Invictus

For the finale of “Morgan Freeman month,” I thought I would look at another film that Morgan Freeman starred in and was directed by Clint Eastwood. This film is the 2009 rugby film about Nelson Mandela, “Invictus.” Now I had never heard of this film before I went to see it in the theaters with my brother and cousin. I had not seen any trailers or reviews for this film, but my brother had told me about it, and I went and saw it with him. After watching it, I really liked this movie a lot, and I consider this another one of my favorite sports films. Quite possibly, it could be my absolute favorite sports film. Yes, the film's title is after the famous poem by William Ernest Henley.

It should probably come as no surprise that Morgan Freeman is portraying Nelson Mandela. He had already done God in “Bruce Almighty,” which I will get to eventually, so if he could pull off playing God, then Mandela shouldn’t be that big of a problem. Ebert noted, “Freeman has been linked to one biopic of Nelson Mandela or another for at least 10 years.” How unusual that the only one to be made focuses on the South African rugby team. The posters for this movie show Matt Damon in the foreground, with Freeman behind him in shadowy dignity. Ebert said in his review, “I can imagine the marketing meetings during which it was lamented that few Americans care much about Mandela and that Matt Damon appeals to a younger demographic.”

Ebert also said, “Screw 'em, is what I would have contributed.” Also, Mandela’s achievement is one of the moments that everyone should be familiar with from recent history. He was imprisoned for 24 years and broke rocks, and after his release, he went back to being the leader of his nation. When the white South African’s forgave him, which was the guiding light that shined upon the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, one of a selected examples of a historical person who “really” had much to forgive, and forgave it. Don’t’ forget that both black and white mourned, and reasons to forgive, where in many cases they faced the actual killings of loved ones.

Would it really be that big of a deal that the underdog Springbok team, an all white team except for one, won the World Cup in rugby the first year into Mandela’s rule? Ebert mentioned, “I understand that in a nation where all the races are unusually obsessed by sport, the World Cup was an electrifying moment when the pariah state stood redeemed before the world -- even if soccer is the black man's game there, and rugby is the white's.” Similarly, the Beijing Olympics were important to China.

Clint Eastwood, as Ebert put it, “I believe, understood all of these things and also sought to make a film he believed he could make, in an area where he felt a visceral connection.” He has now gotten to the point in his career where he doesn’t need any interest in making a film only for money. Eastwood might have read all of the other screenplays that people made for previous Mandela’s projects. One thing is for sure: none of them got made. It was a universal decision that Morgan Freeman would be the right actor, but the story, according to Roger Ebert, “financing and deal never came together.” I would assume that Eastwood made a film that did get made. Also, Morgan Freeman (much like with Joe Clark) had met Mandela and they got along just great.

This is a great film. This film has moments where its emotions are very powerful, like when the black and white members of Mandela’s security (hard-line ANC activists and Afrikaner cops) agree to serve together with unbearable difficulty. This shows that the effects of segregation are still very strong. Another moment is when Matt Damon’s (another great actor, who you might remember as Jason Bourne) character, the team captain of the rugby team, Francois Pienaar, is shown in the exact same cell where Mandela was in on Robben Island. Ebert mentioned, “My wife, Chaz, and I were taken to the island early one morning by Ahmed Kathrada, one of Mandela's fellow prisoners, and yes, the movie shows his very cell, with the thin blankets on the floor. You regard that cell and you think, here a great man waited in faith for his rendezvous with history.”

Now the World Cup was a famous victory. The Springboks rugby team had their match with a New Zealand team that won against every single one of their opponents. They played against Japan, and they won by around 90 points, which is a lot in rugby. South Africa won in overtime. South African national teams have been called the Springboks since, as Ebert said, “time immemorial,” (New Zealand is called All Blacks) which are the national logo, and are on every tail of every South African Airlines airplane. Ebert asked, “Would Mandela change the name to one less associated with the apartheid regime? He would not. Join me in a thought experiment. An African American is elected mayor of Boston. He is accepted, grudgingly in some circles. How would it go over if he changed the name of the Red Sox?”

Morgan Freeman does a great job of playing Mandela, who is basically on the same level as Gandhi (he led his first campaign in Durban, South Africa). Freeman shows Mandela as friendly, confident, calming – over what was, as Ebert described, “Was clearly a core of tempered steel.” The focus is on the early years when he was in office. Ebert mentioned, “I believe there may be one scene with a woman representing Winnie Mandela, but the dialogue is vague.” Damon also is amazing as the captain, Francois Pienaar, a child of racist parents, who changes after he has came face to face with “the greatest man I’ve ever met.” Eastwood, who is as high of a director as he was an actor, puts every formula together to make this film work, and has his fans loving Mandela, proud of Francois, and cheering for the Springboks to win. It’s a great, entertaining picture, and you should all see it. Ebert ended his review by saying, “Not, as I said, the Mandela biopic I would have expected.” See the film if you haven’t because I cannot do it justice with this review.

