Film Review: OBLIVION ★★½☆☆☆

The bleak future Earth we visit in Oblivion allows director Joseph Kosinski a vast canvas to paint a visually unique and stunning film. There is no denying the feat he delivers via a spectacle of fantastic sci-fi landscapes and select action sequences, but the ambitious plot takes away the opportunity to ultimately enjoy the film on all levels.

In a nutshell, Earth is invaded by aliens, whose first strike obliterates the Moon and leads our planet into a downward spiral of environmental chaos. In order to win the war, we resort to unleashing our nuclear arsenal, which leaves the planet a radioactive wasteland. The remaining human population must evacuate and relocate to Titan, one of Saturn's larger moons.

Cut to 2077, Cruise's Commander Jack Harper is nearing the end of his five-year assignment to patrol the Earth's skies and architectural ruins while repairing the robotic drones that defend the massive resource conversion plants vital to humanity's off world survival. He and his partner Vika (Andrea Riseborough) live a routine life in a swanky hi-rise dwelling in the clouds that would make even the Jetsons envious. But when Jack rescues Julia (Olga Kurylenko), a human survivor from a crashed pre-invasion NASA vessel, the game rules change. The sight of Julia awakens long dormant memories buried in Jack's subconscious which lead him to question both his past and very existence.  

Oblivion's first trailer brilliantly set up an intriguing WALL-E worthy story of living in isolation on a future Earth. The later previews introduced Morgan Freeman's character Beech, the mysterious leader of a survivalist group who brought with him a different spin to the story, which felt like too much meat of the plot was then revealed. But truth be told that isn't nearly the half of it. Where it starts and where it ends is quite the journey when Jack's seemingly mundane life is turned on its ass.

While thankfully there is much more under the hood regarding the story, unfortunately that is also where Oblivion starts to falter. Its over ambitious ideas regarding the truth and identity are more hindered by the execution of their explanations, which bog down the beauty of the film's former simplicity. The second and third acts each bring with them radical shifts in the story, adding more mystery and with it, additional head scratching twists and turns in the plot.

A low key Cruise is tasked to be nearly a one man army on-screen, and much like Tom Hanks' turn in Castaway and Will Smith in I Am Legend, finds himself in nearly every scene in the film. The scant supporting cast is just that. Freeman, Kurylenko, Riseborough and Olgaprovide provide minimal additional characters to the mix, but this is a film firmly set on Cruise control.

There is an unfortunate overall emotional disconnect to all the characters, much in the vein of Blade Runner's similar dark tone. Despite its best efforts to really humanize Jack in this dystopian future (he has a lush secret oasis where he wears a Yankees hat and flannel shirt to bask in the sun while sitting on the grass outside his log cabin), by the nature of the character, Jack is denied the opportunity to reap the all charismatic benefits of being portrayed by Tom Cruise.

Oblivion is guilty of taking literal visual cues from 2001: A Space Odyssey, similar lines of dialogue that equally allude to plot points from Planet of the Apes, imposing robotic technology that mirrors both The Black Hole and RoboCop, and even boldly borrows scenes straight out of Independence Day's playbook. However the good news is that all this doesn't come across as blatant screenplay theft or exist simply because of a drought for original ideas. In Kosinski's capable hands (who previously visually wowed us with 2010's Tron: Legacy), these familiar beats actually morph into a successful homage to the wealth of influential sci-fi that came before him. It's up to you to maintain a generous mental scorecard of where you have seen it all before.

While the film ultimately buckles under the weight of its own story ambitions, it easily makes up lost ground in the visual department. Presentation-wise, hands down Oblivion looks absolutely stunning in IMAX, which is something I rarely admit. To really enjoy all its breathtaking effects and big screen eye candy, go the extra mile to see it on the grander scale. Too often film prints suffer from grain and lack of clarity when blown up for the larger format, and Oblivion has no such issues. Seen through Kosinski's lens, Oblivion is truly a visual triumph and an IMAX masterpiece. For fans of such breathtaking sci-fi spectacle, that makes it well worth the price of admission alone.

Oblivion opens in theaters and IMAX on April 19th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★½☆☆☆
Directed By: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman, Melissa Leo
Studio: Universal Pictures
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 124 minutes

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Director / Producer Tony Scott Dies From Suicide

Tony Scott, the visionary director behind Hollywood blockbusters such as Top Gun, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide, Days of Thunder, Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance, Man on Fire, Unstoppable, and many others, reportedly died today from injuries sustained from a suicide.

