3.10 To Yuma is a 2007 American Western film directed by James Mangold and produced by Cathy Konrad. Starring Russell Crowe & Christian Bale, the movie also has a extremely decent supporting cast of Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, Alan Tudyk, Vinessa Shaw, Kevin Durand and Logan Lerman. The movie is a remake of the 1957 film and both are based on Elmore Leonard’s short story Three-Ten to Yuma.

The movie starts off with Dan Evans, a struggling ranch farmer who lives well outside of Bisbee town, getting his barn burned down in the middle of the night by men who work for Glen Hollander, to whom Dan owes money. The next morning Dan & his two sons are out with their herd when they see outlaw Ben Wade and his gang using Evans’ cattle as a road blockade to ambush an armored stagecoach staffed by Pinkerton agents. After looting the coach, Wade sees the 3 from the Evans’ family but as they pose no threat to him or his gang, the outlaw lefts the go free but takes their horses with him. He however does leave the horses further up the road on the way to Bisbee. At the town Wade, his second in command Charlie Prince, and the others have a celebratory drink at the local saloon after which Wade sleeps with the barmaid while Evans eventually arrives with lawmen from Bisbee and tries in vain to negotiate with Hollander. When Dan goes to the saloon to confront Hollander, he instead runs into Wade, who he distracts long enough for the railroad guards to ambush and arrest him. The coach’s owner, Grayson Butterfield, enlists McElroy, Potter, Tucker, one of Hollander’s guards, and Evans, who agrees for a $200 fee to deliver Wade for arrest. From Evans’ ranch, McElroy arranges a decoy wagon to distract Wade’s gang, now led by Charlie Prince. The real prisoner transport charts a course for Contention, where Wade will be put on the 3:10 afternoon train to Yuma Territorial Prison.

On the way to the station as they rest at night Wade, who has sneaked in a fork, kills Tucker and later McElroy by throwing him off a cliff. He almosts gets away from the others using a shotgun but William, Dan’s older son who dreams of being a cowboy and who has followed the group, holds his gun on Wade and the men disarm him. Taking a shortcut through a canyon, which Wade warms them against, the group is attacked by Apaches who Wade kills and then he escapes to a Chinese construction camp. He is recognized by the foreman who has his captured and strung up Evans, William, Potter and Butterfield appear and regain custody of their prisoner, but Potter is killed in the process. The group arrives in Contention hours before the train’s arrival time and check into a hotel, where several local marshals join them. However wade’s men also reach there & upon their arrival, they enlist the aid of numerous mercenary-minded citizens to secure Wade’s release. This leads the frightened Marshalls to go outside try and calm things down but they are killed on the spot. Evans is now alone and he entrusts his son’s safety, plus a 1000 dollars for delivering Wade to the train, to Butterfield. Evans & Wade evade the bullets and the outlaws and make their way to the station. Wade attacks Evans but relents when Evans tells him that this was about more than just money. He wanted to restore his pride give his sons something to be proud of; his leg injury was during a retreat in the Civil War sustained through friendly fire, a fact that had humiliated him ever since.

Most of the men being dead Wade agrees to be lead to the train as it pulls at the station. However as Wade boards the train and congratulates Evans, Charlie (the only remaining outlaw) shoots Evans fatally in the back, despite Wade’s order to stop. Wade then takes his gun which Charlie had tossed to him and kills Charlie. William appears and draws his gun on Wade but finds that he cannot kill him, instead turning to his dying father. Wade boards the train and politely surrenders his weapon. Evans eventually dies as Wade rides the train around a bend. He lets out a whistle, and his faithful horse pricks up his ears and gallops after the train while it is still gathering speed, perhaps with his old gang all dead he can now start life afresh.

Good film and an afternoon’s worth of entertainment. Luke Wilson also shows up for a brief couple of minutes before being killed off. I’m going to give it an 8 outta 10!

