New in Theaters for February

A lot of movies are premiering in February, but only a few of them interest me. This is why they might be worth watching... or avoiding.

WATCHING

John Wick: Chapter 2 (February 10, 2017) 
Is this sequel necessary? No. Do I want to see it? Yes. If this movie is half as good as the first one that makes it almost worth it. One of the neat things about the first was the world that we only glimpsed. Wick is part of thriving underground assassin world that plays by it's own rules.

The Space Between Us (February 3, 2017) 
The first child born on Mars travels to Earth. I'm a sucker for sci-fi. While this might fall into sci-fi romance territory, it could be a neat look at Earth from a Martian.

Bitter Harvest (February 24, 2017)
Set between the World Wars during a famine engineered by Stalin in the Ukraine, this could be a powerful movie.

Get Out (February 24, 2017)
From Jordan Peele, a young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend's mysterious family estate. This looks like another entry in the self aware horror genre.

AVOIDING

Fifty Shades Darker (February 10, 2017)
This one is self explanatory. A shock novel generated a shock movie, and somehow people want more?

The Great Wall (February 17, 2017)
Matt Damon defends the Great Wall of China. Is Damon right for the lead? It looks like Damon goes to China to save the country.

Patient Zero (February 17, 2017)
After a global pandemic, a man that can speak to the infected tries to track down patient zero for a cure. This feels like it's going to end up being derivative zombie movie in the vein of the great 28 Days Later and lesser World War Z.

Dark Star Movie Review

Dark Star (1974)

Buy Dark Star on Amazon
Written by: John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon (original story and screenplay)
Directed by: John Carpenter
Starring: Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich, Brian Narelle

Rated: G

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
A small crew twenty years into their mission and deep into space suddenly find everything going wrong.

Verdict
This is certainly a budget film, and the production leaves a lot to be desire. While it presents interesting ideas, it can't overcome a movie that becomes comedy due to lack of budget. This isn't far from a couple of guys making a movie in their back yard. The result doesn't match their ambition.
Skip it.

Review
As John Carpenter stated, a "great looking student film" became a "terrible looking feature film" as they padded the film to reach feature length.

The only reason to see this is for a glimpse of Carpenter's early work. Everything is rough and the plot meanders with no clear destination. The 'alien' chase is rather long. The crew is trapped on a ship that is falling apart. If it can go wrong, it has.

This is incredibly low budget. The interesting concepts are completely overshadowed by the production. This includes a beach ball alien. There is no mistaking they attached rubber feet to and painted a beach ball. While it's comedic, I don't think that was their intention at all. Look at what Carpenter did in the future. O'Bannon went on to write Alien. These guys don't do comedy. You could call this dark comedy, but the only overt comedy is the smart bomb that is eager to detonate. Most of the 'comedy' ties back to the low budget.

The ending goes for broke, but with a movie like this, what else can you do? The smart bomb that was earlier talked out of exploding with reference to philosophy, uses that same philosophy to justify exploding. There may also be a space surfing scene.

This was Carpenter and O'Bannon's first movie, a student film. It shows, but you have to start somewhere. O'Bannon used this script as the basis for  writing Alien (1979). Carpenter went on to do Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) next, followed later by Halloween (1978), Escape from New York (1981), and The Thing (1982).

Journey to Greenland Netflix Movie Review

Journey to Greeland (2017)
Le voyage au Groenland 

Watch Journey to Greeland on Netflix
Written by: Sébastien Betbeder
Directed by: Sébastien Betbeder
Starring: Thomas Blanchard, Thomas Scimeca, François Chattot
Rated:TV-14

Plot
In this French language film, unsuccessful thirty-something actors Thomas and Thomas decide to leave Paris and fly to a remote Inuit village in Greenland.

Verdict
This wants to make a statement on social media and how busy life has become, but stops just short. It's a nice snapshot of how outsiders see an Inuit village, but the movie doesn't do enough. It avoids any heavy lifting, hoping that beautiful shots of Greenland will suffice. Two guys visit Greenland, then leave.
Skip it.

Review
This lacks a beginning and an end. It starts a few story lines but doesn't develop any of them. Thomas 1 decides to visit his father who lives in an Inuit village in Greenland. His friend Thomas 2 tags along. Their acting careers have stalled and they want to escape life for a bit. This has virtually no setup. It would have helped to develop both Thomases before leaving. While I suppose the story is Greenland, but the movie feels like it's missing something. A typical movie would show us their failings which is the catalyst for leaving. This starts with them flying to Greenland.

