Story Line:
Will Rodman [Played by James Franco] is working on a cure for Alzheimer's. Rodman thinks he has finally created a cure when a presentation goes horribly wrong. An escaped chimp causes a shutdown in the program and forces the team to put down all the experimental chimps. It turns out the reaction the chimp had was simply because she gave birth and was protecting her new born. Rodman ends up taking the chimp home and soon discovers his cure not only works but increases intelligence at an alarming rate.
This baby chimps name is Caesar and he will be the newest leader of an Ape Revolution. Caesar will have to battle adversity in the monkey world to take his claim to become a modern day real life ape version of Julius Caesar. Giving more details of this story line would force me to reveal to many spoilers. But I can guarantee this is a great prequel to the original Planet of the Ape films.
My Opinions:
First and foremost let me stress that this is so much better than the Mark Wahlberg remake of Planet of the Apes, and in no way, shape, or form resembles this. I would recommend, if you truly want to enjoy and understand all of this movie, watch the original Planet of the Apes. I do appreciate how Rise of the Planet of the Apes uses subtle context clues to connect the story line to the original. I can only imagine we will be seeing a sequel in the next year or two leading up to where the original picks up. I predict the sequel to Rise of the planet will be even better than this one.
I don't know about you, but I couldn't help but find myself rooting for the apes. I think I have a whole new respect for apes and certainly hope that actual primate houses don't treat their apes in such a way. I couldn't help but connect Caesars experiences in the primate shelter to that of modern American prison... (Correct me if I'm wrong ) Also I think the Circus Orangutang silently stole the show and quickly became my favorite character.
Potential Cons:
You may miss certain references if you haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes.
Peter Jackson chose not to use real apes, robots, or costumes but instead relied on a cutting edge WETA Digital program to create the apes we see in the film (I, in fact, was thoroughly impressed by how real every ape looked in this film... but some SciFi nerds love their men in costume)
The movie spans about 8 - 9 years and the characters have clearly not aged a day (I know its not that big a deal, just smalls things like that catch my attention).
The ending will leave us expecting a sequel.. If not done right, could be a huge let down.
Overall Grade:
B+
Phil Murray
Your Reviewer
Friday, January 13, 2012
Money Ball
Official Review of: Moneyball
Story Line:
Moneyball portrays the real life tale of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane [Played by Brad Pitt] and his quest for World Series despite the A's limited capital. Beane needs to find a way to compete with teams paying out four times the salary allotted by the A's (Such as the NY Yankees). This is where Peter Brand comes into play. Brand [Played by Jonah Hill] is a recent Yale graduate with an economics degree.( What may be confusing to some is there is no such person as Peter Brand. The actual person that Brand's character is based off of is Paul DePodesta) Brand introduces Beane to a new system of player analysis using computers. These computer generated scouting reports lead to a whole new way to scout players and field a team. You'll get to see an unconventional team of misfits rewrite history.
My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish. I am completely undecided on whether baseball needs a salary cap. It presents an interesting situation: Do you want to even the playing field for small market MLB teams or do you want to experience some of baseballs biggest stars playing together on the same team? Never the less this movie presents a great behind the scenes look of how small market GM's have to be creative and develop a competitive advantage to keep them in the game.
Potential Cons:
A -
Story Line:
Moneyball portrays the real life tale of Oakland A's GM Billy Beane [Played by Brad Pitt] and his quest for World Series despite the A's limited capital. Beane needs to find a way to compete with teams paying out four times the salary allotted by the A's (Such as the NY Yankees). This is where Peter Brand comes into play. Brand [Played by Jonah Hill] is a recent Yale graduate with an economics degree.( What may be confusing to some is there is no such person as Peter Brand. The actual person that Brand's character is based off of is Paul DePodesta) Brand introduces Beane to a new system of player analysis using computers. These computer generated scouting reports lead to a whole new way to scout players and field a team. You'll get to see an unconventional team of misfits rewrite history.
My Thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this film from start to finish. I am completely undecided on whether baseball needs a salary cap. It presents an interesting situation: Do you want to even the playing field for small market MLB teams or do you want to experience some of baseballs biggest stars playing together on the same team? Never the less this movie presents a great behind the scenes look of how small market GM's have to be creative and develop a competitive advantage to keep them in the game.
Potential Cons:
- If you do not like baseball.... Chances are you won't enjoy this movie.
- Jonah Hill does not play the type of role you are used to.
A -
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