Ready Player One / *** (PG-13)

Warner Bros.

Parzival/Wade: Tye Sheridan

Art3mis/Samantha: Olivia Cooke

Sorrento: Ben Mendelsohn

Aech/Helen: Lena Waithe

I-R0k: T.J. Miller

Ogden Morrow: Simon Pegg

Anorak/Halliday: Mark Rylance

Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline. Based on the novel by Ernest Cline. Running time: 140 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi action violence, bloody images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language).

There’s an interesting trend going on in filmmaking today that I don’t believe we’ve ever witnessed in cinematic history. It seems to have started at the dawn of the superhero movie, but has been building to a crescendo as more and more filmmakers who grew up in the 80s are coming into their own in Hollywood and are turning modern films into a sort of meta homage to the films of their youth. One of the filmmakers primarily responsible for the great popularity of cinema in the 80s was Steven Spielberg, who directed many of the iconic films of that era. With Ready Player One, it seems Spielberg has been inspired to up the meta level of modern filmmaking by making his own homage to the era that he was in great part responsible for building.

Spielberg chooses the right material for his meta gambit in his adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One. Cline is making a name for himself as an 80s enthusiast—his second novel Armada is also heavily soaked in 80s nostalgia. I can’t imagine the nerdgasmic feeling that must’ve come over Cline when he discovered that Spielberg himself was interested in adapting his 80s nostalgia-centric novel. Anyway, Spielberg’s many professional connections to all things 80s and Cline’s obsession with them makes this a near perfect teaming of creative minds. Spielberg brings in frequent superhero scripter Zak Penn, also responsible for the story behind the equally nostalgia-driven Last Action Hero, to shore up Cline’s own screen adaptation.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—River’s Edge (1986) ****

R, 99 min.

Director: Tim Hunter

Writer: Neal Jimenez

Starring: Crispin Glover, Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Daniel Roebuck, Joshua Miller, Dennis Hopper, Roxana Zal, Josh Richman, Philip Brock, Tom Bower, Constance Forslund, Leo Rossi, Jim Metzler

Tim Hunter’s “River’s Edge” was such a staple of my teenage years that I was almost afraid to revisit it and possibly find that it was not as good as I had remembered. I’ve been trying to see it again for several years, I even considered purchasing it on a whim, something I gave up doing when my children started sucking up all my money. I found it on one of my streaming services and the mood seemed right, so…

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Rocketeer (1991) ***

PG, 108 min.

Director: Joe Johnston

Writers: Danny Bilson, Paul de Meo, William Dear, Dave Stevens (graphic novel)

Starring: Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, Terry O’Quinn, Ed Lauter, James Handy, Robert Guy Miranda, John Lavachielli, Jon Polito, Eddie Jones, William Sanderson, Don Pugsley, Nada Despotovich, Margo Martindale, America Martin

“The Rocketeer” is a rip roarin’ good time! That’s what I would imagine reviews of this movie would read like were it released during the golden age of Hollywood in which it takes place. It’s a fitting review. It doesn’t lie, and it could very well stand as my review of it in this day and age.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—RoboCop (2014) ***½

PG-13, 117 min.

Director: José Padilha

Writers: Joshua Zetumer, Edward Neumeier (also 1987 film), Michael Miner (also 1987 film)

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jennifer Ehle, Jay Baruchel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Samuel L. Jackson, Aimee Garcia, John Paul Ruttan, Patrick Garrow

“RoboCop” is the umpteenth remake of an 80’s classic in recent years. For the most part they haven’t been a half bad bunch of films. “RoboCop” might be the best of the bunch.

That may be because the original “RoboCop” wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of cinema, but it was based on some pretty profound social commentary. What held the original back was that it was more intent on becoming one of the hardest ‘R’ rated movies of the decade in terms of bloody violence.

