Before Midnight

First Hit: First rate dialogue, acting and film.

It isn't always that sequels to a film are as good as the original. I don't think any of the "Rocky" sequels were as gritty and inspiring as the first although a couple were OK.

The entire "Godfather" series were strong and the color and feel of the original set the tone by which Francis Ford Coppola moved forward with mindfulness – not just for the money. The newest prequel to the "Star Trek" series may also follow in good standing as I certainly enjoyed the first two film (see my previous reviews in this blog) and hope the next continues the quality previously set forth. "Star Wars" did a great job on some of the follow-up films and certainly fell down in some of the others.

What makes this group of films ("Before Sunrise", "After Sunset", and "Before Midnight") unique is that these films are based in dialogue. They aren't about special effects or right triumphing over wrong or good versus evil. These stories hold together with deep and truthful scripting and the execution of this script by outstanding actors.

One of the major differences in this film versus the other two was that there were other actors featured in this one. Although Jesse’s (Ethan Hawke) son Hank (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) has minor screen time, he is prominently a featured subject of the ensuing dialogue. It was very smart to have him be featured in the opening scene. Jesse and Celine’s (Julie Delpy) twins Nina and Ella (respectfully Charlotte and Jennifer Prior) and working friends and colleagues were also part of the mix in lively conversations.

However, this film is about Celine and Jesse, how their life has unfolded, who they are as people and how they love each other. I cannot say enough about how I admired the long scenes of non-stop dialogue. There was no clipping of their exchange to make the film move faster – there was no need – it moved at light-speed anyway because the characters we strong and deep enough for the audience to be pulled into their story.

Hawke was the best he’s ever been. His maturity, clarity, and belief in his character made for a performance, that to me was sublime - Oscar worthy. Delpy’s delivery of Celine’s dialogue was filled with feeling and emotion. She believed her dialogue and it showed. Delpy, Hawke and Richard Linklater (Director) wrote and extraordinary script filled with compassion, passion, and depth of character. Linklater performed magic directing this film with long beautiful sequences that captured two willful people. Direction was Oscar worthy as well.

Overall:  If there is another film in this series, I’ll go see it because this is a series of intelligent delight in film making and storytelling.

What Masie Knew

First Hit:  Extremely well-acted film about a young girl surviving her parent’s egos and righteousness.

The first scene is hearing Susanna (Julianne Moore) and Beale (Steve Coogan) fighting. The audience hears the cutting remarks, each person downgrading the others’, careers, parenting ability and egos.

Masie (Onata Aprile) sits in her room, listening – expressionless. You see that he’s heard it all before, again and again. Susanna is a “has been” rocker who is trying to find her career again. Beale is a businessman dealmaker and he’s trying to chase down a new deal down.

It is obvious their own career struggles affect their conversations with each other. Masie loves her parents and they profess their love for her. The time comes; Beale and Susanna get a divorce and unknown to everyone, except Beale and Margo (Joanna Vanderham), the current nanny, Beale gets custody of Masie and Margo moves in with Beale.

They quickly get married and the shocked, angry and upset Susanna decides to do one better, so she thinks by marrying a bartender named Lincoln (Alexander Skarsgard) she hangs out with. She tries for custody again but her anger and lack of emotional stability keep her from getting Masie. All through the missed custody pickups and angry phone calls, Masie soldiers on with maturity and strength. It becomes clear that the two non-parents, Lincoln and Margo care more about Masie’s day to day welfare and their actions show it.

The scenes of New York, the locations of the apartments and the whole atmosphere of this film were very good and reflective of the characters and story.

Moore was very strong as the aging rock star and her drive to let nothing get in her way of coming back. Coogan as the more calming parent is good. Aprile is fantastic as Masie and I suspect that if she continues to act we’ll see more of her. Skargard is very good as the flunky bartender who has a heart of gold. Vanderham is genuinely wonderful as the nanny who is slowing beginning to see how she was being used. Nancy Doyne and Carroll Cartwright wrote a very strong and insightful screenplay. Scott McGehee and David Siegel co-directed this film with sensitivity and clarity – well edited.

Overall:  Very good film.

Fast & Furious 6

First Hit:  It was fun however so many of the stunts were so far fetched that it made it unbelievable.

This is one film in a series of films that highlight fast cars, car chases and some sort of crime.

We begin with everyone who participated in the previous film having some portion of $100,000,000 on which they are living the good life. However they cannot return to the United States because they are wanted for robbery. Also in the last film, Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) lost his love Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez) in a fiery explosion.

A government investigator Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is trying to track down an infiltrator named Shaw (Luke Evans) who is stealing items to make some unimaginable weapon (none of this is really clear because the film is more about the chases). Shaw needs only one more item and Hobbs is worried that he'll get it, so he makes a deal with Dom and his Fast & Furious warriors to stop Shaw.

