Watch Online Self/less (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

A dying New York real-estate tycoon undergoes a top-secret procedure to transfer his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man, but he discovers that his new life isn't what he expected after learning about the mysterious origins of his new body and an organization that is prepared to kill for its cause. Ryan Reynolds toplines this sci-fi thriller directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall, and penned by screenwriting duo David and Alex Pastor (Carriers).

Review:

They say that money can't buy happiness in life, but for one New York City tycoon, it might be able to buy life itself. That's the premise of director Tarsem Singh's new film Self/less, a muddled mashup of genres that makes the disastrous assumption that the audience will be too brain/less to notice its many preposterous plot points.

(Sir) Ben Kingsley plays Damian Hale, an impossibly wealthy NYC businessman who has devoted his life to making bank instead of raising his daughter Claire (Michelle Dockery), now estranged from him and the director of a nonprofit. Damian is dying from a quickly spreading cancer, the end rapidly closing in with every blood-spattering cough. When someone slips him a mysterious business card claiming to offer a solution to his terminal dilemma, he takes the bait and is soon touring a secret lab in New Orleans with a crazy-smart (emphasis on crazy) scientist named Albright (Matthew Goode). Albright explains that he has developed a way to implant a person's consciousness into a "host" body, thus allowing the dying person a chance to live on with a new identity and face. But this procedure is not for everyone; only the world's brightest minds, he says, are worthy of the process called "shedding." When Damian asks how the host bodies are created, Albright states that they are genetically grown in a lab, not unlike some plants. One can't help but picture a Frankenstein-like Chia Pet that, in addition to a full head of hair, also grows a perfectly functioning brain, complete skeletal system, and all of the muscles and organs necessary to be considered human. Okie dokie.

Despite possessing one of those aforementioned "brightest minds in the world," Hale agrees to the procedure with nary a speck of incredulity regarding the outlandish method of producing a host body. His cancer soon becomes more aggressive, and when the final credits of his life story are about to start rolling, the shedding commences. All it takes is about 15 seconds or so in an MRI-like machine, and Damian is now comfortably ensconced in his cool but rather unsteady new vessel (enter Ryan Reynolds as the host body). As Albright gives him the stats on his new life, one can't help but wonder why the guy would pay all that money just to look like a 35-year-old about to enter middle age instead of someone much younger. And that's just one of the many frustrating questions that the film never sufficiently answers.

While enjoying his new existence as a wealthy New Orleans retiree who plays basketball all day and trolls for chicks at the clubs every night, Damian is also plagued by strange hallucinations (seemingly of another person's life), which can only be controlled by taking a daily pill. His discovery of the real cause of these hallucinations regrettably transforms this film from a potentially intriguing sci-fi thriller into a rock-'em-sock-'em action flick, complete with car chases, shoot-outs, and more than one death by blowtorch.

The overriding problem with Self/less is the lazy storytelling by Singh and screenwriting brothers Alex and David Pastor, who forgo character development and narrative credibility in the arrogant assumption that multiple fistfights and insane car crashes will be enough to satiate the audience. We never really find out why Damian is so jazzed about continuing life on earth, considering that he made a miserable and lonely mess of his first one despite oodles of cash to comfort him. Kingsley's screen time is so woefully brief (he's basically making a cameo appearance) that he isn't given the chance to flesh out Damian beyond giving him a thick New York accent and inserting barely noticeable pauses into his speech. Not that it even matters, since Reynolds doesn't bother to adopt Kingsley's mannerisms or in any way attempt to remind viewers that, underneath those ripped muscles, full head of hair, and Canadian-tinged intonation, there lies a brilliant, cynical seventysomething New Yawker.

While the action scenes are fun to watch, one can't help but feel that Self/less is like sitting through two completely different movies at the same time -- and the better of the two abruptly ends with the shot of Kingsley's body being covered by a sheet following the shedding. Unfortunately, the only thing left for viewers after that is, well ... less.

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Watch Online Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons' comic series is adapted for the big screen in this Matthew Vaughn-directed action thriller. The story centers on a secret agent who recruits a juvenile delinquent into a top-secret spy organization. Together, they battle a tech genius with diabolical ambitions.

Review:

In order to understand exactly what tone director Matthew Vaughn is going for in his stylish, comic-to-screen spy romp Kingsman: The Secret Service, one need look no further than a scene that takes place approximately halfway through the film. It's a pivotal moment that finds gentleman spy Harry Hart (Colin Firth) posing as a billionaire real-estate mogul in order to get closer to Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a popular Internet entrepreneur and suspected supervillain. As the two rivals sit down to share a meal, the topic of conversation shifts to spy films. Asked if he's a fan, Hart says that he is, but with the caveat that the most recent entries in the enduring genre have become "too serious."