So now comes “RoboCop” the reboot rated PG-13 for a public that has become totally desensitized to its violence. In truth, I believe this still should’ve been rated ‘R’ even though it isn’t nearly as graphic as the original. Its story is almost identical to the original, although its themes are quite different.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) ****

PG-13, 105 min.

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Writers: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, Pierre Boulle (novel “The Planet of the Apes”)

Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Richard Ridings, Chris Gordon, Jay Caputo, Tyler Labine, Jamie Harris, Ty Olsson, David Hewlett

Sometimes I hold back on star ratings because I just feel like I can’t be handing out four stars left and right. Also, I often just love a movie and hold back because I don’t think others will see it the same way. As a critic that’s really going against my job, which is to point out what others may not see in a movie whether it be good or bad.

As I recall, I took a star away from this movie only because it embraces an action element in its final act. The thing is the plot of the film wholly supports the action sequence on the Golden Gate Bridge. Everything about it comes from elements that have come before in the film. It establishes the apes as the “good guys” were this a more traditional movie. But then, it really isn’t.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Rosemary’s Baby (2014) **

TV-14, 170 min.

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Writers: Scott Abbott, James Wong, Ira Levin (novels “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Son of Rosemary”)

Starring: Zoe Saldana, Patrick J. Adams, Carole Bouquet, Jason Isaacs, Christina Cole, Olivier Rabourdin, François Civil, Rosemarie La Vaullée, Frédéric Pierrot, Féodor Atkine, Oisin Stack

Before I watched NBC’s two-night mini-series event “Rosemary’s Baby”, I wondered what the point of remaking this horror classic could be. After watching it, the question remains. There is no way the filmmakers went into this project without asking themselves the same question, so they must’ve had their reasons. I noticed in the credits sequence that the new version’s star, Zoe Saldana, was listed as one of the movie’s producers along with several other family members. I wonder if they were fans of Ira Levin’s books. I notice the credits cite both the original “Rosemary’s Baby” novel and its sequel.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Repo Man (1984) ****

R, 92 min.

Director/Writer: Alex Cox

Starring: Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Tracey Walter, Olivia Barash, Sy Richardson, Susan Barnes, Fox Harris, Tom Finnegan, Del Zamora, Eddie Velez, Zander Schloss, Jennifer Balgobin, Dick Rude, Miguel Sandoval, Vonetta McGee

In high school, my friends and I would imagine that the Sheen family (Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen) name was actually Sheen rather than Estevez and act out a scene about Emilio changing his name from Sheen to Estevez. At that point in time, it would’ve made no sense. No actor who wanted to make a name for himself would change his name from a respectable and established Hollywood white name like Sheen to something of obvious ethnicity like Estevez. We would even play it as if his first name was actually Steve—or something closer to the white norm of Martin and Charlie—and he purposely changed it to Emilio Estevez as some strange act of rebellion.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Revolution, season 2 (2013-2014) ***½

TV-14, 22 43-min. episodes

Creator: Eric Kripke

Directors: Steve Boyum, Phil Sgriccia, Helen Shaver, Charles Beeson, Frederick E.O. Toye, Omar Madha, Michael Offer, Ernest Dickerson, Liz Friedlander, Roxann Dawson, Nick Copus, John Showalter, David Boyd

Writers: Eric Kripke, Matt Pitts, Paul Grellong, David Rambo, Anne Cofell Saunders, Ben Edlund, Trey Callaway, Rockne S. O’Bannon, Jim Barnes, David Reed, Ryan Parrott

Starring: Billy Burke, Tracy Spiridakos, Giancarlo Esposito, Zak Orth, David Lyons, JD Pardo, Stephen Collins, Elizabeth Mitchell, Steven Culp, Jessica Collins, Mat Vairo, Maureen Sebastian, Christopher Cousins

