Book and movie review: Jack Reacher

As you no doubt know if you regularly read this blog, I began reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels after it was announced that they would be adapting one of the books into a movie. I wanted to read them in order and vowed not to see the movie until I had gotten through the book the the film was based on (which was the 9th in the series). It was a bit of fortuitous luck then that I recently bought myself an iPad and have been reading the books at a faster pace on there. At the same time, the film just happened to come onto Netflix instant viewing this past week. Now that I have read the book and seen the movie, here are my quick reviews for both.

Book: At times I've struggled with the Reacher series. I've found some of the stories to either have obvious twists or go too far with Reacher's approach at serving his brand of justice. However, this 9th book that the film was based on, titled One Shot, was one of the best in the series to this point. The best aspects of Reacher's character (his intellect, his steely resolve, his nobility) are emphasized and some of his weaker or more cliched qualities are only hinted at. The story itself moves very well with few slow points. It helps that this time there are plenty of compelling characters, both good and bad. I also enjoyed the fact that its location was a small town in Indiana. I've never enjoyed when one of the books takes place in a larger city where Reacher is constantly butting heads with big time bureaucrats. While there is plenty of action and violence, it's not drawn out in the same way that it has been in some of the other novels. This one is much more of a detective story and for that reason, One Shot is a solid page-turner. Grade: B+

Movie: Many people griped before the film was even released when it was announced that Tom Cruise would play the titular character. Given that the character is described as 6'5", muscular, with blond hair and blue eyes, the last person you would picture in that role is Cruise. I was willing to put that physical disparity aside for the sake of enjoying the movie. However, I ended up still believing Cruise was miscast because of the way he portrayed the character. Reacher is a loner by choice, but Cruise still uses his movie star charm that draws people in not tell them to stay away. Reacher also has a grouchy disposition most of the time, but Cruise still cracks wise and never treats this with the seriousness that he should. The movie also falters like most book adaptations do by taking shortcuts when it comes to delivering the complicated, intricate plot within a two hour timeframe. Three major female characters from the book have been completely removed from the film, leaving the burden on Rosamund Pike, who plays a lawyer who helps Reacher. While Pike can be good, she offers nothing of interest here. The film does a nice job of bringing in some A-list talent for the supporting roles including Robert Duvall, Richard Jenkins, and Werner Herzog as a deranged Russian villain (is there any other role for him?), but they do not do enough with their respective characters (at least in contrast to the way they are developed in the book) to justify their presence here. Despite some adaptation problems and Cruise being miscast, the film is not a total loser. The core story remains intact for the most part and is still interesting on the screen (it's understandable why they chose this one for the adaptation). Director Christopher McQuarrie also does some nice directing, particularly in the opening sniper scene and with an extended car chase sequence. While no doubt a disappointment for fans of Lee Child's books, the film offers some pulpy intrigue for those looking for some escapist fare in a movie. Given that a sequel has already been announced, I'll be interested in both reading the books that lead up to the next adaptation and to see if they address some of the problems that plagued this film. If you're a Netflix subscriber, this is probably worth a watch, especially if you're trapped inside by the weather over the next few days. Grade: B-

Go inside the House

From indiewire.com:

When season one of "House of Cards" premiered on Netflix February 1st of last year, it arrived with a major filmmaker attached -- David Fincher, who made his television directing debut with the first two episodes, and remains attached in the upcoming second season as an executive producer.

Fincher was joined by an impressive array of guest directors on the series -- James Foley ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), Charles McDougall ("Queer as Folk," "Sex and the City"), Carl Franklin ("Devil in a Blue Dress," "Out of Time"), Allen Coulter ("Hollywoodland," "The Sopranos") and, hey, Joel Schumacher.

Now Netflix has added director's commentary from all six episode directors on season one, available as an alternate audio track with each installment. It's an awfully cool feature, especially in the two Fincher episodes, which find the "Social Network" filmmaker talking in detail both about the scenes on screen and about how the series came together with writer/showrunner Beau Willimon and stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright and the rest of the cast. Among other things, Fincher shares what he said during the first read-through, when he greeted the group of actors, including those he'd worked with before and ones he hadn't.

I walked in and I got to say the thing I've always wanted to say to a cast, which is "Every single person in this room represents our first choice, so don't fuck this up. Cause if you do, I will never forgive you."