Kingsman: The Secret Service is the antidote to all of that seriousness. A rousing dose of retro-fueled fun, replete with sharply dressed secret agents, hi-tech gadgets, lethal henchmen (er, henchwomen), and, of course, a diabolical villain with a secluded mountain-top stronghold, it aims to be the anti-Skyfall -- a sprightly franchise starter that wants to fill the gap that opened up when Q sent Bond on his 23rd assignment virtually empty-handed. Even so, there's one key element of Kingsman that separates it from virtually every spy adventure that has come before, and that difference could be the deciding factor in the future of this potential series.

The Kingsmen are an independent intelligence agency modeled after the Knights of the Round Table. Honor and integrity are among their chief virtues, and each agent takes his and her name from a noble knight of legend. Veteran Kingsman Harry Hart (aka Galahad) is on assignment in the Middle East when he makes a mistake that costs a key teammate his life. Devastated, Galahad bestows the agent's son Eggsy a medal of valor, which entitles him to any favor of his choosing at any point in his life.

The movie then flash forwards to 12 years later, as Galahad learns that another teammate has perished while attempting to rescue a kidnapped college professor (Mark Hamill) in Argentina. Meanwhile, in England, a now teenage Eggsy (Taron Egerton) isn't doing that well. After getting arrested for leading the police on a chase in a stolen car, he remembers the medal and requests his favor. Much to his surprise, Galahad is waiting for him when he exits the station. Impressed by Galahad's fighting skills when confronted by a group of local thugs, Eggsy accepts his offer to try out for the Kingsmen. But he's just one of many young hopefuls competing for a single open slot, and right as their training begins to pick up, charismatic billionaire Valentine initiates an apocalyptic plot to curb global warming with a great cull. Later, as the selection process comes down to Eggsy and one other potential Kinsgman candidate, Valentine makes a move that shakes the organization to its very core as he prepares to set his catastrophic plan in motion.

Watching Kingsman, it's plain to see that Vaughn has taken most of his cues from the colorful, pre-Bourne Identity spy films that favored upbeat escapism over gritty realism. In the wake of turning heads with his freshman crime drama Layer Cake (the movie that helped launch future 007 Daniel Craig to stardom), Vaughn revealed himself to be a capable comic-to-screen adaptor as the director and co-writer of Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. He keeps that trend going with Kingsman, successfully creating the feel of an action-packed graphic novel come to life. If it's three-dimensional characters or plausibility that you crave, you might choose to skip this assignment. On the other hand, if it's eye-popping spectacle you seek, Kingsman hits its marks with the style and skill of an expert assassin. By paralleling Eggsy's training with the Kingsmen's fight against Valentine, Vaughn and frequent screenwriting partner Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust, X-Men: First Class) fuse the discovery of an origin story with the thrill of a first adventure. It all adds up to a rousing good time -- as long as you can forgive such obvious leaps in logic as how Eggsy managed to learn the Kingsmen's distinctive fighting style while his mentor was in a coma -- and by making Valentine's threat both global and deeply personal (a scene with a child in peril may have sensitive parents wincing), the writers keep the action moving fast enough that we have little time to quibble.

Relative newcomer Egerton carries little baggage with him to the big screen, allowing him to fully inhabit the character of Eggsy and make his transformation into a superspy entirely believable. By contrast, it's precisely our familiarity with Oscar winner Firth that allows his character to command authority as the veteran agent determined to thwart Valentine's plan. And that brings us to Samuel L. Jackson -- gifted with one of the most distinctive voices in cinema, his decision to portray Valentine with a pronounced lisp helps to distinguish the character from his legendary list of big-screen badasses. At the same time, the fun he's so obviously having as Valentine effortlessly transfers to the audience. Michael Caine brings the appropriate amount of gravity to his role as the head of the Kingsmen organization, and it's refreshing to see Mark Strong in a rare good-guy role. His slack is picked up by Sofia Boutella, flawlessly agile as Valentine's alluring, razor-footed enforcer Gazelle.

Making a memorable entrance by slicing a man in half vertically, Gazalle may also be the deciding factor in whether or not the film results in the birth of a new franchise (as it so obviously intends). Outside of the horror genre, it's difficult to cite examples of successful R-rated movie series, and while Vaughn and company should be commended for their uncompromising vision (a hyper-violent church massacre, complete with blowtorches to the face, makes the climactic battle in Kill Bill feel tame despite running half the time), it could also turn out to be the burgeoning franchise's Achilles' heel: Not only will the violence cause some parents to recoil in shock, but in many ways it stands in stark contrast to the film's otherwise playful tone. For grown-ups who savor nostalgia and mayhem, however, this could be just the throwback they've been longing for.

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Watch Online Dracula Untold (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Director Gary Shore revamps the mythos surrounding Vlad the Impaler in Dracula Year Zero, a Universal Pictures release from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The horror tale is set to take place in Romania during the Turkish invasion as Vlad (Luke Evans) goes to the greatest of lengths to fight for his homeland -- even if it means selling his soul and becoming forever doomed as a creature of the night.

