Twister

1996 Warner Brothers

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 53min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck and Sean Whalen.

“When you said you chased tornadoes, deep down I always thought it was just a metaphor.”

Helen Hunt star as Dr. Jo Harding, a Meteorologist in Oklahoma leading a group of storm chasers. Having lost her Dad to an F5 Tornado when she was very young, she has been obsessed with chasing tornadoes and trying to figure out what makes them tick. If she figures out the secret to a tornado’s make-up, she might be able to find a way to predict them better. Which would lead to better early warning systems and save people’s lives. Jo and her team are attempting to launch “Dorothy” for the first time, a device that contains hundreds of small sensors into a tornado. They are gathered together preparing Dorothy when her estranged husband………….

Bill (Bill Paxton) shows up in his brand new red Dodge Ram pick-up truck and his fiancé Melissa (Jami Gertz). Bill got tired of chasing tornadoes and arguing with Jo, so he moved away to the city to become a Weatherman. He has come to get Jo to sign the divorce papers she has stalled on. Before Bill can get Jo to sign the papers, she shows him Dorothy. He immediately gets excited because Dorothy was his invention, and just then there is word of a big tornado touching down nearby. They all race to hit the road so they can launch Dorothy into the tornado and Bill just can’t not be a part of it and joins in the hunt.

And what follows is a thrilling chase through the Oklahoma countryside chasing the perfect tornado to launch Dorothy in. To make the chase even more thrilling, there is another storm chasing team that is Bill’s old rival from the past. He has developed technology that looks just like Dorothy and the race is on to be the first to change Tornado technology. The action is non-stop as they get dangerously close to tornadoes trying to launch Dorothy. Bill was always something of a Tornado whisperer, Jo’s team calls him “The Extreme”, and leads them in the right direction while his rival is often a step behind.

I remember seeing this when it first came out. Back in the day I probably saw it half a dozen times. I have to say almost thirty years later it still holds it’s own. The close-up of the tornadoes and the noise is terrifying. And the CGI still holds up, the tornadoes look like giant mad demons picking up and throwing everything in their path. I witnessed a waterspout one time, it appeared very suddenly and we were way closer than I wanted to be. I’ll never forget the sound and the sight of it. It is definitely an entity all it’s own. So powerful, I can’t imagine being anywhere near an f3,4 or 5 tornado.

Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were perfect in this movie, the real deal. The rest of the cast were awesome as well, Jo’s team had some very young unknowns at the time who later became very popular. Philip Seymour-Hoffman for one. I loved and still love everything about it, even the soundtrack. A classic in my opinion. I would definitely recommend it, especially before the new movie Twisters, which I just saw yesterday. I should have watched Twister first. Either way they are both really good movies.

Highly Recommended.

Two Thumbs Up.

Twisters

2024 Universal Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hr 2min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Thriller

Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane.

“If you feel it, chase it.”

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate, a Muscogee, Oklahoma University Student studying Meteorology who wants to be able to “Tame” a tornado. By understanding how it works she has a theory that she can insert material and chemicals into a tornado to rob it of it’s energy. She and her team of students set out to test the theory in real life but the experiment ends badly. Kate eventually moves to New York city to live and work as a meteorologist, giving up on her idea to “Tame” tornadoes. Five years later Kate is surprised by a visit from her old team mate……………

Javi (Anthony Ramos) who convinces Kate that he and his team back in Oklahoma have new technology that could help in identifying and warning people about potential tornadoes and need her expertise. She agrees and goes back to Oklahoma with Javi and meets his team of storm chasers backed by a wealthy investor. As they are getting ready to head out and chase a possible tornado, a rowdy bunch of storm chasers arrive led by a Red Dodge Pick-up Truck driven by a brash YouTube personality by the name of……….

Tyler (Glen Powell) and his associates are rough and rowdy storm chasers with their own YouTube channel of a million subscribers and are accompanied by a photojournalist from England. They are a rag-tag looking bunch with their beat up Red Dodge Truck, old vintage RV and VW wagon. Tyler and Kate immediately dislike each other and both teams try to outwit one another to be the first to reach a tornado. I have to say I really like the ingenuity of Tyler’s team with the truck. They have welded a square tube steel frame all the way around and encased 4 augers that dig down into the ground. In essence anchoring the truck to the ground.

I am a fan of the movie Twister that came out in 1996, back then it was a blockbuster. I just went back and re-watched it before I watched Twisters. Does it compare, yes. It is as good? I’d have to say yes. Is it a sequel? It is a stand alone sequel that actually pays more homage to the original than being a sequel in my opinion. For an in depth comparison, check out Twister, Twisters & Twisted Trivia.

Yes I recommend it, I think it’s a good one that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Two Thumbs Up!

Killers Of The Flower Moon

2023 Paramount Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 3 hr 26min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ Mystery ~ Romance ~ True Story ~ Western

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Scott Shepherd and Brendan Fraser.

“With it’s great black wings of spray, arcing above the rigging, it rose before them like an angel of death.”