Thanks for joining in with me on “Morgan Freeman month.” I hope you all enjoyed my reviews as much as I have making them. Now I know there are other Morgan Freeman films out there that I hadn't reviewed, but keep in mind that these are all the films that "I" have seen, minus one or two that I didn't review in this month. But don't worry, their time will come soon. Stay tuned for more of my reviews coming at you.

Captain EO

Happy Birthday Michael Jackson! As celebration for today, I would like to review the 1986 short directed by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, “Captain EO.” This is only 17 minutes long, so make sure to YouTube it and watch the clip. It’s not long, so you should be able to sit through the entire short. Other names attached to this are composer James Horner, film editor Walter Murch, and makeup effects designer Rick Baker.

So the short starts off with Captain EO, played of course by The King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, who is in charge of a spaceship. His crew includes Fuzzball, a two-headed navigator and pilot Idey (Debbie Lee Carrington) and Ody (Cindy Sorenson), a robotic security officer Major Domo (Gary Depew), a small robot Minor Domo (who fits inside Major Domo), and a tiny green elephant named Hooter (Tony Cox). He is ordered by his superior, Commander Bog, played by Dick Shawn, to deliver a gift to “The Supreme Leader,” played by Angelica Huston. Once they arrive, they are kidnapped by “The Supreme Leader’s” henchmen and brought before her. When she gives her sentence, EO tells her about the gift, and the song “We Are Here To Change The World” starts. EO manages to turn all of her henchmen into backup dancers for this part, and his crew turns into the band. Throughout the segment, there are obstacles that break the spell, but EO and his crew fight through to make the music keep going. Once they do, “The Supreme Leader” and her henchmen are turned into humans; she is turned into a beautiful woman, her lair into a Greek palace, and the planet into a paradise. While leaving, a small part of “Another Part Of Me” is played, as EO and his crew get back into their ship and fly away.

If it weren’t for Ford Coppola and Lucas, this would have been a very silly short. Just like how Michael Jackson did with his other music videos, like “Thriller” and “Bad,” he uses the dance sequence to make up for the lack of dialogue. Of course, since Michael Jackson would make his music videos, he could make sure that the climatic dance sequence would really be the highlight that everyone would remember from his shorts. His music videos were like mini movies, but they were enjoyable and memorable. For those of you who have become Michael Jackson fans after his death, you will enjoy this short, so make sure to give it a watch. Sure it may not look as good and you may not be happy with it, but do it in loving memory of the King of Pop. Michael Jackson’s acting career may not have all been good, but they are still memorable because he was in it. He always made sure to have his acting roles and cameos leave an impact on his fans so they would always remember that he was in what they had saw. And that’s what made him such a loveable and enjoyable entertainer in the years that he was working up until he died. RIP MJ, the greatest entertainer that ever lived and will always be missed.

Look out for tomorrow, where I will review my final Morgan Freeman film for this month.

Power Rangers

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of the Power Rangers, a show about five high school teenagers that become Power Rangers to save the world against the villains, Rita and Zed. I have to admit, I used to watch this show growing up in the 90s. It was my childhood escape, and I really did love it. However, after Wild Force, I lost interest and didn’t want to watch anymore of it, and I don’t get why this show is still airing. Maybe because the kid audiences for this show keeps growing, so there is no need to not take it off the air.

Now with the success of this show, two feature films were released, and boy were they bad. The first film, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie,” was released in 1995. Before we get to this film, I would like to say that this film is in no way connected with the show. It is not a film that will introduce a new season, but just a standalone film. When the show first started, we had Austin St. John as the Red Ranger (Jason Lee Scott) Walter Emanuel Jones as the Black Ranger (Zack Taylor), and Thuy Trang as the Yellow Ranger (Trini Kwan). Now here’s something that I didn’t really pay attention to until years later. This show was racist. Why would you have a black boy as the Black Ranger, and an Asian girl as the Yellow Ranger? I’m surprised there were no lawsuits filed against them. However, in the second season, these three were replaced with Steve Cardenas, who played Rocky DeSantos, Johnny Yong Bosch, who played Adam Park, and Karan Ashley, who played Aisha Campbell. I heard a lot of speculations that there was a money issue, but who knows?

Now back to the movie. I have to say that this film is really bad. Sure all the rangers are there, Cardenas, Bosch, Ashley, Amy Jo Johnson, Jason David Frank, and David Yost, but that won’t save the film. Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy are also in this film as the bullies, Bulk and Skull. Come to think of it, what kind of threatening bully names are those? They sound like pirate names. Also, if they hate the Power Rangers so much, why do they keep hanging out with them? Maybe because they are the lamest bullies you will ever see. Instead of seeing what kind of trouble Rita, played by Julia Cortez (but voiced by Barbara Goodson), and Zed, played by Mark Ginther (voiced by Robert Axelrod), are doing, they instead decide to go skydiving for a charity drive, and rollerblading. Next thing you know, their leader, Zordon, played by Nicholas Bell (voiced by Robert L. Manahan), contacts the Rangers to tell them that an egg that construction workers dug up that has a sinister shape shifter named Ivan Ooze, played by Paul Freeman, has been found. Zordon explains that he tricked Ooze by trapping him into that egg to prevent him from taking over the universe.

