7 Days in Entebbe Movie Review

March 16, 2018 (updated March 12, 2018)

In July 1976 almost all people around the world were enjoying the upcoming U.S.A. Bicentennial celebrations. Except a handful who happened to be aboard an Air France jet that was hijacked in Athens. The jet left Israel and was taken over by Palestinian extremists and two German revolutionaries. The plane finally found safe passage into Uganda and landed in Entebbe. That country was led by a dictator named Idi Amain, and he gave the hijackers a place to stay. The Israeli government was backed into a corner, and something had to be done.

The hijackers were from split between Palestinians wanting a homeland, and the Germans, who had no other revolts left to join. The German authorities had shut down the German terror cells, and these two headed off to hang out with the others. Brigitte Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfried Böse (Daniel Brühl) had no prior experience doing something major like this, so they decided to help the Palastinians. Idi Amain (Nonso Anozie) had no love for the major world powers, so he thought he would shove their nose into the situation. Amin let the hijackers use the airport in Entebee as a place to conduct negotiations, or perhaps executions. Air France was helpless to end the stand-off, so it left it up to the Israelis.

The Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) knew that they could not negotiate. If they gave in, then more planes would be taken and more hostages would be in danger. The Defense Minister was Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) who knew that as things went on, he could persuade Rabin to eventually take military action. Not action that would confront Uganda directly, but a stealth operation that could get done under cover of darkness to free the passengers. This would not be an easy mission, but Peres believed that it needed to be done.

Böse was becoming more discouraged by the actions of the Palestinians. They had no respect for any of the hostages, and even less for those who were Jewish. Kuhlmann had turned the corner in her sanity and was popping more and more drugs to stay awake. She would lose touch with reality every now and then, but she was a brutal soldier in the fight. The crew of the Air France flight acted bravely and took special care to see that all the passengers were treated OK. But they had no control over anything. They could only hope for some type of rescue.

That rescue did come, by the way. There can be no spoilers about this, because it all happened more than 40 years ago! Amin’s forces helped to guard the old terminal where the hostages were held. But when the Israeli Special Forces arrived, the rescue operation would take down many of the Ugandan forces. Then they focused on the hijackers, and all of them were eliminated. The initial group of 248 taken hostage was then down to 94 by the time the rescue team arrived. Of those, only three people died in the fight, plus one Israeli soldier. The soldier killed was named Netanyahu. His younger brother went on to become the current Prime Minister of Israel.

For some reason this movie was made now, after several other films have already been made about the same events. This movie is over 40 years after the incident, so in does not reflect any breaking or recent news. The director, José Padilha, does a weird thing in the final act by cutting between the hostage rescue and a modern jazz dance recital. Yes, that does sound odd, but the actual depiction is even stranger. Perhaps it means that the soldiers are fighting for the right of dancers to make jazz hands? Don’t know…

The biggest actors of note are Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike. But there is something creepy about humanizing a couple of leftist anarchists who help hijack a plane. They are portrayed as wanting to make a big difference in the world. But doing that by holding hostages and threatening to kill them might not win any arguments. All the Palestinians portrayed as mean and belligerent. Idi Amin is mostly a joke character.

If any portrayal is positive, it is in the way that the Israeli government finally made the gutsy decision to make the rescue attempt. The entire thing was fraught with risk, and the fact that they made it out with as such a small number of causalities is amazing. In short,

Watching “7 Days in Entebbe” makes one weak…

Tomb Raider Movie Review

March 15, 2018 (updated March 15, 2018)

Better Title: Indiana Croft and the Raiders of Tomb

Lara Croft is the main character from a video game ‘Tomb Raider’. She shares many things in common with Indiana Jones. Both are adventurous treasure seekers, who travel all about the globe. Both have fathers who also were adventurous treasure seekers and both are handy with person weapon. With Indiana, it is his bullwhip; for Croft, she uses a bow and arrow. They fight evil people who are looking to harm the earth and its people. Indiana fights Nazis, and Croft faces off against an evil organization called Trinity.

Lara (Alicia Vikander) is the daughter of a successful London businessman named Lord Richard Croft (Dominic West). But for seven years, he has been missing and presumed dead. Lara will not accept that fact. The entire holdings of the Croft empire would be in her control, if she would only sign the papers that officially declare her Dad is dead. Her guardian Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) is waiting still for Lara to come to her senses. But instead Lara has found a key hidden by her Dad before he left on a journey many years ago. This leads her to a secret hideaway that her Dad had created, and she learns the reasons he left.

