Chronicle Review

Chronicle chronicles the story of 3 unlikely high school friends, brought together by their common telekinetic abilities. Viewed through the lens of one of their camcorder, the majority of the film features the found footage style of cinematography.

The storyline is vague in spots, i.e. how the three acquire their powers: (spoiler...I guess) go into an underground tunnel, find a glowing...something, blackout, and there you have it. Otherwise it is nicely detailed, not under nor overdone, kind of just right, especially considering it lasts only about 84 minutes.

Starring are three young actors, Dane Dehaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan, who are without enough of a history to say, "I'm seeing Chronicle because Dane Dehaan is playing in it," but enough experience that each carries their roles respectively. Taking advantage of the young cast, there are a lot of lighthearted immature moments that lead to a few laughs.

I have heard a few complaints concerning the found footage format Chronicle was shot in, but in a way, I actually think it helped the low budget movie (I have heard $15 million) not look so low budget. From one of the earliest moments where the high schoolers manipulate their newfound powers to connect legos, to  a later point where the least popular of the three gains his 15 minutes of fame at a talent show,  the special effects are not that of Star Wars or Transformers. Later on in the movie, however, watchers will be amazed at what has been accomplished on such a small budget, when the storyline begins to expand on what they can do with their powers. It is quite the ambitious small film.

I am not a big fan of buying many DVDs nowadays, I kind of like I watch a movie in theaters once and let there be some years before I seer it again. However, Chronicle will be a Blu-ray I will have in my small collection.
—ThomasGrand

The Grey Review

Most modern stories are built around a skeletal system: there are the bad guys, with their evil scheme, and the good guys to disband said wicked plans.

The Grey, starring Liam Neeson and a handful of lesser knowns to unknowns, opts for a different formula. The story starts with a plane crash, leaving 7 survivors from what was originally maybe 25-30  Alaska based oil workers.

Being somewhat of a survival expert, Ottway (Liam Neeson) takes charge, with an intent to lead these men back to the families and  lives they were all headed toward before their plane went down.

There is peril and grave desperation, yet wolves replace the much more commonly used  evildoers, though those eyes, hidden in fur, that glow in firelight, and teeth like a mouthful of daggers make them look like Satan's hounds. While the stranded, plane crash survivors are used in the place of good guys,though not all of them are very good at all to the point that I didn't mind the possibility of them dying.

Outside of its plot setting, The Grey is layered in good storytelling. One of the movie's strongest elements, in my opinion, is its ability to make the characters seem like actual people, though that is also something to applaud the cast for. Amidst all the "we're stranded in the cold, with wolves" stress, there is one lighthearted, campfire discussion, wherein the characters talk of what is keeping them going, and a few jokes said had me thinking that I could imagine the people I know saying those exact things.

It is early in the year, and I refuse to be that guy, saying, "best film of the year so far!" I already had high expectations for this movie based on the trailer alone, and the actual film lived up to my hype. If you have the slightest interest, make time to see The Grey.

—Thomas

Red Tails Review

History often crafts better stories than most Hollywood writers. Red Tails, though a mixture of historic facts and cinematic make believe turns out to be a good combination.

About the 332nd Fighter Group, an all black division of aviator pilots, Red Tails chronicles their rise from flying hand-me-down planes over afterthought routes miles behind the front lines of World War II to a premier squadron, famous for having not lost a single bomber during the war.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of something of a more civil war, Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrance Howard) wrestles with the powers that be over issues of racism and discrimination to give the Tuskegee Airmen a chance to prove their worth to the United States, fighting for more meaningful bomber escort runs. Eventually, after the U.S. continues to lose entire fleets of bombers, the 477th Bombardment Group is given a chance, and succeed they do (don't call it a spoiler, call it history), with brand new planes, which they take to painting the tails red, giving both the group and movie their names. By making it their to return every bomber safely home, the famed pilots gain respect from the pilots of the bombers themselves.

From the mouth of Executive Producer George Lucas, who funded the movie, though it was not popular across Hollywood offices, he chose to take up this project to inspire young black males. But what this movie can easily do is inspire anyone to overcome obstacles in their own lives because, in the bigger picture, these men were not fighting for a chance at a hero's honor, but rather for a chance to possibly die for the people of the U.S.A.

The film has a few notable actors, including the above mentioned Terence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker, etc., who all give solid performances.

Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects company noted for their work on the Star Wars series and others like Transformers, did a good job on the battle sequences here. I was personally left wanting more after each skirmish was done.

Red Tails is a good movie that does not go over board in an attempt to preach at the world against racism, though it does not sweep it underneath the rug, either. It tells the story how it was meant to be told, which turns out to be very entertaining.

—ThomasGrand