This Weeks And Next Weeks New Releases For Home Viewing!!

I am going to cover two weeks of new releases available for home viewing. There will be no blog next Tuesday.

So for new releases today on the first of September there is only one new film to note:

MAD MAX FURY ROAD
Directed by George Miller
Screenplay by George Miller; Brendan McCarthy; and Nick Lathouris
Starring Tom Hardy; Charlize Theron; and Thomas Holt



A woman (Theron) rebels against a tyrannical ruler in post apocalyptic Australia in search for her homeland with the help of a group of female prisoners, a psychotic worshiper (Holt), and a drifter named Max (Hardy), who is anything but happy.

This film is beloved by many. Some are calling it the best movie this year. Many are saying it should definitely get an Oscar nomination. I can understand what they are saying. I mean this film really is done well by George Miller. He breaks away from the summer time CGI fest and gives us real sets and real people and real stunts, this together makes the film intense and exciting. Which is amazing because basically the plot is...leave point A, make wrong turn, end up at C, go back to A...and that is the story. The three leads: Theron; Hardy; and an unrecognizable Holt, are fantastic. This was the surprise of the summer. A sort of remake that worked.
However, all that being noted....it was not a film for me. I was not as big of a fan as the rest of the critics and public were. The bad guys really creeped me out, it was like watching a full movie highlighting Jabba The Hut and a bunch of wicked skeletons. The situation they were in was so pitiful it freaked me out. It just was not the type of film for me. It was just creepy.
Still I stayed through it and it was exciting but...for me...it gets 3 1/2 out of 5 stars. Yes I know I should review the film technically and such. No...I noted originally I would go away from technical on this blog and go with was I entertained/ did I learn something/ was the film as advertised in the trailer?! I was not that entertained here, it was very...I guess upsetting And, yes I do understand people loving it, I am opened minded, but for me 3 1/2 for some excitement and the acting.


Now for next week, new for home viewing on September 8th, again I have just one release to note:

Age Of Adaline
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Screenplay: J. Mills Goodloe and Salvador Paskowitz
Starring: Blake Lively; Michael Huisman; Harrison Ford; Ellen Burstyn; and Kathy Baker





Adaline (Lively), a young woman, born at the turn of 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident (you just have to go with it). She lives a solitary life, afraid of somebody finding out her secret. Sort of like a superhero. Then she meets Ellis (Huisman) who might be "the one", however her secret may get in the way of love.

The film is billed as this love story. I did not feel a love story. I just felt an overwhelming sense of sadness in this film. What seems like a great thing to be ageless has left Adaline scared and kind of cold toward people. My best explanation/example for this coldness, is after the death of a beloved pet...you hesitate to get another pet because the sadness of the loss resonates. Well, to Adaline it happens all the time with people, as she stays young everyone around her dies and she is left with the pain. So I can understand her not wanting to get into a relationship be it friends or romance.
Then where do you go with the story?! This leaves the film feeling sad and very heavy. Not only for her, but for the people around her who are left behind when she disappears due to her fears.
Now throw in a kind of boring script that starts strong with a neat idea, but then becomes filled with clichés and jokes that are just soso. In fact there are a times where the film is interrupted by a narrator. Which is a bad sign that they feel they have to explain what is happening. And a couple times I thought the narration was not needed. I know what is going on...just shut up!!
Blake Lively is pretty good in the film, in fact perfectly casted in this role, she looks beautiful. Makeup and costuming gives her a modern look but in an odd way classic also. She plays Adaline very cold and stiff, which is understandable. And her voice and movements are of a person who is very wise, almost like a person who is worldly beyond her years, which I guess is true...many years.
There is no chemistry between Lively and (Huisman). Huisman had a small scene in Wild where he had more chemestry with Witherspoon during only 10 minutes on screen compared to his entire time on screen in this film with Lively. Which is a problem because the whole second half of this film relies on that storyline. Now this may not be his fault, Lively's character is cold and will not let anyone in. So most of the time he is left staring and wondering, thus it left me feeling more for her than their relationship.
Toward the end of the film, it gets a little creepy when Harrison Ford arrives. I cannot give up spoilers but I can say that after some things are revealed and people do not seem freaked out by a certain relationship. Huh??!! And the mole is in the same place!!!!!!! Again it goes back to the writing.
A couple last quick notes: Baker is wasted and poorly written. Burstyn is wasted also as Lively's daughter, yes you read that right. Also, there is an actor who plays the young Harrison Ford. His name is Anthony Ingruber, and he gives a spot on Harrison Ford imitation. From voice to mannerisms. People in the theatre were laughing it was so uncanny how much he resembled Ford.

2 stars out of 5 and that is mainly because of Lively, the film was an interesting idea which got bogged down, in the script.


Again from the shadows thanks for your time.