IN THE HEART OF THE SEA
Moby Dick is in my opinion one of the greatest novels in American literature. I say that not only as a reader but also having taught it in the classroom as a high school literature teacher. This movie recounts the events of the Essex a whaling ship sank by a giant whale and its survivors who were then adrift at sea. This is all told in flashback to Moby Dick author Herman Melville (researching Moby prior to writing it) who is interviewing one of the last survivors, a now middle aged man who was a cabin boy on the doomed ship. Director Ron Howard has a tendency to tell stories in the broadest most general strokes reducing complex people and stories to easy plot points and stereotypes. However, this bracing adventure yarn is fit for this type of direction. Chris Hemsworth (Thor in the current Marvel films) is the most solid and chiseled of action heroes. Only negative part of this otherwise engrossing and interesting tale is the CGI whale which looked completely phony ( compare it to the model whale in the 1956 version of Moby Dick) as well as the greenscreen ocean in general. Still, two hours plus went by like nothing. An interesting scene - Maybe the most genteel declaration of cannibalism I've ever seen in a film. Rather than actually show it, the grown up cabin boy describes in the present day what it involves which actually makes it all the more riveting and tense.
HE NEVER DIED
This is a bad film but one that is highly enjoyable because it is cheesy and laughable but also has a surprisingly good ending. Henry Rollins, who showed more emotion when fronting Black Flag and the Rollins Band, is the most wooden of actors even when breaking out of his usual routine of grunts and shrugs and attempting to show anger. Here he is an immortal being who must take human flesh from time to time to avoid giving into his bloodlust. The plot involves something to do with him finding out he has a daughter and becoming the target of local gangsters (headed by Steven Ogg, Trevor of GTA fame). Low budgeted and looks it. I found the ending which tells who Rollins really is and why he is living this way to be satisfying and the best part of the film. If they ever bring back Mystery Science Theatre 3000, this would be a good movie for them to mock.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
I have never been a fan of Quentin Tarantino. His films are either a complete collection of scenes "borrowed" from other films or hollow, substance free talkathons or a combination of both. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is the latter. Almost three hours in length, the films spends nearly half of its time introducing the characters. Here Kurt Russell transporting fugitive Jennifer Jason Leigh picks up fellow bounty hunter Samuel Jackson and a sheriff (by his own description). A snowstorm forces them to seek shelter in a local resthouse in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Other people also trapped in the resthouse may be criminal associates of Leigh. Dull as much as it is interesting and overly impressed with its own dialogue and set-up (both Tarantino trademarks). Tarantino also borrows from himself as the end reminded me slightly of RESERVOIR DOGS, Tarantino's least objectionable film.
This is a bad film but one that is highly enjoyable because it is cheesy and laughable but also has a surprisingly good ending. Henry Rollins, who showed more emotion when fronting Black Flag and the Rollins Band, is the most wooden of actors even when breaking out of his usual routine of grunts and shrugs and attempting to show anger. Here he is an immortal being who must take human flesh from time to time to avoid giving into his bloodlust. The plot involves something to do with him finding out he has a daughter and becoming the target of local gangsters (headed by Steven Ogg, Trevor of GTA fame). Low budgeted and looks it. I found the ending which tells who Rollins really is and why he is living this way to be satisfying and the best part of the film. If they ever bring back Mystery Science Theatre 3000, this would be a good movie for them to mock.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
I have never been a fan of Quentin Tarantino. His films are either a complete collection of scenes "borrowed" from other films or hollow, substance free talkathons or a combination of both. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is the latter. Almost three hours in length, the films spends nearly half of its time introducing the characters. Here Kurt Russell transporting fugitive Jennifer Jason Leigh picks up fellow bounty hunter Samuel Jackson and a sheriff (by his own description). A snowstorm forces them to seek shelter in a local resthouse in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. Other people also trapped in the resthouse may be criminal associates of Leigh. Dull as much as it is interesting and overly impressed with its own dialogue and set-up (both Tarantino trademarks). Tarantino also borrows from himself as the end reminded me slightly of RESERVOIR DOGS, Tarantino's least objectionable film.
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