In 1821 the Osage Indians were removed from their homes and land they had lived on for generations alongside the Osage river. They were relocated west to the US Government designated “Indian Territories” in Oklahoma. Their former home and lands were sold to white immigrant settlers while the Osage tried to survive on the unhospitable barren Oklahoma land that was foreign to them. It was given to them because none of the white people wanted to live there, being too barren and not much good for farming. They were the poorest people in the United States.

75 years later a group of Osage Indians were walking through the fields of flower blooms in the valley during the annual Flower Moon. The Flower Moon is a name given to the full moon in May by the Osage people because of the flower blooms that take place every year. During May in the Oklahoma hills and valleys of the Indian Reservation, the fields of blooming flowers die out when taller plants crowd them out. The Osage refer to the month of May as “The time of the Flower Killing Moon”. As they were walking they came to a clearing and a patch of mud. Suddenly out of the middle came a geyser of black oil.

The Osage people were sitting on a vast underground oil reserve and almost overnight became the richest people in America. Because nobody wanted the land in the beginning, they had been given and retained all the mineral rights to the land. Almost overnight, the oil companies and oil prospectors invaded the once undesirable Oklahoma land, driven by greed and the temptation of riches beyond the imagination. The money flowed quick and in great volume. Suddenly it became fashionable for a white man to marry into an Indian family and acquire the rights by marriage, or by murder if necessary. It is against this backdrop that KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOONtakes place.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Ernest Burkhart who has just returned home to Oklahoma having been discharged from the army due to a health issue. He returns to his Uncle William Hale’s (Robert De Niro) farmhouse where he is reunited with his brother Byron Burkhart (Scott Shepherd). Uncle William informs him of the current climate amid the oil rush in the county. He tells Ernest that it would serve a fellow well if he were to wed into an Indian family with “Headrights”, he and his family would do very well for themselves. Ernest soon falls for an Indian woman named Mollie (Lily Gladstone), who’s mother and sisters own a very large chunk of “Headrights”. William tells Ernest that Mollie’s mother Lizzie is on her deathbed and soon Mollie would follow.

The Osage People were becoming victim to the white man’s diet and sugary confections. Diabetes was becoming very common and many died from lack of care. And Mollie had diabetes like her dying mother. They were also falling victim to the white man’s greed as Osage people were suddenly becoming victims of violent murders and poisonings referred to as “The Wasting Deaths”. Being Indian deaths there was not much concern for how they were dying, nor any inquiries into why. The foul play and deception led to a string of murders that was brought to the attention of Calvin Coolidge by Mollie. The President brought together a group of highly skilled detectives and law men to investigate. They were the unofficial beginnings of The FBI.

When the FBI arrived and started to investigate, they discovered a plot hatched by William and his family to deceive the Osage people and acquire mineral rights for his family at any cost, even if it meant poisoning and killing. This is unfortunately a True Story, based on the book by David Grann, Killers Of The Flower Moon. It is a long movie coming in at 3 hours and 28 minutes, but it is a good one. A fascinating tale of greed, betrayal and deception. I really liked Lily Gladstone in this, thought she did an excellent job. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro were great as always. It is well shot, great cast, great director, great story…..what’s not to like? Well, maybe the length…….

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

Napoleon

2023 Apple TV+

Rated : R

Length: 2 hr 38min

Action ~ Biography ~ Drama ~ Epic ~ History ~ War

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby.

“People are driven by misery to revolution…..and brought back by revolution to misery.”

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Napoleon Bonaparte, the future Emperor of France. As the movie opens in 1793 amidst the French Revolution, Army officer Napoleon is watching the beheading of Marie Antoinette by the guillotine. He is soon offered the role of dealing with the British siege and driving the British ships out of the city’s Harbor. Being a skilled Army Officer with an astute knowledge of how to defeat and overcome the enemy, he studies the British and lays out a plan that succeeds. He is later charged with proving himself by being tasked with squashing the Royalists uprising. During the following celebrations of freedom after his success, a woman catches his eye and he can’t quit staring…………

Josephine De Beauharnais (Vanessa Kirby) approaches him and asks him why he is staring. That is the beginning of their life-long romance story. She is an Aristocratic widow with two children and it is not long before Napoleon and Josephine are married. Napoleon quickly rises up the ranks of the new French Government and is put in charge of the Army and France’s new security in the world. Eventually Napoleon and fellow collaborators overthrow the new French Government disagreeing with their leadership and handling of France. Napoleon quickly rises up to become the Emperor of France.

All the while he is off fighting for France, he pines for Josephine and their tumultuous relationship and marriage, neither being faithful yet loving and missing each other. Josephine’s affairs draw attention from the press of the day and Napoleon is constantly ridiculed for his promiscuous wife. Adding to their troubles is her attempts at getting pregnant and not producing an heir for the throne of France. Eventually under the pressure of producing an heir Napoleon is forced to publicly divorce Josephine and marry a y0unger woman who can produce a son for the throne.

