Browse Tag: brian cox

RECAP: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011): Rupert Wyatt

How did a planet of lightly haired, tool using apes transform into a planet of thickly haired, long-limbed apes that pester lost astronaut Charlton Heston? That question was unanswered until this 2011 film.

The trilogy you didn’t know you needed is about to start. Who’s ready for some ape action?

ONE SENTENCE PLOT SUMMARY: From tiny ape to genius, Caesar, son of a lab experiment, becomes the smartest ape in San Francisco and leads his fellow kind to freedom.  Continue Reading

RECAP: The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity (2002): Doug Liman

Based on the Robert Ludlum series of books, The Bourne Identity came to theaters 22 years its eponymous novel. More importantly, the movie arrived on the heels of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, an event that forced any movie dealing with the US government, terrorism, or Americans abroad and in trouble to be viewed through that lens.

The Bourne Identity was filmed before 9/11, and that probably saved it. Director Liman often battled with the studio, which wanted several reshoots and rewrites, and we can only imagine that a huge terrorist attack would have woven into the story had the timing worked. Somehow, the movie came out great.

ONE SENTENCE PLOT SUMMARY: A man with superior fighting skills awakens in the sea with no memory of who is, and he fights a lot of people until he finds out his identity. Continue Reading