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By Cole Smithey

‘The Last Lullaby’

Starring Tom Sizemore, Sasha Alexander, Sprague Grayden
and Bill Smitrovich. Rated R, 93 minutes

Movie Trailer

“The Last Lullaby” is a cold and calculated story of a retired hit man, Price (Tom Sizemore), who is drawn back into the life after receiving an offer he can’t refuse. The film was not only better than expected, but Sizemore’s performance was on point, a near return to his glory days (“True Romance,” “Heat”) rather than the man we’ve seen taking roles in straight-to-DVD junkers while battling drug problems the past few years.

Price retired his gun and is no longer killing for a living. Even with a country home and the peace and quiet he’s always wanted, the freedom leaves his mind wandering and, worst of all, restless. He runs across a few small-time criminals who are dumb enough to talk about their kidnapping situation in a convenience store. Price hangs on every word, listening/looking for clues and finding many. After following them to their hideout, Price shows his expertise by easily killing the three men and rescuing Jules (Sprague Grayden — TV shows “Jericho” and “Sons of Anarchy”). Jules seems all too familiar with the criminal world, and she believes Price was hired by her father to rescue her. But he wasn’t, and he holds Jules for a small amount of money. We meet her father, Martin (Bill Smitrovich) and his right-hand man, Van (Omid Abtahi). Price plays it cool, and the exchange goes off without a problem.

Soon after, Price is approached by Martin to pull a job for him. Because of the low amount of ransom and smooth transaction before, a trust is built on behalf of Martin. Although he immediately declines, the money is too much to pass up and Price returns to the only thing he is good at — killing. But once he meets his mark, Sarah (Sasha Alexander — TV’s “NCIS”), he falls for the sexy librarian and has second thoughts about finishing the job.

Price is as badass as a movie hit man can be. He’s calm and collected, yet ruthless when he needs to be. He’s a crack shot and dangerous with a knife, as we see in a scene that reminded me of “The Bourne Identity.” Sizemore brings so much to a scene without even saying a word. There were a few problems — the romance between the two seemed rushed, and Van seemed too weak and pretty to be a right-hand man. Price continually got the jump on him, and he didn’t strike fear in my heart, as other company killers have done. But the editing was superb, and director Jeffrey Goodman created a creepy, yet calm thriller while letting the surrounding landscape develop as a character. “The Last Lullaby” isn’t on the scale of “The Professional,” but it does provide moviegoers an interesting thriller with a twist ending that was simple yet intelligent.

“The Last Lullaby” opens June 5 at the Fleur Cinema & Café, 4545 Fleur Drive. On Friday, June 5 and Saturday, June 6, director Jeffrey Goodman and screenwriter Max Allan Collins will be on hand to introduce the film and hold a question and answer session. CV

‘Up’

Starring the voices of Ed Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer and Delroy Lindo
Rated PG, 89 minutes

Movie Trailer

As a viable response to the brilliant opening sequence in last year’s animated “Wall-E,” the creators of “Up” concoct a flawless introduction that encapsulates the development and longevity of a happy marriage between Carl (Ed Asner) and his adorable wife Ellie. A black-and-white 30’s era newsreel, about Charles Muntz (a Lindbergh-styled aviator adventurer), captures the imagination of little-boy Carl whose perfect mate arrives in the guise Ellie, a snaggle-toothed lass who share’s Carl’s imagination for adventure. Carl and Ellie eventually get adult jobs together at a local adventure park — he sells balloons. Their shared dream of living in a house high atop “Paradise Falls,” a remote spot in South America “lost in time,” binds the couple as the years pass too quickly for Ellie’s lifespan to see the dream to fruition. The story-within-a-story is as bittersweet as it is affecting for the delicacy of the animator’s graphic style and the sophisticated storytelling that gracefully connects the dots of its agreeable subjects. It’s a set up that ties the audience to Carl as a lovable character, whose journey we already admire.

With invasive urban construction dwarfing his once serene, and modest house, the recently widowed Carl sets out to make good on his promise to Ellie, and travel to the place they had always dreamed of going. At 78 Carl uses a walker, a hearing aid and a set of dentures that will later come in handy as a most unorthodox weapon. An unfortunate mishap with a meddling construction worker ends up with a court order for Carl to be placed in an assisted care facility called Shady Oaks. However, by then Carl has already had the mild discomfort of meeting Russell (Jordan Nagai), an enthusiastic, if chubby nine-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer attempting to earn his final badge — for helping an elderly person such as Carl. Russell gets his wish when he’s carried off into the air on Carl’s front porch as part the house that Carl ingeniously attaches thousands of brightly colored helium balloons.