I don't quite know what this movie is because I don't think the movie knows. While I thought it was two guys searching for some kind of meaning, it really is just two guys take a vacation. They don't find a home and decide to stay, Thomas 1 doesn't develop a deeper bond with his dad, they don't yearn for the technologically advanced life they left behind, and we don't see whether they miss Greenland. They go to Greenland, stay a bit, then leave.

It briefly mentions that sharp increase in suicides because the younger generation of the village has the internet for the first time and sees everything they'll never  get to do. They're stuck in the village and want to get out no matter what. This is introduced but not explored, which could have been intriguing. Thomas 1 and 2 have that advanced life, yet aren't satisfied. While they go fishing and hunting, they don't seem to have any problem leaving Greenland when their vacation is over.

At one point I wondered if strife would develop between them. They experience a bit of cabin fever with it looking like Thomas 2 becoming the surrogate son for Thomas 1's dad, but that doesn't happen either.

This wants to be a rumination on modern culture and how busy life has becomes, but it doesn't actually make a statement. It plants a few story lines before abandoning them. This could have been a lot more. I can't say for sure the Thomases were changed or affected by their trip. We see no evidence for that.

A Series of Unfortunate Events Season 1 Review

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017-)
Season 1 - 8 episodes (2017)

Watch A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix

Based on Lemony Snicket's children's books, three orphaned children are pursued by Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), their murderous relative who wants their inheritance.

Take the 10 Movie Review

Take the 10 (2017)
Watch Take the 10 on Netflix

Two best friends steal tickets and drugs from a dealer en route to a hip hop concert.

Also Watched - Deepwater Horizon, Repo Man, Criminal, Atonement, Penny Dreadful S3, Lost Soul

Also watched - Deepwater Horizon, Repo Man, Criminal, Atonement, Penny Dreadful S3, Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
Deepwater Horizon (2016)
A dramatization of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling rig exploded in April 2010. In this movie, Mark Wahlberg must save the day.

Repo Man (1984)
Punk rocker Otto (Emilio Estevez) becomes a repo man and stumbles into an out of this world hunt.

Criminal (2016)
A dead CIA agent's consciousness is implanted into a death row inmate to complete a covert mission.

Atonement (2007)
Thirteen year Briony changes the course of several lives when she falsely accuses the son of her family's servant and her sister's lover of rape.

Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)
Season 3 - 9 Episodes (2016)
Supernatural myths and legends converge in Victorian, London, with vampires, Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and more.
In season three, Dracula is after Vanessa while Ethan visits his past with Malcolm in the American mid-west.

Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014)
Behind the scenes of the lackluster movie The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) that starred Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer, disjointed visions, bad decisions, and apathy plagued the production.

Ranking all Netflix Original Movies

We rank all 41 Netflix Original movies from best to worst.
Read the full list on our site Netflix Original Movie Ranking

Top 5:

1. The Little Prince (2016)
2. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
3. Divines (2016) 
4. 13TH (2016) 
5. Blue Jay (2016)

Bottom 5:

1. Gridlocked (2016) 
2. The Ridiculous 6 (2016)
3. XOXO (2016) 
4. Coin Heist (2017)
5. Brahman Naman (2016) 

Cinema Wedding Gowns: The Razor's Edge (1946)

The Razor's Edge (1946) is a drama that starts not long after World War I in the year 1919. The wedding in the film is meant to take place sometime before the stock market crash of 1929, although the gown has more of a 1930s look to it.

The dress has a high collar, long sleeves, and gathering/rushing at the bust and stomach. The dresses is slim fitting all the way to the floor, where it ends in a small train.

Worn by Gene Tierney, the form-fitting lace dress was designed by Tierney's then husband, Oleg Cassini. The dress had originally been designed by Cassini for their 1941 wedding. However, the couple eloped and the gorgeous gown was not made until this movie. After filming, Gene Tierney’s stand-in Kay Adell Stork wore it at her own wedding. A few years later, Tierney and Cassini divorced.

The veil features a lace cap (reminiscent of Grace Kelly's) with a halo-shaped hat covered in matching lace. A slim tulle veil is attached and cascades gently to the floor.