According to CNN and Deadline, the 68 year-old British filmmaker, brother of fellow director/producer Ridley, and partner in Scott Free Productions, jumped to his death off of San Pedro's Vincent Thomas Bridge earlier this afternoon. There has been little doubt regarding the motives behind Scott's death, as a suicide note was reportedly found inside Scott’s black Toyota Prius, parked nearby.

Per Deadline:

"Deadline has independently confirmed with the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office that 68-year-old Anthony Davis Scott, better known in Hollywood as Tony Scott, was pronounced dead around 3 PM. He jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island. The Coroner’s Office told Deadline it is being investigated as a suicide with no indication it was anything but a suicide."

"There's nothing to indicate it is anything else at this time," Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles coroner's office told CNN.

It is a tragic loss for Hollywood. Scott was truly a diverse storyteller who gave moviegoers some of the most entertaining and profitable high octane films ever put on the big screen. His collaborations with Tom Cruise (twice), Denzel Washington (five times), Will Smith, and Eddie Murphy over the past three decades leave us with an unforgettable legacy in Hollywood history, and defined the escapist reason why we go to the movies to enjoy ourselves in the confines of a movie theater.

SOURCES: Deadline, CNN

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Jeremy Renner Talks Hawkeye Spin-Off & More 'Mission: Impossible'

While talking to Access Hollywood at the press junket for The Bourne Legacy, in addition to fielding questions on adding another successful franchise to his resume, the in-demand actor was asked for his reaction to phenomenal success of The Avengers, which has earned nearly $1.5 billion dollars at the worldwide box office.

"I have no control over that obviously. I have no say in why that happened," he said. "I'm happy to be a small fraction of that, and that piece of history I guess."

When it comes to much discussed possibility of a future spin-off film featuring Hawkeye (and perhaps teaming up with Scarlet Johannson's Black Widow), Renner was wide open and ready to reprise the role of the bow & arrow armed superhero, but admitted it was a decision not left entirely in his hands.

"It really doesn't matter what I think," he revealed. "It's up to Marvel, and maybe what the fans think. If they want something, I'm really interested in exploring that character more for sure."

As far as gearing up for another round in the Mission: Impossible series, where it has been rumored he would inherit the franchise from Tom Cruise, Renner would be eager and willing to continue playing Agent William Brandt.

"It's a crystal ball thing. It's up to Tom and Paramount. Again, I'm happy to do that. It's a lighter fare for me anyways and I like being a part of that."

You can check out the interview below:

SOURCE: AccessHollywood.com

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Film Review - ROCK OF AGES ★½☆☆☆☆

If there was but one thing I have said about Rock Of Ages since I saw it on stage in NYC while running off-Broadway in 2008, and that was its the only musical I knew nearly every lyric to every song on the entire '80s set list. Since the show boasted a soundtrack comprised of 'The Greatest Hits of the Sunset Strip,' it struck a major chord with this proud child of the '80s who was easily used to cranking up all the popular hair metal tunes.

In 1988, I was in 8th grade when I went to my first concert, Def Leppard (playing 'in the round' no less), just as 'Pour Some Sugar On Me' was riding high atop the radio and MTV hot play lists, and CD's had started to really take off as a listening format.

When the feature film based on the now long-running hit Broadway musical was announced, I knew if there was only one thing about it I would enjoy, it would be that soundtrack of my youth. And after seeing Rock Of Ages on the big screen, it looks like I was right on the money.

But let's start with the plot. As we begin the film we are taken back to 1987 as Sherri Christian (played to cutie pie pixie perfection by Julianne Hough), an Oklahoma small town gal who hits LA's Sunset Strip to pursue her Hollywood singing dreams. The perky wide & blue eyed blonde is promptly robbed of her luggage, and just as promptly lands a job at the Bourbon Room, a sleezyy '80s metal club run by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin). Since destiny brings together similar souls who share similar dreams, Sherri quickly falls in love with her high spirited bar back co-worker Drew Boley (Diego Boneta), also an aspiring singer.

I suppose I shouldn't waste any further space here without getting to Tom Cruise's much hyped role as rock God Stacee Jaxx. Although Cruise's presence is felt throughout the entire story, he is featured on-screen rather sparingly truth be told. But when he is there, he gives a standout performance that is not to be missed. Give the guy credit for going out on a limb by playing (and nailing) an aging  burnt out shirtless rockstar, and is required to really perform several iconic songs.

Story-wise there is also backdrop drama about financial woes that threaten to close the club, a conservatist PMRC-esque protest movement against the evils Jaxx and his type of music inspire (led by the Mayor's wife played by Catherine Zeta-Jones), a Rolling Stone reporter (Malin Akerman) determined to delve deep into Jaxx's troubled inner demons, and the struggles of the Sunset Strip relationship of Sherri and Drew.

