  She has enough geek cred where the audience would totally accept her as Wonder Woman but she isn't so well known that she would over shadow the character.

As Sloan Sabbith on The Newsroom she shows us that she can be a physically imposing presence and psychologically intimidate people as well.  Conversely she also displays a completely credible emotionally vulnerable side which is a part of Wonder Woman as well.  The show is 10 episodes per season and are all shot at once so I'm sure she could be available for shooting a Wonder Woman project.

Well, what do you think of my choice?  do you think one of Screen Rant's choices are better?  Do you have a choice of your own that you think would be best?  Please leave a comment to let me know.

You can check out Screen Rant's other choices here: http://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-movie-actresses-justice-league/.

(Wishing I were) Oblivious to Oblivion

I just watched the movie Oblivion starring Tom Cruise and it was just plain awful.  It is strange because the movie actually has a lot of elements that should have made it a very enjoyable post-apocalyptic sci-fi film but it just fell flat.  I was actively rooting for the film to be over and when it indeed was over I felt a sense of relief.  Not relief as in plot resolution rather relief from the fact that I no longer had to watch it.

The main problem with the film was the first hour.  There was wayyyyyyyyyyy too much exposition, minimum half an hour too much of it.  Also the film just didn't give us much besides Tom Cruise flying around in a really cool ship and coming home to a stepford-esque mission partner.  I was bored to tears.  Did it help that I was coming down from a really nice wine buzz?  No.  Did it create the problem?  No.  The director Joseph Kosinski is at fault for dragging out the film for so long that by the time the real action kicked in and the significant plot points were revealed I just simply didn't care anymore.  This is no surprise as Koinski's most notable work pryor to this was Tron: Legacy which also was weak in plot and in general all sizzle and no steak.

Normally the eye candy can help in a situation like this but not even a naked Andrea Riseborough swimming in a clear pool helped all that much.  I was looking forward to Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) but she added absolutely nothing to the film and didn't even come close to saving it for me.  At least Andrea got naked and made some effort!

And Seriosly Kosinski, how are you going to have the King Slayer himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister from HBO's Game of Thrones) and have him have such an insignificant part.  Use your resources man, you had Morgan Freeman for crying out loud and you turned him into a cheap Morpheus rip off.  I seriously though he was going to offer Tom Cruise's character a choice between a red and blue pill at any moment.

On a scale from 1 to five with 1 being catch it on cable and 5 being full price in the theaters, I give it 1.5/5 stars and that is only on the condition that you skip the first 45 minutes and catch up from there.  That's why I wish I would have been oblivious to Oblivion.

AMC Theaters: Doing It Right!

AMC Theaters aren't just good, they are good for you.  Especially if you have a special needs child. AMC has a wonderful program called Sensory Friendly Films where kids are encouraged to get up and dance,walk, shout or sing!  This program is run in conjunction with the Autism Society of America.

The program provides a special opportunity for families to enjoy their favorite films in a safe and accepting environment. The auditoriums dedicated to the program have their lights up, the sound turned down so the children and their families are free to enjoy the movie as they want/need to.  

This is a nationwide program and we are fortunate to have three participating theaters in the Metro Detroit Area:  The AMC Forum 30, AMC Gratiot 21 and the AMC Livonia 20.

The program run approximately once a month.  The next showing is The Smurfs 2.  According to AMC's web site, all showings are at 10a.m. local time.  For more information on this program, please go to http://www.amctheatres.com/programs/sensory-friendly-films.

There are many choices for going to the movies but I think this is a pretty good reason to give AMC Theaters a shot, especially if you have not already.

Sunday evening programming musings on a Monday afternoon

So I am heading into my viewing of Sunday night shows and just wanted to share my feelings with you on what I am about to watch.  this isn't a recap, just expression.  I'm going to talk about each show in order of interest, from lowest to highest.

Falling Skies.  The season is almost over and I have had a difficult time getting excited about this show this season.  It feels very disjointed to me and it is dragging on a bit.  It has entered shit or get off the pot territory.  The truth is I enjoyed last week's flash back/alternate reality/alien torture thing they did with Tom Mason but it was really strange.  as a stand alone episode it would have been great but with a 10 episode season to dedicate a whole episode pretty much to that is excessive and slows the development of the plot.  Bad guys want to know where you are attacking, got it.  He hasn't gone back to lead the "new America," they have done nothing with finding out who the other spy is, even though we already know it is Lourdes (and how they haven't figured out it is her is beyond me) and Anne and the baby are still missing (I know they were discovered at the end of last week's episode but by then I almost didn't care anymore).  I'm not saying the show has jumped the shark or anything, I just don't know how much more it has in the tank.  I kind of hope they defeat the aliens once and for all and the show shifts its focus to people rebuilding societies.

Continuum.  I'm guessing most of you reading this have either not heard of this show or don't watch it.  It is Canadian Science Fiction and airs on the Showcase channel.  It is about a law keeper who travels back from the future (2077) to present time in order to catch terrorists who have been convicted and sentenced to death but escape to change the past.  The  truth is I only started watching it because it stars Rachel Nichols (the green roommate who was hooking up with Kirk in Star Trek 2009 and Scarlett from G.I. Joe: Rise of COBRA).  she is one of my main celebrity crushes so even though it is not that great of a show, it has one of my main squeezes and although it is cheesy and Canadian, it is still Science Fiction.

Copper.  You can check out more info on the show here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_(TV_series).  The show caught my attention first because it is on BBC America and I LOVE BBC America.  It also sounded pretty interesting, a show about police work well before modern technology.  Also the dealing with the racial issues from the time is quite fascinating since black people were free in the north but were still not accepted by many as equals.  There is a black doctor of medicine on the show who despite his status as an educated healer, is still sometimes treated as a lower class citizen by people who are beneath him!