She makes her way to retrace her Dad’s steps by going to Hong Kong and find the ship he last sailed on. She finds the ship, and the ship’s captain is the son of the man that took her Dad years ago. Lu Ren (Daniel Wu) has given up on the past, because he lost his dad at the same time. But Lara convinces Lu Ren to take her to an unknown island where her father was headed. Perhaps they can both find out what happened to both their parents. This island is supposed to hold the tomb of an ancient Queen of Japan.

But a bad storm shipwrecks the two of them on a reef, and they are separated. Lara swims to the island, but is taken hostage by the mysterious group who is also on the island searching for the Queen’s tomb. This group is led by Vogel (Walton Goggins), and he is as ruthless as his thugs. Lu Ren is also there, physically forced into hard labor. Many other lost souls are also being forced to work against their will. The entire focus is to find the tomb, and that is what brought Richard Croft there to search years ago. Vogel claims to have killed Lara’s dad years ago.

But Richard Croft is still alive on the island, and soon he meets up with Lara. But they are captured by Vogel again and they find their way into the tomb. That is when the real Indiana Jones stuff stars to happen. Vogel is working for Trinity, the shadowy evil group who wants to use the special supernatural power of the ancient Queen of Japan for some evil purpose. Richard has pledged his life to stop it, and Lara is there to make sure that something works out right. But there are Indiana Jones-type life-or-death bobby traps to puzzle out. There are ‘National Treasure’ type riddles to figure out.

A Video game based movie is pretty similar to a Comic book based movie. You go into it knowing that it is a bit removed from reality. But with “Tomb Raider”, the writing and direction are trying to make it part of the real world. It could have used director Roar Uthaug playing it with a few winks and nods to the audience. But it strives for a Shakespeare level of literary value that just is not there. It is a very well-done popcorn matinee type movie. Even the soundtrack swells and drumbeats you into how you should feel about a scene.

Alicia Vikander knows that this is less than Oscar worthy material, but she puts in a very physical and high-value performance. Walton Goggins is great yet unsettling as he plays a very bad man, slowly going nuts on that island. Dominic West is decent and he gets some heroics in the end. Daniel Wu is OK and he gets a few good lines. Kristin Scott Thomas plays a very minor role overall, and then the plot attempts to ‘Keyser Söze’ her character, with does not work out well.

Has this been done before? Yes, of course. Has it been done better? Yes, but there is a certain charm to Vikander and her attempt to turn Lara Croft into a more brainy, and not quite as busty, woman adventurer. She handles the roles well, but the movie does not live up to what it could have been.

Pope Francis – A Man of His Word Trailer

March 14, 2018

Focus Features will soon release Pope Francis – A Man of His Word

Story: Wim Wenders’ new documentary, “Pope Francis – A Man of His Word,” is intended to be a personal journey with Pope Francis, rather than a biographical documentary about him. The pope’s ideas and his message are central to this documentary, which sets out to present his work of reform and his answers to today’s global questions. From his deep concern for the poor and wealth inequality, to his involvement in environmental issues and social justice, Pope Francis engages the audience face-to-face and calls for peace.

Director: Wim Wenders (“Buena Vista Social Club,” “Pina,” “The Salt of the Earth”)

For more info, please follow the film on social:

Official Site I Facebook I Twitter I Instagram

#ThePopeMovie

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In Theaters May 18th

http://www.fandango.com

Midnight Sun Advance Movie Screening

March 13, 2018

Movie Screening Summary

MIDNIGHT SUN, an epic romantic drama, follows 17-year-old Katie Price (Thorne), sheltered since childhood with a life-threatening sensitivity to sunlight. Katie’s world opens up after dark when she ventures out to play her guitar for travelers. One night, she meets Charlie (Schwarzenegger) whom she has secretly admired for years. She hides her condition from him, and the two embark on a uniquely powerful romance. Rob Riggle plays Katie’s loving and compassionate father, Jack, who endeavors to give his daughter a good life.

MIDNIGHT SUN Official Channels

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/midnightsunmov/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/midnightsun_mov

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/midnightsunmov/

HASHTAG: #MidnightSunMovie

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Advance Movie Screening For MIDNIGHT SUN

Find your chance to receive special advance movie screening passes below.

Phoenix, Arizona

Advance Movie Screening Details

Movie Screening Date: Wednesday March 21
Location: Harkins Tempe Marketplace
Movie Screening Time: 7:00pm
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Las Vegas, Nevada

Advance Movie Screening Details

Movie Screening Date: Wednesday, March 21
Location: Regal Red Rock
Movie Screening Time: 7:00pm
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Advance Movie Screening Information

To redeem a pass, simply click the Get Passes button. You will taken to our movie screening partner site (where you can sign up for a free account). Once you’ve done so, you’ll be able to print out your pass and bring it with you to your screening or event.

