Movie Review: John Carter of Mars

I recently saw John Carter of Mars and I'm glad I didn't listen to the critical reviews.  It's much better than I would have thought if I only based on those write-ups.  Here's my rundown including the pros and cons for the movie: 

The Good and a Little Bad:

At 132 minutes, the movie is a little long and compared to most action/adventure & SciFi, the pacing is slow.  I'm OK with that though, given the source material.  They did a very good job of setting the story up for anyone who hasn't read the first book ("A Princess of Mars"), or the entire John Carter series.  (Interestingly, it's the final book in the 11 volume set that's titled "John Carter of Mars".)  I asked my wife when we were on our way home what she would have cut out of the movie if she had to make it a 90-110 minutes.  She said she really couldn't think of what to cut out.  I can't either.

We saw it in glorious 2D (yep, skipped out on the extra cost for 3D) and the effects were fantastic.  The viewer definitely gets what the studio paid for in terms of quality CGI.  I can only assume the 3D version of the film is equally good for those who are 3D fans. 

Taylor Kitsch did fine as John Carter.  Seems most of the negative reviews about him are unwarranted.  I'm not familiar with all the baggage that many reviewers seem to attribute to him and suspect it clouded their view.  I don't really know who the guy is and thought he was believable (and for me, unknown) enough not to distract from the story.  I went in cautiously about whether or not Lynn Collins could be Dejah Thoris.  She did great.  Again, completely believable.  (Honestly, based on her description as written by ERB, there isn't an actress alive who could probably play her based on the required beauty.  Lynn rocked the part.)

The movie had the Disney touch in that there were little glimpses of humor sprinkled throughout and violence was very rarely graphic.  The battle scenes were a blast and not over the top.  Most violent scenes happened off camera but in a manner that you knew exactly what was happening.  The most graphic scene was when John Carter defeats a second Great White Ape in an arena.  I won't spoil the scene though by saying what happens.

The ships were cool and made me want to see more and know more about how they work.

We rolled the dice since the babysitter fell through and took our son.  Normally we don't let him see things that are PG or PG-13 unless we've seen them first.  No surprise: he was bored with parts of the movie, loved the battle scenes and the scenes when John Carter jumps around.  On the way out he told me there were a few scary parts, but he was never scared, and he was bouncing around like a boy who just saw a man who could leap like a superhero.  He loved the calot (the "dog") in the movie.  My dog is now paying the price as my son won't stop trying to get her to follow him around, lick him, etc.  And best of all, driving home he told my wife and I, "I want to live on Mars so I can marry Dejah Thoris."  (That's my boy!)

The Ugly:

So what went wrong?  Several things that contributed to the John Carter the box office flop.  First, Disney completely messed this up and is now paying the price (literally).  All the advertisements, with the exception of a few that came late in the game, make this movie look more like a science fiction victorian drama rather than an action/adventure.  From what I saw, it seemed once they began highlighting the movie as an action/adventure story, chatter seemed to move a bit toward the positive, but it seemed to be too late.  Oddly, very late in the game, Disney decided to release the first 10 minutes of the movie in an apparent attempt to generate interest.  Regardless of why they actually did it, it looked desperate, and it made things worse.  The first 10 minutes of the movie reinforce the perception that the movie was a victorian drama first, and only had elements of action or adventure woven into the story.  I think Disney corporately didn’t appreciate the story, and their marketing department had no idea how to present it to the paying public.

For all the reasons many of us like Disney, they were the wrong studio to make this movie.  The original story is violent, depicting a world at war.  Probably because of the time is was written, I think fits in the young adult bucket by today’s standards.  That said, Burroughs left the most graphic violence to the reader’s imagination, as well as the most passionate of love scenes.  But the story is very violent, and it’s fairly dark, making the heroic and passionate scenes seem so much brighter and hopeful.