Review:

A Dracula movie for those who prefer a darkly romantic take on the character -- like Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 epic Bram Stoker's Dracula or the 2013 TV series Dracula starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers -- 2014's Dracula Untold is a period adventure with a fantastical, gothic-horror twist. Taking a cue from the aforementioned adaptations of the classic tale, Dracula Untold attempts to present the origin story of the powerful vampire, explaining why the Romanian prince once known as Vlad Dracul made a deal with dark forces that would transform him into the creature of the night that's now part of popular mythology: namely, that he did it all for his country and, of course, for love.

The story begins in the 15th century, as Prince Vlad (Luke Evans) rules his Eastern European country with a fair and steady hand. Although he's been known to decimate villages in the name of protecting his people, he's done so without bloodlust, making tough, kingly decisions like sacrificing ten people to save 100. Those decisions get a lot tougher, however, when a neighboring sultan demands that Vlad hand over 1000 Romanian boys to be trained as Turkish soldiers -- if he refuses, the sultan will launch a full, bloody invasion. Vlad just can't bring himself to do it, especially since it would mean losing his own son, so he seeks out supernatural assistance. Agreeing to a contract with a decrepit, ancient vampire, he is granted all of the monster's powers (intense speed, increased strength, and the ever-useful ability to turn into a flock of bats) and weaknesses (sunlight, pure silver, and wooden stakes), as well as the promise that he will turn back into his mortal, non-evil self if he can resist feeding on human blood for a period of three days. Vlad figures he just needs to defeat the Turks in that time, which he can surely accomplish via supernatural brute force and scaring the piss out of them with his powers, right?

Dracula Untold is fine Halloween entertainment, especially for those looking for something spooky but not necessarily terrifying. Compared to the average slasher movie, it keeps the gore level pretty low. And in a world of absurdly long action/adventure films, Dracula Untold's tight 92-minute run time makes it a solid popcorn flick. It has a certain B-movie flavor, despite being pretty tasteful overall -- at least for a vampire film.

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Watch Online Blackhat (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

An American/Chinese joint anti-cybertheft task force races to root out an elusive hacker based in Southeast Asia in this Legendary Pictures thriller written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann, and starring Chris Hemsworth.

Review:

Since the beginning of his career, Michael Mann has been, first and foremost, a stylist. His earliest work (Thief, Manhunter, producing TV's Miami Vice) had such a startlingly unique aesthetic -- a slow-burn pace that paired moody music with lurid colors -- that young filmmakers are still aping it 30 years later (with Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive being one of the most prominent examples). Mann's style evolved in the 21st century as smaller digital cameras allowed him to get even closer to his characters and encouraged him to shoot from unexpected places. His cyber-terrorism thriller Blackhat continues this new visual approach.

Chris Hemsworth stars as Nicholas Hathaway, a world-class hacker who, as the movie opens, is serving a lengthy prison sentence for stealing millions from banks. His old college friend Dawai (Wang Lee Hom), a member of the Chinese military and a tech expert, convinces the U.S. government to let Nicholas out of prison so he can help a small squad of American and Chinese security officials; they need his skills to track down a hacker who caused a lethal accident at a nuclear reactor and made millions artificially manipulating the price of soy futures. If they apprehend their target, Nicholas gets his sentence commuted. Working with him and Dawai are Carol Barrett (Viola Davis), an American who must deal with her boss's distrust of both the Chinese and their ex-con collaborator, and Dawai's sister Lien (Wei Tang), a talented hacker in her own right who quickly falls in love with Nicholas.

Mann wastes no time showing off his latest filmmaking tools. His opening shot tracks inside a computer, flying around the inside of a motherboard and through wires representing the Internet itself, so that we can see the virus planted by the bad guy. There's more novelty to come during the fight scenes, which look like they were recorded with the latest GoPro technology; you've never been this close to a guy getting his face smashed in with a table. Throw in a sickeningly fast and shaky foot chase, and there's enough here for Mann's devoted fans to say that the director is still on the cutting edge.

However, for those who found his last two movies -- Miami Vice and Public Enemies -- overly long and crushingly dull, there's nothing here that will change their minds. It's another exercise in tough-guy posturing that lacks the philosophical depth of his best work: Manhunter, Heat, and The Insider. At best, we marvel at what Mann can do while never being involved in what's happening. The exceptions are a brilliantly directed shoot-out that kicks off the movie's final act, and an utterly unique sequence in which Nicholas must don a hazmat suit and enter the irradiated nuclear plant to retrieve some computer hardware.

Hemsworth makes Nicholas a traditional Mann hero: He's taciturn, emotionally detached, and most importantly, lives by a code. He also gets a handful of snappy, action-hero lines to deliver, courtesy of screenwriter Morgan Davis Foehl. Meanwhile, Viola Davis makes sure we know her character is the toughest in the movie, delivering her dialogue with a cool but impassioned authority that instantly makes her the most likable person onscreen.

The 71-year-old Mann used to be able to imbue genre films with real depth thanks to his painterly frames and intellectual obsessions, but he hasn't been in top form for more than a decade. Blackhat might be his best work since Collateral, but that still doesn't mean it's compelling or interesting.