Season two of "House of Cards" will premiere in its 13-episode whole on Friday, February 14.

Binge watch and purge

Netflix has won back fans in the past year with some of their original content like House of Cards and Arrested Development. However, some may not be too happy that they'll be losing several movie titles from their instant viewing queue. Starting tomorrow (January 1st), several films will be removed from their catalog. You may have noticed an expiration date listed on some of them. To get the full list of what's going away, I suggest you click the link below and then try to watch as many of them as you can before the ball drops tonight.

http://www.reddit.com/r/NetflixBestOf/comments/1tkyre/list_of_notable_tv_shows_and_movies_expiring_soon/

Fore play

As most network TV shows shift to reruns over the holiday season, you may be in need of some decent to watch. Might I recommend Netflix's first foray into documentary films. The Short Game chronicles the lives of several young children as they compete for a national golf tournament. In the vein of films like Spellbound, this seems like it could be a compelling story worth a look. Here's the trailer to see if it's for you.

Shuffle up and deal

Get ready for more political machinations from Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey). Here's the first trailer for Season 2 of House of Cards set to be released on Netflix on February 14.

Valentine's Day Cards

From EW.com:

Netflix announced today that the second season of House of Cards will bow Friday, Feb. 14. All 13-episodes of the season that stars Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright will be available for viewers to watch instantly on Netflix.

The political series is from director David Fincher and screenwriters Beau Willimon and Eric Roth. This is what Netflix says is in store for the second season: Francis (Spacey) and Claire (Wright) Underwood continue their ruthless rise to power as threats mount on all fronts. Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), an up-and-coming reporter and Francis’s former paramour, is inching closer to the truth about his crimes. President Walker’s (Michel Gill) billionaire confidante Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) demands that Francis reciprocate political favors or face retribution. And Claire must confront the increasing glare of the spotlight as it eats away at her and Francis’s once private existence. The Underwood’s must overcome these dangers — past and present — to avoid losing everything, regardless of collateral damage they leave in their wake.

Netflix does not receive streaming data on its original fare. The service reports that it has over 40 million members in more than 40 countries, who apparently enjoy more than one billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including original series.

Block busted

News hit earlier today that the remaining Blockbuster video stores will be closed, essentially ending its reign as the primary method of renting movies. While the writing has been on the wall for some time, the news is still sad as I feel a piece of my childhood has been taken away from me now. To mark this occasion, I am posting an article written today on Entertainment Weekly's website which nicely encapsulates the great things and not so great things about this former major corporation.

It was the McDonald’s of video rental chains. The company that squashed countless local mom-and-pop video stores; its ubiquitous blue-and-yellow signs blanketing the country, cities and suburbs alike, with the promise of a largely efficient, largely impersonal, sometimes painless video rental experience.

By 2004, Blockbuster Video had 9,000 remarkably similar-looking locations. By every retail business standard, Blockbuster Video had won. Then, slowly, as The New York Times put it earlier today, “Internet killed the video store.” Blockbuster eventually adapted to changing technology and consumer habits, but not fast enough. There were struggles. Netflix. Policy changes. No late fees! Store closures. Late fees are back again! Ownership change. And in January, the chain will be gone, shuttering its remaining stores and DVD mail service.

Some are posting fond remembrances of Blockbuster. You can’t spend that many hours of your life somewhere, especially if it was during your youth, and not have some emotional attachment to the place. But let’s face it: Blockbuster was never cool. It was never really the good guy, or a company you cheered for.

So let’s tell it like it really was. Here’s 10 things we won’t miss about Blockbuster Video:

1. The wrong movie is in the box. These first few entries listed could be said about video stores in general. But once Blockbuster Video conquered the known video rental world, Blockbuster Video was “the video store.” The company became synonymous with what a video store is, and its downfall is largely because it kept being just a video store. So these are fair game. So: You get home from Blockbuster. You have your overpriced 2-liter soda and movie-theater-sized box of Skittles and your movie. You go to the DVD player and open the box. And then: “WHERE IS STARSHIP TROOPERS? THIS IS FLATLINERS!”

