Cowa-Sequential

Between the time the guns of August roared in 1914 until the signing of the Armistice in November, 1918, nations rose, empires fell, millions died, & the course of the 20 th Century was forever altered. World War I or the Great War is often called the forgotten war as it gets overshadowed by the subsequent World War II in American history and in popular culture. However the Academy Award nominated film ‘1917’ seeks to remind us all of this terrible conflict. While retellings of World War I can get entangled in the tales of kings, emperors, & statesmen, war must always be remembered as the story of ordinary soldiers. ‘1917’ focuses on two ordinary British soldiers who are tasked with a straightforward but crucial mission in the Western Front in northern France but through short conversations these two soldiers reveal quite intriguing conflicting on the so-called ‘War to End all Wars’ and war in general. In ‘1917’ William Schofield and Tom Blake are two soldiers and fri...

Hail Caesar The Planet of the Apes remake trilogy has been the most underrated film series of the past decade and it reaches its poignant conclusion in War for the Planet of the Apes. A lab created simian flu has wiped out most of humanity and given rise to a race of super intelligent apes. In what remains of the United States, Caesar the original super-intelligent ape, leads a colony of apes that are trying to escape guerrilla warfare orchestrated by a cra z ed colonel and his soldiers. War is part revenge story, and part prison escape, wrapped in the Moses Exodus story. War for the Planet of the Apes is an impactful film that humanizes apes and dehumanizes man in more ways that one and I heartily recommend it. I picked seeing this film over Spider-Man: Homecoming as I was growing tired of superhero films and felt that I needed to see something meatier. Having enjoyed both Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , seeing...

Three movies in, DC's cinematic universe was in trouble. While the box office proceeds were high (if slightly beneath expectations), public reception of Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman, and Suicide Squad was mixed at best. Warner Brothers and DC needed a hit to simply save their troubled movie line let alone compete with Disney's ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having finally seen DC's newest film Wonder Woman , I can say that overall the film was a giant step in the right direction. My exposure to Wonder Woman as a character is primarily from my exposure to the Justice League Animated Series as I never saw Lynda Carter's live action portrayal. Outside of some television backstory, she was literally a blank slate. I was intrigued by her Greek mythical background but never followed her comics either. Compared to prior films, I went into DC's Wonder Woman just expecting a good time. Wonder Woman starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the title cha...

Marvel's 2015 summer season ended with the release of Antman starring Paul Rudd. Antman was a film that I waffled on whether or not I was going to see it. I know little of the source material other than his name being Hank Pym and being an Avenger who has the power that can shrink himself. Outside of that, the character is pretty much a blank slate. I've always heard good things about Paul Rudd and Marvel is usually an entertaining time so I've decided to give this film a shot. Paul Rudd stars as Scott an idealistic thief who once released from prison tries to reconcile with his family and rebuild his life. However having trouble to find a job, Scott meets up with some old friends who convince him to rob the house of an old rich businessman named Hank Pym. Pym is estranged from both his daughter (Evangeline Lily) and his former company now controlled my his old protege Darren Cross (Corey Stoll). After cracking Pym's safe, Scott discovers and puts on the Antman s...

For millennials of a certain age Dragon Ball Z was a significant part of our lates 90s and early 2000s experience.The franchise was everywhere from the anime show to video games to the monsoon of related merchandise. Goku and friends return in the sequel to 2013's Battle of Gods film. The Z warriors must contend with the return of Frieza, one of their deadliest ones in  Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F. The anime film had a limited edition run in select theaters in North America and I knew I had to go out of my way to give it a look. Let me start by saying I have loved Dragon Ball Z for years have several volumes of its manga, making a critical review quite difficult. I watched the film in a packed theater on the last night of its limited run with with a big smile on my face. The environment could not be beat with ages ranging from kids to 20-somethings like myself. The movie starts with Frieza's former minions using the wish-granting DragonBalls to bring their master back ...

