Monday, November 9, 2015

American Sniper/San Andreas/Southpaw

Ah the joy of Pay-Per-View and On-Demand movies via cable.  This past weekend I managed to watch a triple-feature composed of the above named movies. One of the reasons I do not venture out to the movies often these days is I have an excellent home theater system and movies tend to appear on cable within 6 months - typically.

American Sniper excited the right-wing here in America like no movie in recent memory. Every right-wing pundit was singing the praises of the film and whart a true American hero the central character of the movie was. I guess they saw a different movie then they did. I saw a strong anti-war movie that clearly demonstrated how devastating war is for the participants and their families. Bradley Cooper gave an outstanding performance as Chris Kyle - the most prolific sniper in  US military history. Clint Eastwood offers a very clear look at the effects of war on participants and their family. I was very familiar with Kyle's story as he was killed in Texas when I lived there. I encourage anyone who has not seen this film to do so. It is excellent. Easily 5-stars out of 5.

San Andreas is what I affectionately call a popcorn flick Just sit back and relax with the beverage of your choice and a big bag of popcorn. Be prepared to have your senses assaulted by this special effects extravaganza. Check belief at the doorway to the kitchen as realism is a foreign concept in this one. This movie captured every known preconception folks have about earthquakes.  I was particularly interested in this movie because I lived on the San Andreas fault for over 30 years that I* lived in California. Jokes about "the big one" were a regular occurrence. Occasionally there was a moderately big one - the last being the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta quake the year the A's  and Giants played each other in the World Series, October 17, 1989.  



The affable star of this movie - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was even born in Hayward - my home base for most of the 30+ years I live ion the Bay Area. Needless to say, The Rock saves his ex-wife and daughter in spite of the odds against him. I rate this one a 4 popcorn bag out of 5 movie. Sit back, relax and enjoy the effects. It's a fun one.

Last up is Southpaw - a boxing movie. I do enjpoy a good boxing movie. The best performance in this movie is by Forrest Whitaker - one of my favorite actors. Jake Gyllenhaal as the "hero" is OK but guilty of overacting and trying too hard to show how good he is at his craft. The story is completely predictable. It is almost saved by the boxing scenes - they are very well done. They rival the original Rocky for their excitement and action.

If you're a fan of boxing films you'll probably enjoy this one. I rate it 2.5 gloves out of 5.   It certainly beat mowing the lawn.


2 comments:

  1. many years ago, when the bad James Bond movie about a laser weapon that activates the San Andreas fault came out, I sat in the basement of a VERY small movie house in Regensburg, and cheered on the laser. Just sign me not a California girl. PS Great reviews.

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  2. I reviewed the Sniper film and have seen the Southpaw. I am not much of a fan for films of the genre of disasters. I am glad that you are now writing about films. Keep them coming.

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