Unfortunately they can’t retrieve the egg in time, as Rita, Zed, and their henchmen, Goldar, played by Kerry Casey (voiced by Kerrigan Mahan), and Mordant, played by Jean Paul Bell, find it. Ooze traps Rita and Zed in a snow globe and, while the Rangers are fighting, comes to the Command Center and destroys Zordon for missing on all the years of torture. It’s kind of funny when Ooze mentions, “The Brady Bunch reunion.” When the Rangers arrive, Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, played by Johnson, says to Zordon that he can't die since he has been like a father figure to them. Where are your parents? Do you not have any parents? If not, is that the reason why you look at Zordon as your father figure? If you do, do they not know anything about what you are doing? Also, Tommy, the White Ranger, played by Frank, says, “We may not have our powers, but we’re still the Power Rangers.” How? Being a Power Ranger means you have to have some sort of Power.

Anyways, the Rangers can’t morph, so Zordon’s assistant, Alpha, played by Peta-Maree Rixon (voiced by Richard Wood), sends them to the planet Phaedos in order to save Zordon and help fight Ooze, who has mind controlled all of the parents. There they meet Dulcea, who I think is an Amazon, played by Gabrielle Fitzpatrick, who shows them how to gain the power of the Ninja Rangers.

My main problem with this film is those awful one-liners they say before they start fighting. One is when Tommy says, “Welcome to my nightmare.” THAT WAS FREDDY KRUEGAR’S LINE; YOU DON’T HAVE COPYRIGHT ON THAT CATCHPHRASE!!! Also, when Rocky has a pale on his foot, he says, “Let’s play kick the can.” That will kill you instantly. Also, unlike the show, which had stock footage, the film instead relies on bad CGI, which sucks. So don’t watch this film.

You would believe that they would have learned from this film, after seeing how bad it was, and wouldn't make another one. Sadly, in 1997, they made a horrendous piece of garbage sequel called “Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.” This film serves as a gap between “Power Rangers Zeo” and “Power Rangers Turbo.” Like the animated Transformers movie, this film introduced the new series. Now if you remember, Amy Jo Johnson left the series midway through season 3 of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" so she could pursue other projects. Enter Katherine Hillard as the new Pink Ranger, Catherine Sutherland. Also, around the time of "Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers," Karan Ashley left because like Amy Jo Johnson, she was to be given an exciting story arc but "following time off while her character was reduced to a child for some time in the third season, she would find that she was not asked to return to the set, the official reason given was that her character's recovery would not require her to appear on screen." (Wikipedia) It was also because of the demanding hours that she left. This is the third time they had to replace the Yellow Ranger, which is ridiculous. Now, we have Nakia Burrise, who plays Tanya Sloan, and she stayed until Power Rangers Zeo, so she is in the movie. Finally, David Yost is no longer seen after Zeo. Since he couldn't be one of the Power Rangers during that season, he stayed in the Command Center as the Q for the Rangers. Afterwards, he left the show because of "repeated and ongoing homophobic slurs by the creators, producers, directors, and writers of the series, hence his lack of appearance in them; shortly after, however, producer Scott Page-Pagter denied these allegations and said Yost left over a salary dispute and got along with no one in the crew." (Wikipedia) Yes, you heard right, Yost is gay. He was the last original Power Ranger to leave, however Jason had returned as the Gold Ranger for 17 episodes, but left again.

The villainess in this film is Divatox, played by Hilary Shepard Turner. I know what you’re thinking: that name sounds like a disease that a diva would catch. Well, I do have to admit, she does look and acts very much like a prostitute. Then there are moments where she pouts like a spoiled little brat, and she can act juvenile as well. She wants to get married to a lava creature known as Maligore. Don’t you find it strange that a human character wants to get married to a lava beast? In order to do this, she has to use a wizard named Lerigot, played by Jon Simanton, who looks like a bad Warwick Davis’s Willow puppet. He transports to Africa, where he is weakened by the ultraviolet rays of the sun, and Cat and Jason go find him and bring him back to the Command Center.

Adam, Rocky, and Tommy are training for the upcoming martial arts tournament, but Rocky hurts his back by performing some sort of roundhouse kick and lands on the floor. How was he able to throw himself over the ring when he didn’t jump that high? And later on because he can’t join the other Power Rangers, they instead make a 12-year-old boy named Justin, played by Blake Foster, the Blue Turbo Ranger? And how can he miraculously get taller when he’s in the Ranger suit? AND HOW COME IN THIS FILM ZORDON’S LIPS DON’T MOVE!?!?!? In the previous movie, they had his lips move, but he was out of sync. In this one, they downgraded him and his lips aren’t even moving.

