By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.

In the past seven years, when I have reviewed the four Transformers movies, I have always begun each film with a sense of dread; the films are made for people 40 years younger than me, the action scenes are best suited for people with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and the plots will be inane. After acknowledging this prejudice, I ended up enjoying the Transformers franchise each time. Transformers: Age of Extinction is no exception.

The new flick opens with the mass extinction of a species, the dinosaur. The film flash forwards billions of years and evidence of a unique dinosaur is found in the Arctic circle. DNA is taken from dinosaur bones and is used for nefarious means by a government agent Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer, in a chilling performance) and corporate entrepreneur Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci, in a goofy performance).

Meet entrepreneur Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg), a widowed father of high school senior Tessa (Nicola Peltz) who lives on a farm facing foreclosure in Texas. Cade converts trash into working Rube Goldberg machines. After tinkering with a beaten up old truck, Cade learns that the truck is really a Transformer. In fact, the beaten down truck is the alpha male Transformer Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen).

Since the last movie (Revenge of the Fallen), many heroic Transformers have become outlaws. Despite defeating the evil Decepticons, the heroic Autobots are treated with extreme prejudice for turning Chicago into a battlefield. Harold Attinger takes advantage of this situation by making a deal with the devil.

Transformers: Age of Extinction has many likeable moments and Easter Eggs for cinema academics. The Optimus Prime truck is found in an abandoned movie theater, which features posters of John Wayne classics. The Science Fiction elements acknowledge Michael Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke and H.P. Lovecraft. This film deserves its success for providing detail beyond the surface of battling giant robots on the big screen.

For those who want to continue the alternative universe experience, Irving Santiago will present UltraCon of South Florida next weekend (July 19-20) at the Broward Convention Center. Fans of Transformers, Star Wars and comic books will want to attend this fan-friendly convention.

For those of more high–brow tastes, Life Itself, the documentary about the late film critic Roger Ebert, plays this weekend at Cinema Paradiso. The most respected of modern film critics, Ebert and I butted heads with each other on his blog regarding politics. With executive producers Steve Zallian and Martin Scorsese, Life Itself acknowledges this Chicago critic’s contribution to the history of cinema and his battle with throat cancer. Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary? You be the critic. For information , visit www.fliff.com

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

With Black History month wrapping up and the Academy Awards looming, 12 Years a Slave is the film to see. With 9 Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe winner for Best Picture in Drama, this film is a wellcrafted motion picture that stands side by side with previous Best Picture Oscar winners like Gandhi, Schindler’s List and All Quiet on the Western Front. Like the previous mentioned winners, 12 Years a Slave will not invite repeat viewings — one viewing is enough to make this film memorable.

The title speaks for itself. It is based on the autobiography written and published by Solomon Northup before the Civil War. Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a black musician from New England who is kidnapped and sold into slavery on a Southern Plantation. In his 12 years as a slave, Northup is sold by conniving rat (Paul Giamatti), brutalized by an entitled rich kid (Paul Dano) and performs brutal acts under the orders of an alcoholic overseer (Michael Fassbender). Yet Northup is given moments of beautiful grace from a fellow slave (Lupita Nyong’o), while learning Christian values from Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) and practical carpentry from Bass (Brad Pitt).

Director Steve McQueen (no relation to the actor who died 34 years ago) has created a human motion picture with brilliant artistic and technical detail. McQueen takes his time to let the story unfold. He fills scenes with shot composition inspired by Old World Master Painter Francisco Goya, scenes that are brutal and beautiful at the same time. The Hans Zimmer musical score is not intrusive, yet will lead people to an appreciation for acoustic music, especially bluegrass, blues and gospel.

Win or lose the Oscar race, 12 Years a Slave is one of the best pictures of 2013.

Based on a stage play by Neal Bell, In Secret opens tomorrow in Ft. Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The cast is an intriguing matchup between young and experienced talent. Elizabeth Olsen portrays Therese, a sexually-repressed young woman under the thumb of her husband (Tom Felton, Harry Potter’s nemesis “Draco Malfoy”) and domineering aunt (Jessica Lange, on break from American Horror Story). Set in Paris, circa 1860, Therese is besotted by Laurent (Oscar Isaac), a friend of her husband. With this kind of setup, you can guess what happens in In Secret.

On a lighter note, the UltraCon of South Florida commences this weekend at the Ft. Lauderdale Sheraton Suites at Cypress Creek. The brainchild of local comic book entrepreneur Irving Santiago, this con has invited actors from The Walking Dead, Star Trek as well as UFC Fighter Mike “the Wolverine” Rio. The demented clown duo from Orlando, Giggles & Thug, also plan to terrorize Cypress Creek this weekend.