Transcendence

One film I'm really waiting for this year is Interstellar, Christopher Nolan's thought-provoking sci-fi about a wormhole to another universe. What's on the other side?

In the meantime, we can all see Nolan's (executive) producing skills at work in another thought-provoking sci-fi film, Transcendence, which sees the directorial debut of his long-time cinematographer, Wally Pfister.

Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) and his wife, Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) create PINN, a really-advanced supercomputer. Their goal with it is to make it smarter than everyone ever, or as they call it, Transcendence. Nobody, however, bothered to inform them that an anti-technology terrorist organization called RIFT is lurking about. Which makes it easy for a RIFT representative to shoot Will with a radiation bullet.

(What? Were they too good for normal bullets?!)

Now that Will is dying a slow, painful death, Evelyn decides to save him by uploading his consciousness into PINN. Digital Will has Evelyn connect him to the World Wide Web to expand his influence. End result: They take over a small town and attract test-subjects for their healing, individuality-robbing nanobots. It's up to RIFT, of all organizations, and the Casters' former partner, Max (Paul Bettany), to stop them.

This film has a lot of ideas about advancing technology. The only thing I got out of it was, "It's not nice to make people into a hive mind! Even if it is to heal them from things!"

The rest of the ideas are somewhere in a 119 minute film that's dull and overlong. You realize both problems the moment you realize Will was shot with a radiation bullet. A weapon that slowly kills. A real bullet could've saved RIFT, and the audience, a lot of time. Afterwards, things move along so slowly that you'll surely check your clocks more than once.

RIFT also goes from a terrorist organization to the "good guys." Sorry, but they weren't interesting good guys. Or even that good.

Transcendence falls flat in its goal to give its audience some intellectual sci-fi. The only question the audience will get from this is "what?" If anything, this makes me want to see Interstellar even more; expect that review when it comes out in November.

Rio 2

Birds of a feather, blue or lavender, aren't that together.

Since the first trip to Rio was a hit, Fox and Blue Sky Studios booked another one. Rio 2 has a lot of stuff going on, but what does it all mean?

Blue (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hatthaway), established last time as the only Spix's Macaws, aren't alone anymore. They have kids: fun-loving Carla, brainy Bia and adventurous Tiago. News reports come in that they're even less alone. A whole flock of Spix's Macaws exist in the Amazon, and the Birds of Blue Feather fly off to meet whatever family is there.

And the family is huge. There's Jewel's father, Eduardo (Andy Garcia), resident tough-bird Roberto (Bruno Mars) and Jewel's Aunt Mimi (Rita Moreno). They're happy to see Jewel again, but not her "pet" mate.

Meanwhile:

Evil loggers threaten the Macaw Habitat. Jewel and Blu's humans get abducted by the nameless foreman (Miguel Ferrer).

Side-characters Nico, Pedro and Rafael (Jamie Foxx, will.i.Am and George Lopez) host auditions for a talent show.

Nigel the Cockatoo (Jemaine Clement) gathers some new sidekicks to seek revenge on Blu for dispatching him in the last film.

And there's a flock of Scarlet Macaws that hate our Blue-feathered friends.

What's a bird of Blue Feather to do?

As with the first movie, it's a display of nature at its most colorful. The animals look great, especially Nigel's new sidekick, Gabi the Tree Frog. Unlike the first movie, the soundtrack is just average. None of the songs are bad, but none stand out on their own.

Now to the subplots. Team Nigel's subplot acted like background noise for most of the film; but when Nigel threatens to impede Blu in the climax, suddenly he's a threat. The talent show auditions feature a pair of turtles, slow as molasses and funny for it. The loggers, save for the foreman, were typical human villains; the Scarlet Macaws were just extraneous.

The main plot with our Blue-Feathered friends was OK for the most part. Nothing unique. But then we see the loggers advance and we realize how capable Blu is in this crisis, while tough-bird Roberto isn't. That moment got my attention.

Rio 2 should be a decent family outing in either 3D or Flatscreen. It should appeal to kids most of all. It's not the best family film out now, but let's not imagine how this could get worst.

This is another place to catch the Almost Home short, a set-up for this fall's Home.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Welcome to The Grand Budapest Hotel. We hope you never leave ... until the end credits.

Wes Anderson's latest eccentric comedy states it's a tribute to writer Stefan Zweig. Zweig was an Austrian writer best known for his autobiography The World of Yesterday. He also hated Naziism.

(He was a name best known back then than now.)

Anyone more familiar with Zweig can spot the physical similarities with him and the film's nameless Author (Jude Law). He visits the titular establishment in 1968. Once a highlight of the Ruritanian State of Zubrowka, it's now a shadow of its former self. Its aged-owner, Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham), decides to tell the writer of his early days in the hotel.

In 1932, Zero (Tony Revolori) is hired as the Hotel's Lobby Boy by the dandy concierge, M. Gustave H. (Raph Fiennes). Gustave is well-versed in serving the guests, and one of its former guests, Madame D. (Tilda Swinton), is dead. She willed him a painting, Boy with Apple. Her scheming relatives, including son Dmitri (Adrien Brody), don't want Gustave to have it. Coincidentally or not, Gustave is accused of Madame D.'s murder.