Another moment I don’t get is when Cat falls off of the cliff, she morphs into her Pink Zeo Ranger, but apparently, when she is morphing, she falls in the water and her morphing stops. ARE YOU SAYING THEIR MORPHING ISN’T WATERPROOF YOU MORONS!?!?!?!? THAT MAKES NO SENSE!!!! AND THEY DON’T MORPH AT ALL IN THIS FILM!!! Oh sure, they do morph 35 minutes in when they first become the Turbo Rangers, BUT THEY IMMEDIATELY CHANGE BACK!!!! IT’S CALLED “A POWER RANGERS MOVIE” FOR A REASON YOU NUMBSKULLS!!! WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT IN THE TITLE WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE THEM MORPH INTO THE POWER RANGERS!?!?!? Oh, they do eventually morph, like 75 MINUTES IN!!!

Divatox captures Bulk and Skull, who are not even worthy of being kidnapped, but who cares about them anyway? Then we get a pleasant surprise from Jason and Kimberly, and they get kidnapped. They try to do the exchange with Lerigot for Kimberly and Jason, but it ends up being a trick. When they get possessed, Kimberly does look very attractive. Especially when she says, “Friends?” and laughs like Pattie and Selma from “The Simpsons.” Also, Rita and Zed make a brief cameo when Divatox calls them on how to stop the Power Rangers.

Bottom line: these film adaptations of the Power Rangers blow. They are just god-awful, make no sense, and thankfully they never made another Power Rangers movie in almost 20 years. But to be fair, this was my childhood escape. I had gotten into this show a lot, and in all honesty, a lot of the film adaptations of very famous cartoons are not all good. Whether it is Transformers, G.I. Joe, Ninja Turtles, He-Man, Alvin & the Chipmunks, or even The Smurfs, it may have been stupid, but think fondly of those years when you used to watch those shows. Anyways, Happy Anniversary Power Rangers! You may be a campy, silly show, but you must be doing something right after being around all this time.

Thanks for reading this review everyone. Stay tuned for more of my reviews coming soon.

Million Dollar Baby

What happens when you put Morgan Freeman with another great actor together in a film? You get an amazing piece of work. Case in point: Clint Eastwood’s 2004 boxing film, “Million Dollar Baby,” one of my favorite sports movies. As I pointed out earlier, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood both star in this film, but Eastwood also directs it. This is my second review of a boxing film, the first one being “Ali.”

All I can say is that this movie is a masterpiece, pure and simple, deep and true. The story is about an old boxing trainer and a hillbilly girl who has a feeling she can become a boxer. The narrator is a former boxer, and the trainer’s best friend. Here’s an interesting tidbit: it’s not a boxing movie, but more a movie about a boxer. Just like how “Ali” follows Ali’s career down the road, this essentially does the same thing by showing how deep it can go, the emotional power that is flowing throughout the film, this could be the best film that came out that year. I agree with Ebert when he said, “I cannot suggest in this review, because I will not spoil the experience of following this story into the deepest secrets of life and death.”

Eastwood, aka Dirty Harry, plays a trainer named Frankie, who runs a sleazy gym in Los Angeles and when he’s free, he reads poetry. Hilary Swank, another very attractive actress, plays Maggie, who is from Southwest Missouri and has been a waitress since she was 13. The one thing that she can do to escape waitressing for her entire life is boxing.

Otherwise, Maggie says, “I might as well go back home and buy a used trailer and get a deep fryer and some Oreos.” Morgan Freeman plays Scrap, a boxer who was previously trained by Frankie into a match for the heavyweight title. Now he lives in a room inside the gym and also has conversations with Frankie that have twisted through the years. Frankie doesn’t want to train Maggie because he doesn’t train girls, but Scrap is the one who convinces Frankie to at least try Maggie out: “She grew up knowing one thing. She was trash.”

These three characters are seen very clearly and truth, which is something you don’t see very often in movies. Eastwood, who doesn’t carry a spare ounce in his old body, doesn’t have any filling in his own movie: Even during the very emotional final scenes, doesn’t go easy with sentiments, but is goes along with them on the same eye-level, which is what they have to do.

Some directors lose their edge when they get old. Others gain it, learning how to tell a story that has everything essential and nothing else. “Million Dollar Baby” is Eastwood’s 25^th film as a director, and his best. Ebert mentioned that, “Yes, "Mystic River" is a great film, but this one finds the simplicity and directness of classical storytelling; it is the kind of movie where you sit very quietly in the theater and are drawn deeply into lives that you care very much about.”