2. The scavenger hunt. The clerk’s computer says there’s one copy of Office Space in the store. But its not where it should be on the shelf. Maybe it’s behind another movie? Maybe its stacked in the wrong category? It couldn’t be under “Drama” could it? “Where is it? You said you had a copy in stock. Where is it!?” So you go on a scavenger hunt around the store with the clerk trying to find that missing copy of Office Space because you’re really in the mood for Office Space and your heart was set on watching it. The best part of this is when the poor schlub clerk gets on his hands and knees and goes through the return bin to see if it’s buried under copies of Titanic. Then he finally says maybe Office Space was stolen. STOLEN. You know, like your time.

3. The unkind. Now we’re going way back: Blockbuster was normally pretty decent about staying on top of this, but we can’t do a post on video store gripes without mentioning those VCR tapes that were not rewound. “Be Kind, Rewind.” Also: Scratched /unplayable rentals.

4. The New Releases mirage. Blockbuster-specific gripes now: You think you’re not too late to get a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring even though its Friday night and it just came out this week, because there’s a whole section of the New Releases wall filled with copies of the film. But remember: The movie artwork boxes are hollow. The boxes with the actual discs are in the Blockbuster boxes behind the artwork boxes. None of the false-front boxes have movies behind them. It’s a trick! The display wall is a total mirage. Blockbuster succeeded in looking fully stocked with the latest movies, even when there’s not one copy in the store. Fooled you! Now go see if a copy of Legend is in, loser!

5. Late fees. Of course. Late fees. Once you rented a Blockbuster video, the clock was ticking. You better watch it the first night, especially if it was a coveted New Release. Those dollar-a-day fees stack up quick. And there’s an unholy checking-account-crippling $60-80 full replacement fee lurking if you ever actually lost one of those boxes. For all their brightly lit stores, Blockbuster Video operated like the grim gang in Goodfellas: “Oh you forgot to return a DVD by midnight? F–k you, pay me! You returned it with the wrong disc? F–k you, pay me!”

6. Prudishness. You had to get your porn elsewhere. Okay. But even NC-17 films of some artistic/entertainment merit were banned by the chain in the 1990s, which was yet another blow against studios looking for a way to distribute NC-17 films. In other words: If you really wanted to appreciate Elizabeth Berkley causing a minor tsunami in a swimming pool in Showgirls, you couldn’t get it at Blockbuster.

7. Indie/foreign film? Ha! It’s called Blockbuster Video for a reason, film geek. You want an art film, or something with something nutty like subtitles, you best go someplace else. But Blockbuster will have 71 copies of Enemy of the State.

8. Those uniforms. During its heyday, Blockbuster had Disney-style clean-cut rules for its employees, who also had to wear pretty dorky uniforms (rather than dress like, you know, normal people, like at indie video and record stores). A group of male employees actually sued Blockbuster for a 1994 policy that banned male employees from having long hair. Check out this Blockbuster employee training video. A creepily omniscient training manager who calls himself a “professional opportunist” gets rather inappropriate with a teenage clerk and prods her to date a customer’s son while harassing her for apparently committing the unspeakable sin of accepting Bon Jovi tickets. (If you find yourself obsessing about this amazing video, which is totally understandable, you’ll find a breakdown of it from an ex-employee here).

9. Stagnation. When it comes to resisting change, Blockbuster critics point to the company being too slow to react to the rise of DVD-by-mail services and online streaming (Netflix was operating for six years before Blockbuster got in the movie-by-mail service game — which is astounding). But the company was slow to embrace other changes too that made even its core business pretty lousy. From shifting from VCR tapes to DVD. From pan-and-scan format videos to widescreen/letterbox. From DVD to Blu-ray. Being a Blockbuster customer who actually loved movies, and therefore loved improvements in the way movies were formatted or displayed, meant always being frustrated or disappointed because the company seemed reluctant to stock titles and formats until most of their customers were demanding the new versions. You never really got the feeling Blockbuster, as a company, loved, or even understood, movies. It’s like the way rental discs were given to customers in generic Blockbuster boxes stripped of their original packaging — you felt like you were renting a product unit, not a piece of commercial art.

10. Then everything fell apart. First standards were allowed to slip a little. Remember how Blockbuster went from having every video displayed with the box cover facing toward you? And then all of a sudden stores starting stacking DVDs like library books to pile more in? And there was also the surge of video games, which was understandable. But then, during the final recent years of Blockbuster, the stores began to stock all sort of random items, whether they had something to do with movies or games or not. Posters, stuffed animals, T-shirts, toys. The stores went from creepily anti-septic and strictly regimented environments to random flea markets peddling anything to survive.