A look at the back of the hatted-veil.

 Cutting the cake. Notice how the veil is draped over her arm.

iBoy Netflix Movie Review

iBoy (2017)

Watch iBoy on Netflix
Written by: Joe Barton (screenplay, writer), Kevin Brooks (based on the novel by), Mark Denton, Jonny Stockwood    
Directed by: Adam Randall
Starring: Maisie Williams , Rory Kinnear , Miranda Richardson, Bill Milner
Rated:TV-MA

Plot
Tom wakes from a coma after an accident to discover that fragments of his smart phone are in embedded in his head and he now has super powers.

Verdict
If you can get over the silly premise that cell phone fragments grant super powers, it's not a bad super hero movie. Though that premise is not easy to overcome and really hurts this movie. A radioactive spider and spidey sense is easier to buy. While the story has it's moments, it will feel like you've seen it before.
It depends.

Review
Putting an "i" in front of any noun to imply it's digital is annoying. It's reason enough to avoid this movie. If that's not reason enough, Tom (Bill Milner) is in essence an internet router. He can see digital data spilling into the world, and he can control it. We can't see it because we don't have a fragment of a cell phone lodged into our brains. This is an utterly ridiculous premise, and super hero movies have already given us many.

This is standard teen fantasy wish fulfillment. Tom's an unpopular kid that gets bullied. A freak accident gives him power and confidence. He can finally fight the bullies and bolsters his confidence enough to talk to Lucy (Maisie Williams). While this has it's moments, it's a predictable story. It avoids taking the story in an interesting direction such as Tom becoming corrupt on his own power.
It does fully embrace the typical trope of the neighborhood hating the hero because the bad guys punish the neighborhood since the hero tried to clean it up. Even that doesn't go very far, and Tom sure has a tendency to develop a new power to save himself whenever the plot demands it.

With half an hour left the movie decides everything needs to wrap up and the big bad guy finds Tom effortlessly. The conclusion does get a bit melodramatic, dragging out the ending as we know Tom could exert any number of powers we've seen, but he waits. He also leaves Lucy behind after making such a big deal of his failure to protect her earlier.

This is basically a graphic novel aimed at teens. It's got all the hallmarks of teen empowerment and overcoming obstacles while getting the girl. It's a super hero story, but one that's derivative.

In a Valley of Violence Movie Review

In a Valley of Violence (2016) 

Rent In a Valley of Violence on Amazon Video
Written by: Ti West
Directed by: Ti West
Starring: Ethan Hawke , John Travolta , Taissa Farmiga, James Ransone, Karen Gillan
Rated: R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
Set during the days of the wild west, a random act of violence propels a drifter (Ethan Hawke) to exact revenge on a small town.

Verdict
An ode to spaghetti westerns but fully aware of the genre, In a Valley of Violence is an over the top and in your face revenge tale. That tone sets it apart while crafting a fun experience. It's gritty, dark, comedic, and always just a bit over the top.
Watch it.

Review
This is a Blum House production. Blum has perfected the profitable low budget movie. He's got a system in place to limit cost and it's effective. This is a low budget movie, but it never overshadows the production. The sparse town is written into the script.

From the start this feels like a spaghetti western. Ethan Hawke is the stoic drifter Paul, passing through town and dropping one liners like a Clint Eastwood character. The resident jerk of the town, Gilly Martin (James Ransone) points his gun at the stranger and Paul tells him to "be careful who you point a gun at." Gilly doesn't want to appear weak, so the tension mounts as you wonder who's going to snap first. The situation is defused, but Gilly isn't done.

Gilly runs his mouth and challenges Paul to a fight. Anyone that barks that much usually lacks bite. Ransone does a great job of  portraying a vulnerable loud mouth. Gilly is trying to look tough, but you know he isn't. This fight launches the plot of revenge and retaliation.
Mary Anne (Taissa Farmiga) provides comedic relief, the fast talking hotel manager that's glad someone finally stood up to Paul.
After the fight, Paul is asked to leave by Marshal Martin (John Travolta) who happens to be Gilly's father. Paul leaves, but Gilly retaliates.

Once you see the animated title and hear the music, there's no mistaking this for anything but a modern spaghetti western. The movie swings hard between gritty western and over the top comedic relief. There's a fair amount of overacting at times, but this entire movie is in your face, even the soundtrack refuses to play quietly in the background. All of it fits the tone of this movie.