Jobs is a 2013 American biographical drama film based on the life of Steve Jobs, with Ashton Kutcher playing the role of Jobs. It is directed by Joshua Michael Stern, written by Matt Whiteley, and produced by Mark Hulme. Joining Kutcher is a solid cast including Josh Gad (as Steve Wozniak), Dermot Mulroney, Matthew Modine, Ron Eldard and Lukas Haas.

The movie starts off with the 2001 announcement & launch of the iPod by Steve Jobs at the Apple Town Hall meeting, and as the applause fades off we flash back to 1974 in Reed College with a young Steve having dropped out due to high tuition fees still auditing classes with the approval of Dean Jack Dudman (James Woods) who took him under his wing. His friend Daniel Kottke and Jobs head to India based on the influence of a book by an Indian spiritual guru and their experiences with LSD and spend some time there. Back in Los Altos, California, it is now 1976 with Steve living at home with his adoptive parents and working at Atari. After a disagreement with his fellow workers, Steve works on a solo project and builds a successful new game with some help from his friend Steve Wozniak. After seeing that Wozniak is working on building a personal computer (Apple I), the two join forces and start their own company called Apple Computers. After a rather dull presentation by Wozniak at a computer club, Steve is approached by Paul Terrell for a contract to make the computers. Jobs asks his mechanic/carpenter father Paul for permission to use the family garage (set up as a carpentry/tool center) for his new company. His father agrees and Jobs then adds Kottke, Bill Fernandez (Victor Rasuk), Bill Atkinson (Nelson Franklin), Chris Espinosa (Eddie Hassell), and later Rod Holt (Ron Eldard) to the Apple team to build Apple 1 computers. Terrell isn’t very happy with the result and Steve tries to get investment elsewhere. After hounding potential investors and making thousands of calls Mike Markkula (Dermot Mulroney) invests in the company which allows them to move forward.

Jobs & Wozniak develop the Apple II and launch it at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire. The computer is a huge success and the company starts growing bigger. Steve begins to distance himself from his old life & friends such as Kottke (calling him a barely competent worker who can be easily replaced) and later his girlfriend Chris-Ann Brennan. The often quoted incident is shown her – with Jobs dumping her as she tells him that she is pregnant. Having had a long on again, off again relationship with her Jobs tells her that this is not the time (just as his company is taking off big) and refuses to accept that the baby could be his. Brennan eventually gives birth to Lisa Brennan-Jobs whom Jobs continued to deny is his daughter. He is also shown to be difficult & erratic, firing a employee for not appreciating his investment in using fonts). As the company grows bigger the board of directors feels that Steve isn’t mature enough for the CEO role so Steve brings in former Pepsi-Co president John Sculley (Matthew Modine) to take hold of the reins. Jobs is moved away from The Lisa to the Macintosh Group where he works with Bill Atkinson, Burrell Smith (Lenny Jacobson), Chris Espinosa, and Andy Hertzfeld (Elden Henson). He also forces the original team leader of the Macintosh group, Jef Raskin, out of it. Though the Macintosh is introduced with a great deal of fanfare in 1984, Jobs is forced out of the company by Sculley in 1985.

Forced out by the board and the man he brought in to be CEO Steve leaves and starts NeXT, marries Laurene Powell Jobs
and fathers 3 more children. By 1996 he has accepted Lisa as his daughter and she comes to live with Steve and his family. After Apple, who are struggling badly and buys out NeXT, CEO Gil Amelio asks Jobs to return to Apple as a consultant. Jobs visits the offices and interacts with some of the design teams and offers them suggestions. He later takes over as interim CEO and eventually fires Amelio and Markkula (who did not support him when he was forced out of Apple 11 years prior) and begins to reinvent Apple. The film ends with Jobs recording the dialogue for the Think Different commercial in 1997. Before the credits, there’s original photos of the main characters, including Steve Jobs, and also, the characters from the film.

Well made film and Kutcher does an excellent job. There are several issues with factual accuracies (as stated by the real people in Apple & Job’s life in interviews and press) but since I am neither an Apple fanboy nor a worshipper of Jobs, I can’t decide which ones to claim as true and which ones to claim as false. I was happy with the end result and will give it an 8 outta 10 based solely on what the movie is like and not facts and figures.