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Watch Online Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his teammates reunite for this pulse-pounding sequel, in which they attempt to take down a secret international organization known as the Syndicate--highly skilled ex-IMF agents who are intent on bringing down their former outfit. Christopher McQuarrie directs this new entry in the Mission Impossible franchise, with Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Simon Pegg co-staring.

Review:

One mission that seems almost impossible for Hollywood to achieve these days is to continually reenergize a popular film franchise, making each entry as good (if not better) than the last. But that's exactly what Tom Cruise and company have done with this tentpole, which is now 19 years old. The Mission: Impossible series has employed a different director for each movie thus far, and every one has put his own stamp on the material -- a major reason why the franchise still feels fresh after nearly two decades. Brian De Palma got the series off to a strong start back in 1996, but John Woo stumbled badly four years later with a pretentious, over-the-top follow-up. Thankfully, J.J. Abrams put everything back on track with 2006's intense Mission: Impossible III, and Brad Bird raised the bar even higher with the sensational Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol in 2011. Now, it's Christopher McQuarrie's turn to sit in the director's chair, and the frequent Cruise collaborator -- he co-wrote Valkyrie and Edge of Tomorrow, and wrote and directed Jack Reacher -- delivers a slick, involving thrill ride that can proudly takes its place alongside the best installments in this series.

Rogue Nation gets off to a high-flying start with a scene in which Cruise's Ethan Hunt dangles precariously from an Airbus A400M cargo plane in an effort to get aboard and thwart the delivery of some poisonous gas; the sequence has already become famous due to the fact that it's really Cruise hanging on to the side of the plane midflight. From there, the movie races from one action set piece to the next -- with the best being an elaborate assassination attempt at the Vienna Opera House -- as Hunt tracks Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), the leader of a terrorist organization known as the Syndicate that's made up of various rogue spies and is responsible for several global catastrophes. Unfortunately, Hunt's search is greatly hindered when CIA chief Alan Hunley (an excellent Alec Baldwin) insists that the Syndicate doesn't exist and shuts down the Impossible Mission Force. He then seeks to bring Hunt in and hold him accountable for IMF's recent rash of reckless behavior, including an incident from Ghost Protocol in which they nearly destroyed the Kremlin. This leaves Hunt as a man without a country, on a mission without authorization or support. And to make matters worse, he keeps encountering Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), an intriguing beauty connected to the Syndicate who might be a double or even triple agent. Is she trying to help Hunt, or is she just using him to get what she wants? One of the film's greatest strengths is the way it keeps her intentions murky throughout the proceedings.

Another strength is the return of Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, and Ving Rhames as Hunt's IMF allies. Pegg once again provides just the right amount of comic relief, and Renner is solid as Hunt's right-hand man, who is torn between his allegiance to Ethan and his commitment to his new employers at the CIA. Rhames, great as always, is unfortunately underused here, but he does manage to steal every scene he's in.

But the film belongs to Tom Cruise. Even at 53, he proves he is still one of the silver screen's greatest stars, and Ethan Hunt might just turn out to be his signature role. Cruise has always been considered a modest actor with a limited range (even though he's been nominated for three acting Oscars), but it's difficult to fault him for continually drawing on his strengths as an action star and pumping out fun, if mostly lightweight, popcorn fare. He's got charisma to burn, and no one can deny his utter commitment to a role: No other actor of his stature performs dangerous stunt work like he does (to name just one other example, he swung around outside Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, in Ghost Protocol). And while the cargo-plane sequence is getting all of the attention, Cruise's motorcycle derring-do in Rogue Nation is equally amazing, providing the movie with one of the most exciting chase scenes in recent memory.

Praise must also go to McQuarrie, best known for his Academy Award-winning screenplay for The Usual Suspects. He helped revise the script for Ghost Protocol, but was denied an official writing credit; with Rogue Nation, he makes the most of the opportunity to call the shots as the film's writer/director. And while the movie hews closely to the blueprint of glossy espionage flicks, it does so with the utmost professionalism and craft. Give McQuarrie and Cruise credit for not merely propping up what could have become a tired franchise, but injecting it with a newfound sense of energy and enthusiasm. Mission: Impossible is one Hollywood tentpole that shows no signs of aging.

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Watch Online Ted 2 (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Ted (voice of Seth MacFarlane) ties the knot with Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), and recruits his best friend John (Mark Wahlberg) as a sperm donor in order to start a family in this sequel to the comedy hit about a teddy bear come to life. Later, when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts demands that Ted appear before a judge to prove he's a real person, the frisky bear and his pal vow to fight for their civil rights. Morgan Freeman and Amanda Seyfried co-star.

Review:

After Seth MacFarlane's attempt at a Western comedy (last year's A Million Ways to Die in the West) ended in total failure, he retreated to far safer territory with a sequel to his 2012 moneymaker Ted. The formula for Ted 2 is predictable: If you enjoyed the Boston-accented gross-out quips of the first flick, there's plenty more where that came from; if you weren't a fan, there won't be much for you here. Despite the bro-y overtones and garish concept, this might just be the guilty pleasure of the summer.