My last thought about what went wrong has to do with social commentary.  One thing that always seems to be present in great science fiction stories is commentary about things in society that aren’t being openly discussed.  Within the space opera slice of the genre, just consider the amazingly strong statements made through the original Star Trek series and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.  The collective John Carter story captured in the Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs is replete with commentary about lots tough issues: honor, where to place loyalty, patriotism and identity, and perhaps most significantly: race and racial relations.  For the most part, all this was absent or only hinted at.  Not to be overly critical though, there’s only so much depth a studio can establish in a single film, but this element was key to what Burroughs did as he told John Carter’s story.

RECOMMENDATION:  I definitely recommend this movie to SciFi fans.  If you have the spare cash, it's a great flick to see on a theater-sized screen, but not a movie I'd put in the "must see in a theater" category.  Do the 2D or 3D thing based on personal preference.  Just keep in mind, if you're not an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan, you probably won't like the movie.  If you're not familiar with the original story but are intrigued by what you’ve seen and heard, understand that you're walking into a reasonably well done 2012 movie version of a story written in 1917.  Still gun-shy about seeing it in a theater?   Don’t worry about it and wait to rent it when it comes to DVD and BlueRay.

As for the original series of books, they’re collectively in my top five and helped establish and shape my love for the science fiction genre.  I have the whole set, published by Del Rey and each is somewhere between 150-250 pages.  They're quick and entertaining reads.  Even if the movie isn't for you, the paperbacks are inexpensive.  Grab 'em and  enjoy an amazing story and a piece of classic SciFi! 

It’s great to be a dad!

Movie Review: Act of Valor

A week ago my wife and I went to see the movie Act of Valor.

“An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a film like no other in Hollywood’s history.  A fictionalized account of real life Navy SEAL operations, Act of Valor features a gripping story that takes audiences on an adrenaline-fueled, edge-of-their-seat journey.” (From the official website.)

Enthusiasts outside the military hoping to see secret tactics revealed by the film will be disappointed.  The film reinforces professional and competent tactics many have already seen, or imagined, only this time with the support of real SEALs themselves rather than actors.  Refreshingly, in Act of Valor we get to see real warriors doing their jobs in a realistic way, without falling victim to an overblown, uninformed and overactive Hollywood imagination.  Even so, it’s still an action story that’s well put together.  Plot holes?  Sure.  Accelerated timelines?  Yes.  But what you end up seeing is a story rooted in the real-world, accelerated to allow us to experience it in a short 110 minutes.

So it’s clear up front: I liked the movie.  While not a documentary, the movie unfolds without a political bias or agenda.  It’s about SEALs doing the work they do, regardless of who sits in the Commander in Chief’s seat.  This is refreshing.  As a military officer I serve at the pleasure of the President and am bound by my oath to follow his lawful orders, regardless of political party.  Interestingly, the oath our U.S. military professionals take is an oath swearing to support and defend the Constitution, not any specific personality or political party.  This is quietly communicated well.

Act of Valor is rated R for strong language and violence.  While not excessively graphic, the rating is definitely warranted.  If my son was older, I would have taken him back to see it.  It’s definitely a movie I’ll add to my library at home due to the positive messages of honor, sacrifice and manhood it communicates.  We’ll watch it together when the day comes.  Here are the themes that resonated with me and I intend to reinforce with my son:

• Service before self and serving something bigger than yourself
• Sacrifice
• Strength and humility vs. arrogance
• Family: actual (e.g. husbands, wives, kids) and extended (in this case, military)
• Living bravely and dealing with fear

The movie uses a story to honor our troops.  Will it serve as a recruiting device?  Sure, but it’s clear this isn’t the primary reason the movie was made.  What the film does well is cause the audience to identify with real warriors, individuals who we get to know and get to watch do things that are difficult and demanding.  These aren’t just a few military men and their families we read or hear about in the news.  The impact is visceral.

Finally, before I saw the film several friends told me when they went to see it, the audience applauded at the end.  I know why.  Interestingly, when my wife and I saw it, the response was dramatically different: absolute silence.  It verged on reverence and was almost overwhelming.  The movie ended and people quietly and respectfully stood and left the theater.  I was stunned in the best of ways.

Visit the official site for more info (http://actofvalor.com/official/) or better yet, go see the film.  I think you’ll enjoy it, and if you have older kids, take them too.

