MRwOS reviews "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga". Plus, original music with Cheyenne Dane!

 Going to a movie this weekend? Have a listen to my review of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga". Plus, I play an original song with guest Cheyenne Dane!

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (If You Can See Me)

Mysterious Adventures: Original Film Scores 2

A brand new compilation of some old film score work I did for some friends' projects, most of which never got used, or never got released. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

Short Reviews: Tarzan Infiltrates the Swiss Army Shallows!

They've been making Tarzan films forever. Way back in the 30s and 40s, Johnny Weissmuller's take on the character was hugely popular, spawning several sequels and giving us the definitive Tarzan call. But after that, there weren't any terribly memorable Tarzan films until the 80s, when you had the critically panned Tarzan, the Ape Man (with Bo Derek, no less) followed a few years later by the better received Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (I remember this fondly because I had a crush on Andie MacDowell at the time). But the most prominent Tarzan in recent years has been the Disney series, starting with the 1999 animated film and followed by several direct-to-video installments. Now comes a new live action version, The Legend of Tarzan, that attempts to resuscitate the franchise.


It's a diverting film, if not quite an inspired one. One of the things it does right is jump into the main story without dwelling much on the character's origin-- Tarzan's storied past is shown via periodic flashbacks; just enough to frame the larger tale. It certainly looks good, with adequate special effects; and I'm not sure how many effects it took to make the 67 year old Samuel L. Jackson look so spry and youthful-- he's clearly going to be a scene stealer into his 120s. Chistoph Waltz also does a typically exceptional job as a mustache twirling villain. The biggest problem with the film is its stars. Alexander Skarsgard is a capable actor (I really liked him in The Diary of a Teenage Girl), but here he gets cheesy-- his every movement is portentous as he stares deep into the soul of the world (do apes not blink? Is that what I'm supposed to get from this?). Margot Robbie (who I liked in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) puts on this girlish American accent that I had a hard time taking seriously. The plot is somewhat confusing, but it's really just a set-up for its absurd-yet-entertaining climax. If you're looking for a summer adventure, this'll get the job done, but I'd rather watch The Jungle Book a few more times.

In Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston played a chemistry teacher turned drug dealer savant (while starring in maybe the greatest TV show of all time). In The Infiltrator, Cranston gets to play the other side, this time as an undercover cop trying to bring down famed drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar. Cranston does an expert job in a role that requires several overlapping performances. The film itself is not quite so elegant, as it breezes through the plot points without giving us a chance to really get to know many of the important supporting characters. The film ultimately lacks some emotional weight, but it's worth seeing just for Cranston's performance.

Swiss Army Man is the strangest film I've seen in a long time, which shouldn't be surprising since it's about a suicidal man whose life is saved by a farting corpse. As the corpse, this continues Daniel Radcliffe's string of interesting post-Harry Potter roles-- some of them are so odd, it makes me wonder if he's trolling his fan-base. Paul Dano plays the suicidal man with his usual manic energy, which is 100% appropriate for this role. The two go on a journey from a deserted island back to civilization, with many lessons learned along the way. It is a truly odd film, but also quite thought-provoking. At this point, I'm not even sure it's a comedy. Where does reality begin and fantasy end? Is it a metaphor? Or just one man's fever-dream before dying? My first thought was that it was about accepting yourself for who you are no matter what society says-- but then I thought it might be a parody of those kinds of films. Whatever the case, take a friend with you because you'll have a lot to talk about afterwards.

I wasn't a big horror fan as a kid, but I've grown to appreciate how cinematic it can be. The Shallows is a solid entry into the killer shark genre. Blake Lively does an expert job as a medical school drop-out honoring her mom's memory by surfing an uncharted bay in Central America. The movie sets up the stakes visually in a clear and concise way, then unveils the horror of the situation with clockwork precision. It's the not the scariest film out there, but it doesn't throw cheap scares at you, either. Aside from a slightly confusing ending, I thought this was a great film. Genre-fare done extremely well.

The Revenant: Cheryl & Dave's Review

Cheryl and I both enjoyed The Revenant, but we suffered through a particularly cold theater. The sunshine in the video doesn't capture how cold it was outside, either. Also, be sure to stick around until the end, because we had a surprise visitor...