Six months after his divorce from Lori (played in the first film by Mila Kunis), John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is struggling to get back into the dating game. Meanwhile, his best buddy, sentient teddy bear Ted (voiced by MacFarlane), has just tied the knot with his girlfriend and grocery-store co-worker Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth). It's not long before there's serious trouble in paradise for the newlyweds, as the couple discover that two cashiers' paychecks aren't enough to keep them afloat. In order to repair their marriage, Ted suggests they have a baby. Given that he isn't quite equipped with the correct anatomy, he reaches out to John for a sperm donation (that is, after a few failed attempts to get a celebrity donor). Unfortunately, Tami-Lynn's checkered history of drug use has left her infertile, prompting the couple to try adoption instead.

During the adoption process, Ted learns that he's technically considered property and has no rights under the Constitution. His life soon comes crashing down -- he's laid off from the grocery store and his marriage to Tami-Lynn is annulled. John suggests they fight back, and the duo begin a lengthy legal battle to have Ted declared a person, aided by pro-bono junior lawyer Samantha Jackson (Amanda Seyfried). Meanwhile, the bizarre, Ted-obsessed Donny (Giovanni Ribisi, reprising his role from the first film) convinces the CEO of Hasbro to fund the state's case against Ted so the company can reclaim the bear and mass produce copies of him. An overly long and complicated final act ensues, featuring a blossoming romance between John and Samantha, the involvement of star lawyer Patrick Meighan (Morgan Freeman), and a chaotic trip to Comic-Con.

Apart from the convoluted plot, Ted 2 is an unabashedly funny and absurd sequel, an incredible feat given the odds stacked against it. On the surface, it has all the makings of a disaster that will cause eyelids to droop across the nation -- the novelty of watching a talking teddy bear has lost its luster, and the run time clocks in at a bloated 115 minutes. Yet while the courtroom scenes drag on and the entire Donny subplot is wholly unnecessary, the movie is filled to its stitching with hilarious moments. This is blunt-force comedy, and while some of the gags and one-liners miss, you won't have much time to dwell on them. The physical comedy isn't nearly as effective as the verbal jabs from screenwriters MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin, and Wellesley Wild, most of which overflow with pop-culture references. MacFarlane and his team have hovered on the line separating tasteful and offensive in previous productions, and Ted 2 contains even more of his off-color and vulgar brand of humor.

Seyfried's bong-ripping attorney Samantha is an amicable replacement for Mila Kunis, whose real-life pregnancy prevented her from returning as Lori. Wahlberg's character is a bit dumbed down from the first flick, reducing him to the stalwart best friend who keeps throwing in his stoned observations. Still, he flexes his comedic muscles and proves once again that he can perform agreeably in just about any Hollywood movie; there's one particular non sequitur about free candy in offices that Wahlberg nails with a surprisingly amount of subtlety. There are also a host of celebrity cameos to liven up the proceedings, including Liam Neeson as an inquisitive grocery-store shopper and Flash Gordon star Sam J. Jones as himself (a gag continued from the previous film).

It's inevitable that we're going to get a third installment in this bromance. There's no doubt that MacFarlane and his cohorts will conjure up another feature-length series of weed and dick jokes, but will anyone care? Nobody in Hollywood is able to end things on a high note these days, so expect a bomb of a third movie to follow this flawed but funny sequel.

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Watch Online Taken 3 (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Former covert operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) must race to protect his daughter while tracking down the criminals who framed him for killing his wife in the adrenaline-fueled third chapter of the Taken saga. Bryan and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) are taking their first tentative steps toward reconciliation when she is viciously murdered, and he is targeted as the prime suspect. Now, with the CIA, FBI, and every cop in the country hot on his trail, Bryan realizes that it's only a matter of time before his enemies get to his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), too. Determined to keep her alive at any cost, he realizes that his only hope for saving her is to clear his name before he is captured. But while Bryan does possess the "particular set of skills" to stay one step ahead of the men who want his entire family dead, proving that he's innocent of murder and seeing that the real killers face justice might be the last thing he ever does.

Review:

There's a reason why the "I have a particular set of skills" speech from the original Taken became so iconic: It was the thrill of watching an actor as talented as Liam Neeson bring some palpable gravitas to the clichéd role of the seemingly retired killer called back into action. Seven years later, Taken 3 proves once and for all that Neeson should stop relying on this particular set of skills.

He's back as Bryan Mills, who must now clear his name and protect his pregnant daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) after his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) turns up dead in his apartment, with all evidence pointing to him as the killer. Bryan must elude a tenacious police detective (Forest Whitaker) who wants to bring him in for the murder, all while unraveling how Lenore's current husband Stuart (Dougray Scott) is mixed up with a conscience-free Russian baddie poised to go on a killing spree if he doesn't get paid.

