“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” 3 stars (out of four)
Director Michael Bay recreates in startling detail the dark events of Sept. 11, 2012, in “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” – a riveting portrayal of the coordinated terrorist attacks by Islamic militants on an American Embassy compound and secret CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.
Based on accounts of a handful of real-life CIA security contractors (made up of former Army Special Forces personnel and Navy SEALs) who where there, “13 Hours” is no doubt a huge departure for Bay, a director has spent the bulk of the last decade making “Transformers” movies (which are becoming dumber with each outing). And while “13 Hours” approaches the same level of chaos and number of explosions as the “robots in disguise” movies, at least these explosions and chaos serve a purpose.
Clocking in at 2 hours and 24 minutes, “13 Hours” doesn’t feel nearly as long as other 2 hour-plus movies of late, mainly because the intensity makes the time fly right by. Since Bay isn’t deterred by the blood and carnage resulting from the attacks, “13 Hours” is very tough film to watch, especially because, like “American Sniper,” we know the tragic outcome going in. At the same time, the film serves as fitting tribute to the sacrifices and heroism of the real-life ex-military personnel who fended off the attacks in Benghazi, as well as Ambassador Christopher Stevens, who was the main target of the attack.
Even though the film tries to steer clear of partisan politics, “13 Hours” is bound to be dissected and inspire arguments between party loyalists on the left and right, since it never once mentions then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama (at least by name, there is one reference to POTUS) or for that matter, any other politicians on the hot seat in the wake of the attacks. Bay and company are not afraid, however, to point out the woeful lack of security and desperate calls for military help from the Americans in peril in Benghazi, which is far more powerful than any political finger-pointing. While “13 Hours” is not a perfect film, it’s a compelling one nonetheless.
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In brief:
“Intruders” (R) 3 1/2 stars (out of four)
Minnesota filmmakers Adam Schindler and Brian Netto follow-up their shocking horror film debut “Delivery” with an impressive results in “Intruders,” a twisty home invasion thriller about an agoraphobic woman, Anna (Beth Riesgraf), trapped by her own fears when burglars strike her creaky family abode. Unable to flee even though she has ample opportunities, Anna, who suffers from another psychosis, turns the table on the criminals as her home turns into a virtual maze with no apparent way out. Available on VOD Friday.
“Project Almanac” (PG-13) 2 1/2 stars (out of four)
Get ready to be all shook up by producer Michael Bay’s manic movie “Project Almanac,” the latest offering from MTV Films that puts the shaky in shaky cam. A first-person camera movie (a la “Cloverfield” and “Chronicle”) that’s clearly aimed at the teen demographic, “Project Almanac” would be nearly intolerable if not for its ever-fascinating narrative about traveling back in time, and the potential repercussions those travels have on the future. In a weird way, “Project Almanac” is like “Back to the Future” with an MTV generation twist.
Jonny Weston stars as David Raskin, a brainiac Atlanta high school senior on a course to attend MIT, only if he can come up with the money to attend the prestigious institution. Looking for ideas for a scholarship presentation while rummaging through the family attic, David discovers a video from his 7th birthday party where an image of his current-day self appears in a mirror.
Investigating the bizarre occurrence, David discovers his dad worked for a secret government program and was developing a machine to make time travel possible. Together with his science nerd friends (Sam Lerner and Allen Evangelista), his sister (Amy Landecker) and the girl of his dreams (Sofia Black-D’Elia), David figures out how to make the “second chance machine” work, which enables the group to travel back in time.
But as the group discovers, the more they jump back and forth in time, the more their actions alter future events, sometimes with deadly results. Worse yet, any attempts to fix what they’ve done by going back in time again only creates other problems.
Naturally, “Project Almanac” is predictable insofar as we know that messing with history is bound to backfire on the teens. The great thing is, we have no idea how. While the narrative as a whole is a stretch, “Project Almanac” is entertaining as long as you sit back and enjoy the and ride and don’t let the movie’s inconsistencies drive you crazy.
Even though the film features a cast of unknowns and perpetually nauseous camera movements, the always spellbinding concept of time travel and rewriting history makes “Project Almanac” a worthwhile trip. The whole idea of documenting the events of the film on a smart phone video feels fitting for today’s tech-savvy generation, and the mind-bending concept is enough to hold everybody else’s attention.