Now here’s the really odd part. The twist ending. I walked through a Blockbuster about a year ago. I was surprised how far the chain had drifted from its original concept … the videos and games stacked crazily everywhere, the dirty carpets, the random products all over the place, angry miserable employees who looked like they wandered in off the street. And I found myself … actually missing the old Blockbuster Video. Missing it a little, even with all these gripes still firmly recalled.

Nostalgia is funny like that. For years you go to a place. For years you don’t like it much. Then it’s gone. Then you miss it.

The final countdown is on

It's hard to believe, but we are less than two weeks from getting new episodes of Arrested Development!! And now for the first time, here's a trailer of what you can expect from Season 4. I'm going (frozen) bananas with anticipation!

Are you ready to binge view?

Speaking of Netflix, they are set to have a potentially big weekend ahead of them. While a lot of buzz has naturally been about the upcoming fourth season of Arrested Development coming in May, Netflix is releasing a new series, starting tomorrow (February 1st) called House of Cards. It's a political thriller starring Kevin Spacey. Like the new season of AD, all episodes for this show will be released at once. If it's successful, it could be seen as a transformative moment in TV. This act of 'binge viewing' as opposed to weekly episodic TV (I believe I have to pay Michael Cole a royalty check for saying that) may just be the wave of the future. Whether you choose to watch these episodes all at once or periodically over time won't matter though if the show isn't any good, so let's hope this is some good quality viewing. You can get a sneak peek of what you can expect with the trailer posted below.

NMR: Everything or Nothing

Prior to the release of Skyfall last November, a documentary was released celebrating the world of James Bond in honor of the film franchise's 50th anniversary. The documentary is now available on Netflix Instant View which enables me a chance to finally see it. Given that this documentary did not receive a lot of fanfare or even a theatrical release made me worried that it would either be hatchet job or look cheap. Thankfully neither are true. I actually loved this depiction. While I certainly knew a lot of the information, I was pleasantly surprised that it did give insight into the franchise that I was not previously familiar with. It goes into a lot of detail about Albert Broccoli, the producer of the Bond films and his often contentious relationships with others associated with the films. We also get some insight from the various men who have played Bond. One of the things that struck me about their comments is that each of them, regardless of how long or successful their tenure was as 007 absolutely loved playing the role. You could tell that for each of them, this was more than just an acting job. The success of these films is nothing short of spectacular and you truly get a sense while watching this film as to how they've managed to keep the franchise alive all these years. Some of it was luck, but it also took a lot of talented people with a devotion to this character to constantly being driven to wanting to always make the best film possible. While Bond fans should absolutely check this out, I do think that those who don't care much for the series would still find the film interesting as well. Not too many franchises can say they've been around for a half century, so why not check out what make this one so unique. Rating: *****

Here's a release date. No, I'm witholding it. Look at me getting off.

UPDATE: Netflix has since confirmed that the new season will be released sometime in May but would not give a specific date. So only 5 more months of waiting now. Huzzah!

Those Arrested Development folks sure like to toy with our emotions. Earlier today, it seemed like the release date for the Season 4 episodes on Netflix had been announced only for Netflix to rebuke the claim. We do know that they'll appear only sometime in 2013, but for now, we'll just have to wait a bit longer to see when exactly it will be. If you're interested, here's a story from Boing Boing.net reporting on the incorrect release date.

Let's end 2012 with some truthiness: gossip site Oh No They Didn't got wind of some new details concerning the fourth season of Arrested Development and its upcoming premiere on Netflix. Apparently, a publicity site for Fox prematurely posted a new image, a May 4, 2013 premiere date, and a list of episode titles before taking it all down. A few sites have reported this as the official release date, but Vulture contacted a Netflix representative who said the date "is wrong."

A debunked rumor is not the most fun way to start out a year of heavily-anticipated entertainment, but at least we know it's on its way! (I'd still count on a May premiere. Seems like it would make a lot of sense -- just as all the network shows are ending, the Bluths swoop in and save us all from summer programming.)