Olivier Megaton (who also helmed Taken 2) directs this installment of the increasingly tired franchise, and it seems like he failed to compose a single frame that he wants us to look at, because he cuts away from every image after about a second and a half. This is true of both the quieter scenes that set up Bryan's relationships with his daughter, ex-wife, and Stuart, and the frenetic chase sequences and indecipherable one-on-one fistfights. Either Megaton has no faith in his own direction, or he has zero respect for his audience's attention span.

Already a renowned actor, Liam Neeson enjoyed one of the most unexpected third acts in any movie star's career by becoming an action hero in his mid-fifties with Taken. He rode that box-office wave for a few years, putting out a string of similar-looking suspense flicks: Unknown, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and of course, the obligatory Taken 2. As a result, seeing Neeson play this type of role no longer feels surprising or exciting.

Taken 3 doesn't offer up anything new, and screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen -- who have masterminded the entire franchise -- assume audiences will be happy with more of the same. It's such a lazy movie that it's left unclear at the end if one of the recurring characters, Bryan's old buddy Sam, is alive or dead. When the filmmakers themselves are this disinterested, it's clear that the people who are suckered into buying a ticket for this flick are the ones who have been taken.

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Watch Online Cinderella (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Kenneth Branagh directs Disney's 2015, live-action take on the classic fairy tale Cinderella, which stars Lily James as the put-upon young women forced to endure a life of labor at the hands of her stepmother (Cate Blanchett) after her father dies unexpectedly. Forced to do every menial chore imaginable, Ella maintains her good spirits and eventually strikes up a friendship with a stranger in the woods who turns out to be the prince. When the royal court holds a gala ball, Cinderella wants nothing more to attend, and although her stepmother won't allow it, she gets help from a surprising source.

Review: 

Think of Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella as Disney's own response to its hit live-action adaptation Maleficent. Whereas the Angelina Jolie film tried to find a new take on an overly familiar story, Branagh and company whip up a handsome slice of old-fashioned family entertainment.

The opening scenes find the young Ella (Eloise Webb) living an idyllic life with her mother (Hayley Atwell) and father (Ben Chaplin). As in every Disney film, her mother dies, but not before imparting to her the lesson of the movie with her final words -- be kind and have courage. Years later, Ella (now played by Lily James) must exemplify that kindness as she accommodates her new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and her selfish stepsisters after her father remarries. When her father passes away during a trip abroad, she relies on her inner courage as her cruel new family force her to be their servant. She must persevere through this ordeal in order to fulfill her father's final wish -- that she care for the house he and her mother loved so dearly.

Dubbed Cinderella by her stepfamily for her oft-dirty appearance, she meets a handsome young man (Richard Madden) in the forest one day, and he claims to be an apprentice who lives in the royal court. They form a quick bond, but she leaves without learning that he's actually the prince of the kingdom. Meanwhile, the prince's father (Derek Jacobi) is in ill health and wants his son to marry before he dies. In the hope of finding an acceptable future queen, a royal gala is held to size up all of the potential marriage material -- think of it as regal speed dating.

Cinderella, denied access to the ball by her stepmother, gets some unexpected assistance from a fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) and wows everybody at the event. However, she must leave before midnight, and in her haste she leaves behind a glass slipper -- which the prince uses to locate the woman he loves.

Branagh, his generation's most renowned director of Shakespeare adaptations, shows a respect for this well-known tale that's quite welcoming. He doesn't feel that this material, or its likely audience, is beneath him. He receives able support from Oscar-winning production designer Dante Ferretti, whose stellar sets find the perfect balance between Masterpiece Theatre ornateness and dreamlike, fairy-tale lushness; and Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell, whose playful work includes not only Cinderella's spectacular blue gown, but a number of chilly monstrosities worn by the stepsisters and the wicked stepmother.

It should come as no surprise that the performances are all solid, but first among equals is the great Cate Blanchett. She could have hammed it up, but instead she finds the emotional truth at the center of her character; her wickedness comes not from a joy of being wicked, but from her desire to protect herself and her daughters. She's frighteningly cold and thoroughly believable, with just enough outsized cruelty to remind us that she's a mythic figure. She finds the perfect tone and never wavers from it. The same is true of the entire cast, as well as the production as a whole.

This version of Cinderella works so well because everyone involved has lived up to the story's moral. They are kind to the story and the material, and are courageous enough to make something with great craft and complete earnestness.