Guest starring: Adam Beach, Patrick Heusinger, Blake Hood, Nicole Ari Parker, Matt Ross, Richard T. Jones, Will Beinbrink, Damon Carney, Barry Tubb, Jim Beaver, Zeljko Ivanek, Anthony Ruivivar, David Aaron Baker, Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Howell, Kim Raver, Joaquim de Almeida, Katie Aselton, Daniel Henney, Bret Michaels, Timm Sharp, Cotter Smith, Tyrees Allen, Reiko Aylesworth, Billy Lush, M.C. Gainey, Gonzalo Menendez, Tim Guinee, Colby French

For their first two seasons, for me anyway, the two unrelated shows, “Arrow” and “Revolution” seemed intrinsically connected. Not in any sort of content way. They were both fantasy adventure shows, but that’s where the content connection ended. They both struggled to find their identities throughout the first half of their freshman seasons. They both ended their freshman runs with big developments and very satisfying and devastating cliffhangers. In their sophomore year, they both shared the same timeslot.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Rodan (1956) ***

NR, 72 min.

Director: Ishirô Honda

Writers: Takeshi Kimura, Ken Kuronuma, Takeo Murata, David Duncan (U.S. version)

Starring: Kenji Sawara, Yumi Shirakawa, Akihiko Hirata

Have you ever watched a movie that you saw as a kid and found incredible joy in seeing images that impacted you so many years ago? That was the experience I had watching “Rodan”, a sort of sister movie to the 1954 b-sci-fi flick “Gojira”, better known to American audiences as “Godzilla”. It isn’t really a sequel to “Godzilla”, but the same studio made it and eventually the Rodan monster was incorporated into the Godzilla series of movies. 

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Rake, season 1 (2014) ***

TV-14, 13 43-min. episodes

Developers: Peter Duncan (also creator for original Australian TV series), Peter Tolan

Directors: Sam Raimi, Scott Winant, Jon Avnet, Cherie Nowlan, Adam Davidson, Amy Heckerling, Adam Arkin, Rosemary Rodriguez, Roxanne Dawson, Jeffery Walker, Paul A. Edwards

Writers: Peter Duncan, Peter Tolan, Richard Roxburgh (creator for original Australian TV series), Charles Waterstreet (creator for original Australian TV series), Allison Abner, Sara Goodman, Kit Boss, Kevin J. Hynes, Sam Catlin

Starring: Greg Kinnear, John Ortiz, Miranda Otto, Necar Zadegan, Bojana Novakovic, Tara Summers, David Harbour, Ian Colletti, Omar J. Dorsey, Kim Hawthorne

Guest starring: Peter Stromare, Bill Smitrovich, Damon Gupton, Jeffrey Nordling, Anne Gee Byrd, Alexandra Breckinridge, Catherine Dent, Tony Hawk, Cedric Yarbrough, Elizabeth Ho, Jama Williamson, Lisa Pelican, Denis O’Hare, Bill Cobbs, Ayelet Zurer, Bess Armstrong, Michael Bofshever, Bruce Thomas, Chelsey Crisp, David Gautreaux, Mary Kay Place, Trisha LaFache, Anthony Anderson, Michael Ironside, Kelly Frye, Kate Burton, Marco Sanchez, Peter Jacobson, Dorian Missick, Pamela Adlon, Rob Moran, Kim Estes, Alix Angelis, Philip Baker Hall, Kris Angelis, Mark Moses, Melora Walters, Michelle Krusiec, River Alexander, Michelle Bernard, Thomas Crawford, Michelle Forbes, Rick Overton

Now, the title says “season 1”, but unfortunately I fear the fate is sealed on “Rake”. There will be no season 2. This is not because it wasn’t any good. It’s simply because nobody watched it. It’s based off a hit television series in Australia of the same name. Fox never really seemed too committed to this American remake, however. A lawyer show with some big name movie stars and directors attached to it, “Rake” should’ve been given a major fall launch with high expectations. Instead it was relegated to a midseason replacement series that launched just a couple weeks before the Olympics and was forced to compete against that NBC juggernaut while most regular series were playing repeats. Then, when the ratings tanked upon launch, it was moved to the throwaway timeslot (except for the success of “Grimm”) of Fridays. Later, it was moved again for its death knell on Saturday nights, and it’s still unclear as to whether its final episode even aired at all.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—The Return (2003) ***½

UR, 105 min.