It’s great to be a dad!

Five Years

My son turned five yesterday.  I can’t believe how much has happened during his first five years, I almost can't remember a time without him, and yet I can’t believe how fast time has passed.  This little note is for him.

Paul, I’m proud you’re my son, every single day, and I truly miss you anytime we’re not in the same room together.  Sometimes I think your mom thinks I’m silly when I say, “I miss boy” when you’re just asleep in the other room.  There are so many amazing things your mom and I have enjoyed seeing you learn and do as we’ve watched you grow.  The world you’re growing up in is small and awesome, and you’re truly an international child.  Although you were born in the US, we moved to Germany when you were only one year old.  Before your fifth birthday you’ve already crossed the Atlantic Ocean 12 times!  You started kindergarden  in a German school when you were just three years old and was speaking German better than your mother and I ever could.  You’re thriving in school today in the US and are learning Spanish.

You have a wild and unfocused imagination--your world is airplanes, stars, spaceships, sailing ships, pirates and animals.  This isn’t just good, it’s a gift, and I hope I never discourage or limit your adventure through life.  There’s almost nothing you fear and I rarely have to push you to try anything.  You’re everybody’s friend, you’re always willing to share everything you have with others, and have the biggest heart I’ve ever seen in a child.  You have a very quick wit and an awesome sense of humor that already spans well beyond the usual potty humor of a young boy.  And you already have a strong sense of right and wrong and are willing to gently point out wrong when you see it.  You remind your mom and I when we forget to “say the Amen” at dinner or bedtime.  You’re an example to everyone, young and old, and there just aren’t words to say how proud I am of you.

The world you’re growing up in is amazing.  While some things are the same, many things are dramatically different.  There are aspects of the world you’re growing up in that would have been unrecognizable when I was your age.  Some day you’ll read this and hopefully laugh at how different some of these things are.  I turned five in 1969.  Some of these you’ll appreciate, some you’ll understand later and some you’ll wonder what the big deal was.  When I turned five:

- Only life itself was in high definition, not movies or TV shows.  In fact, most TVs were still black and white with small screens.  Color televisions were just starting to sell widely.

- There was no cable TV.

- There were no XBoxes or other video games.

- There were no iPads, iPods or iPhones.  There weren’t even any cell phones.  There was one phone and only one phone number for the whole house.

- There were no home computers.

But look at what was happening when I was five.  You’ll probably have to look some of these up some day:

- Sesame Street debuted on PBS.

- “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was a popular movie (following its December 1968 release).

- Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on Earth’s Moon.

- The Woodstock Music Festival was held in New York.

- The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed for the year at 800. (On your birthday this year it sat at 12,862.)

- The US Air Force closed Project Blue Book.  (Your great uncle worked on this project.)

- The first ATM was installed in the US.

- UNIX is developed at Bell Labs.

- The microprocessor in invented.

- ARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet was created.

- Bell-bottom jeans and tie-dye shirts became popular. (They’ll come back again, don’t worry.)

- Pontiac introduced the Firebird Trans Am “muscle car”.  I’ll show you one some day, along with other cool cars from those days.

Happy birthday, son.  The world is waiting for you and all the talent and gifts you bring to it.  I love you Paul!

It’s great to be a dad!

A Tribute to Drive-Ins

Last year I posted about taking my son to his first drive-in.  As I’m sure you could tell, drive-in theaters are special to my wife and I; they’ve been a part of our lives from the start and we’re happy to have the chance to introduce our young son to the experience.  Many, and perhaps most, of you reading this don’t even live near a drive-in and may never have experienced a movie in one.  They’re not only a unique movie viewing experience, but generally speaking, they’re a unique social event.  This post is for those of you who’ve never experienced one, and for those who have drive-ins as distant memories.

