A Quiet Place

First Hit: Well done film and the silence of the actors made all the difference in the world.

The film takes out all the drama of how these aliens arrived and take over the planet by starting at day 89.

We surmise through captions of their sign language, that the Abbott family is one of just a few families surviving the alien invasion. Husband Lee (John Krasinski), wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt), and children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe), and Beau (Cade Woodward) are introduced scavaging through an empty store, in a vacant town, for food and supplies.

The aliens cannot see but have a highly-developed sense of hearing. They hunt for their food by listening and attacking. Therefore no one talks and uses sign language. Due to a child’s curiosity and desire to play with a toy, he turns on one of the toys they get from the store and the noise elicits a swift response and killing of Beau early in the film.

This was an effective way for the audience to become anxious of any noise the characters make during the scenes. When Evelyn becomes pregnant with a child, I sat their shocked because I know how much noise a baby makes let alone the noise the mother may make giving birth.

The film moves along in time by showing a graphic of how many days have gone by; we assume that it’s the number of days after the alien invasion.

We learn that there are other survivors because in the evening Lee lights a fire on top of a tower and as he looks around the valley and hills we see other fires.

The careful laying of sand on the paths they walk show a thoughtful detail that enhances the films successfulness. Adding to this is a family drama of Regan thinking her dad doesn’t love her because she assisted her youngest in getting the toy that caused his demise. She’s also deaf which did two things: Created a way for the family to be very adept at sign language and for Lee to find ways to help her daughter by experimenting with hearing aids that also sent signals to directly through her skull.

Suspense is high in this film and the noise level is low which made for a great combination.

Krasinski was wonderful as father, husband and champion of keeping his family alive and well. Loved the hike he took with Marcus to help him move through his fear. Blunt was fantastic. Her expressions of love and fear were remarkable. Having the baby in the circumstances the film sets up, was amazing. Simmonds was truly a gift in this film. She carried her struggle at being different, smart and independent in a sublime way. Jupe was excellent as the middle child who feared their circumstance the most, yet became heroic. Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote a wonderful screenplay that elicited curious suspense. Krasinski did an excellent job directing this story, wife and himself.

Overall: One of the better horror films I’ve seen in that loud noise wasn’t used to try to shock and scare me.

Born In China

First Hit:  I was disappointed in the overall presentation, narration, and empty space. I look forward to seeing Disney nature films and this film was no exception. It started out OK, but started to fall off with the narration and then the story's lack of engagement. Somehow John Krasinski’s voice failed to get me absorbed into into movie; it seemed pressed or manufactured without true feeling or empathy.

I did expect more from Krasinski's narration because he himself has two daughters and this film is about parents raising children. 'Born In China' is about three mothers raising their new babies. The animal mothers were: Snow Leopard, Golden Monkey, and Panda.

I thought that following a Snow Leopard, Golden Monkeys and Pandas would have been enough. However, either, following the three families didn't provide enough content or they didn’t do enough to deeply engage us and show us their lives, because there was so much empty space in the film. The possibility also exists that they needed more families to follow, but I'm not sure that would have helped.

Of course, many of the shots were fantastic because Disney's photographers are amazing. This point is proved in the opening scene, with two mother Snow Leopards facing off in a territory dispute. This scene was intense, inspiring and engaging and set a high mark for the rest of the film. It is unfortunate that the film falls away after this.

This falling away resulted in scenes of humor and cuteness by following the Golden Monkeys and Pandas. The Snow Leopards path was far more intense and had the feeling of being on the edge.

Although I applaud the director to include the mother's death scene, I still wanted to know what happened to the mother’s two kittens. The Golden Monkey story had both laughter and drama. The Panda story was interesting to me especially because they are very sloth like and the babies are so very vulnerable when born.

I’m not sure using the Crane as a moral compass was a good thought. It might have been better to learn more about the cranes.

Didn’t like Krasinskie’s voice and inflections for the narration. David Fowler and Brian Leith wrote a somewhat weak script. Chuan Lu did a mediocre job of putting these stories together. Although the filming/cinematography was exquisite.

Overall:  Disappointed by this film and made me question whether I’ll see the next in the series.

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

First Hit:  Possibly adds a bit more light on the problem and fiasco of the 4 American citizens, including an Ambassador, who died on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi.

This film focuses on the group of CIA security contractors who volunteered on their own to try to save the US Libyan Benghazi Embassy, beloved Ambassador Christopher J. Stevens (Matt Letscher), and their team from being overrun by Islamic Militants.

The hidden CIA compound was less than a mile away from the Embassy and when the Embassy was being overrun. The only help that seemed forthcoming was from this group of contractors who were told by the Chief CIA operative Bob (David Costabile) not to help the Ambassador for fear of exposing the CIA compound.

As the attack began there was no immediate support from other parts of the US government and the film doesn’t do much to clarify why there was little support for the Ambassador and his team. There is reference to a broadcast that the uprising started with a reaction to a video but only as a tangential point.

One thing that was made clear was that neither the Embassy team nor the CIA crew knew what local citizen or group of locals they could trust. At one moment someone was friendly, in the next the person was assisting the plot to overrun the compounds.

The film focuses on the team of six contractors, their relationships with each other, the CIA Chief, and their families back home. One of the operatives, Jack Silva (John Krasinski) left is wife and two daughters home again to risk his life with his friends in a war torn country. Why?