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Watch Online Nightcrawler (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

An ambitious young crime journalist probes the dark underbelly of L.A. in this cynical urban drama that marks the feature directorial debut of film writer Dan Gilroy (Real Steal, The Bourne Legacy). Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a petty thief in search of a payday when he stumbles onto the scene of a grisly car accident, and witnesses seasoned "Nightcrawler" Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) gathering video footage for a local news broadcast. Convinced that this is a career he could excel at, Lou promptly purchases a police scanner and a cheap video camera, and hits the streets. In short order Lou has hired an assistant (Riz Ahmed) to help him navigate the city streets, and started selling footage to local TV producer Nina (Rene Russo), one of Joe's regular buyers. A fast learner with an eye for detail, Lou isn't above manipulating a crime scene in order to get a picture that tells a story. When Lou beats the police to the scene of a deadly home invasion in an affluent neighborhood, however, his shocking footage catches the attention of two homicide detectives who suspect he's hiding evidence that could be crucial to their investigation. But that very footage may be just what Lou needs to enter the big time.

Review:

Imagine Travis Bickle transplanted into the world of Paddy Chayefsky's Network, and you'll start to get a feel for the creepy, deeply cynical tone screenwriter Dan Gilroy establishes in his feature directorial debut Nightcrawler, a scathing condemnation of contemporary broadcast journalism starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a parasitic freelance news videographer whose chilling lack of ethics gives him a distinct upper hand over the competition.

Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is a petty thief in search of a payday when he stumbles onto the scene of a grisly car accident, where he witnesses seasoned "nightcrawler" Joe Loder (Bill Paxton) gathering video footage for a local news broadcast. Convinced that this is a career he could excel at, Lou promptly purchases a police scanner and a cheap video camera and hits the streets. In short order, he hires an assistant (Riz Ahmed) to help him navigate the city and starts selling footage to TV producer Nina (Rene Russo), one of Joe's regular buyers. As a fast learner with an eye for detail, Lou isn't above manipulating a crime scene in order to get a picture that tells a story. When he beats the police to the scene of a fatal home invasion in an affluent neighborhood, however, his shocking footage catches the attention of two homicide detectives who suspect he's hiding evidence that could be crucial to their investigation. But that footage might be just what Lou needs to enter the big time.

In the world of the 24-hour news cycle, the fight to maintain viewership is fierce. Every day, reporters and news directors walk a precarious tightrope between reporting and exploitation. But when do they cross an ethical line, and what are the dangers if they do? These are just a few of the questions Gilroy flirts with in his caustic, blackly comic script for Nightcrawler. Immediately establishing Bloom as a cunning sociopath in the menacing, nocturnal opening scene, Gilroy then methodically draws us into the character's unscrupulous headspace by revealing him to be a man completely devoid of any and all moral boundaries: His singular ambition leaves no room for empathy, sympathy, or remorse. In Gyllenhaal,Gilroy finds an actor whose talent for displaying the full spectrum of the character's misanthropy borders on cinematic alchemy.

It isn't easy to make an audience want to spend time with a person as detestable as Bloom, and in keeping with the film's subject matter, Gyllenhaal makes the character so unrepentantly audacious that the viewer effectively becomes the same kind of rubbernecker whom Nina counts on for her ratings. It's a precarious balance to strike for a film that seemingly exists to highlight how easily the news -- and in turn, the viewer -- can be manipulated, but Gyllenhaal commands our attention with his strikingly gaunt appearance and too-quick smile, making us wonder just how far his character will go to find success. Of course, it doesn't take long to get an answer to that question, and even as Gilroy's screenplay begins to settle into the motions of a more traditional thriller, supporting players Russo, Ahmed, and Paxton are effective in their roles as the unwitting pawns in Bloom's nefarious game. Having returned to the screen in 2011's Thor following a brief hiatus, Russo is compelling in her role as an aging TV news producer who's acutely aware she's on the lowest rung of the ladder. Try as Nina might to maintain a steely exterior while dealing with the calculating Bloom, Russo brings the icy character's vulnerability to the surface in ways that highlight her young counterpart's complete detachment from humanity. Paxton is at his cocky best as the nightcrawler Bloom models himself after, and as Bloom's harried assistant, Ahmed represents the closest thing this movie has to a moral compass and a sympathetic character.

Yes, once Bloom captures the chilling aftermath of a violent home invasion, Nightcrawler loses some of its edge by morphing into a more conventional thriller. But it's a testament to Gilroy's firm grasp of his themes regarding the media and society that he ultimately brings them full circle for the film's uncompromisingly bleak denouement -- one that drives home the fact that we should always be conscious of the media we consume and where it comes from. It may not be a pleasant message to hear, but thanks to Gilroy's skillful writing and Gyllenhaal's fearless performance, it's as difficult to look away from as the nightly news.

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Watch Online 12 Years a Slave (2013) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave stars Chiwetel Ejifor as Solomon Northup, a free black man in 1840s America. He makes his living as a fiddle player, and his wife is a teacher. He is shanghaied by a pair of nefarious white men, and soon finds himself on a ship headed to New Orleans where he is informed he will be called Platt and is sold into slavery by an unscrupulous businessman (Paul Giamatti). As he toils away for the kindhearted but conflicted plantation owner Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), who recognizes that Platt is both educated and an artist, he butts head with Ford's underlings, especially the casually cruel Tibeats (Paul Dano). After they have a violent altercation, Ford fears for his slave's life and sells him to Mr. Epps (Michael Fassbender), an alcoholic sadist who owns a cotton plantation. Though Epps reads from the bible to his property, as he frequently refers to his slaves, he is himself not immune to sins of the flesh. He has taken the young Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) - his best cotton picker -- as his lover, and this doesn't sit well at all with his severe wife (Sarah Paulson), whose particular hatred for blacks and her jealousy fuels her many degrading actions toward Patsey. Solomon bides his time, attempts to preserve a modicum of self-respect, and waits for the chance to reclaim his rightful name as well as his family.