Admittance into a screening or event is not guaranteed with your pass. Events and advance screenings are filled on a ” first come, first served ” basis. To ensure that you stand a good chance of being admitted, we recommend that you show up 30 minutes to one hour early.

The number of admissions that are permissible for each pass are printed clearly on the ticket that you print out. You are allowed to bring as many guests as is indicated on your pass. For example, if your pass is for ” Admit Two, ” you can bring yourself and one guest. If you have an ” Admit One ” pass, you can bring only yourself.

If you have any other questions or comments, please contact us.

Submission Movie Review

March 12, 2018 (updated March 14, 2018)

Stanley Tucci plays, Ted Swensen, a moderately famous professor of literature in ‘Submission.’ Due to having sold one somewhat lucrative novel and being touted, for a moment, ‘the writer to watch,’ he teaches the subject but isn’t necessarily where he wants to be. On occasion, he gets some special attention from students, fans of his work, he might not otherwise have received and smiles at the thought. However, after the failure of being able to write a follow-up book, he realizes that things might not ever be better than it is now. Wanting more than what his station can provide, he gets himself into a mess when an opportunity to feel on top again presents itself. It comes in the form of the adoration of a young student. Enjoying the praise and attention, his ego or inner nature doesn’t see the path he is being led down, only where the road may ultimately lead. I’ll give you a hint… he’s on a course to self-destruction.

Richard Levine’s adaptation of the Francine Prose novel, ‘Blue Angel’ is a fascinating, dramatic narrative about the glaringly oblivious, powerful male archetype being chewed up and swallowed by a seemingly sympathetic, innocent and doting student, aptly named, Angela. It is divine. The angelic student is presented to us by the wonderfully gifted Addison Timlin, who first starts weaving her web by flattering Ted, telling him how much his book helped her get through her father’s death. Timlin’s Angela is engaging and hypnotizing. Angela is crafty and manipulative and though tender at first, she gets more aggressive, knowing full well when to bring out the big guns.

One day while speaking to him after class, she overwhelms him with the things and people she most admires. She throws out some of her other favorite authors, all names that impress him and help them relate to one another, not to mention, compel him to want to know more. She speaks of her own book and while doing so she makes herself seem vulnerable, cutting herself down whenever possible so that she can gauge his feelings by whether or not he tries to build her back up. She the queen to his pawn in a game he isn’t prepared to play. She soon asks her professor to read the first chapter of her book and asks him to tell her what he thinks of it. Who better to give her an opinion than the wonderful and talented Ted Swensen? After she explains all the reasons he shouldn’t read it, he agrees to make time for it. The book is called ‘Egg’ which turns out to be largely sexual in nature.

We listen to Swensen’s inner dialogue through the beginning of the film, which is fitting to carry the story forward. You might not be a big fan of voice over but it’s humorous and instructive at times and helps endear the audience to his character. However, as we move further along, we don’t hear his thoughts as much, only the chapters he is reading as they now have consumed his every thought, his imagination and have cost him sleep. As his interest in the story intensifies so does his interest in Angela. He believes this young author to be, ‘Quite accomplished,’ and instructs her not to show it to others; to keep is close.

Through different characters and situations, at a dinner party with his loving wife, Sherrie (Sedgwick), and speaking of his student Angela with another professor, Magda (Garofalo), he is given subtle warnings about her and the situation that’s building in general and doesn’t catch a single one. Through these warnings, the audience gets a glimpse of how dangerous having one’s ego stroked to this degree can be. Tension builds, you shake your head at him and though he tries to tell himself he’s only a mentor, maybe even a father figure, it’s not working with you.

This is a great strategy and Tucci is the perfect everyman to associate with. This story is fantastic. We see that the jig is finally up when he reads the line in the book, ‘I alone had the power to make a grown man risk everything.’ This is a brilliant way to finally give Ted an awakening, one of many.

Submission is a pleasure. It’s well written, well shot and the actors were remarkable. It unfolds to reveal two opportunists, one more vicious than the other. I’ll let you decide which one that is. *See it at Harkins Shea 14 tonight!

Ready Player One Advance Movie Screening

March 12, 2018 (updated March 12, 2018)

Movie Screening Summary

From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the science fiction action adventure “Ready Player One,” based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name. The film is set in 2045, with the world on the brink of chaos and collapse. But the people have found salvation in the OASIS, an expansive virtual reality universe created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). When Halliday dies, he leaves his immense fortune to the first person to find a digital Easter egg he has hidden somewhere in the OASIS, sparking a contest that grips the entire world. When an unlikely young hero named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) decides to join the contest, he is hurled into a breakneck, reality-bending treasure hunt through a fantastical universe of mystery, discovery and danger.

http://readyplayeronemovie.com

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