I’ve never been to a drive-in that doesn’t default to double features.  At a place where there are multiple screens, like here in Las Vegas, it’s not uncommon to have a screen dedicated to a single feature for a variety of reasons, but the double feature is kind of the norm.  You pay one price, something less than a single viewing in most metropolitan theaters today, and get to see two feature films.  Some drive-ins charge by the person, but many charge by the car.  That’s right, you pay a set price for bringing the car into the theater regardless of whether you’re alone, or the car is loaded with your friends like a VW loaded full of circus clowns!  No matter what, it’s a good deal.

For lack of a better description the ground is wavy in front of the screen, with the waves forming rows.  These are set up to let you park your car with the front end slightly elevated so there’s less of a chance the cars in front of you will block your view of the screen.  In days past, and certainly during my youth, the parking rows were also peppered with evenly spaced little posts.  At the end of each was a speaker box on a wire.  You parked next to the post and hung the speaker on your car’s window.  The boxes were always made of some sort of metal, seemed to weigh enough that your window was at risk of structural failure, and contained a pretty poor excuse for a speaker with a rheostat to control the volume.  That’s right, a single speaker: mono.  But somehow it was always good enough.  The only real risk the speaker caused was when you absent-mindedly got out of the car in haste to get a snack or hit the bathroom, forgot the speaker was hanging from the window, and closed the door hard.  The speaker would bang on the glass and if you did this hard enough, you’d replace the window the next day.  What seems to happen much more often is someone decides to drive away during, or quickly after the movie ends and forgets the speaker is still attached.  New window!  I haven’t seen these speakers in decades though.  Now, at the few remaining drive-ins scattered around the country, the theaters have licenses to broadcast on select FM frequencies.  You park, tune your car’s stereo to the appropriate frequency for your screen, and enjoy the movie with the best audio your stereo can provide.  This makes the movie experience even better and eliminates an age-old problem with drive-ins: missing significant parts of the movie’s audio when you go to the snack bar or bathroom.  Now, no matter what you’re doing, you can hear the movie very well, especially when the weather is good and windows are down.

Then there are what I call drive-in rituals, three of which I’ll mention here:  headlights and horns, the playground, and parking backwards.  First, there’s the headlights.  They don’t warrant a lot of explanation other than to say at least once during the movie someone ends up turning their car’s headlights on without realizing it--usually inadvertently while distracted--washing out some portion of the movie screen.  If they don’t realize it quickly, other patrons begin blowing their cars’ horns until the offender realizes what’s going on and turns their headlights off.  Second, there’s the playground.  Playgrounds seem to have always been a fixture at drive-ins, often located beneath the movie screen.  Kids who might grow bored with the movie, or just cant sit still through both features, could play within site of their parents.  Seeing kids play in front of and beneath the screen used to be common.  The drive-in near us now has five screens arranged in a modified star shape around a single building housing the projection booths, snack bar and bathrooms.  Rather than having five playgrounds, there’s one located next to the building.  It’s less than desirable and wasn’t being used when we were there, presumably since it’s more difficult to watch their kids and the movie at the same time.  The playground is still there though, as a part of what makes a drive-in theater.  Finally there’s parking backwards to watch the movie.  Whether you’re there on a date or even with your kids, folks with the right kind of car often park backwards with back seats down and hatch back or rear gate open.  You can sit or lay to watch the movies.  We use to take our pickup truck to the drive-in, park backwards and sit on blankets or lawn chairs with a cooler next to us.  As you make your way to the bathroom or snack bar, it’s common to see young couples parked this way, lost in each other’s company more than the movie.

I’d like to wrap this up by sharing the lyrics of a song by one of my favorite musicians.  On his 1991 album “Western Underground”, Chris LeDoux paid tribute to this dying piece of physical and cultural architecture with his song “The Last Drive-In”.  Enjoy the lyrics and I hope you’ll find the song and give it a listen too.

It’s great to be a dad!

-- 0 --

The Last Drive-In

A caravan of yellow eyes came crawling across the plains

Rolling along in single file like a slow moving train.

It rumbled down out of the mist into the early morning light,

Said they stay till the job was finished if it took them till midnight.

Well there were cats and scrapers all caterpillars packed up by mile high crane,

And it looked like monsters from the old b movies the drive-ins use to play.

