Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

This is a rebooted series miles above the original run of flicks that ruled cinemas 40 year back. A rare, dark, thinking person’s treat in the middle of summer, more interested in sparking hot debate and making audience squirm than serving up empty CGI fireworks. Seriously, put aside the Oscar-worthy 3-D motion capture effects –- all shot in forest and a city, not a sound stage –- and watch this story. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” picks up 10 years after 2011’s “Rise,” dumping its human cast (James Franco, bye) as we follow the primate survivors (Andy Serkis, you are a god) post bloody revolt and mass pandemic. This is the last encounter of ape and struggling humans –- led by an uncorked panicking Gary Oldman -- as the latter delve into the apes’ forest, to restart an electric dam. Any chance of interspecies peace is crushed under lingering wounds of the “old” world, and we enter a dark, new dystopian future the previous films merely hinted at. Director Matt Reeves has created a razor sharp sequel that, yes, may be inevitable, but it can still shock, too -- check an onscreen murder of a youth. Serkis is flat out amazing. A-

This is the End (2013)

“This is the End” is a Hollywood-insider joke from the stoner club of Seth Rogen and pals, lathered in endless jokes about pot, jerking off, L.A. life, and bromances, with two running gags that make it worth at least one watch. First: James Franco stars as himself, playing up his apparent homosexuality by obsessing over Rogen (as himself) with scary devotion. The second: Emma Watson plays an ax-wielding bad-ass Emma Watson. “Hermione stole all our shit,” said by Danny McBride, has to be the funniest line of the year. The plot: Rogen and pot pal -– if you don’t like drug jokes, just stay away -– Jay Baruchel join a party thrown by Franco at the latter’s phallic-heavy home with booze and drugs free-flowing until the shit hits the world fan: Earthquakes, fires, monsters, and angry Watson. Typical Hollywood, every disaster here is from some other movie, borrowed and cleaned-up new, with the best riffs from “Ghostbusters” and “Rosemary's Baby.” Why not, eh? The end of “The End” may play a bit sacrilegious for some, but my worst beef came from the too self-satisfied smirk on everyone’s face. That said, I laughed my ass off. B+

Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)

Note: I saw this while ill and on medicine, missing sections, so grain of salt... 

Sam Raimi’s prequel has an impossible task: Stand not after, but before the perfect “Wizard of Oz,” one of the greatest films produced by Hollywood. Dolled up in 3D and the best CGI computers can buy, borrow, and steal, “Oz: the Great and Powerful” has no chance. But it’s not a bad film. There’s a childlike playfulness to it, and stacked beside his very unchildlike “Spring Breakers,” oddly fascinating. James Franco again plays against three women as a con artist who’s been bullshitting himself so long, he believes his own schtick. His Oscar is swept away by a tornado to the land that bears his nickname, and there he meets three sisters and witches (Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, and Rachel Weisz) who believe him to be some kind of prophet. You know from “Wizard” how it all shakes out, and this echoes the same beats -– traveling companions, munchkins, and witch battle. Franco gives a weird, sly take as with “Breakers.” Maybe too sly. Kunis is great and terrible. But wasn’t Judy Garland? Great and powerful? No. The heart of “Oz” beats far too cynical, whereas the 1939 film roared beautifully and proud. But it entertains. B

Spring Breakers (2013)

Harmony Korine’s purposefully delirious drama/horror/satire “Spring Breakers” is shocking, but not for any onscreen debauchery, but how bright and shiny, and dull it is, and how much it strives to be “Girls Gone Wild” meets “Natural Born Killers.” Circa 1994. The story: Four college girls (led by Disney princesses Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, plus Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine) head to Florida and plunge into binge drinking, drugs, sex acts, and scooter racing without helmets. When they land in jail, a redneck drug dealer (James Franco) “saves” and woos the group with guns, piano skills, and love of “Scarface.” After Gomez as a Christian named “Faith” (fancy that, eh?) bolts for home, the other three turn pink-masked gangbanger. Really. Korine spills ironic observations about youth obsessions with sex, gun culture, and celebrity, and our affinity to get bored, no matter where or what we are. But he’s working from a sketchy 30-page culture thesis triple spaced to 90, with scenes and sounds (guns!) repeated without end. Boiled down: Korine’s only real trick is getting two Mickey Mouse stars to go Mickey and Mallory for faux shock value. To break taboos? Or filmgoers’ patience? Franco, btw, is madly genius. C+