It's up to Zero to help Gustave prove himself innocent of murder. All the while, they have to dodge the evil thug Jopling (Willem Dafoe) and the threat of Civil War.

The first thing you'll notice about this feature is its artistic style. Its sets and costumes wonderfully render the 1930's in a wonderfully cartoonish fashion ala Dick Tracy. The film's constantly changing aspect ratio was off-putting at first until I realized it was for each time period. The images captured on-screen, by Robert Yeomen, are incredible.

Anderson's ensemble is made of well-cast actors delightfully hamming it up. Aside from the aforementioned, there's Jeff Goldblum as an honest lawyer, Bill Murray as a fellow concierge, Harvey Keitel as Gustave's cellmate and Edward Norton as an affable Army Inspector. You'll have little trouble laughing along with their antics. Though be warned that it can get really violent at times.

The film's madcap presentation occasionally made it hard to follow a few key story-points. While Anderson made other story points vague, one can easily fill in the blanks to their satisfaction. A few revelations at the end were rather downbeat, so be warned on that too.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is, for the most part, a stylishly-silly comedy. You won't be disappointed if that's what you're looking for. And hopefully, this will be a movie we'll hear about next year.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The patriotic Marvel has returned.

Once again played by Chris Evans, Captain America returns in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Whereas the previous one was a Big Budget Movie Serial directed by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer), this is a modern day spy-thriller directed by the Russo Brothers ... best known for episodes of Community.

And yet it works.

Captain America, the product of World War II, has been adjusting OK to life in modern times. Except for the fact that spy-agency SHIELD has three new Helicarriers (flying Aircraft Carriers) set to launch. What worries Cap' is that the Helicarriers are there to shoot any "threat" from the sky. SHIELD thinks it'll save freedom that way; Cap' disagrees.

SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is soon eliminated by a Spook called The Winter Soldier. A data-drive with sensitive Intel was the motive. Another SHIELD official, Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), wants Cap' to hand it over. That doesn't happen, so Cap' and Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) go on the run. What they find on the drive is a conspiracy dating back to the founding of SHIELD itself.

Naturally, knowledge of the prior Marvel movies is required. But fortunately, the plot brings the uninitiated up-to-speed. It even brings back past plot points, like Garry Shandling's annoying Senator character from Iron Man 2, and shows there's more to them than we thought. Even the Winter Soldier's true identity is a past plot point.

Those expecting super-heroics won't be disappointed. There's plenty of incredible action scenes in the story. Among the highlights include the opening rescue mission, the first attempt on Fury's life and the final battle. Cap' and Black Widow's successful evasion of SHIELD Agents in a shopping mall was both tense and funny.

Returning screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely give the characters much to do. You won't have any problem either liking them or hating them. Cap', Black Widow, and Fury make for a great screen trio. New character Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) is a fun guy even before he gets a superhero ID, The Falcon. And Redford seems reasonable before we see how low he goes. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is among the best solo Marvel movies with Iron Man and Iron Man 3. It's a pre-Summer blockbuster with much to think about. Whether you see it in Flatscreen or 3D, you'll still get the same amazing adventure either way.

As usual, stay tuned through the end credits for two extra scenes. The first one sets up next year's Avengers: Age of Ultron. The other is one last scene for our titular antagonist.

Noah

After years of development, director Darren Aronofsky's take on the Biblical story of Noah has finally set sail.

The basics of the story are the same. God (referred to as "The Creator" in the story) plans to flood the World to get rid of the bad people ruining it. Noah (Russell Crowe) is told by God to build a big Ark to save the world's animals from the storm to come. Storm comes and Noah, his family and the critters ride it out. New World.

Here's a bit of what Aronofsky put in. Fallen Angels called Watchers who've become Giant Rock Monsters. An evil King named Tubal-Cain (Ray Winstone) who stows away on the Ark. And Noah, who's become convinced that not even his family is supposed to live past the Flood.

It's not an easy film to evaluate. It's a good looking film thanks to ILM and cinematographer Matthew Libatique. Its flashbacks to the time of Eden are colorful, while the approaching flood is appropriately scary. Inside the Ark, Tubal-Cain's inconsiderateness is the scariest thing. He eats an animal or two, the last animals on Earth. Whole generations of animals are ruined. The confines of the Ark lends gravity to the situation.

Anyone expecting a "light" Bible story should look elsewhere. The film's 138 minute run-time is seriousness upon seriousness. And it was a bit overwhelming when all was said and done. So much so that if you're greeted upon leaving the theater with an actual rainstorm, as I was, you'd have cause for concern. Or not.

In the end, Noah is about our hero learning that there is good in Man. So the seriousness of it all is a bit warranted. It's only in Flatscreen here, though some countries have a 3D version just for them. Be prepared for how unconventional this take on the story gets.