While the presentation of “Project Almanac” is less than desirable, there are far worse ways to spend a couple of hours.
Reviewed in brief:
“Black Sea” (R) 3 stars (out of four)
Jude Law gives a commanding performance in “Black Sea,” a dark and gritty submarine thriller that will undoubtedly test the limits of claustrophobic moviegoers. Law stars as Robinson, a hard-nosed Scottish sub captain unceremoniously discarded by his employer after 11 dedicated years on the job. Before too long, though, Robinson is approached by a shady financier to command a bucket of bolts to the dangerous depths of the Black Sea, where rumored to be buried on a ridge is a Nazi U-boat that contains $20 million in gold.
With everyone promised an equal cut of the profit, the submarine soon turns into an underwater deathtrap as crewmembers contemplate killing one another to effectively get a bigger slice of the loot. But as vessel becomes damaged and the shocking plan behind the mission is revealed, the crewmembers have to find a way to put aside their differences if there’s any chance for survival.
Expertly directed by Kevin Macdonald, the great thing about “Black Sea” is that it’s every bit about its deeply flawed characters as it is the intense action scenes that propel the story ahead to its final destination. And while the scenarios get more ridiculous as the film enters its final act — the ending presents the most implausible scenario — “Black Sea,” despite its faults, is a pretty exciting ride.
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“Black or White” (PG-13) 3 stars (out of four)
Kevin Costner stars in and produces “Black or White,” a gutsy family drama that examines race relations in the U.S. through a custody battle for a mixed-race child between her white maternal grandfather (Costner) and black paternal grandmother (Octavia Spencer).
Costner plays Elliot, a successful Los Angeles attorney who, along with his wife (Jennifer Ehle) raised Eloise (Jillian Estelle), after their daughter died in childbirth. But after his wife’s sudden death, Elliot becomes despondent and his drinking problem worsens, so Eloise’s grandmother, Rowena (Spencer) seeks shared custody. The case becomes more intense when the Eloise’s recovering drug addict father (Andre Holland) resurfaces and claims he can now parent her full-time, even though he avoided the responsibility the girl’s entire life.
Writer-director Mike Binder unflinchingly dives into a touchy area with “Black or White” as the subject of race enters the court battle, as both sides debate which culture, effectively, would be best for Eloise to be raised in. What follows is a brutally honest discussion of race from both sides of the case, which manages to be effective without being politically correct or preachy.
For as powerful as the subject matter is, “Black or White” is hampered, oddly enough, by the film’s score, which sometimes makes it feel like a Lifetime movie. That’s too bad, because everybody in the film — from Costner and Spencer to Anthony Mackie as Rowena’s brother attorney and comedian Bill Burr in an effective, serious turn as Elliot’s law associate — bring their A-game. Whether you catch “Black or White” in theaters or eventually on the tube, it’s a film that everybody should make a point seeing.
Tim Lammers is a veteran entertainment reporter and a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, and annually votes on the Critics Choice Movie Awards. Locally, he reviews films for “KARE 11 News at 11” and various Minnesota radio stations.
Bigger is the operative word for the latest film in director Michael Bay’s “Transformers” franchise, “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” but not always in the way you would expect.
Can we say once again that there’s more than meets the eye?
“It’s a lot bigger — the effects are on a different level than anything that we’ve seen before,” actor Jack Reynor told me, joined by co-star Nicola Peltz, in a recent interview. “A lot of the camera work is very dynamic and very new, and at the heart of the film is a really great human story more than anything else.”
Opening in 2D, 3D and on IMAX screens nationwide on Friday, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” stars Mark Wahlberg as Cade Yeager, an auto mechanic who makes a discovery that not only draws the Autobots and Decepticons to them, but some very determined CIA agents who have a sinister agenda to carry out. Peltz stars as Cade’s daughter, Tessa, and Reynor plays her boyfriend, Shane Dyson.
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” stars Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor (photo: Paramount Pictures/Tony Nelson).