That is part of the question the film attempts to answer. He struggles financially with viable work when home, but realizes, especially when he finds out his wife is pregnant again, if he gets out of Benghazi alive, he needs to go home and stay home.

This film is about the trust each of the contractors have for their fellow fighters. This film is also about how the lack of support by the US Government in this critical situation was abominable.

Krasinski was very strong as a standup guy, soldier, friend, and father. As the team: James Badge Dale as Tyrone “Ron” Woods was perfect as a supportive solider. Pablo Schreiber as Kris “Tanto” Paronto was wonderful as well. David Denman as Dave “Boon” Benton was very good. Dominic Fumusa as John “Tig” Tiegen was ideal as part of the team. Max Martini as Mark “Oz” Geist was ideal as another member. Costabile was very strong as the CIA veteran who wanted to play by the book. Chuck Hogan wrote a strong screenplay. Michael Bay did a great job of creating the confusion that surrounded the events of the situation in Benghazi.

Overall:  I liked the focus of this film, which was on the team and their support of each other.

Aloha

First Hit:  At times the story was whimsical, then thoughtful, and generally improbable.

This film seemed like it didn’t know what it wanted to be. Was it a romance? Was it about how rich people and their companies try to influence and deceive the government for their own gain? Or was it about the culture and people of Hawaii and how they been treated by the government?

It probably was supposed to be all three and it failed because, in the end, the film didn’t work. I enjoyed the relationship between Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper) and Allison Ng (Emma Stone). My heart was pulled by Gilcrest trying to put closure on his previous relationship with Tracy Woodside (Rachel McAdams).

The scenes between Brian and his friend John “Woody” Woodside (John Krasinski), Tracy’s current husband, were priceless.

The story about how the government is contracting satellite launches to private companies is real but the added piece that the contractor put a nuclear device on the satellite was improbable. This seemed to be part of the film so that there could be a hero. The part that would have made this story more interesting would have been to add scenes about native Hawaiians and how they viewed the land and the sky. Some of the more beautiful scenes were when Gilcrest and Ng were with the Hawaiians on their sacred land.

For the most part this film didn’t know what it wanted to be and the fault lies with the writer and director, Cameron Crowe.

Cooper was really good in moments in the film. When he’s working relationships, he’s superb, when it involves him working his job, his acting comes off as mixed and not embodied. Stone’s character was a little high strung for me and, I think, for her as well. It didn’t come off very well. When she settled down a little she created a wonderful character and it worked. Her chemistry with Cooper was great. John Krasinski was excellent as the silent quiet man who struggled with letting his feelings being shared. Bill Murray as the business man Carson Welch who was attempting to put the armed satellite into space was OK, but not really a great fit. Rachel McAdams, as Cooper’s old girlfriend and Krasinski’s wife, was good and her performance and believability was elevated when her daughter’s blood line was revealed. Best scene in the film? Probably when Gilcrest stands outside his daughter’s dance studio and they connect eye to eye. Cameron Crowe seem mixed in his ability to create and execute a cohesive story and film.

Overall:  Having the three stories in one film didn’t work and ended up creating a scattered, somewhat lifeless movie.

Big Miracle

First Hit:  This film is predictable but interesting enough to stay watching.

The “Big Miracle” lets the audience know the outcome before you even buy a ticket. Nevertheless it is film version of a real story that took place back in 1988 when Ronald Reagan was president.

Three California Grey whales were trapped 5 miles from the ocean and were only breathing through an air hole in the ice. The air hole was closing fast and the native Eskimos wanted to harvest the whales for food.

Adam Carlson, local reporter (played by John Krasinski) had been trying to find fame in a story so that he could move to the lower 48, filmed a segment which got picked up around the world and all of a sudden the whales had a rooting gallery.

Adam feeling the plight of the whales call his former girlfriend Rachel Kramer (played by Drew Barrymore) who is a Greenpeace honcho. Rachel comes up to rally everyone to save the whales and also makes some enemies while she is as it. The one machine which can break up the ice is owned by an oil company which is run by J. W. McGraw (played by Ted Danson).

He’s always at war with Rachel over the oil drilling rights to a wildlife sanctuary. He thinks it will be good press to help. Everyone in this film has an objective to better their standing in the community. Rachel is the only one who is focused on only doing her job but as pointed out by others this publicized effort will provide a campaign boost for Greenpeace. T

he Russian’s assist in the end with an ice breaker ship and there is a reasonably happy ending to it all. However, the film is extremely predictable, even if you weren’t alive in 1988. The set-ups are very obvious and there is really no suspense to this.

I don’t know if the director made it this way to make it PG friendly or if the story really was this obvious. The highlight of the film was in the credits, where they showed the real people in scenes who really saved these whales back in 1988.

Krasinski does a good job of making us believe his character makes the right choices for his career and life. Barrymore wasn’t her best here. Some scenes she was great and others, she came off a little shrill and without a deep basis of the knowledge of her position. Danson was particularly over done as an oil company executive. Ahmaogak Sweeney as Nathan a native young boy caught between the modern world and his ancestral ways was good and very entertaining. Jack Amiel and Michael Beglar wrote this mediocre script. Ken Kwapis directed this with a lighthearted hand especially when he brings in two guys from Minnesota who have a machine that keeps the ice holes open longer.

Overall: A light-hearted film which was entertaining and interesting enough to have it be enjoyable.