You’ve seen/heard the story millions of times. Married couple who have been together for a long time, busy with their daily lives and raising kids, lose their passion for each other. In some cases one or perhaps both of them stray to find someways of reliving the romance & passion. However this movie is different in that the couple are lesbians and the change in one partner’s lifestyle/searching for passion is fueled by a concussion. And that’s the title of the movie; Concussion is a 2013 drama film written and directed by Stacie Passon and stars Robin Weigert (Ally Lowen the lawyer for Sons Of Anarchy fans) as the prime character.

After being hit in the head accidentally with a baseball by her young son, Abby Abelman suffers a mild concussion. She gets frustrated with domestic life, although a loving mother to her son & daughter, and she wants more from life. Her spouse Kate (Julie Fain Lawrence) seems distant in bed and does not respond to any attempts at sex by Abby. While Kate seems to prefer abstinance, Abby craves more. Abby who usually is the one at home and picks up the kids from school, occasionally buys apartments cheap and renovates them with her assistant Justin and then resells them. She takes up a project to renovate a small studio apartment and gets it painted and furnished once they work on the renovation. She then hires a dirty prostitute for what turns out to be a bad experience and confides in Justin. From Justin she learns that his college going girlfriend, known only as The Girl (Emily Kinney) works as a prostitute on the side, catering to women. Abby arranges to meet a prostitute in the apartment for an eye-opening session. With a little apprehension, Abby takes The Girl’s help and sets herself up as a prostitute only for women, calling herself Eleanor. She only meets the clients in the apartment, keeping her private life separate from her family life, and only after she meets them first for coffee a day earlier.

Abby’s first session is a no-go as she sees the client as being too young. Her next is an overweight 23 year old who has never even been kissed; although they start off awkward they do meet regularly. She also calls on another client who acts very cool & confident but is extremely nervous inside and they two have a great time in their sessions. Abby as Elenaor begins to enjoy life again, spending time being a mom at home and enjoying a few sexual encounters a month for money (although she’s in it for the pleasure). Soon she has great reviews and revels in the new found sexual freedom. She is then set up with Sam Bennet (Maggie Siff) a married woman who’s kids go to the same school as Abby’s & Kate’s and also shares a pilates class with Abby & other friends. Abby has always found Sam attractive but they have never said a word to each other and only smile when they pass by. They have a romantic afternoon as Abby has her fantasy fulfilled. However when she is with a client, one afternoon she forgets to pick up her kids from school and that is the first indication to Kate that things have changed. Kate, a divorce lawyer, arranges for one of her clients to buy the apartment from Abby and she become suspicious of Abby’s total lack on interest in selling the place. Kate then walks in on Abby lying naked in bed at the apartment and walks out knowing what she has done. Things are strange for a while and they don’t talk for a while.

Abby then runs into Sam & Sam’s husband at the supermarket and sees them being very flirtatious with each other. Her later talks with Sam slowly spurs her out of the business and she finalizes the sale of the apartment. As the movie ends Abby & Kate start to reconnect and they go about their lives, their friend unaware of the double life that Abby has been living.

Excellent turn by Robin Weigert who plays the role beautifully. The movie is slow and a little disconnected but as a whole it does the job really well. A slower movie without much excitement the acting is the best part of a simple script. 8.5 outta 10!

Almost everyone I know has heard of the story of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves. I love the 1937 Disney cartoon movie that is instilled in so many people’s mind with it comes to Snow White. Snow White & The Huntsman is a 2012 live action fantasy, action movie based on the original Brother’s Grimm tale. The film is directed by Rupert Sanders and written by Evan Daugherty, Martin Solibakke, John Lee Hancock, and Hossein Amini. The cast includes Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, and Bob Hoskins.