Morgan Freeman is the one who narrates this film, just like how he did with “The Shawshank Redemption,” which this film is exactly like how Scrap describes someone who he has known for a very large part of his life. The voice is flat and truthful: You never hear Scrap going for an affect or putting a spin on his words. He just wants to tell us an autobiography. He walks about how Maggie walked into the gym, how she refused to leave, how Frankie finally said he would train her, and everything after that. Scrap isn’t simply an observer. The film gives him his own life when everyone else is not present. It is about every one of the three protagonists.

Hilary Swank is just amazing in her role as Maggie Fitzgerald. This is a believable character, and reduces her to a fierce intensity. An example is when she is with Scrap at the diner, and Scrap tells her the story how he lost his ability to see with one of this eyes, how Frankie blames himself for not stopping the fight. Ebert admitted, “It is an important scene for Freeman, but I want you to observe how Swank has Maggie do absolutely nothing but listen.” No “reactions,” no nods, no body language except complete stillness, deep attention and a solid look.

I will have to admit: after I saw “The Next Karate Kid,” I didn’t give Hilary Swank a chance because I hated the film that much. Afterwards, when I went to see “Insomnia,” she was just great in that. In this film, she really brings out a great role in Maggie. So I have say that “The Next Karate Kid” wasn’t her fault, it was the people who decided to make that spin-off.

If you remember that scene when Frankie and Maggie are driving at night after visiting Maggie's family where it didn't go so well. Maggie's mother is played by Margo Martindale, who plays this monster that is selfish. Maggie tells Frankie, "I got nobody but you," which is true, but do not think for once that there is a romance going on between these two. It goes deeper than that. She opens up to Frankie and tells her about her father and an old dog, both whom she loved so much.

Look at how the cinematographer, Tom Stern, uses the light in that scene. Instead of the usual “dashboard lights” that somehow light up the entire front seat, what how he has their faces slide in and out of shadow, how sometimes we can’t even see or hear them. Look at how the rhythm of the lighting matches the tone and pacing of the words, as the visuals are embracing the conversation.

This is a dark movie: a lot of shadows, many night scenes, characters who move away into private fates. It is a “boxing movie” by following Maggie’s career and several of her fights. She wins from the beginning, but the point is “Million Dollar Baby” is about a woman with a goal of making something of herself, and a man who doesn’t want to deal with this woman, and finally will.

Paul Haggis, who mostly worked on TV, did the screenplay to this film and earns an Oscar nomination. I believe Swank, Eastwood and Freeman also had Oscar nomination, as did the picture and many technicians – and the original music made by Eastwood, which always does the requirement and is not a distraction.

Ebert noted, “Haggis adapted the story from Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner, a 2000 book by Jerry Boyd, a 70-year-old fight manager who wrote it as "F.X. Toole."” The dialogue is never fancy but poetic. Maggie asks Frankie, “How much she weigh?” She is asking him about the daughter he hasn’t seen in years. “Trouble in my family comes by the pound.” Look at when Frankie sees Scrap’s feet on the desk:

Frankie: “Where are your shoes?”
Scrap: “I’m airing out my feet.”

The foot conversation lasts almost a minute, which displays the film’s patience in reminding character.

Now Eastwood is helpful when it comes to his supporting characters, which help him out in painting the world that brings the realism out of it. What you never see coming is the scenes that Eastwood shares with the Catholic priest, who is simply seen as a good man. Ebert complained, “Movies all seem to put a negative spin on the clergy these days.” Frankie has gone to mass every morning and says his prayers, and Father Horvak, played by Brian F. O’Byrne, says to him that he must be carrying some guilt inside of him, since he has attended daily mass for 23 years, and that usually is the case. Frankie wants some advice from the priest at very serious time, and the priest gives him some wise insight and not church belief: “If you do this thing, you’ll be lost, somewhere so deep you will never find yourself.” Also, pay attention to when Haggis has Maggie use “Frozen,” which uneducated girls may not even utter, but that word expresses what a full paragraph couldn’t.

Movies nowadays seem to pay a lot of more attention to special effects and sensation, but this one is made about three people and what they do expresses who they are and why they are that way. It has to be everything that you would want to express. It’s very character driven, but that’s what makes the film shines since, like I had mentioned before, movies pay way more attention to the action. So definitely give this film a watch, I think you’ll love it as well.

Well, next week is the finale to Morgan Freeman month. Stay tuned and see what I could possibly end this month with.

Outbreak

I remember back in science class when I was in the seventh grade, we had watched a movie that was about the Ebola virus. I didn’t know the title to the movie until last year when I had done some research. I remember that Morgan Freeman was in it playing a superior officer to the main character, so I Google searched “Morgan Freeman Ebola Virus,” and that’s when I found the title. It was the 1995 film directed by Wolfgang Peterson, “Outbreak.”

