Theatrical Releases: The Age Of Adaline

April 24, 2015 / Leave a Comment

THE AGE OF ADALINE || April 24th, 2015

	Despite having been in plenty of films, Blake Lively apparently takes her first real step into the spotlight, with her starring role in “The Age Of Adaline”. Playing a young woman who is caught in some strange accident and immortalized as a 29 year old for the rest of her life, her character soon finds that having loved ones is impossible when you never die. Destined to be alone, the true love story must come into play when she must decided whether or not to love again. Apparently Harrison Ford has quite the turn in this as well.	75% MOST LIKELY
	Even with a high profile cast like John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, and Tye Sheridan, “The Forger” has a tough time rising above anything but your run-of-the-mill heist film. Travolta plays a newly out of jail art forger that is immediately being forced into another job. But having a second chance to connect with his son (Sheridan) gives him enough struggle to want to stay out of it. Obviously the conflict is built on this struggle until his son and his father (Plummer) offer to help get the job done. With a skilled director, this could have easily gotten noticed, following in the footsteps of a film like “The Town,” but instead it feels dry and hollow, which is sad considering the talent level of the actors involved.	PASS
	“Little Boy” is a family film made for no audience. Meaning there is literally no one I can picture actually wanting to see this film. About a young boy with a great love for his father, why the writers of the film decided to set it in the 1940s is beyond me. What is even more beyond me is why they cast such a strange boy as the lead. Jakob Salvati may not have been in much yet and putting him in the lead of this film is quite the choice, and with the film getting dismal reviews, I cannot see him actually stepping up into any significant roles anytime soon.	PASS
	Russell Crowe makes his under the radar directorial debut with the Australian hit “The Water Diviner,” which is based on a true story about a father, who, in 1919, when searching for the bodies of his sons that were killed in war, only to find out that one of them might still be alive. The visuals of the film look stunning, especially a particular sandstorm moment that fills the screen with life. Crowe is such a powerhouse actor that I really am curious to see what he can do behind the camera as well.	25% MAYBE