In his rectangular black rimmed spectacles, giant round nostril-free nose, square jaw and squat stature, Carl is a white-haired grandfather figure who still wears the tree-house club badge that Ellie pinned on him when they first met. After surviving a huge storm that shakes up Carl’s mobile house pretty well, they arrive in South America and have to tug the cottage like a giant kite to get to Paradise Falls. The actual site that inspired the location is a place in Venezuela called Angel Falls, famous as the highest water falls in the world, where the water is atomized before it can reach the bottom.

Christopher Plummer is perfectly diabolical as the would-be hero who turns out to be quite the opposite when our well-intentioned team meets up with the mystery man of the jungle. “Up” is the first animated 3-D film to so fully complete its narrative and visual tasks with such apparent ease and meaningful detail. You can tell that this film was a labor of love, and that the cast and crew were sufficiently inspired by the material to craft a children’s movie that is destined to be a classic. Warm and fuzzy? You bet. CV

‘Terminator Salvation’

Starring Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood. Rated PG-13, 116 minutes

Movie Trailer

More of a 21st century “Mad Max” than a continuation of the “Terminator” franchise that seasoned audiences are familiar with, director McG’s post apocalyptic man versus industrial-robot-military-complex lurches through fits and starts of spectacle that almost add up to a story. Helena Bonham Carter plays mad scientist Dr. Serena Kogan who uses the body of executed convict Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) for her latest experiment of creating an indestructible human/machine hybrid. Christian Bale plays alpha male Resistance leader John Connor, whose blanket radio transmissions begin with “If you’re listening to this, you are the resistance.” With his pregnant wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) awaiting his return, Connor sets off on a mission to rescue a group of prisoners from the country-occupying robot clutches of Skynet, whose prisoner Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) is of special importance.

From an action standpoint, “Terminator Salvation” is an eye-blasting fiesta accompanied by good performances from Bale, Worthington, Yelchin, and Moon Bloodgood as a hot-shot soldier. However, the film comes up short with an underdeveloped story and some abysmal performances from actors in secondary roles — reference lackluster efforts from Common, as a Resistance soldier, and child actor, Jadagrace, playing a mute witness.

Bale’s John Connor works under the gruff leadership of Michael Ironside’s General Ashdown, whose guts-for-glory presence gets hung out to dry thanks to inattention from screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”). Known for his performances in “Robocop” and “Starship Troopers,” Ironside effectively chews what little scenery he’s given but gets lost in a shuffle of gonzo Transformers-styled spectacle.

Where the movie excels best, is in all things big, fast and metal. In the 2018 prophesized world of perpetual darkness, Skynet’s arsenal of bots include articulated Hydrobot creatures that swim like snakes and motorcycle bots called Moto-Terminators.

As a sequel to a sequel of a sequel, “Terminator Salvation” doesn’t waste time with how-we-got-here exposition, but as such doesn’t connect easily to the rest of the franchise either. Conner is the now-grown character that Edward Furlong played in “T2,” and whose purpose — to defeat Skynet and save the world — depends on his ability to rescue Kyle Reese as the man who will eventually father him. The future-past-future time device comes off as an obvious ploy designed to milk more sequels. Connor listens dutifully to cassette recordings his mother made to guide him on his mission, but can’t communicate with Howard, the woman who will bear his child. As a result, Worthington’s Marcus, a cyborg-with-a-beating-heart, presents a more interesting character and steals the movie as a rival anti-hero.

“Terminator Salvation” isn’t the sci-fi extravaganza I’d hoped for, but it does fulfill on its promise of visually articulating the robot mentality that America’s military seems geared to accomplish. The opportunity for loaded satire of colored thematic fruits from such ripened narrative soil will likely go unseeded. There is, however, a wellspring of potential in the franchise for the right filmmaker to generate a “Starship Troopers” kind of frisky movie that goes beyond the constraints of spectacle-generated entertainment toward sophisticated sci-fi satire. Until that time comes, take what you can get. CV

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