Season 1 focused on Detective Corcoran finding out what happened to his wife (had an affair and crazy) and child (dead).  Now it is more just focusing on their attempts to clean up the Five Points, one of the worst and toughest places in all of New York.  Last week's episode kicked it up a notch when we find out that Corcoran's former best friend and fellow detective who he thought had become a murdering villain was really working undercover and they will have to work together once again.  This should be good news but his former friend, Francis Maguire is the one who cheated with Corcoran's wife while he was away fighting in the Civil War.

True Blood.  I like what they are doing on the show.  I like how they are developing Warlow and Sookie's relationship.  I like how they are showing that the humans can have the upper hand on the vampires.  I love everything they do with Jason Stackhouse.  I'm curious what is going to happen though now that Billith killed the Governor and seemingly averted the mass vampire murder he had a vision of previously.  I thought that would last the whole season, I thought wrong.  I really like how they are showing that vampires can be more human than humans can.  The scene with Jessica and the other vampire in the copulation study chamber showed that.  Mrs. Newlan orchestrated Jessica being in there to punish Jason.  The vampire they put in with Jessica refused to have sex with Jessica because he could see she didn't want to and he would not rape her.  It is hard for me to watch it a little bit, these scenes in the vampire prison camps because they remind me very much of the Nazi camps and how their scientists treated Jews as specimens with little to no regard for them.  I love how Eric and Pam didn't fight and kicked some ass together.  They are giving Andy some really tender moments with his remaining daughter.  The scene where she asks for a name and he gives her one was touching.  It started off as schtick with all of the fairy daughters but now that there is only one it is getting more emotionally real.  Very much looking forward to seeing where this season is going.

Dexter.  This show is getting deep.  We are really getting to the core of who Dexter is and what we can expect for his future.  For one of the few times on the show last week Dexter got outsmarted by another killer.  The other psychopath showed he was someone at least on Dexter's level and got the jump on him.  We got to see that even though Dr. Vogel, the one who helped create him, keeps trying to keep him boxed in as a garden variety psychopath but Dexer continues to prove he truly is unique.  Dexter couldn't understand how the other killer could use his father as cover and leave him without a second thought because Dexter is so close with Deb and couldn't imagine ever doing that to her, that is BEFORE she tried to kill the both of them by driving the car into a lake.  It's fascinating how Harry killed himself because of his role in creating Dexter and it seems Deb is heading down that road also, except she might be willing to go the extra mile, to go where their dad couldn't and actually try and put Dexter down.  vogel is playing games but Deb is distressed.

I don't know why they continue to make Angel a douche bag but as long as Quinn keeps screwing his sister Jamie and we get to see her naked and going at him like a bunny on speed, I'm good.  still not sure if Quinn and Deb are going to be romantic or not but it is nice that they each have someone to watch their backs.  Even in its 8th season this show is keeping me guessing and I am enjoying the hell of this final season.

The Newsroom.  I would call this Aaron Sorkin's masterpiece but I honestly think that every time he creates a new show.  This show is one of the best shows on television, period.  The writing is top level, the characters are compelling and the story lines come right of reality.  I have watched the first two episodes of the second (and current) season multiple times and I can't wait to finish this post and start watching.

It is really great to see Don BEING a good guy instead of everyone talking about how good of a guy he is.  The way he handled the situation with Maggie was classy.  The way he handled the Troy Davis story in last week's episode was compelling.  I like the fact that Sorkin kept Don in as one of the main characters and we are already seeing why.

I also really like how he set up the long game in the first episode of the season which starts about 14 months or so after the events of season one.  There is a black Op called Genoa that apparently ACN reports on and might not be accurate about.  We see a few of the characters getting interviewed by a lawyer and it gets us off to the races.  Maggie enters the room with short, orange/red hair and looking hideous.  Will explains that something happened in Africa and the lawyer would sit in a room and cry if it had happened to her.

So we learn that one of the main story lines will be the Genoa story.  We know that Maggie goes to Africa and some shit goes down.  We learn that Occupy Wall Street will be a major story as well (one that Neal chases).

Even though there have only been 2 episodes, Sorkin already has established that he will continue with his patented back and forth story telling. It can be a little off-putting at first but once you calibrate you will be fine.

There is as much focus on relationships as ever and boy are they fun!  Everything from the simple yet fun interactions between Sloan and Charlie to the complex and difficult between Mckenzie and Will.  will is softening up though and is much kinder to her this season.  He isn't ready to forgive and forget yet but we are really seeing a more human side to Will and that is letting him get closer to her.  Maggie and Don are done and Maggie wants things to go back to normal with Jim but Jim didn't like normal.  Lisa finds out about the Sex and the City bus incident and now Jim and Lisa are done and Lisa and Maggie are simply roommates.

Jim has gone on the road with Romney to get away from Maggie and Maggie is consequently looking to go to Africa to get away as well, even though it is clearly her damned fault.  There is a new character, Hallie (played by Meryl Streep's daughter) who is on the road with Jim and passive/aggressively shows interest in him, or at least in what is going on with his life.  She is much more his type than Maggie so we are rooting for her.  sloan befriends Maggie and that is nice to see but once sloan and don start dating we'll see how long that friendship lasts.

Finally, Sorkin's use of music continues to be perfectly on point.  sorkin seriously is a genius when it comes to A)picking really good music and B) really good music that tells the story about what is going on with the characters.

Who is this source for Genoa?  Will Will recover from the beat down he has taken?  will neal get his story?  Will jim hook up with Hallie?  Will Don and Sloan get together?  What the f*&k happens to Maggie in Africa?

I'm about to go find out now!

--Mike D