You could call this John Wick (2014) meets a spaghetti western, but only as much as you can call any revenge movie John Wick. This movie forges it's own style.

Director Jon Favreau To Receive Harold Lloyd Award For Filmmaking From Advanced Imaging Society

ADVANCED IMAGING SOCIETY AND THE VR SOCIETY ANNOUNCES 2017 HONOREES

DIRECTOR JON FAVREAU TO RECEIVE HAROLD LLOYD AWARD

HTC CEO AND CHAIRWOMAN CHER WANG AND “HTC VIVE” RECOGNIZED WITH SIR CHARLES WHEATSTONE AWARD

GOOGLE EARTH VR HONORED WITH CENTURY AWARD VR

CATEGORIES EXPANDED

HOLLYWOOD—The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society will continue to influence the 2017 awards season when it presents the 8th Annual Lumiere™ Awards this year honoring creative work in movies, TV and expanded Virtual Reality categories at Warner Bros. Studios, February 13, 2017, in Hollywood. The black-tie gathering will begin at 6:30PM with a sit down dinner, followed by the awards ceremony at the Steven J. Ross Theater.

Director, writer and producer Jon Favreau, director of Disney’s blockbuster “The Jungle Book” movie and creator of the “Gnomes and Goblins” VR experience with Wevr and Reality One, will be presented with the Society’s 2017 Harold Lloyd Award for Filmmaking. Favreau directed Marvel’s “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2” movies, and he also directed “Chef”, “Cowboys and Aliens” and “Elf”. His films have grossed over 2.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Previous honorees have included Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Jean-Pierre Juenet, Victoria Alonso and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

“Harold Lloyd was a passionate advocate for using new technology to thrill audiences,” said Suzanne Lloyd, Chairman of Harold Lloyd Entertainment. “He would be delighted that we are honoring Jon for exciting so many movie and VR fans worldwide,” Lloyd added.

The Society’s annually recognizes “Distinguished Creative Achievement” for the use of advanced imaging technologies including 3D, HDR and VR. Awards will be presented for distinguished achievement in storytelling for 3D and HDR Live Action and Animated Movie categories, among others. The Virtual Reality categories have expanded this year to include Best VR Experience, Best VR Film Experience, Best VR Animation and CGI, Best Episodic Content (360-degree), Best Live Action (360-degree), Best VR Documentary, Best VR Journalism, Best VR Sports, Best VR Music, Best VR Advertising/Branded Content, and Best VR Gaming, The Awards Ceremony and dinner is presented by AMD. A complete list of nominees can be seen here:

http://www.advancedimagingsociety.com/awards/2017-nominees/.

Also new this year is an opportunity for the media to visit curated and the award nominated VR content in all categories. The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society will offer a VIP media preview from 10AM-12PM on February 13 at the Steven J. Ross Theater at Warner Bros.

Cher Wang, Chairwoman and CEO of HTC Corp., creator of the HTC VIVE virtual reality system, will be presented with the organization’s Sir Charles Wheatstone Award. Society Awards Chair Buzz Hays stated “With the HTC VIVE, Cher Wang and her team have created a groundbreaking room- scale VR platform that has enabled the production of a dazzling number of immersive VR experiences which have pushed the boundaries of entertainment. The result has surprised and delighted the industry and consumers,” Hays added. Previous Wheatstone winners include John Lasseter and Pixar, Sky TV, The BBC, and Sir David Attenborough.

The Society1s Century Award will be presented to Google Earth VR. This application allows you to travel the world, fly over cities, stand at the highest mountain peaks, and even soar upwards into space using the HTC Vive. “The Google VR Experience empowers every citizen of the world to explore and learn about our world with VR,” said Society President Jim Chabin. “This achievement will enrich countless lives and expand our understanding of our planet in the coming years, and we are thrilled to honor Google's virtual reality team,” Chabin added. The Century Award is presented rarely and is reserved for people and achievements the Society deems to have “created a milestone” technology or piece of content. Director James Cameron was previously honored with the Century Award for “Avatar.”

In addition to the honorees, confirmed special guests to attend include Doug Liman and Ivan Reitman.

The Society’s Gold Lumiere™ statuettes are made by the R.S. Owens Company of Chicago, who also manufactures the Oscars for the Academy Awards. They depict the Roman Goddess of Dawn, “Aurora”.