Animated films have always held a certain place in my heart and while my interest mostly peaked in the 1990s and early 2000s I still keep an eye on certain films. When I saw Despicable Me a few years ago at a free outdoor screening and I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was. Gru was funny, the kids were charming, and the minions were fun side characters. In the time since their 2010 debut, Gru's yellow pill-shaped minions have taken a life of their own. Minions is the first feature length spin-off of the Despicable Me franchise showing the history of the Minions and briefly, how they met Gru. The film takes place in the 1960s and involves three Minions Bob, Kevin, and Stuart who are  looking for a new boss. The Minion horde has wander through decades of boss-less leadership to the point where their very existence is at stake. Bob, Kevin, and Stuart leave their home at the North Pole and eventually find their way to a Super-villain convention in Florida where t...

The summer movie season is here and once again I am struggling to catch up. However that has not kept me from seeing Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's newest film San Andreas . The Rock has had an interesting transition from football player to professional wrestler and now to headline action star. He stars as a rescue helicopter pilot who's mission has him trying to save his family from a major earthquake along the San Andreas fault in California. I feel that the disaster movie genre has fell on hard times despite advancing CGI technologies and ballooning movie budgets. Following the disappointment that was Cloverfield and the over the top destruction of 2009's 2012 apocalypse, I felt my own interest in the genre waning. Will  Mr. Johnson be able to save his family and keep my interest for the film's entire run time? The movie begins with Ray (The Rock) and his helicopter rescue crew rescuing a young woman tho was trapped in a car on a cliff.  He is estranged fr...

Sony is one of those companies while not exactly a trainwreck, is prone to have soap opera-esque public relations nightmares. From the lackluster launches of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita to the bungling of the Spider-Man film franchise and the Network data breaches, they seem to have an ideal mix of hubris and clueless-ness which makes The Interview debacle all the more fascinating. The Interview of course is the Seth Rogen, James Franco comedy vehicle where they are sent on a mission by the US government to interview then assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Jung Un. In response to the film, the North Korean government hacked Sony Pictures's confidential data and released them to the public. There were also threats of 9/11 type terrorist attacks against theaters that showed the film. Sony pulled the film from its Christmas release date though ultimately released the film digitally and at the movies. Sony is currently being sued for the breach and faced criticism f...

Scarlet Johanson has enjoyed an impressive string of success thanks in part to her role as Black Widow in the Avengers movie franchise.In her newest film Lucy , she stars as a woman who is implanted with a drug that allows her to access up to 100% of her brain. Lucy is a French film starring Johanson, Morgan Freeman, Mar Waked, and Choi Min-Sik. Lucy is kidnapped by ruthless Korean gangsters who operate a human trafficking ring that uses tourists as drug mules. During a fight with her captors, the drug pouch implanted inside her ruptures and she is inundated with the potent pills. As explained by Morgan Freeman, this allows her to manipulated objects with her mind, learn information rapidly and even travel through time. The film revolves around Lucy gradually unlocking greater portions of her brain while hunting down the Korean gangsters that kidnapped her. The main theme of Lucy is the passing down of knowledge to the next generation. The cycle of lif...

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of Marvel's more out there properties that I could not believe would reach the big screen certainly not before a Justice League film. However it is 2014 and here we are. Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautisa, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel though Diesel and Cooper are voicing CGI characters. The story is simple. A band of outlaws must work together to stop a fanatic from using the ultimate power to destroy a planet. However unlike other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the plot is loosely connected excluding brief cameos from The Collector and Thanos.  Chrus Pratt starrs as Peter Quill, a human thief  who comes across a mystical orbof unfathomable power. Soon he is joined by Groot and Rocket Raccoon voiced by Disell and Cooper who are bounty hunters attempting to capture him and Gamora an alien assassin who is trying to kill him and recover the orb. Pratt is great in his role but...