So after Queen Eleanor of Kingdom Tabor pricks her finger on a rose thorn and drops of blood falls on the white snow, she wishes that she had a daughter as white as the snow, lips as red as the blood, hair as black as a raven’s wings and a heart as strong and defiant as the rose she found, still blooming in the snow. She later gives birth to such a child and names her Snow White. While Snow White is still a child, the queen falls ill and dies. King Magnus “rescues” Ravenna, after a battle with the Dark Army, and enchanted by her beauty marries her in a day. Ravenna, who is in fact a powerful sorceress and the queen of the Dark Army kills Magnus on their wedding night and lets in the real Dark Army soldiers, led by her brother Finn. Having decided that no man shall use & abuse her again, her army takes over Tabor with only a few men escaping and she holds Snow White as a prisoner and locks her in a tower. As the years pass Tabor suffers under Ravenna’s rule as she periodically drains the youth from the kingdom’s young women in order to maintain a spell once cast by her mother to save her life from marauders who kidnapped her, which allows her to keep her beauty.

Finally when she asks her magic mirror as to who is the fairest one of all, the mirror replies that it is now Snow White, who has come of age, and not her. She also learns from it that Snow White is destined to destroy her unless Ravenna consumes the young girl’s heart, which will make her immortal. However before Finn can bring her to his sister, Snow White escapes into the Dark Forest, where Ravenna has no power. Finn hires a drunk widower, Eric the huntsman, to lead the search for the girl in the Dark Forest as Eric is one of the few people who has survived going into the mysterious forest. Eric first refuses but is persuaded when Ravenna promises to revive his deceased wife, Sarah. Eric tracks down Snow White but helps her get away from Finn when he learns from the latter that Ravenna cannot resurrect the dead. Snow White promises him gold  if he will escort her to her father’s associate Duke Hammond’s castle. Finn gathers another band of men to find Snow White. Duke Hammond learns that Snow White is alive and has fled into the Dark Forest. William, Snow White’s childhood friend, argues with his father and then leaves the castle to find Snow White. Later he joins Finn’s band as a bowman in order to find her. Eric has no idea who Snow White really is but knows she is special when she charms a huge, angry troll that attacks them. They then encounter a group of women in boats who take them to a fishing village populated by women who have disfigured themselves in order to escape Ravenna. While there, Eric learns Snow White’s true identity as the princess. He then leaves her in the care of the women but returns when he sees the village being burned down by Finn’s men. Snow White and the Huntsman evade them and eventually meet a band of eight dwarves namely Beith, Muir, Quert, Coll, Duir, Gort, Nion, and Gus. A blind Muir perceives that Snow White is the daughter of the former king, and the only person who can defeat Ravenna and end her reign.

As they travel through the fairy sanctuary the group is attacked by Finn’s men. In the fight Eric battles Finn and kills him after Finn taunts him with details of his murder of Eric’s wife. William reveals himself and helps defeat Finn’s men while Gus sacrifices himself by taking an arrow meant for Snow White. William joins the group which continues the journey to Hammond’s castle. However in the morning Ravenna, disguised to look as William, tricks Snow White to eating a poisoned apple and the girl faints to the ground. William & Eric attack and wound Ravenna but she gets away by transforming herself into a few ravens and flies back to her castle. William kisses Snow White b without seeing that she has shed a solitary tear & she is taken to Hammond’s castle. Once there Eric, regrets that he couldn’t protect her nd kisses her, breaking the spell; she awakens after a second tear has fallen. She then rallies up the Duke’s army and they attack Ravenna’s forces. Snow White confronts Ravenna, but is overpowered. Ravenna is about to kill Snow White and consume her heart when she uses one of the moves Eric taught her on Ravenna and kills her, telling her that she cannot have her heart. Duke Hammond’s army is victorious. The kingdom is once again in order and peace as Snow White is crowned Queen.

Visually stunning and exciting for the most part but…I think the actors fail in convincing us with passionate performances. Especially Chris Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart (what a choice for Snow White). I thought Charlize Theron was quite good. 8 outta 10!