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Writers: Vladimir Moiseenko, Aleksandr Novototskiy-Vlasov

Starring: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Nataliya Vdovina

“The Return” is a devastating film from Russia that makes me wonder just how badly these filmmakers were hurt by their fathers as children. It involves two brothers who live with their mother and grandmother. One day their father, who has been absent for 12 years, shows up. No explanation is given as to where he has been or what he’s been doing. The boys had been told that he was a fighter pilot. That doesn’t appear to be the truth. The older boy, about 15, is thrilled to have his father back in his life. The younger brother, about 12, isn’t so sure how he feels about it.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Reds (1981) ***½

PG, 195 min.

Director: Warren Beatty

Writers: Warren Beatty, Trevor Griffiths

Starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinksi, Jack Nicholson, Paul Sorvino, Maureen Stapleton, Nicolas Coster, M. Emmett Walsh, Ian Wolfe, Max Wright, George Plimpton, Gene Hackman, William Daniels, Shane Rimmer, Jerry Hardin, Christopher Malcolm, R.G. Armstrong, Josef Sommer

This is the fourth time I’ve invested my time into this epic romance, and every time I watch it, it grows on me a little more. “Reds” explores the lives and romance of journalists John Reed and Louise Bryant against the backdrop of the Bolshevik Revolution. It is a sprawling film that received mixed critical praise at the time it was originally released despite being nominated for 12 Oscars, but has gained a little more respect since then as one of director/writer/actor Warren Beatty’s more powerful films.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Russian Ark (2002) ****

NR, 99 min.

Director: Aleksandr Sokurov

Writers: Aleksandr Sokurov, Anatoli Nikiforov, Boris Khaimsky, Svetlana Proskurina

Starring: Sergey Dreyden

Voice: Aleksandr Sokurov

“Russian Ark” is one of the most unique and visionary films ever made. It comes from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and uses the Hermitage as a surreal history lesson through Russia’s past 300 years. It depicts two men. One who is the audience’s point of view in the form of a spirit or a ghost that we only hear and never see. The other is a foreigner who has distinct ideas about what he thinks Russia is and a vast knowledge of its history and culture. They travel through the museum and through different time periods of Russia’s history. By the end the foreigner’s ideas have changed along with the audience’s own perception of Russia’s grand history.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Red 2 (2013) **½

PG-13, 116 min.

Director: Dean Parisot

Writers: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Warren Ellis (characters), Cully Hamner (characters)

Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Byung-hun Lee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Neal McDonough, David Thewlis, Garrick Hagon, Tim Piggot-Smith, Brian Cox

“Red 2” isn’t really a good movie. It isn’t trying to be. Now, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t try to be a good movie; but at this point, for these filmmakers, do they really even need to care? Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Malkovich doing his best John Malkovich impersonation. I mean really… they don’t care. They’re still better than many. So you have to decide, am I going to hate this, or am I at least going to try and enjoy it.

Horror Thoughts ‘13—Re-Animator (1985) ***½

UR, 95 min.

Director: Stuart Gordon

Writers: Dennis Paoli, William J. Norris, Stuart Gordon, H.P. Lovecraft (short story “Herbert West, Re-Animator”)

Starring: Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Coombs, Barbara Crampton, David Gale, Robert Sampson, Gerry Black

Stuart Gordon’s “Re-Animator” is one of those cult classics that make the uninitiated scratch their heads and the cult followers relish the details. It’s campy and earnest all at once and makes for one of the most unique horror movie experiences out there. The plot follows the exploits of Herbert West, a young doctor who has taken his mentor’s beliefs about life after death a little too far.

Horror Thoughts ‘13—Room 237 (2013) **½

NR, 102 min.