	Life is so extraordinary that most of the films today are being based off of true events. “24 Days” is based on a true to life thriller in which a young man named Ilan Halimi is lured in by a beautiful girl and the next thing his family knows, he’s been kidnapped. Following the events up to, during, and after the kidnapping, the film focuses mainly on the mother character, Ruth (Zabou Breitman) as she deals with the trauma of her son being tortured as well as with the police officers that fail to see the bigger picture of what is going on. Despite some intense moments, this still feels somewhat like a Lifetime Original Movie.	PASS
	Last year, “The Skeleton Twins” saw Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig playing brother and sister. After an attempted suicide, Hader’s character returns home to live with his sister and the vicious cycle of siblings opening up wounds was enacted. “Adult Beginners” is along the same lines, with Nick Kroll and Rose Bryne playing brother and sister, with Kroll’s character finding himself down and out and living with his sister. But whereas “The Skeleton Twins” was a strong Indie with some rich and deep emotions, “Adult Beginners” feels a little on the bland side. But if Nick Kroll can pull off the intense emotions that are just surfaced in the trailer, this could actually be a really heartfelt film.	25% MAYBE
	Cinderella meets the runaway in this latest romantic comedy titled “After The Ball”. Complete with an evil stepmother and stepsisters, the film might have been alright had it stayed with this storyline, but then it also delves into a “Mrs. Doubtfire” routine, as the leading lady disguises herself as a gay man to get the job at her family’s company that she wants. Portia Doubleday is extremely attractive and is normally very talented, but when she’s put on display in a film like this, it really is disappointing that she can’t find something better.	PASS
	Reprint: Delving into the story of young black man struggling with his sexuality in the highly devout South, “Blackbird” has plenty of drama to bank off of and an Academy Award winning actress in Mo’Nique, but it also lacks the depth and impact that a film of this content should have. Why is no one talking about this film if it appears to have plenty going for it? Will this be the start of a big career for Julian Walker or will this enter him into one hit wonder-hood?	PASS
	Apparently people in southern Eurpoe are poaching birds. “Emptying the Skies” takes an approach similar to that of Oscar winning documentary “The Cove” and attempts to bring the issue to light by exposing the poachers and informing the general public of what exactly is happening. Using nets and traps, the poachers nab these birds when they migrate and of course with the killing of any animal over a period of time leads to things like endangering particular species. Unfortunately, birds are not as relatable as the dolphins of “The Cove”. Not to down play the killing of anything, but the commercial-ability of this film is far less pointed.	PASS
	A restoration of the 1952 Academy Award winning Best Foreign Language film titled “Forbidden Games,” the story follows a 5 year old girl after he parents are killed while fleeing Paris during a German invasion. She forms a friendship with a local boy and the pair find themselves rolling through the countryside. Even though it is an Oscar winning film, nothing besides this monicker quite grabs my attention.	PASS
	Stepping behind the scenes of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, “The Great Museum” shows the inner workings of an artistic institution as they renovate and explore, recreate and educate. The trend I’m liking in documentaries these days is the wallflower approach to film-making, where no one addresses the camera, it is just silent viewer of life happening around it. There are hints of that in this film and had it fully embraced this concept, I would have been completely on board. But instead, this feels like it could be anywhere, about anything.	PASS
	One thing the trailer for “Helicopter Mom” could have help explained is what exactly a “helicopter mom” is and why it is the title of the film. Nia Vardalos plays a punk rock mom heavily involved in her son’s life, as he gets ready for prom and graduation and to help push him even further, she even gets him a scholarship… by telling everyone he’s gay. The catch is, apparently he might be, as he’s not quite sure. The only actual win here is for actor Mark Boone Junior (“Sons Of Anarchy”) for finally showing a range and proving he does have a career following the end of his hit series.	PASS
	Despite having Courtney Cox as the director, despite having quite a familiar cast including Seann William Scott and Olivia Thirlby, and despite having some mediocre funny lines in the trailer, “Just Before I Go” feels like a partially realized idea rather than a fully formed one. Scott plays a man ready to end his life for some reason but before he does, he’s returning to his hometown to face his demons, say his goodbyes, and wrap things up in a nice bow. I wonder if any of this will talk him out of killing himself…	PASS
	Hong Kong martial arts films adds another to its collection, with Donnie Yen starring in “Kung Fu Killer” about a set of grandmasters being hunted by a serial killer, and Yen being released from prison to help track down and fight the elusive man. Although martial arts films are never quite in my wheelhouse, the films are helped immensely by the rise in production quality and the set pieces that are like the Mortal Kombat backdrops from my video gaming years.	PASS
	Kurt Cobain was the James Dean of the punk rock movement in the ’80s and ’90s, but he was a tortured soul and nothing shows that more than his writings and recordings, all compiled in this HBO documentary “Kurt Cobain: Montage Of Heck”. Combining interviews with his family and friends, animated sequences to show what was going on in his recordings, and archival footage of Nirvana as they rose to being one of the most popular bands of all time, very few documentaries show such a personal, in-depth look at a person, almost begging the question whether the documentary is too personal and whether you should be seeing that much of an intimate side to someone, especially when you wonder how Kurt would have felt about being exploited as such.
	Some movies should just never get made and “Laugh Killer Laugh” is one of them. Your first mistake is casting William Forsythe as the lead in anything these days, because his acting prowess is out the door and he’s resembling more of an aging Gary Busey rather than a distinguished Nick Nolte. The film could possibly benefit from Tom Sizemore being used more, but with a low production quality and some absolutely terrible supporting actors, to me, there really is no way to make this a better film.	PASS
	Kevin Pollak puts together over 60 comedians in the documentary “Misery Loves Comedy,” discussing why it is they step into the spotlight and make people laugh, what it took to get where they are, and their driving force to keep going. Including names like Bob Saget, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, and Jim Gaffigan, all of these men and women share the ability to make people laugh, but also they have a very insightful and beautiful way of looking at the world and for that, I’d love to hear what they have to say.	25% MAYBE
	While I’m still not sure “Monsters” needed a sequel, now that I’ve seen the trailer, I do think “Monsters: Dark Continent” will feed the need for seeing more of these alien monsters from the first film. This time around, we’re following the Army as they attempt to control the threat of these wandering beasts. For a very CGI heavy film, the still exists an elegance in these monsters and were the human elements enough to counteract the alien elements, this could actually be a decent film. Not the minimalistic love story of the first film, but a proper re-imagining all the same.	25% MAYBE
	If one thing’s for sure, it’s that Sarah Hyland needs to begin distancing herself from the character she has always been known as from “Modern Family”. And to do so, she’ll have to branch out into other mediums and reinvent herself. Unfortunately I do not see an reinvention in her latest film “See You In Valhalla” and her and her dysfunctional siblings deal with the loss of their brother, coming together and attempting to figure out how best to honor his memory. With new and old problems coming together, there are many recognizable faces filling out the cast of this, but at the same time, no one really shines or stands out in anyway.	PASS