Justin Kelly (King Cobra) goes for broke in the second feature film of his career, leading an ensemble cast that includes current A-listers James Franco (127 Hours, Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Emma Roberts (Celeste and Jesse Forever, We’re the Millers) as well as the always underrated Zachary Quinto (Margin Call, Star Trek) and veteran Daryl Hannah (Wall Street, Splash) with a controversial true story that is very near and dear to me personally as a person who identifies himself as a Christian and also someone who is completely okay with homosexuality, despite what The Bible and fundamental Christians feel about it. I am unwilling to get into a debate about my personal beliefs, but I have no problem sharing them with those who are willing to listen and want to hear my thoughts on this. In fact, this post could be as far removed from an actual movie as you might find on my blog. Of course, I will discuss the movie plenty, but I am also using this as an avenue to express my beliefs on a subject matter that I feel very strongly about. Even you’re willing to listen, awesome. If you aren’t, I’ll say move on from this post and read the review on Roger Ebert’s website instead to determine if this movie is for you.
Continue reading I Am Michael (2017)
Category Archives: Zachary Quinto
Snowden (2016)
I did not see 2015’s Citzenfour documentary about Edward Snowden. Had I, I might not have appreciated Oliver Stone’s (Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July) biopic as much as I did. I think part of the reason I was such a big fan of Snowden was that I knew very little about it before my viewing. Sure I knew of Wikileaks and learned a lot from the news, but I didn’t pay. Snowden went from your everyday no name to one of the most controversial figures of this century. Now, if you think this movie will be completely neutral, you don’t know Oliver Stone very well. Heck, this was the same man who directed JFK. His approach has always been very anti-government, and with Snowden, it’s no different. While I haven’t loved all of his movies (Nixon, W., Alexander, Savages, even JFK wasn’t really my thing), there are certainly more than I do like. Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July are incredibly amazing, while other movies such as Natural Born Killers and Wall Street were revolutionary. Snowden might be my third favorite. Snowden was definitely softer in tone and, maybe even the scope, but was, by no means, less controversial. I don’t have a lot of complaints about the movie itself. Some people said it was too long. I did not feel that way. My only problem with it is that it didn’t make Ed Snowden as controversial as he was. Instead, it made it seem that whistleblowing on his country was the right and noble thing to do. For some, maybe most, it may have been. But what we weren’t really shown was the “other side” of the story. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable film that gave a great backstory for why he did the things he did.
Continue reading Snowden (2016)