The deal is that they will get absolute pardons for their previous crimes. But this isn’t the reason why they say yes, they say yes because they learn Letty is still alive and under Shaw's control. Tricks like jumping off a car, catching someone in mid-air and then landing on the windshield of another car moving the opposite way and not getting hurt? Right.... Or maybe it was the plane moving quickly down a runway that must have been 5 or more miles long before the plane even got 30 feed off the ground. Just isn't real - there is no such runway. Or maybe it was jumping from a plane and landing in/on a car some 30 feet below. Nope, not lined up like they were - just isn’t real.

I enjoyed the car chases and driving but that was it. “More” and “bigger” is not necessarily better.

Diesel is OK and I felt that the edge is gone and his ability to be believable has been diminished. Paul Walker as Brian is stronger here than he was in the previous films. Johnson was adequate as the government agent. Jordana Brewster as Mia (Brian’s wife) is good in a minor role. Rodriguez is OK but her interpretation of having no memory didn’t work for me. Tyrese Gibson as Roman was funny and enjoyable to watch. Sung Kang and Gal Gadot as Han and Gisele were good but didn't have enough screen time. Ludacris as Taj was funny as well and I liked the way he and Gibson played off each other. Chris Morgan wrote the screenplay and pushed it farther than needed. Justin Lin kept the film moving but some of the stunts were too unbelievable to buy in to.

Overall:  Action was fun, cars were great, but some of the stunts made it unbelievable and therefore I lost interest.

Star Trek Into Darkness

 First Hit:  Kept the thrill, charm, and excitement of the first prequel – I liked it.

What I really liked about the first 2009 “Star Trek” prequel was the embodiment of the original Star Trek television series characters as younger people.

For this film, the thing I was concerned about was if this film would be able to carry through the joy and feel of the characters. The answer is yes. Although there were things that needed some work and scene trimming, the feel of the film worked and it was fun to watch.

I’m not sure what others think, but Chris Pine (playing Kirk) has a great feel of the original Captain Kirk. A brash intelligence mixed in with independence. He knows he doesn’t know everything but he cares about the crew more than himself.

The film begins with him losing the star ship Enterprise do to this brash behavior. Then he is pressed into being captain again because of an attack at Federation HQ by Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) and he's the one who figures it out. The story hangs together really well and the main criticisms where that some scenes, like Spoke in a fist fight with Khan on the cargo containers, was overly long and served no real purpose.

The special effects were well done and did not take over the film but enhanced it.

Pine makes a great Kirk and there is room for him to grow the character in the next film. Zachary Quinto as Spock is very good. Zoe Saldana as Uhura is strong and brings an exotic presence to the bridge. Karl Urban as Bones is slightly overplayed but good enough. Simon Pegg is wonderful as Scotty. John Cho as Sulu holds his character with strength. Anton Yelchin does a wonderful job of embodying Chekov. Cumberbatch did a very good job of being the guy who was going to rule the universe. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman did a good job putting together a fun and interesting script while J.J. Abrams kept the Star Trek theme and feeling alive – kudos.

Overall:  Very entertaining and a good effort for the second prequel.

The Great Gatsby

First Hit:  Visually arresting at times, but the story lagged and acting was spotty.

A good actor can create believability in a character. Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby had me believing. I like how he’s matured and the lines in his face are giving him an air of reliability.

Carey Mulligan (as Daisy Buchanan) didn’t quite make it for me. She appears too intelligent and strong to make me believe she would choose to stay with her husband given the love she had for Gatsby.

Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, the storyteller, is good at showing vulnerability, intelligence and obsessiveness. One thing that perplexed me from the beginning was how I was expected to believe that Nick and Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) went to school together – the perceived age difference between the two characters didn’t work for me.

I sat there and said to myself multiple times, these two guys didn’t go to college together. Baz Luhrmann directed this film with visual flash at the expense of substance and the real Fitzgerald story is about substance in the world of flash. The choice of using modern attempts at music from the 20’s was extremely poor and seemed way out of place. DiCaprio wanted me to know more about his character and there is where the film could have spent more time.

I did like how the filmed opened with black and white Warner Bros logo and moved into the beautiful 3D world of the film. Another strong aspect of the film was the way we (the audience) were introduced to the story – by having Nick writing his experience while in a mental hospital.

DiCaprio was the strongest character in the film and I wanted to know more about him and the script and director didn’t quite deliver. Mulligan didn’t quite make me believe she was as weak as her character was made to be. Edgerton was a strong Buchanan and was solid. Maguire was good and I believed his character and way of telling his story. Craig Pearce and Luhrmann wrote a good, not great, script but Baz overdressed this film and relied on the glitz and left the story behind.

Overall:  The film was a letdown although some of the performances were very good.