Click the audio player below for Tim Lammers’ reviews of “Passengers” and “Jackie” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard.
Click the audio player below for Tim Lammers’ review of “Fences” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Mike Compton.
Tag Archives: Chris Pratt
Movie review: ‘The Magnificent Seven’ remake lives up to title
“The Magnificent Seven” (PG-13)
Director Antoine Fuqua’s homage to the American Western lives up to its title with “The Magnificent Seven,” a magnificent update of Akira Kurosawa’s iconic “Seven Samurai” from 1954, which spawned the Yul Brynner/Steve McQueen classic “The Magnificent Seven” in 1960. Fuqua clearly was a fan of Westerns growing up, and he nails the spirit and tone of the great American film genre from start to finish in this highly entertaining remake headed up by his Oscar-winning “Training Day” star Denzel Washington.
Maintaining the core of the original story about a village under siege by ruthless bandits (led by a vicious land baron expertly realized by Peter Sarsgaard), “The Magnificent Seven” plays like a classic shoot-’em-up that is punctuated by a high body count.
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The new “Seven” promises a twist on the original films, but truth be told, the major difference is a racially diverse cast, made up of a brilliant ensemble including Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier and Byung-hun Lee. Haley Bennett also plays a pivotal role as vengeful widow who hires the seven after her husband is gunned down in cold blood by the bandits.
Apart from a different spin on the casting, Fuqua incorporates all the vital elements of the Western – sprawling vistas, classic heroes and a sniveling villain, a triumphant score and stylistic echoes of John Ford and Sergio Leone – reminding viewers of how great the genre once was and still could be. If “The Magnificent Seven” doesn’t revive interest in Westerns on the big screen, nothing will.
Lammometer rating: 8 (out of 10)
Hear Tim review “The Magnificent Seven” on “The KQ Morning Show” with Tom Barnard and Michele Tafoya, starting 8 minutes in.
Movie review: ‘Jurassic World’
“Jurassic World” (PG-13) 3 1/2 stars (out of four)
Since the debut of Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur epic “Jurassic Park” in 1993, the setting and central plotline options for its sequels have been limited, to say the least: A remote island houses prehistoric creatures; prehistoric creatures escape confines; and prehistoric creatures wreak major havoc on humans. Yet, for those limits, “Jurassic World” makes it feel like “Jurassic Park” has come full circle.
Set appropriately 22 years after the brilliant original, “Jurassic World” returns to Isla Nubar to fulfill John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) vision, and with the last of the original “Jurassic Park” trilogy 14 years in our memories, the franchise reboot/sequel feels fresh. Stacked with the benefits of advancements in special effects technology and an affable leading man with “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt and equally-talented Bryce Dallas Howard, “Jurassic World,” despite the familiar scenario, is one hell of a thrill ride.
“Jurassic World” basically examines the “What If?” of a Disney theme park attraction gone horribly awry – where a billionaire financial backer, Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), is constantly looking for ways to reinvent his island’s offerings to attract new visitors and keep a healthy financial bottom line after years of dwindling returns. Worried by his tourists being bored with Velociraptors, a T-Rex, Triceratops and the like, Masrani pushes Jurassic World’s team of scientists to create the Indominus Rex – a stronger, faster and smarter behemoth hybrid genetically spliced from the T. Rex and another creature that its engineers keep under wraps.
While the likes of park manager Claire Dearing (Howard) undauntingly pushes ahead with the debut of the Indominus Rex, famed dino-whisperer Owen Grady (Pratt, more serious than “Guardians” but still playful) has deep concerns. He knows how dinosaurs think, and soon enough, Grady’s nightmare becomes a reality and the Indominus escapes, either chomping, stomping or simply killing for sport everything that gets in its way. That’s a big problem considering there are 20,000 potential tourist victims just miles away on the other side of the island, including the sons (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) of Claire’s estranged sister (Judy Greer).
Of course, the most impressive part of “Jurassic World” is its dinosaurs, which through computer-generated effects and practical effects creates an awe-inspiring visual feast throughout. Accompanied by thundering sound and a 3D presentation that works wonderfully for a change, “Jurassic World” is intense throughout, whether through its chase scenes, or burning anticipation of where the Indominus is lurking, getting ready to strike its prey with little or no warning.
Despite the film’s spectacular visual effects, the solid trio of Pratt (who is like a cross between Dr. Malcolm and Dr. Grant from the original), Howard and Vincent D’Onofrio more than capably reign in the madness so the special effects don’t drown out the story. While “Jurassic World” is for the most part a summer popcorn thriller with lots of action and excitement, it is also, like the original, in part a cautionary tale about messing with nature, pushing the boundaries of science and commercializing it for financial gain. There’s also a subplot where a slimy character, Hoskins (D’Onofrio), waits for Indominus project to go south so he can put into to play a military strategy that involves the island aggressive dinosaurs.