The Purge was one of 2013's biggest surprise movie successes. While it didn't draw the box office numbers of The Avengers, it did recoup its budget many times over. Unsurprisingly a sequel, The Purge: Anarchy is releasing this month and due to that, I decided to give the The Purge a try to see what they hype was about. In The Purge, the crime and unemployment rates in the United States have plummeted in a seemingly perfect society, however once a year for 12 hours all crime is legal and all emergency response is suspended. People are allowed to take  out their violence, anger, and hate on whoever they want during this period and suffer no legal consequences. In the film it is explained to be a release and a way to cleanse themselves of their sins however in actually is cleansing society of the sick, weak, and poor.  In an affluent Los Angeles suburb a security systems salesman played by Ethan Hawke and his family must survive an assault by crazed bands of 1%ers. Hawke work...

In Seth Rogen's newest film Neighbors he stars as a new dad who's life is turned upside down when a college fraternity moves in next door. He and his wife played by Rose Byrne have to deal with the frat's antics as well as the their newly-found responsibilities both as parents and a married couple. Zac Efron plays the frat leader who initially appears mild-mannered and friendly but eventually devolves into a hard partying frat boy. Efron makes and agreement with Rogen to keep the noise down and partying to a minimum In exchange for Rogen not calling the cops when they have a'few' friends over. When that inevitably fails Rogen calls the cops on their parties setting up a series of increasingly disastrous pranks. When I think of funny movies, I usually don't think of Seth Rogen. While I liked last year's doomsday comedy This is the End, I believe that James Franco provided most of the humor and that Rogen was merely there.  Fortunately you can tell that th...

I have very mixed feelings on the Amazing Spider-Man movie series. The 2012 film reboot came 5 years after Spider-Man 3 so I felt that retelling the same origin story was unnecessary.  Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are excellent in their portrayals of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy and they have a high level or chemistry. While the original Amazing Spider-Man felt like a unnecessary rehash of the original Sam Raimi directed Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 brought some more elements of the franchise. In addition to the villains Electro and the Rhino, the movie also adapted part of the famous comic story 'The Night Gwen Stacy Died'. There are several things that the film did right but I feel that the overall final product is less than the sum of its parts. The beginning scenes were very well done with Spider-Man jumping off a building an the camera zooming out to follow his fall. The part with first person web-slinging was rather unique. In this film, Peter is haunted m...

The film Noah starring Russell Crowe in the title role is an intriguing film and caused a variety of emotions both during and after I saw it. From protests from Christian groups and scientific debates Noah was a large source of controversy across very diverse groups of people. I can tell that the movie takes certain liberties with the Biblical text and certain scenes show the clear influence of the Lord of the Rings trilogy but the basics of the story are abided by. The movie has a distinct visual style at points especially in the scenes detailing Creation and the Fall of Man. While the CGI effects could have been better overall, I felt that the creation scene was particularly memorable for its fusion of biblical Genesis and evolution theory. God tells Noah through a series of dreams and visions that due to the depravity and corruption of man, he will destroy the world a start anew.  He instructs Noah to build an Ark to save the innocent (the animals & his family) fro...

Liam Neeson has had career arc, starring in films such as as Schindler's List, Star Wars, and Taken. His latest film Non-Stop is a high flying thriller that banks off of his popularity from the Taken films. Neeson stars as Bill Marks, an alcoholic Air Marshall on a trans-Atlantic flight who receives cryptic messages from someone on board claiming that someone will die every twenty minutes. As the deaths mount, he is forced to turn to desperate measures which then leads the majority of the flight to believe that he is the one hijacking the plane. The movie's release is further complicated by real world events like the disappearance of Malaysian Flight 370 This contributed to the film being a bit more chilling than it in normal circumstances. Julianne Moore is also a major character in the film and recent Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong'o also has a role. While I predicted a fair amount of the plot twists, I felt that a major one at the end really set the film ...