Review:

With his first two films, Hunger and Shame, British director Steve McQueen showed a masterful command of style and an ambition to tackle important topics. His third movie, 12 Years a Slave, takes on the institution of American slavery, a subject that comes so loaded with potential blowback that few artists ever attempt to deal with it head-on. He succeeds so strongly that the film's power is only mitigated, and not undone, by a third act that fails as storytelling even though it's likely historically accurate.

The uniformly excellent cast is headed by Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free black man in 1840s America. He makes his living as a fiddle player, while his wife is a teacher. However, he is soon shanghaied by a pair of nefarious white men and finds himself on a ship headed to New Orleans; he is informed that he will now be called Platt, and is sold into slavery by an unscrupulous businessman (Paul Giamatti, more frightening than you ever expected he could be).

As he toils away for the kindhearted but conflicted plantation owner Mr. Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), who recognizes that Solomon is both educated and an artist, he butts heads with Ford's underlings, especially the casually cruel Tibeats (Paul Dano). After they have a violent altercation, Ford fears for his slave's life and sells him to Mr. Epps (Michael Fassbender), an alcoholic sadist who owns a cotton plantation.

Though Epps reads the Bible to his property (as he frequently calls his slaves), he himself is not immune to the sins of the flesh. He has taken the young Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) -- his best cotton picker -- as his lover, and this doesn't sit well at all with his severe wife (Sarah Paulson), whose jealousy and hatred for blacks fuel her many degrading punishments toward her husband's paramour. Meanwhile, Solomon bides his time, attempts to preserve a modicum of self-respect, and waits for the chance to reclaim his rightful name and his family.

From a sheer storytelling standpoint, 12 Years a Slave pulls off something nearly impossible. Screenwriter John Ridley was given a lead character who has no control over his own life -- unable to flee or fight back in any meaningful way, Solomon does little more than suffer and try to persevere. That kind of character is the death of drama, but Ridley has plotted the movie ingeniously so that each scene follows logically from the actions of the previous one. This is not a random collection of horrific incidents that happened to one man; it's a harrowing explanation of exactly how and why these atrocities occurred.

McQueen's grand ambitions are revealed in his overall theme, which is to show how Solomon is far from the only victim of this inhumane institution. He efficiently and effectively details how every single person who comes in contact with slavery is corrupted by its vileness. What the slaveholders do to maintain their power alters them for the worse in very real ways -- that shines through in the characters of Epps and Ford. Additionally, the victims of slavery do terrible things to survive that will leave them scarred forever.

That point is driven home in the movie's best-written scene: a conversation between Solomon, Patsey, and Mistress Shaw (Alfre Woodard), an older black woman who enjoys formal afternoon tea and has servants who wait on her, all because the master of the house practically treats her as a wife. Shaw delivers a monologue full of anger and self-defensive justification for her own actions, but never drops the veil of civility. It's a showstopping scene that doesn't stand out by being better than the rest of the film, but because it's the most artistically powerful evocation of McQueen's overarching point.

The other aspect that helps elevate 12 Years a Slave is that, while tackling such an important topic, it never feels self-important. The director doesn't think he's teaching you anything you don't know, and he feels no need to pass judgment or to reassure you that all of this is awful because he trusts that you're already well aware. There isn't any condescension in the movie -- just a desire to tell this one story, and in so doing expose how such a malevolent system eroded everyone who was a part of it. By presenting that theme with such purpose and clarity, McQueen allows his viewers to consider how the echoes of that time reverberate to the modern day.

Also, while the film doesn't flinch from the disturbing violence that was commonplace in that era, it never wallows in the degradation. We are witness to nightmarish brutality, but it's presented in a way that makes it clear that McQueen trusts you are already horrified and don't need to have your buttons pressed.

The only thing undercutting the movie is a third act that is a total dramatic cheat. The climactic confrontation between Epps, his wife, Patsey, and Solomon feels redundant by the time it finally occurs. The choices Solomon makes in that scene should destroy us emotionally, but McQueen has so assuredly expressed his point-of-view that there's an inevitability to this conflict, no matter how well-acted and artfully staged it is. Additionally, the story's deus ex machina resolution adds to the sense that the movie runs just a little too long, even if it's never dull.

Like Spielberg's Schindler's List or Polanski's The Pianist, 12 Years a Slave is admirable, important, and serious filmmaking that is antithetical to what most people think of as entertainment. While it might not be perfect, it demands and deserves your attention.

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