About The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society

The Advanced Imaging Society and The VR Society were founded as a non-profit organization by major Hollywood studios and top technology companies to advance the arts and technologies of 3D, HDR, VR, AR and 360-degree content for professionals active in entertainment, media and marketing. Members include AMD, Barco, Canon Street, Cause Play/360 Ad Sports, Cosgrove Media, Create Advertising Group, Deluxe Entertainment, Discovery Communications, Dolby Laboratories, DreamWorks Animation, DTS, Facebook (Oculus), Fathom Events, Fraunhofer, HTC Vive, Intel, KDX, Ketchum, Koncept VR, Legend, LIFE VR, LOOT Interactive, Lucid Dreams Productions, Marvel Studios, Nokia Technologies, Pixar, Prime Focus World, Sony Entertainment, Sony Music, Starbreeze Studios, Stereo D, StoryTech, StreamTV, Technicolor, 3doo, True Image Company, Universal Pictures, V-Nova, Verve, Virtual Reality Company, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and Warner Bros.

In addition, the Advanced Imaging Society and the VR Society has international chapters in the U.K., Belgium, China (Beijing and Hong Kong), Japan, New Zealand, and Canada.

For more information please visit:

www.AdvancedImagingSociety.com
TheVRSociety.com

Really looking forward to this gala event! I'll have more updates soon.

Blow-Up Movie Review

Blow-Up (1966)

Rent Blow-Up on Amazon Video
Written by:  Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Julio Cortázar (short story "Las babas del diablo")
Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring:  David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles
Rated:--

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
A London photographer finds a suspicious detail in the images of a girl he photographed in the park.

Verdict
This is a snapshot of '60s London with all the action of a still photograph. I spent most of the movie wanting something to happen. The murder mystery is secondary.
I can see how this movie gets the recognition it does, but it might take a second viewing for me to begin appreciating it.
Skip it.

Review
The plot is more interesting than the execution. It's part murder mystery and part day in the life of a playboy photographer, but the movie spends too much time on the latter. The mystery isn't introduced until well into the second half of the film.

Thomas goes from shoot to shoot and even stops by an antique store before he snaps a few photos in the park. It's from these photographs and the resulting blow-ups that he discovers a dead body in the background.

Thomas sees the world through a camera lens, creating a certain disconnect. He's capturing the best image of the world, but sometimes the dark parts are hidden in the background. He tries to convince others that there's is a body in the park but fails. While you typically can't trust your own memories, can Thomas trust these grainy images?

I like the ending. We've see Thomas's leisurely life and then he discovers a mystery he can't solve or prove. In one of the last scenes he wakes up and watches mimes perform a tennis match. It pushes the question of was this movie a dream? It could begin to explain the strange murder and the women that throw themselves at him, but it's left up to interpretation.

The Ice Storm Movie Review

The Ice Storm (1997)

Rent The Ice Storm on Amazon Video
Written by: Rick Moody (novel), James Schamus
Directed by: Ang Lee
Starring:  Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Elijah Wood
Rated: R

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
Set in the 1970s, two dysfunctional upper-class Connecticut families escape their lives through alcohol, adultery, and sexual experimentation.

Verdict
While it's a dour movie, it captures people phenomenally well. Great direction and writing draw parallels between adults and children. They're both trapped, searching for an escape. The difference is that adults don't have anyone to admonish them. This has a distinct charm and great imagery set against an incoming ice storm. Why can't these characters find happiness?
Watch it.

Review
After this and Brokeback Mountain (2005) (read my review), I'm an Ang Lee fan. He captures small character building moments so well.
While the backdrop is an ice storm, this was filmed in early spring. There was no ice. What we see in the movie is hair gel, fake icicles, and sound effects.

Set just before Thanksgiving in the 1970s, everyone in the Hood and Carver family has issues. While Thanksgiving brings families together, in this case it's just physically. They're disconnected. The children and adults are trapped in their own lives, searching for something. It's left up to us to speculate whether they seek a sense of place, the feeling of life, or just understanding.
These are upper class families that at first glance seem to live an idyllic life. Why aren't they happy? Happiness isn't a good job, a nice house, or a good school. These characters have everything, but it doesn't satisfy. You could say this movie argues that adults have an impact on their kid's happiness.