But the flat out problem with the film is that it's simply painfully flat out flat. When your soundtrack consists of some of the best rock pop ballads, stadium anthems, and head banging tunes ever written, you expect to attend a non-stop party (which was my experience seeing it on stage).

Sadly director Adam Shankman finds scant inspiration from the hard hitting drums, fret defying guitar solos, or any of the karaoke classic lyrics, and delivers a static straight-forward paint-by-numbers movie that just happens to have a lot of characters that break into well know songs. Painful dialogue exchanges in between the hits seem to exist merely as a necessary means to get from tune to tune. And when we get one of the rocking songs to follow along to, Shankman chooses to lose interest and use boring near static camera shots where there should be instead fast & dizzying edits, sweeping crane moves, and fancy Steadi-cam work following the characters in and around well choreographed mini-music videos.

The material offers a wealth of prime visual opportunity that's laid wasted by snooze worthy camera setups and execution. Shankman is a now a repeat offender as I felt the same way about his screen version of Hairspray. Watch any musical number from Rob Marshall's Chicago and you'll see what I mean about translating stage to the big screen in a fun way (and that film also earned Zeta-Jones an Oscar).

Sadly the leads offer little excitement as well. As perfect as Hough is to play a small time wish-upon-a-star girl from Tulsa, when cast opposite Diego's bland goody two shoes dreamer Drew, they add up to a couple who possess no balls, bite, or hard edge between them, especially when dropped into a very decadent setting notorious for sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Alec Baldwin and Russell Brand are not only topped off with incredibly unconvincing wigs, but have many useless time killing and sometimes cringe worthy scenes of dialogue. There is little of the brilliance required for Jack Donaghey seen here in Baldwin's Dennis Dupree.

Getting back to Cruise, who gives his all as the eccentric Jaxx, and for all intents and purposes is the shining star of the film. But its interesting to note that Cruise plays it so straight and serious that its almost out of place in this film that never decides if it needs to be darker in tone or amp up the '80s over the top spoof factor. Plus, Cruise still looks half his actual age and no fading rock star would be lucky enough to remain as physically presentable as he is (take note Axl Rose).

But when it even comes to the make or break question of whether Cruise can hold a note, yes he can. Taking to task Wanted Dead Or Alive, Pour Some Sugar On Me and Paradise City, the Stacee Jaxx versions are welcome updates to those songs' legacies. Cruise has a surprisingly good voice. Would I want to hear a vanity album of metal covers from Tom Cruise & The Mavericks? Eh, that might be pushing it. But obviously a big gamble here was taken and paid off.

Next to the soundtrack, Cruise is the rock solid anchor of Rock Of Ages. His scenes with Malin Akerman offer more than any other pairing in the film, In addition, Jaxx travels with a wing man monkey named Hey Man. Sadly I always fall for the monkey humor in a movie. It gets an easy laugh no matter what in my book. Moving on...

While you can't argue with the sheer fun that goes along with the music, and there are a few rousing numbers, especially when you are given a mash up of songs which showcase the entire cast. But even that stunt has already been trumped by Glee, which has made that a near weekly staple.

Rock Of Ages drags overall in its excessive two hour running time. Less talk, more music. Case closed. The original show's book brilliantly linked unrelated songs from an era, and made it work for moving the plot forward. Here it outstays its welcome. For fans of the era, its a fun no brainer. See it and hit karaoke afterwards. But as far as any depiction of the true seedy yet glam atmosphere of Sunset's Whiskey or Roxy hey days that hosted Guns N' Roses, Poison, Motley Crue, and Warrant's transition from small club performers to multi-platinum arena rockers, you're better off with a repeat of any VH1 Behind The Music or even the better than you'd expect Rockstar starring Mark Wahlberg.

Note: Songs titles included in the film's soundtrack like Nothin' But A Good Time, I Wanna Rock, We're Not Gonna Take It,  I Love Rock And Roll, Can't Fight This Feeling, and Don't Stop Believing were purposely not worked or worded into this review in any clever cute way. But... If you are looking for the Heart of Rock & Roll, sadly you will have to search elsewhere. Since that's a Huey Lewis song, it doesn't count...

Rock Of Ages opens in theaters and IMAX on Friday, June 15th.

REVIEW RATING: ★½☆ ☆☆☆
SOUNDTRACK RATING: ★★★★☆
Directed By: Adam Shankman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand

Studio: New Line

Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 123 minutes

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