I was excited when I saw a blurb earlier this year about In The Heart of the Sea coming to the big screen in 2015. I’ve stated numerous times that Nathaniel Philbrick’s novel of the same name is the most descriptive book I’ve ever read. But Philbrick’s In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex had a way to make me feel I was actually in the book. I read this book on a whim, probably seven or eight years ago, and was utterly engrossed. I didn’t understand the place of this movie in the context of historical literature. I learned that it was set to be released in 2015, directed by Ron Howard (Apollo 13), and starring Chris Hemsworth (Thor, Rush), which got me even more excited. Finally, I learned that this would have a December release. Unfortunately, it has failed to meet its critics’ expectations and has been squashed. Still, In The Heart of the Sea was my most anticipated movie of the year. This movie met all of my expectations and then some. It was exactly like the novel, and I gave it a solid A. However, I could envision a scenario where this movie might not be as enjoyable as it was for me.
Continue reading In The Heart of the Sea (2015)
Category Archives: Based on a True Story
Spotlight (2015)
There are several ways to begin the review for Spotlight. Let’s talk about the cast (quite the ensemble cast of the year). I could talk about the hypocrisy that is organized religion. I will mention both of these in this post. However, I will begin with the old-fashioned newspaper reporting that was once our primary source of reliable news. In many ways, it is unfortunate that newspapers are no longer what they used to be, nor will they ever be again. With the invention of the Internet, it was only a matter of time before most newspapers folded, while others had to majorly trim their staff, editions, and the number of pages produced with each issue. Where will The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and The New York Times be in 20 years? Well, if the changes in the previous 20 years are any indication, these newspapers will not even be around in 20 years. If they are, they might be entirely electronically based. There will still be a place for prominent metropolitan newspapers, but it will not be in the print variety. There are still things that interest me in the Washington, D.C. area that can only be fully addressed in a publication like The Washington Post. Still, I haven’t purchased a physical newspaper in over a decade and only read one if I happen to see it sitting at a bar while eating dinner, in the school library, or elsewhere.
Suffragette (2015)
I’m not sure how Sarah Gavron’s (Village At The End Of The World, Brick Lane) Suffragette could have been a film that I truly enjoyed. I’m not the biggest fan of British historical dramas, and this was not a movie I went to see for enjoyment. It was a film I went to see because I always try to see every movie that could receive a nomination for a Best Six Academy Award. It’s unlikely that this film will receive any recognition, but it generated some buzz before its release. In any regard, I knew this would be a movie I would end up seeing. Is it a bad movie? Not at all. It’s actually a very educational movie that has some above-average acting performances. However, unfortunately, it was very predictable (which I had expected) and not nearly as riveting as it could have been (also something I had expected). Also, if you are hoping to experience the annual Meryl Streep (Doubt, The Devil Wears Prada) Oscar nomination, this isn’t it. She has only one scene and appears on screen for less than two minutes.
The Railway Man (2014)
The biggest flop of 2014? Possibly. Jonathan Teplitzky’s (Burning Man, television’s Broadchurch) grossed under $5 million in the theaters but cost $18 million to make. This movie should have been great. But then again, so should have been Unbroken, the underwhelming Angelina Jolie vehicle that showcased the 47-day survival of two men living on a raft after their plane was shot down during World War II, only to be held in a prisoner of war camp. This movie did just fine at the box office (doubling its budget costs), but it still did not come close to expectations. The Railway Man had fewer expectations than Unbroken, but it did have a better cast and weaker competition at the time of its release. A 66% on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t bad, but usually, you want to see a slightly higher (at minimum) rating for a true story-based historical drama. I am uncertain of why I watched this film. I had convinced myself I was not going to. However, it appeared on my Showtime OnDemand list one day when I was searching for a movie to watch and decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. It is certainly not a great movie, but it is better than expected. It is a much more complete film than Unbroken.
Steve Jobs (2015)
The much-anticipated Steve Jobs exists so much as a single entity that we may forget that the 2013 Ashton Kutcher Jobs movie ever existed. Steve Jobs has been a much bigger hit with critics (85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes versus 27% rotten) and audiences (the 2015 movie earned more than half of what the 2013 movie grossed in its first week alone). While neither Kutcher nor Michael Fassbender (Shame, 12 Years a Slave) looks anything like the actual former CEO of Apple, Fassbender is a much more credible dramatic actor than Kutcher ever will be. That is reason enough to give Steve Jobs the nod over Jobs if you debate which one to watch. This review will not compare the two movies, as I have not seen Kutcher’s Jobs and do not plan to do so. For whatever reason, I wasn’t looking forward to the Fassbender vehicle as I thought I would have been, and it turns out that trepidation was justified. Steve Jobs was a decent movie that I can only recommend with the caveat that, while you might like it, you won’t enjoy it as much as you had hoped.