Janey (Sigourney Weaver) asks the kids if they have homework not even realizing they are on Thanksgiving break. She's engrossed in her own life and affair with Ben (Kevin Kline). She's completely disconnected. She's a parent that recites the lines a parent should. When she catches Wendy (Christina Ricci) and her son Sandy playing doctor, she goes on a rant about adolescence and Samoa. Wendy states she understands, but she doesn't. Janey is putting on a facade, saying a lot without saying anything. Adults talk at children instead of to them.
The lack of acknowledgement is manifested subtlety. Janey and Ben (Kevin Kline) use her son Sandy's bed.

This feels like an authentic family, not the cookie cutter, happily ever after families we usually see. It's engrossing because these are people, not just actors reciting lines.  These families have problems. Jim Carver is away too often, it may have led to Janey's affair. Ben and his wife Elena are both trying to escape their marriage. We see that she seeks more. She's at the early stages looking at books on how to expand her mind.
Siblings Paul (Tobey Maguire) and Wendy call each other Charles and he refers to her phone as a telephonic device. It's overly technical and has no bearing on the story other than to build character. My brother and I would play the same game of referring to everything with an extremely technical description. A computer was a digital computing device.

The most striking parallel is between the kids and the adults. The only difference is age and experience. That and the adults pretend to fit into a normative society, while kids haven't learned to develop the pretense. Both groups are experimenting sexually. Wendy is promiscuous, but no more so than the adults. They're looking for something. They don't know what it is, they just crave something to fill the void that is their lives. The adults admonish the children because they are supposed to Janey's son Sandy is literally blowing things up while the adults do it figuratively.

The ice is a subtle reminder of the cold. It's a solid shell but fragile. The ice storm is coming, and the storm is just starting for the characters.

WEEKLY NEWSREEL

Good evening Mr. & Mrs. Catholic, and all you other Christians at sea. The Newsreel has been on hiatus for quite awhile, but new developments in the world of science demand we bring you this story. Off to press!

DATELINE: SAN DIEGO – Just in time for the annual March For Life, CNN reports that scientists at the Salk Institute have successfully created, and subsequently destroyed, the first ever hybrid human-pig embryo.

“They began by generating different types of human induced pluripotent stem cells -- when adult cells are turned back into stem cells -- and inserting them into pig embryos. Pigs were used because both the size and the development time for their organs are more similar to our own than, say, rats. Next, the team members implanted these embryos into sows. To test the safety and effectiveness of their work, they stopped the experiment at four weeks. Human cells within some of the embryos had begun to specialize and turn into tissue precursors, they discovered… Though the experiment with human stem cells was interrupted at 28 days, it remains the first reported case in which human stem cells have begun to grow within another species.”

It would appear scientists have finally made the first step in what is sure to be a long, slow journey towards growing viable human organs in animals for transplant. The good news is that this research is based on the use of adult stem cells, which is notable as the Catholic Church is only opposed to those forms of stem cell research that entail the destruction of human embryos. As pointed out in Donum Vitae, the "Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation”…

“If the embryos are living, whether viable or not, they must be respected just like any other human person; experimentation on embryos which is not directly therapeutic is illicit.  No objective, even though noble in itself, such as a foreseeable advantage to science, to other human beings or to society, can in any way justify experimentation on living human embryos or fetuses, whether viable or not, either inside or outside the mother’s womb.”

This stand is consistent with the Church’s teachings on the dignity of all human life from birth to death, as well as its warnings regarding the inherent evils in the commoditization of human persons.

So, that’s the good news. The bad news is that we may now be one lab accident away from Wooklars.

And with that sobering thought, we’ll leave you, as always, with the immortal words of the great Les Nessman. Good evening, and may the good news be yours.

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday Movie Review

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953)

Rent Monsieur Hulot's Holiday on Amazon Video
Written by: Pierre Aubert (with the collaboration of), Jacques Lagrange (with the collaboration of), Henri Marquet (dialogue), Henri Marquet (screenplay, story), Jacques Tati (dialogue, screenplay, story)
Directed by: Jacques Tati
Starring:  Jacques Tati, Nathalie Pascaud, Micheline Rolla
Rated:--

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
In this French language film, well meaning but accident prone Monsieur Hulot goes to a beach side hotel for a vacation where chaos ensures.