M Night Shamaylan's live action adaptation of the hit Nickelodeon show Avatar the Last Airbender was released in 2010 to poor commercial and critical reception. Being a fan of the show, I saw The Last Airbender in theaters and held a reasonable level of expectations. I did not expect to be blown away by any means and for the first 30 seconds i was thrilled. It was simply the intro to the show done in live action. However after that, the whole film fell apart.  The film follows the story of a young monk Aang who must master all four elements (air, water, fire, earth) and stop the warmongering Fire Nation from taking over the world. He is the Avatar which is a person who can control four elements in a world where everyone else can master only one. The plot roughly  follows a stripped down version of the first season of the show where he is freed from a hundred year slumber in an iceberg by siblings Katara and Sokka  and is being chased by Zuko, the son ...

2013's Man of Steel  was a success for Warner Brothers but it didn't bring in the billion dollar box office of Iron Man 3 or the Avengers. In order to get higher box office take for the next Superman film, DC announced Man of Steel's sequel Batman Vs. Superman at Comicon.  Subsequently they announced the casting casting of Ben Affleck and Jessie Eisenberg as Batman and Lex Luthor respectively. Additionally Gal Gadot has been cast as Wonder Woman for the film. Everyday there are new rumors as to who will appear such as Green Lantern or Nightwing. As much as I would love to see Superman and Batman one the same screen, I feel that it is too early for this. Marvel started building towards the Avengers using Two Iron Man films, and Capt. America, Hulk, and Thor films. The Avengers would have  not been a s nearly as successful without this build up. Man of Steel 2 would be building its world using just some Easter eggs  hidden with in the original and the public's memory...

Man of Steel was one of the more controversial superhero films of last year and found itself in a rather unique position. It was a reboot of the franchise from the 1970s and 80s Christopher Reeves films and followed the acclaimed Dark Knight Trilogy. Additionally it faced competition from sequels Iron Man 3 and Star Trek into Darkness. Unlike Marvel, who's Avengers, X-Men and Spider-Man films franchises struck box office gold, DC's heroes outside of Batman have struggled finding an audience. The 2011's Green Lantern and 2006's Superman Returns were generally regarded as failures tho I liked Returns. I am unsure how to categorize Watchmen. In any case, Superman is brought back to bring the Last Son of Krypton into the 21st Century.  Man of Steel is a movie of two halves . The first half is quieter and focuses on Clark Kent's isolation from society and the second half  is more action oriented with Superman confronting Zod and his team of  Kryptonian survivors...

George Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, and Bill Murray star in Monuments Men a film that is both a war film and an art celebration. During World War II the US Government sent a team of specialists, historians and preservationists who's main job was to try and save Europe's cultural and artistic treasures from the ravages of war. The movie opens rather powerfully with Italians frantically working to save DaVinci's Last Supper from the bombing and gunfire erupting around it. Furthermore the Nazis have robbed Europe's museums of their treasures to feed Adolph Hitler's insatiable appetite for dominance and control. George Clooney's character leads an team that goes into Western Europe in an effort to locate and reclaim the stolen.  For most of the film, it focuses on specifically the Ghent Alterpiece and the Madonna and Child statue. The movie repeatably brings up the issue whether art and cultural objects are worth human lives. The Monuments men are not f...

After Earth was one of the biggest bombs of last year both critically and commercially but I could not get myself to stay away. This is also the logic that lead to me seeing M  Night Shamalan's Last Airbender which proved to be a massive disappointment. I enjoyed Will Smith in Independence Day, Men in Black and even I am Legend so my expectations  may have been higher than they souls be. After Earth stars Will and Jaden Smith set in the far future as a father and son that crash land on a planet which they discover used to be Earth. However it is not the same Earth that we know as it has evolved to be hazardous even deadly to Humans. They are not alone as a deadly alien creature with a taste for fear and human blood has also crashed with them. Now Will and Jaden must survive a harsh climate to reach a beacon to call for a ride home.  The movie's main theme is that Fear isn't real but the danger is. The trailer and posters for this movie were  lying when they implied...