And we'd sang goodbye Saturday under the stars,

Wake up little Suzy in my daddy's car.

So many memories got lost and found

When a piece of history hit the ground,

The day they tore the last drive-in down.

Memories thick as the smoke clouds they made, man and machine became one.

Boards snapped like toothpicks on their blades but to us it sounded like guns.

Cowboys, soldiers, gangsters and thieves, James Bond and his golden girls.

Well you could sit in your car and never turn the key and go half way around the world.

And it stood like a landmark for forty years we never thought we'd live to see

It fall it to the ground and then just disappear like so many childhood dreams

And we'd sang goodbye...

A lot of the drivers had tears in their eyes but I don't think it was just the dust,

See I still believe there's a little piece of that old drive-in left in all of us.

Nobody moved through what seemed like hours, and slow motion it came tumbling down,

We just stood there with a taste of metal in our mouths and a silence all around,

The day they tore the last drive-in down.

And we'd sang goodbye...

First Air Show

My son doesn’t like loud noises unless he’s making them, but his loudest noise is nothing compared to the noise made by the raw power of a military jet flying low-level.  Jets he likes.  Jets and any other kind of aircraft or spacecraft.  He has the awesome unbound imagination of a child approaching five years old.  Just look at his bedroom for proof.

A few weekends ago my wife and I took Paul to his first air show: Aviation Nation, the huge annual air show hosted by Nellis AFB in Nevada.  It’s also the final performance of the USAF Thunderbirds for the year and they fly a fantastic show and tribute to the public at their home field.  As a result the the weekend is filled with wonderful static displays of historic and current military aircraft, interesting and exotic civilian aircraft, and an almost continuous stream military and civilian flying demonstrations.

The day was wonderful, the weather was perfect, and my son’s eyes were wide as he took it all in.  We’d been watching a number of flying demonstrations to include a military heritage flight where several generations of military aircraft fly in formation.  Then, as the day was drawing to a close, the US Air Force Thunderbirds took to the air.

As the show unfolded, I was anticipating the “sneak attack.”  While the audience focuses on a beautiful formation high and in front of the show, without warning one of the solo jets comes from behind and races past at low-level and near the speed of sound.  Suddenly you see a jet where there wasn’t one just a second ago: an aircraft moving incredibly fast and somehow in silence.  Then it happens:  an explosion of sound so loud you feel it through your body the same time it registers in your ears.  Your hands race to cover your ears and perhaps muffle the shocked scream trying to escape your mouth.  Your entire body shakes as you literally feel the sound move through you.

My son had ear plugs in and I was watching him as this happened.  He jumped, visibly shook and rapidly moved to touch me as he covered his ears.  Then as quick as it came, the jet was gone and we stood in stunned and relative silence.  He looked up at me with uncertainty all over his face, wondering if everything was okay.  I grinned at him and then it happened:  with big eyes, a wild grin appeared on his face and he yelled, “Dad, that was AWESOME!”  Then he gave me a huge, excited hug.

The Thunderbirds finished their show, the day’s flying ended in a wonderful, patriotic way, and the show began to wind down.  On the way out we bought Paul a die-cast model of a Thunderbird--he asked nicely and repeatedly.  It’s been with him or near him since.  Once again my son has allowed me to relive a piece of my own childhood, and see the world fresh once more through his four year old eyes.

It’s great to be a dad!

First Drive-In

I’m pretty sure the first movie I ever saw was 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It was 1968 and my parents took me along when they went to see it at the drive-in.  I was only four, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  They had a station wagon and set the back seat up for me like a little nest:  several pillows and lots of blankets, and I was in my pajamas from the start.  That way if I fell asleep I was good to go.  There was more popcorn than a little guy could eat and the biggest screen in the world.  And the apes at the beginning scared me when they got angry.  I didn’t understand the movie but it captured me, probably dropping one of the anchors into me that ultimately made me a science fiction fan.