Early Christmas present

From Deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Good news for Arrested Development fans. The new season of the cult Mitch Hurwitz comedy commissioned by Netflix will be larger than originally planned. I’ve learned that, during production on the 10 new episodes ordered by Netflix, Hurwitz shot more material than planned and also came up with ideas for additional scenes and storylines. Hurwitz, producing studio 20th Century Fox TV and Imagine TV approached Netflix, which agreed to expand the order to what I hear will be 12-15 episodes. As a result, production on the show, originally slated to wrap right after Thanksgiving, was extended for a few more weeks. But, given the complexity of adding material as you go on a show where none of the actors are in first position and filming has to be done around their existing schedules, I hear 20th TV at the end of last week decided to pause production so Hurwitz can review the footage already in the can and take his time figuring out the best way to incorporate the new arcs. Once he is done, the studio will begin working on securing the actors needed. Filming is tentatively slated to resume in late January. The producers have some breathing room as Netflix is targeting a spring premiere date for Arrested Development when it plans to make all episodes available at the same time.

“We are thrilled with the direction of the show, with the footage we have seen and with the relationship between Mitch, Imagine, 20th and Netflix,” a Netflix spokeswoman said. “At this time, we are not confirming or announcing the final episode count but we are sure fans will be thrilled when we do.”

Further Development

Fans of Arrested Development got some big news this week regarding the upcoming 4th(!) season that will air on Netflix. For more details on what we can expect and when we can expect it, here's a report from Vulture.com:

Doubters to the left: The Arrested Development reunion took another step toward reality on Tuesday when creator Mitch Hurwitz and several members of the cast appeared onstage together at a Netflix-sponsored event in Las Vegas (video now available here). Speaking on the floor of the National Association of Broadcasters convention, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos confirmed that all ten episodes of Arrested's long-awaited fourth season will premiere together on a single day sometime next year. Hurwitz also confirmed that production is set to begin this summer, but he also dropped a new nugget of information about what form the Arrested revival will take.

Originally, Hurwitz's plan had been to make the revival like an anthology, with each episode telling a somewhat self-contained story about a specific character. "That is now kind of evolving into becoming more like the old show again," Hurwitz told a packed house of conventioneers, who politely applauded the introduction of other Netflix offerings (such as David Fincher and Kevin Spacey's House of Cards), but exploded at the mention of Arrested and the arrival of cast members Will Arnett, David Cross, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, and Jessica Walter. The reason for the change: Hurwitz sees a chance to tweak the show's format to take advantage of the fact that the full ten-episode season will debut at once, rather than over two-and-a-half months. "There's something exciting about trying to break the form again," he said.

While Hurwitz didn't elaborate on just how he'll do this, he indicated it might be related to the way the writers deliver red herrings and other surprises to viewers (think back to season one, when Jason Bateman's girlfriend turned out to not be blind). "There's going to be some mystery sprinkled throughout this [but] instead of watching one a week and try to get ahead of it, the hope is [fans] will watch them all together and then go back and look for clues and connections," Hurwitz explained. "We'd also like to use the technology to provide additional material, where you might be able to access another part of the story." As for the fact that any big end-of-season twists will likely be floating around the interwebs within a few hours of the show's Netflix debut, Hurwitz doesn't seem too concerned, noting that movies (such as The Cabin in the Woods) have successfully battled a similar situation. Plus, he said, "It's comedy. The twists really aren't as important as the characters."

Hurwitz and the cast made no mention onstage of the rumored Arrested Development movie that's been expected to follow the TV revival. He did, however, say he'd very much be open to a season five or six on Netflix. "We would love this to be the first first of many visits," Hurwitz said. He also confirmed that Showtime, currently run by former Arrested exec producer David Nevins, had been in serious talks to acquire the show, but that ultimately Netflix offered a more interesting business model, as well as a base of already-loyal Arrested viewers. "The show's audience has grown over the last six years because of [viewers streaming it]," Hurwitz said. "It's been like putting jokes in a bottle and then having them come back years later to say, 'Ha ha.'"

A few other random notes from Tuesday's Netflix and Arrested session:

• Bob Loblaw will return. "We will bring him back," Hurwitz told Vulture when we asked a question from the studio audience. (Per Netflix's insistence, Hurwitz wasn't doing one-on-one chats). "It's kind of a one-joke thing. But if you guys don't mind bringing it back, we'll give it to you." (For the record, the audience reacted with strong applause to the idea of a Loblaw appearance in season four).

• Hurwitz mildly embarrassed Shawkat by reminding her that Cera was her first-ever kiss. "I've kissed a lot of people since then," Shawkat jokingly shot back.