This interesting film is, as Ebert described it, “one of the great scare stories of our time, the notion that deep in the uncharted rain forests, deadly diseases are lurking, and if they ever escape their jungle homes and enter the human bloodstream, there will be a new plague the likes of which we have never seen.”

“Outbreak” is a clever, scaring thriller about a possibility of a bug that we follow, who actually kills humans after an entire day of being exposed to it by dissolving the internal organs. This is not pretty. This bug is actually a fact. Ebert mentioned that “something similar can be found in Richard Preston's new book, The Hot Zone.” The film occupies the same area as a number of science fiction movies about deadly takeovers and high-tech schemes, but has been made smartly and appeals human magnitude.

Now it starts off 30 years ago in Africa, where American doctors travel to a small village where the villagers have been killed by this bug. They promise a cure but instead call a plane that burns the village with a firebomb. Maybe the reason could be the bug it too lethal to handle in any other way. There is no information about where the bug came from, or why it landed in this remote area, even though the village witch doctor said worryingly, “It is not good to kill the trees.” Next thing you know, it goes to present day. One of the greatest actors of all time, Dustin Hoffman, and Rene Russo (in between Lethal Weapon 3 and 4) play a newly divorced couple, who both are disease experts. Hoffman’s character, Colonel Sam Daniels, works for the Army, and Russo’s character, Roberta "Robby" Keough, just got a new job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Throughout the film, we follow how their relationship is falling apart. In between the scenes, Petersen shows an African monkey that carries this deadly virus is shown illegally imported into the United States, and the smuggler, played by Patrick Dempsey, steals the monkey and takes her to California to sell on the black market, but on the way gets infected.

Now we get a montage of people that get infected from one carrier to another. This is not a funny montage, but a very scary one. The first carrier gets off a plane to Boston, he is red, sweaty, shaking and is close to not being able to stand, but obviously his girlfriend doesn’t let this disease interfere with their long kiss. Back in a small California town, an infected carrier sneezes in a movie theater, and the camera follows the germs as they make their way through the crowd. Ebert notes, “In a laboratory, a test tube breaks in a centrifuge, and a scientist is infected. And so on. I especially liked the moment when the smuggler takes one bite out of a cookie on an airplane, and a little kid asks him if he's planning to eat the rest of it.”

Soon there are reports of this deadly virus spread is seen from Boston and California. Colonel Daniels is given this case by his superior officer, played by Morgan Freeman, even though he and a colleague, played by Kevin Spacey, follow the infection and its spread. We also see glimpses of a conspiracy which is on Freeman’s own commanding officer, an evil genius general, played by another great actor, Donald Sutherland. For reasons that are never given to us, the Army is holding secrets about this virus, and also has an antidote. Unfortunately after it goes into different forms, only the monkey can be the only source as an antibody.

Petersen and his writers, Laurence Dworet and Robert Ray Pool, put together the tools of many different thrillers into one nail-biting story. Medical detectives are working, there is military conspiracy, martial and professional jealousy, and at the climax of all the action, Hoffman and his helicopter pilot, played by the very funny Cuba Gooding Jr., fly all over California and to a ship at sea, racing against time and another deadly virus spread.

You will enjoy “Outbreak,” even while you are watching yourself being manipulated. Colonel Daniels is a character we have seen so many times before; Ebert notes, “he's the military version of that old crime standby, the Cop With a Theory No One Believes In.” Sutherland plays a role that is so familiar that you can watch him playing the opposite of this character wearing a Soviet uniform in the HBO movie, “Citizen X.” But these roles are will written and acted, and Morgan Freeman is a general who is in the middle of all of this brings in the realism. He is a general that is at the crossroads of obeying instructions and his own better character.

There has got to be a law in Hollywood these days that all thrillers end with a chase. Simple dialogue-driven endings are too slow for today’s attention-deprived audiences. Ebert ended his review by saying, “I am not sure I believed the helicopter chase sequence in "Outbreak," and I am sure I didn't believe the standoff between a helicopter and a bomber (in a scene with echoes of "Dr. Strangelove"). But by then the movie had cleverly aligned its personal, military, medical and scientific plots into four simultaneous countdowns, and I was hooked.”

Well, I hope that this review was informative and you learned something new. Definitely see this film because it is one of the best. Stay tuned next week when I review another great Morgan Freeman film.

Hulk

Just like how 5 films built up to “The Avengers” film; I think it would be appropriate that I will do the same thing. The only difference is that, unlike the films that would come out a year after another, except for maybe a few of them that came out a few months after one another, I will post a review of the films a few months apart. Today I will look at both of the Hulk films and express my opinion on what I think of them.