The Last Witch Hunter: Cheryl & Dave's Review

Still hankering for some Halloween action? We'll tell you if this movie gives it to you...

The Martian: Cheryl & Dave's Review

If you haven't seen "The Martian" yet, I highly recommend it. On the other hand, Cheryl has some reservations...

Movie Review: Age of Ultron (2015)

Pacing is a big deal to me, and when you have a movie with a lot of plot and tons of characters, things can get a bit muddled.  Avengers: Age of Ultron does a pretty good job of balancing things considering how much happens, but I still came away feeling like it was a 3 hour movie crammed into 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Now, I'm a Marvel Comics fanboy from way back; so when I watch this film, I see all the cameos and Easter eggs that probably go over the heads of the average viewer.  It's quite possible that those who only know the movies wouldn't see all the stuff that I do.

Still, if it's overstuffed, it's overstuffed with goodness.  The action sequences are all great, though my favorite parts were the witty dialogue and nice character touches.  Director Joss Whedon is one of the best at working with ensemble casts-- every character advances their own personal story arcs; each actor gets their chance to shine.  I think the interpersonal relationships between the heroes are even better than in the first Avengers film.  Loki is absent this time around, but Ultron manages to be just as compelling a villain, if not moreso.  Genocidal robots are nothing new, but Ultron is a unique and entertaining take on an old trope.

Now, the first Avengers was a big deal.  On top of becoming a cultural phenomenon, it completely changed the film industry.  Superheroes were already dominant at the box office, but The Avengers showed that an interconnected universe could steamroll everything.  Since then, we've seen all the major studios rushing to create their own interconnected universes, and spreading from the big screen to the small screen, too.  Age of Ultron isn't quite as ground breaking as its precursor.  If anything, it probably shows the limits of interconnectedness-- the movie almost sinks under the weight of its cross-referencing.  On the other hand, it does signal an achievement some 30-odd years in the making:  pure, unadulterated comic book storytelling has reached the silver screen.  Up to this point, I feel like they've always compromised (at least a little), but not this time-- we're getting it all: the super, the silly and the shaggy.

Bonus Question:  How many of you would have been willing to see Avengers: Age of Ultron if it had been 3 hours long?  Would you have been more likely to wait until it came out on video?  

TV Review: Agents of SHIELD, Season 2

After watching the first two episodes of Agents of SHIELD, Season Two (I'm watching them online, which leaves me a week behind when they air on TV), I can say that the show is now what it should've have been from the get-go.  For the first half of last season, it felt a bit like the Disney Spy-Hour-- they were a very cuddly family of spies who went on family friendly adventures together.  But in the second half of Season One, their world was upended when they realized their organization had been infiltrated by a rival espionage agency.  It got a little bit darker and more sophisticated, but still had some of the dippiness of the early episodes.  This season has jettisoned most of the wide-eyed innocence of the first season.  We're finally getting to see something a bit more like cross between X-Files and Alias, but with a little more action.

The key tension in the show right now is that (newly anointed) Director Coulson is a good man trying to build an organization that must, by definition, live on the edge of morality.  There will be lying, there will be double-crossing, and it's not clear how he's going to handle that.  Nick Fury, the former director, somehow managed to earn his agents' loyalty despite being an under-handed bastard.  Can Coulson do the same?  I like the dynamic, I also like how it feels a bit like The Magnificant Seven.  Coulson is meeting new people in the hopes of bringing them on board, and many of them will wear a black or white hat in equal measure.  And, of course, much of the old team has returned, but with grudges that were absent last season.

Another nice touch this year is that they're more liberally using characters from the Marvel Universe. Last Season, they seemed to go out of their way to avoid any more than a passing brush with pre-established characters.  They did have Nick Fury, Sif, the Enchantress and a couple odd versions of Deathlok, but there were many more random folks created specifically for the show.  This season we've already seen the Absorbing Man (!), Glenn Talbot (who did make an appearance at the tail end of last season), Peggy Carter, the Howling Commandos and the Kraken.  

I think they're off to a really good start.  However, I hope this darker take on the material doesn't scare off fans from last year-- I'd hate to see it get canceled just as it's getting good.