Like the original “Jurassic Park” films, “Jurassic World” is horribly mis-marketed to young children through toys, fruit snacks and other products – so parents should be forewarned that kids under 10, frightened by the intensity and graphic nature of the film, want to duck under their seats. Despite the film’s PG-13 rating, director Collin Treverrow leaves little to the imagination, as the Indominus chomps its human and dinosaur victims with reckless abandon. At times, “Jurassic World” feels more like a monster movie (“Godzilla Meets Predator meet Jurassic Park”?) than an action adventure.
Given the level of violence and blood in the film, it’s a miracle Treverrow – who expertly directs “Jurassic World” – didn’t have his movie slapped with an R rating. The movie asks Jurassic World to up the ante to please it customers, and please his customers Treverrow does. It’s may not be the best movie in the “Jurassic” franchise, but it’s easily a strong second.
Interview: Michael Rooker talks ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
Like his acclaimed role as the anti-hero, Merle Dixon, in “The Walking Dead,” Michael Rooker is finding himself in the middle again – but this time he’s a blue-skinned alien in Marvel Studio’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” light years away from the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic Earth of the popular AMC series.
Rooker’s “Galaxy” character, Yondu, is interesting in that he’s not an out-an-out bad guy, and in some ways, he has a propensity to be good. Walking that fine line is something Rooker, 59, has not only enjoyed in several projects throughout his storied career, but his whole life, and director James Gunn wanted to tap into that experience.
“James wanted to write something for me that I’m good at — I’m good at doing bad things and still having people like me,” Rooker told me, laughing, in a recent interview. “Even as a 10- or 12-year-old, I’d be doing something bad, like climbing trees, and people would yell at me for doing it yet be smiling at the same time. I never understood what was going on with them. The great thing is, it still happening. James wanted to me to have the ability to say and do anything on screen and still have people like me, and dig the performance and dig the way I do it.”
Rooker brings a good ol’ boy approach to Yondu, a space pirate who takes Peter Quill from Earth as a young boy after his mother’s death. After growing up and learning the ways of Yondu’s group, the Ravagers, Quill (Chris Pratt) betrays his mentor and keeps for himself a mysterious orb he’s stolen from a powerful space lord, only to learn the sphere holds powers far greater than he ever could have imagined.
Like his fellow “Galaxy” cast mates (including Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel), Rooker has the unenviable task of portraying a beloved character whose origins date back more than four decades in the original Marvel comic books. And while he respects the fan’s opinions, Rooker said it was a necessity to make changes with the character of Yondu for the sake of the film.
“I don’t really worry about all of the reactions, but of course, it’s always there in the back of my head,” Rooker said. “I know there will be some people who will be disappointed that Yondu doesn’t have a big fin on the top of his head, but they have to realize the roof on my spaceship is pretty low. I would have had to duck when I was walking around for the entire production. The change was decided before I got there, and basically I had to take what was in the script and run with it.”
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For anyone familiar with his character in “The Walking Dead,” Rooker has been the subject of makeup artists before as a zombified Merle, so he knew was he was in for to turn Yondu blue.
“We’d start with a three hours of makeup, then we had a little break for food before more makeup and wardrobe, so in total, it was about five-and-a-half hours each time,” Rooker recalled. “That’s not so bad. For my role in ‘Slither’ (a 2006 horror comedy, which was also directed by Gunn), it took seven hours to put on and two-and-a-half to take off. Yondu’s makeup only took 45 minutes to take off.”
And while extensive makeup is a part of the job that some actors dread, Rooker said he loves the process and has absolutely no complaints about it.
“When I go to work, I get to go to a set. It’s like a 12-year-old kid saying goodbye to his parents, running out the door and playing all day long, and coming back for supper at night,” Rooker enthused. “That’s my life now. When I go to the set, it’s like going to a playground and doing all kinds of stuff.”
And lucky for Rooker, those sets have been filled with a variety of roles in several different genres.
“With ‘Guardians’ I get to be a blue alien who whistles to use a great weapon. In ‘Eight Men Out’ I got to play baseball all day long and on ‘Days of Thunder’ I got to drive race cars. In ‘Henry (Portrait of a Serial Killer)’ I got to kill people,” Rooker said with a laugh. “You get to use your imagination all these sorts of crazy, creative ways. Some ways are quite dramatic, some are hokey and some are fun. You just get to go everywhere.”