The first Hulk film came out in 2003, directed by Ang Lee. This film, for some reason I have no idea why, people hate. I actually thought this was a good Marvel film because it expresses rage and how one man tries to fight it. Eric Bana plays Dr. Bruce Banner, the scientist who became the Hulk after a lab experiment accident. On top of that, his father, played by the crazy Nick Nolte, is also a scientist who experimented on his DNA code and passed that along in the genes to Bruce. In the lab, his partner, Betty Ross, played by the very lovely Jennifer Connelly, is almost his lover, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work out because she talks about “my inexplicable fascination with emotionally distant men.” Her father, General Ross, played by Sam Elliott, is a very cold military leader who just wants to hunt down the Hulk, despite Betty’s constant pleas to not hunt him down.

The film is just a joy to watch. I don’t understand why people hated this film. I know that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I didn’t see anything wrong with this film. It shows what Hulk normally goes through. When he gets mad, he turns into Hulk, the military goes out to kill him, he fights back, and it ends with Betty coming in and calming him down. Remember, Bruce says that he would never hurt Betty, and she is the only person who can stand in front of him, and he’ll calm down. Also, the film gives us another villain besides General Ross and his military. Enter the entrepreneur named Major Glenn Talbot, played by Josh Lucas, who just wants to use the secret of Bruce so he can put together self-repairing soldiers. Did somebody say money-grubbing jerk? Because that’s what he essentially is.

Now this film shows, as Roger Ebert put it, “issues about genetic experimentation, the misuse of scientific research and our instinctive dislike of misfits, and actually talks about them.” Also, Ang Lee was inspired by many great classics to make this film. There’s “King Kong,” where the military is going after Hulk, and also the close-up shots that resemble the stop-frame animation, “Bride of Frankenstein,” when Hulk looks at his reflection in a pond, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” with Bruce turning into Hulk and back, “Citizen Kane” when Hulk destroys the lab, and “The Right Stuff” when a jet flies so high that you can see the stars. General Jack D. Ripper can be seen in Ross.

If you are a fan of Ang Lee, and loved some of his other films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “The Ice Storm,” and “Sense and Sensibility,” then you will love this one. Remember, this film actually had a point to it with the science lab problems, emotional problems, and businessmen problems, and how to control them. You can watch this film and learn from it. Also, the main villain in the Hulk comics is General Ross and his military, so don’t get mad just because you don’t see Hulk fighting anyone when he fights the military and Talbot. Like Nolte tells Bruce, “You’re going to have to watch that temper of yours." Connelly’s character resembles a situation her character in “A Beautiful Mind” had to go through. Anyway, check out Ang Lee’s “Hulk.”

Now let’s move to “The Incredible Hulk,” the Louis Leterrier film released in 2008. For those of you who didn’t like Ang Lee’s “Hulk” because there was a lot of meaningful dialogue about the issues talked about in that film, then you’ll prefer this one. The reason why: it’s a mindless action comic book flick. Before you go crazy about what I said about it, hear me out first.

The film could be considered somewhat of a sequel to Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” but it’s not a good sequel. There is a good cast though. Edward Norton plays Bruce Banner in this one, but his performance wasn’t as good as Eric Bana’s, in my opinion. He did do a good job though. Also, like the parent-child conflicts that we saw in Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” not only with Bruce and his father, but with Betty and General Ross, we see that here as well, but only the latter. Betty is played in this version by Arwen from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Liv Tyler. She is still trying to convince her father, this time played by William Hurt, to not hurt the Hulk, but he doesn’t listen. Norton and Tyler put on a good performance, and show that they are in love, but don’t act on it because of the Hulk business.

Just like in Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” along with the military, there is another villain. This time it’s Tim Roth playing Emil Blonsky, who was recruited by General Ross because there is no one more over the top than Blonsky. He gets injected with the Hulk shot by Banner’s associate, Dr. Samuel Sterns, played by Tim Blake Nelson, and is turned into Abomination, I guess.

This is why I say this film is just filled with mindless action sequences, one after another. If you like this film over Ang Lee’s “Hulk,” then you must be a fan of mindless action flicks. I just can’t get into all of them. However, I do admit “The Expendables” is a mindless action flick, and I enjoyed both of them, but this one I just couldn’t get into. Also, nowadays a lot of comic book films seem to be becoming mindless action flicks, and I don’t like that. Comic book films are supposed to have action in them, but there’s supposed to be a point behind it. The story is not supposed to be a bore, like this one, it’s supposed to be an enjoyable story that is taken from the original source material: the comic it’s based on. The film would have been better if it hadn’t turned into a mindless action flick, and I’m sorry for repeating myself, but that’s what this film is.

Spoiler alert: at the end, General Ross is sitting in a bar when Tony Stark, played once again by Robert Downey Jr., comes in. Ross says, “Stark, you always wear such nice suits.” Stark then tells Ross, “What if I told you we were putting a team together?” and the General replies, “Who’s we?” before the credits roll. That’s right, this film led up to “The Avengers,” which I will remind all of you, I will get to that one eventually, I just want to build up everyone to what they believe I thought of the film.