It is a mighty epic of a film chronicling:

The History of France from the time at the end of the French revolution in 1793 through the final exile of Napoleon in 1815 to the island of Saint Helena off of Africa.
The main historic battles that Napoleon led and fought during his lifetime.
The tumultuous and lifelong relationship and love between Napoleon and Josephine up until both of their deaths.

It is fairly long at 2 hours and 38 minutes but it passed very quickly for me as I became very engrossed in the story and the movie. The directors cut is three hours and 24 minutes. I almost wish I had watched it instead. Director Ridley Scott says that it better fleshes out the movie compared to the theatrical version. It is well shot, the battle scenes are very realistic, like you were back in those times sitting right in the middle of it all watching the fighting all around you. The costumes and scenery were well designed, again you feel like you were transported back to that time sitting right in the middle of history, observing.

Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby did an excellent job of portraying Napoleon and Josephine, I thought they were perfect. And Joaquin as the shrewd military man outwitting his opponents was a wonder to watch. I really liked the Battle of Austerlitz scene where Napoleon dresses as a peasant to survey the surroundings and the enemy forces. He comes up with this brilliant plan and sets up camp at the edge of a frozen lake. Recently covered with snow it is hidden. He lures the enemy forces in and then broadsides them on both sides, forcing them onto the frozen lake as the only means out. Once he has them trapped on the ice he bombards the ice and they are all doomed to a frozen eternity.

I thought it was really good, an excellent very Epic Historic and Biographical War drama. I think Ridley Scott outdid himself with this Epic Portrayal.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs up!

Oppenheimer

2023 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 3 hr

Biography ~ Drama ~ History ~ True Story

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Jason Clarke and Kenneth Branagh.

“Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a Theoretical Physicist in charge of The Los Alamos project and one of the pioneers of the first atomic bombs built during World War II. It follows his life and education leading up to chairing the project to create the world’s first atomic bomb, and his life and career following the first Atomic bomb test. It also chronicles his personal battles dealing with the responsibility of being the man that changed the world with an atomic weapon, and his guilt that he may have ultimately laid the foundation for the destruction of our world.

The movie starts with the 1954 security hearing orchestrated by The Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr). It was a kangaroo court orchestrated by Strauss with the express purpose of destroying Oppenheimer’s reputation and credibility, mainly due to Strauss’s jealousy and paranoia regarding Oppenheimer. There is a scene where Oppenheimer is having a conversation with Albert Einstein within eyeshot of Strauss, and Strauss is convinced that Oppenheimer is bad mouthing him to Einstein. But in reality Oppenheimer was discussing with Einstein his fear that in creating the atomic bomb he might have started a chain reaction that could destroy the world.

The movie centers on the 1954 hearing and the 1959 Senate Confirmation Hearing for Strauss where it is revealed how Strauss tried to undermine Oppenheimer and his work. It flashes back and forth between the hearings and the events in Oppenheimer’s life that led up to the first atomic bomb test (which is quite impressively depicted in the movie), and the events after as he grapples with the fallout personal guilt he has. There are a lot of stories going on here and it can be a little difficult to understand and follow. Especially as it flashes back and forth to different times and events, some being in black and white.

One of the main stories of this movie is the power struggle between Oppenheimer and Strauss as Strauss seeks to undermine his influence with the Atomic Energy Commission. Christopher Nolan, the director, uses color and black and white to differentiate between the two men. The Black and white scenes are used to show Strauss’s point of view and thinking, while color was used to represent Oppenheimer’s. That alone is a fascinating viewing if you know that and view the movie with that knowledge.

There is a lot of star power in this movie:

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s Wife kitty
Robert Downey Jr. as Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss
Matt Damon as US Army Colonel Leslie Groves who oversaw The Los Alamos Project
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist, Communist Party USA member, and Robert Oppenheimer’s romantic interest
Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, a Nobel-winning nuclear physicist who worked with Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley
Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, a US Army military intelligence officer and commander of the Alsos Mission
Kenneth Branagh as as Niels Bohr, a Nobel-winning Danish physicist, philosopher and Oppenheimer’s personal idol
Rami Malek as David L. Hill, a nuclear physicist at the Metallurgical Laboratory.
Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, an attorney and future US circuit judge who served as special counsel to the AEC at Oppenheimer’s security hearing.

It is a fascinating look at the man and his accomplishments, his relationships and his guilt at having orchestrated the potential demise of the world. I’ve watched it three times mainly because it took two to fully understand all the stories going on, and then a third to appreciate it with the knowledge and understanding of everything going on. It is well acted by everyone involved, and the cinematography is outstanding.

Some fun facts:

It grossed over 976 million worldwide, the third highest of 2023
It won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography and Best original Score
And 5 Golden Globe Awards
And 7 British Academy Awards
And was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the American Film Institute

An excellent movie obviously but it is a long one coming in at three hours.

But it is a fascinating three hours.

Two Thumbs Up!!