“When we start the film, the Autobots are in exile and are afraid of humans, and humans are afraid of them,” Reynor said. “Through the relationship between Mark’s, Nicola’s and my characters, we try to restore their faith in humanity. It’s at different scale. We really hope it’s going to be an enjoyable thing for the audience.”
The odd part about working on “Transformers: Age of the Extinction,” Reynor says, is while he comes from the independent film world, working on this franchise at times was much like work he was used to.
“It was still an intimate environment, because at the end of the day, it was still Mark, Nicola and myself,” Reynor said. “That makes it feel smaller than you would imagine. Even though the movie is incredibly big and the effects are on a different level of anything we’ve seen before, between the three of us, at least, it felt like it was a small environment to work in.”
Peltz, who has done green screen work before in big-screen adventure “The Last Airbender,” said she was surprised by the amount of practical effects and props used in the film, something that ultimately aided everybody’s performances.
“I actually thought there was going to be more green screen than there actually was working on the movie,” Peltz said. “Instead, Michael makes these beautiful, huge sets, which are all real, and the car chases and the explosions are real. So having the tools and being in situations where we could use them was really amazing. Of course, we had to use our imaginations when talking to the Autobots and talk to nothing in those cases.”
At the time of the interview, neither Peltz or Reynor had seen the completed film yet, but already had the thrill of seeing themselves among Autobots, Decepticons and Dinobots for the first time with an 11-minute presentation of footage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“Watching the footage, you go, ‘Oh, my God, when I was filming that scene, there was nothing there.’ But when then add the CGI, it’s truly mind-blowing,” Peltz described. “It’s so crazy to watch knowing you were part of the experience.”
To help his actors stay engaged without any Transformers visually present, Bay found a way to keep his everybody working on the film motivated, Reynor said.
“It’s a real cool thing Michael does about every three weeks, where he puts together a sizzle reel, which has about 10 minutes of footage of film from the last three weeks we shot,” Reynor recalled. “Even without any Autobots in it or any of the rendered effects, it still looks really, really impressive, and it’s really exciting and fun. That was a big confidence boost to us all. We felt like we were making a really cool film, even though we hadn’t seen any Autobots or Decepticons while making it. It’s a really clever thing that Michael does and it really boosts the morale of the cast and crew.”
On set, Peltz said, Bay is ball of energy.
“Michael told me even before we started filming, ‘I move very quickly and you’re not going to be sitting in your trailer. Whether it’s your scene or not, you’re going to be on set learning and studying.’ I love that,” Peltz enthused. “His energy is so contagious because he is so excited about this film, so to work on it with him and feel that is really wonderful.”
“Transformers: Age of Extinction” poster featuring Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor (photo — Paramount Pictures).
Although Reynor was born in Colorado, he moved with his family to his mother’s native Ireland at age 2. One thing Reynor discovered, though, is no matter where you grow up, the Transformers — which began as Hasbro toys and were featured in cartoon form before becoming big-screen characters – will eventually find you.
“Since it was a Japanese concept and was around about 25 or 30 years before they made the first film, and it expanded across Europe quite quickly,” said Reynor, 22. “The generation before me grew up watching ‘Transformers’ on TV in Ireland, so it was definitely something I was exposed to in a big way and I had a full line of toys. I’ve always known of ‘Transformers’ because I’ve always been a fan of it, so to eventually to become a part of the franchise myself was an incredible opportunity.”
In a way, Reynor said, Transformers toys prepared him to work on the film, because while playing with the figures, he was making movies in his mind.
“The cool thing is, it doesn’t change a lot when you’re standing there on the set of the franchise yourself,” Reynor said. “You can try to relate to what you’re doing the same way you did when you were a kid. It brings a level of authenticity to what you’re doing and it makes it tangible for you in your own head. It really helps your performance.”
Being around six brothers growing up, Peltz, 19, more than had her share being around Transformers toys in her youth.
“I definitely knew of Transformers growing up, but it wasn’t only a boys thing,” Peltz said with a laugh. “I didn’t play with any of the toys, but my oldest brother loved them and my two youngest brothers are obsessed with the movies. All of them are very, very excited for me because of the film.”
Original Interviews, Reviews & More By Tim Lammers