Verdict
This is a bridge between the intricate sight gags of silent films and the modern day hi-jinks of Mr. Bean. It's never been a type of comedy I enjoy as it quickly becomes repetitive.
Skip it.

Review
This contains less dialog than most films, thought it's not silent. There is dialog and ambient sound, but Tati wanted viewers to focus on the comedy and choreography of visual gags, hearkening to the silent film era.

Monsieur Hulot had to have influence Mr. Bean. Hulot is a well meaning dolt. The movie doesn't have much plot or story. This feels like another movie regarded more for what it did for the future of cinema than what it does currently. This is repetitive and one-dimensional. He's clumsy, socially awkward and inept. More of a story line would have helped.

Imperial Dreams Netflix Movie Trailer

Imperial Dreams (2017)

Imperial Dreams premieres Friday February 3

Starring John Boyega, a reformed gangster recently released from prison returns to his family and friends in L.A., struggling to take care of his son.

 

 

 

 

Orange is the New Black Netflix Series - Ensemble Cast Featurette

Orange is the New Black (2012-)

Orange is the new Black Season 5 returns in 2017

Piper Chapman was convicted of an old crime and sentenced to jail. She acclimates to prison culture and finds friends and enemies alike. In season four, the prison was for profit and the population was doubled to maximize profits.

The video features scenes from season 4 and clips from the actors and the creator.

 

 

 

Last Tango in Paris Movie Review

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

Rent Last Tango in Paris on Amazon Video
Written by: Bernardo Bertolucci (story), Bernardo Bertolucci and Franco Arcalli (screenplay), Agnès Varda (adaptation), Jean-Louis Trintignant (dialogue collaborator)
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring:  Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider, Maria Michi
Rated: NC-17

My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it. Read my previous movie reviews!

Plot
A middle aged businessman forges a secret relationship with a young French woman, wanting to base it only on sex.

Verdict
If you want to see Bernardo Bertolucci's personal fantasy on film, it's Last Tango in Paris.
This is an artsy movie in the sense that any movie that doesn't have a plot is artsy. While it's easy to dismiss the movie, tt breaks down relationships by looking at one based just on sex. It doesn't tell you what to think, you're left to draw your own conclusions once it ends.
It depends.

Review
This analyzes relationships by looking at one that's completely atypical. Paul (Marlon Brando) sees Jeanne (Maria Schneider) and wants her, though just for sex. He doesn't want to know her name or any personal details, and for some reason the relationship continues.
This is based on Bertolucci's fantasy of meeting a woman on the street.

Is this a fantasy come to life for Paul or just his need for control? The majority of the movie focuses on their relationship, or lack there of. The movie doesn't have a driving plot, it's more characters living their lives in the narrow window the movie permits us to see. We're left to guess why Jeanne continues the relationship when it's clear she's a plaything for him. It seems to prove that doing something in secret is more exciting. The secret's only fun if no one knows. While she wants to form a connection and learn about him, he constantly reminds her that he's not interested in that.

This is one of Marlon Brando's last good roles before he completely stopped caring. He kept getting roles because people wanted to work with him. (See my review Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau for some of Brando's later antics). Even in this movie Brando refused to memorize lines. Note cards were taped throughout the set to help him.

The content rating is fair. There isn't anything in this movie I haven't seen in R rated movies, though maybe not all of these acts in a single film. It certainly gets explicit at times.

Jeanne was a rebound for Paul as he figured out what he wanted out of life. He leaves Paris and dumps Jeanne without a word. Of course he realizes what he's missing later, but by then it's gone. He broke her heart and now that she knows more about him, Jeanne doesn't want the baggage.

Why do certain people stay together? Sometimes it's based on the first meeting, sometimes it's just routine. Paul needed control and found that with Jeanne. He created a relationship that he had complete control over. Did he come back to her because he loved her? No. He didn't know her. He realized he had punted his fantasy and wanted it back. He unloads his personal history on Jeanne in a last ditch effort to get her back, trying to play into what he thinks she wants.
Did Paul want a relationship or did he want to continue the fantasy?

While the movie can generate this level of introspection, it doesn't ask any questions and it doesn't drive you to think about it after it concludes. It's solely up to the viewer. It's easier to watch this and not ask why. Delving into the minds of the characters the day after I watched this makes me like the movie a lot more than when I just finished watching.