My son is the same age now as I was then, and last night we took him to his first drive-in.  We saw this year’s release of Puss ‘n Boots.  Admittedly it’s not as heady as Kubrick’s flick, but that’s OK.  The station wagon of my youth became a Saturn Vue for Paul, but the nest of pillows and blankets was there right along with the large bucket of popcorn.  And better than when I was a kid, the metal brick of a speaker hanging on the glass window was replaced by an FM broadcast we could listen to over the car’s stereo.

My wife and I are both drive-in fans, having frequented them when we were dating dating in Colorado, then into the early years of our marriage.  Until moving here to Las Vegas, the last time we lived anywhere with a drive-in was just outside of Sacramento, California.  (Hooray for the western states, for preserving these amazing icons of our American culture!)  When we found out there was a drive-in here, we knew we had to go, and had to expose our son to the experience.  So off we went last night, and we had a blast!

Paul gobbled popcorn and juice, and late in the movie we made one trip to the bathroom at which point he discovered the playground and had to take a few trips down the slide.  Then back to the car for more movie, intermission, and...sleep.  He fell asleep shortly after the second feature (Real Steel) began and we bundled him up in his backseat nest where he slept for the rest of the show.

I don’t know if he’ll remember this the same way I remember my first drive-in experience.  The movie was certainly a part of it, but what I think made it stick the most was how new and cool the whole experience seemed.  I’m thankful Steph and I had the chance to share this part of our own childhood, and one of the things we remain very fond of as adults, with our son.  Who knows, maybe if we’re lucky, years from now we’ll hear him tell us he’s taking his date to the drive-in, and Steph and I will smile just a little bit bigger than usual.

It’s great to be a dad!

Review: Phineas & Ferb Live!

A while back, after a visit with my son to Disney World, I wrote that Disney hadn’t lost it’s magic. Nothing has happened since to change my stance, but last weekend it was solidly reinforced.  We took Paul to see “Phineas and Ferb: the Best Live Tour Ever”.  He had no idea what he was in for.  We simply told him we had a surprise for him, and off we went.

If you’re not familiar with Phineas and Ferb, take the time to check it out.  Two brothers, both smart in a gifted way, making the most of their 104 days of Summer vacation by applying their intelligence to any number of adventures.  The show doesn’t pander to kids, nor does it talk down to them.  In fact, the writers seem to strive to smartly entertain kids just above their level, and to do it in a way that it encourages them to strive and grow in what they know and do.  The TV show is witty and somehow talks to kids of all ages.  As a parent I appreciate the writers have also taken care to include things that make the program interesting and funny for adults.  The program encourages kids to think and imagine, be creative, play with others, and often times, to do all this outside.  Also, what most likely goes unnoticed but I’m sure influences young viewers, is the brothers are actually step-brothers.  You wouldn’t necessarily know this up front, but it sets a neat tone for the show.  Related, Phineas and Ferb’s circle of friends is diverse:  male and female, multi-national, multi-racial, and spans a wide variety of interests and personality types.  The show clearly emphasizes things in common and diminishes the things we (adults) sadly allow to get in the way of relationships.

Back to the live show.  We went to see actors playing cartoon characters.  I wasn’t sure how Disney (or anyone) would pull this off, but as long as it worked for my son then as far as I’m concerned, it works.  It worked.  The program began with the cartoon characters on screen, then had them transition to actors in costume by having each character go down a slide.  The cartoon character begins sliding and an actor in costume enters the stage on a real slide.  As an adult, I thought the characters were a bit odd looking, but there was no room for confusion about who each character was.  The program told a story, consistent with the Summer vacation theme of the TV show, and revolved around storytelling through dialog and music.  A week later, we’re all still singing the songs and quoting various parts of the production.

This past week at school my son told his classmates we took him to see “the real Phineas and Ferb.”  He wasn’t distracted by actors in costume and he’s still beaming about the show.  Disney, you’ve done it again.  The Magic Kingdom remains magical; very well done!  If the tour comes near you, take your kids and go.  They’ll enjoy it and so will you.

Details on the live tour are available at: http://disney.go.com/disneylive/phineas-and-ferb-on-tour/

It’s great to be a dad!