Director/Writer: Rodney Ascher

Featuring: Bill Blakemore, Geoffrey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan, Jay Weidner, Buffy Visick

For those of you unfamiliar with Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “The Shining”, Room 237 is the room in the haunted Overlook Hotel, where a beautiful woman, who then appears as an old crone in the mirror, seduces the caretaker. It is a room that supposedly holds the key to the hotel’s supernatural power. It is now also the title of a documentary that examines the many different theories that have grown throughout the years about the film’s hidden meanings.

Rush / *** (R)

James Hunt: Chris Hemsworth

Niki Lauda: Daniel Brühl

Marlene Lauda: Alexandra Maria Lara

Suzy Miller: Olivia Wilde

Lord Hesketh: Christian McKay

Clay Regazzoni: Pierfrancesco Favino

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Ron Howard. Written by Peter Morgan. Running time: 123 min. Rated R (for sexual content, nudity, language, some disturbing images, and brief drug use).

I’m not much of a car man, although I do watch “Top Gear” whenever I have a lazy Saturday afternoon to waste, but that’s more for the entertainment of it’s manboy hosts. I really don’t know much about car racing. I know NASCAR is pretty big stuff in the Kansas City area. I know nothing about the Formula One circuit. The new movie “Rush” isn’t exactly the best learning tool for the uninitiated, but it does tell the story of one of the sport’s biggest rivalries from the 70s between Austrian Niki Lauda and British driver James Hunt.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Reefer Madness (1936) *

NR, 66 min.

Director: Louis J. Gasnier

Writers: Lawrence Meade, Arthur Hoerl, Paul Franklin

Starring: Dorothy Short, Kenneth Craig, Lillian Miles, Dave O’Brien, Thelma White, Carleton Young, Warren McCullom, Pat Royale, Joseph Forte

The fact that I had never seen the cult classic “Reefer Madness” until just recently speaks volumes as to its lack of necessity. I had friends that were totally obsessed with this movie. It has a huge cult following, especially among the drug culture, because of its ridiculously extreme stance against “marihuana” and its depiction of marijuana as a gateway drug. Stoners have adopted the film, originally intended to warn against the use of marijuana, as some sort of holy cinematic tome. It’s just not bad enough to be considered that good, even in an ironic sort of way.

Penny Thoughts ‘13—Roller Town (2012) ***½

NR, 76 min.

Director: Andrew Bush

Writers: Andrew Bush, Mark Little, Scott Vrooman

Starring: Mark Little, Kayla Lorette, Scott Vrooman, Adam Robert Bayne, Jordan Talbot, George William Basil, Brian Heighton, Pat Thornton, Evany Rosen

Perhaps my mind is just a little too warped, but I liked this movie much more than it might seem to deserve on its surface. “Roller Town” is a Canadian spoof of… what? I can’t exactly say. The 70s? Roller skating? Hollywood formula? I don’t know, but it’s funny as hell.

Riddick / *** (R)

Riddick: Vin Diesel

Santana: Jordi Mollá

Boss Johns: Matt Nable

Dahl: Katee Sackhoff

Diaz: Dave Bautista

Moss: Bokeem Woodbine

Lockspur: Raoul Trujillo

Luna: Nolan Gerard Funk

Vaako: Karl Urban

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by David Twohy. Written by Twohy and Oliver Butcher & Stephen Cornwell. Based on characters created by Jim Wheat & Ken Wheat. Running time: 119 min. Rated R (for strong violence, language and some sexual content/nudity).

The first thirty minutes or so of “Riddick” depicts just one man trying to survive in an alien wilderness where every creature seems designed to destroy him. This man is Richard B. Riddick. If you are unfamiliar with the character of Riddick from the previous films “Pitch Black” and “The Chronicles of Riddick” than this sparse period of story will serve as a wonderful introduction to who he is and what he is about. In fact, even if you are familiar with those two movies, this is a better introduction than the character has ever received before.