Thanks for joining in on my Hulk reviews, stay tuned for this Friday when I continue my Morgan Freeman reviews.

The Shawshank Redemption

Welcome back to Morgan Freeman month. Today, I will look at one of the classic films that came out in 1994, and another one of my favorites, “The Shawshank Redemption.” This is another film that Morgan Freeman will always be remembered for. It’s about time, patience and loyalty – not erotic qualities, maybe, but they get to you during the underground progress of this story. The story revolves around two men that have been sentenced for life in prison. They meet, become friends, and fight off their depression. 

Morgan Freeman plays “Red” Redding, who is also narrating the story, and has been in Shawshank Prison for a long time and its head businessman. He is the one who can get his fellow inmates anything they ask for. You name it and he'll get it, like cigarettes to candy. In the case of his newly arrived inmate, he asks for a little rock pick. When the prisoners see the bus arrive with the new prisoners, they all make a bet on who will and will not cry during their first night in prison. Red makes a bet on the new man, Andy Dufresne, played by a great actor, Tim Robbins, who Ebert describes looking like “a babe in the woods."

Andy doesn’t cry, and Red loses the cigarettes he bet on. Much to surprise of everyone, Andy brings out this great determination and strength which makes him remain optimistic. Andy was a banker before being imprisoned, and he’s been accused of murder. What’s surprising is that Andy is innocent, and there are a handful of details in this case, but after some time they don’t seem real. All that counts inside the prison is its own society – who is strong and who isn’t – and the measured passage of time.

Red looks like he is also in for life. Sporadically, maybe by the decades, he goes in front of the parole board, and they look at the length of his sentence (20 years, 30 years) and ask him if he thinks he has been changed. His answer is, “Oh, most surely, yes.” Ebert mentioned that, “but the fire goes out of his assurances as the years march past, and there is the sense that he has been institutionalized -- that, like another old lifer who kills himself after being paroled, he can no longer really envision life on the outside.”

Since Red is narrating, he speaks for every single one of the prisoners, who see courage and honesty in Andy that stays with him throughout his time. He is not a kiss up, and won’t back down. Another good thing about Andy is that he is not a violent person, he's just really sure of himself. The warden, played by Bob Gunton, uses Andy as a challenge and resource when he finds that Andy knows everything about bookkeeping and tax preparation, which leads him to moving out of his prison job in the library to the warden’s office. At the office, Ebert mentions that “he sits behind an adding machine and keeps tabs on the warden’s ill-gotten gains.” Andy becomes really popular that he eventually does the taxes and pension plans for most of the officials in the system.

There are moments where Andy gets cold beers for his friends who are working on the roof, or becoming friends with the old prison librarian, played by James Whitmore, or when he goes too far and is thrown into solitary confinement. An amazing fact for not only the characters in the film, but for the audience watching this film as well, is that he takes the good, the bad, and the ugly as part of something only Andy is able to see clearly. With Red, we get the feeling that he has been inside the prison walls for a long time, like Whitmore’s character. However, Whitmore’s character is granted parole, but cannot stand being outside the prison walls after being in them for so long, that he commits suicide.

One of the heaviest moments in the film is when Andy is working in the prison laundry, he is regularly beaten by a “bull queer” gang known as “the Sisters,” lead by Bogs, played by Mark Rolston. When one of the attacks nearly kills Andy, the chief guard Byron Hadley, played by Clancy Brown, really gives a thrashing to Bogs and sends him to another prison. Then the gang leaves Andy alone.

The camaraderie between Andy and Red is essential to the way the story is told. This is not a “prison drama” in any way possible, not is it about violent, riots or melodrama. “Redemption” is in the title for a reason. Ebert notes, “The movie is based on a story, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King, which is quite unlike most of King's work.” The scare factor in this is not the supernatural kind, but that which flows from realization than 10, 20, 30 years of man’s life have unfolded in the same, constant prison routine.

Frank Darabont debuts as director to this movie, and he pains the prison in plain grays and shadows so when main events do happen, they seem to have a life of their own.

Andy keeps his thoughts to himself. Therefore, Red is the main part of the story: His close observation of Andy, through the years, gives the way we see change and keep up with the measure of his influence on his fellow inmates. Every time there is something else happening, hidden or secret, everything is revealed at the end.

 “The Shawshank Redemption” is not a depressing story, although from what I have given, it does sound like that. Just to let you know, there are plenty of moments of life and humor and the friendship that grows between Red and Andy. Also, we can tell when there will be excitement and suspense when not expected, but the film is, as Ebert stated, “mostly an allegory about holding onto a sense of personal worth, despite everything.” If the film is maybe a little slow in the middle, maybe that was also the idea to give us a sense of the slow passing of time, before the beauty of the final deliverance. Just like how Red says in this film, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

Stay tuned for next week in my “Morgan Freeman month,” but make sure to check out “The Shawshank Redemption” whenever you get the chance.