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is a solid summer flick with killer special effects and a fairly solid brain, and a cool reboot/reimaging of the 1960s/1970s “Planet of the Apes” film series that scored golden box office hits, inspired a TV cartoon series and a whole bunch of lunch boxes. (Many a friend sported one in first grade. I was jealous. And, yeah, I’m ignoring Tim Burton’s ass hat 2002 remake.)

Not a prequel, this entirely new take on the apes-rule-humans story focuses on our hairy primate cousins who leap massively forward genetically after being exposed to a “miracle drug” that a young pharma scientist named Will (James Franco) has created to cure Alzheimer’s. Will has a literal deadline: The disease is wasting away his musician/academic father (John Lithgow). It all goes so ape shit wrong.

The leader of the “Rise” is Caesar, a chimp that Franco has raised since it was born, living at home as a pet-cum-child, one who can draw, use sign language and cleverly leap and climb kitchen furniture to snatch cookies atop a cabinet. A trip to San Francisco’s redwoods park leaves a mark on Caesar: He is on a leash led by Will and encounters a snarly dog … on a leash. The wheels start turning. His eyes narrow. A violent encounter with a prick neighbor pushes the house of cards over.

The plot and pacing is smart using elements, lines (“Get your damn hand off me…!) and names from the earlier “Ape” films but to new effect, and there is a real mission to Mars on the telly. “Rise” hints at being a franchise set-up but doesn’t play like you’re watching one-third of a film. The classic 1968 “Apes” was seen as an anti-war pic and a (I would think freakin’ offensive) satire on Civil Rights. (Charlton Heston appears on a TV in a rare wink-wink tip.) Director Rupert Wyatt and writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver seem intent on steering clear of big messages here, but slyly play on man’s insistence that he can do whatever he wants to who and whatever he wants, as long as it means more coin in the bank. And, yes, animal experimentation takes a walloping. But none of this is in-you-face preachy.

When the apes attack at the end wrecking havoc on the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s one of the best action sequences of the summer, a wild scene where chaos finally reigns in a summer tent pole movie. How rare is that? Franco gives a sleepy-eyed performance that grinds some critics, but it fits the part, the man is obsessed with finding a cure and probably considers sleep, rest, play, a luxury. (What doesn’t work: A romance between Will and a vet played by Frieda Pinto of “Slumdog Millionaire,” they have as much spark as a brother and sister.)

Now the reason why this film rocks: Andy Serkis, the man who played “Gollum” in “The Lord of the Rings” and King Kong in the 2005 remake, is our main rebel yell chimp. Again using motion capture technology, he makes Caesar into the best anti-hero of 2011, a glaring, plotting creature far smarter than his human costars. All of the primates are CGI and early in the film, especially baby Caesar, they hit and miss. Once Serkis takes over playing Caesar, though, it’s as if the animators were inspired to push the visual boundaries, and in several scenes – helping Lithgow’s pop use a fork, and when he fights a cruel prick (Tom Felton of “Harry Potter”) – all on screen looks real. Serkis is an amazing actor, and could snag an Oscar nom for acting without appearing on screen. His performance is worth the ticket price. B+

127 Hours (2010)

A hiker named Aron Ralston goes out on his own to Utah’s famed Canyonlands National Park, and dicks around, young guy stuff, all bravado and all by himself. He’s bold and brash and ready to go-go-go … until one bad move sends a massive boulder smashing against his right arm and a crevice wall. “Oops.” His words. Not mine. You know the rest of "127 Hours," right? This is one amazing true story, nearly all of its 90-minute stuck in one place. With Aron. “Hours” vibes loud as life because director Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) doesn’t just show us Aron’s FUBAR predicament, he puts us in Aron’s desperate situation. Aron is careless, but he’s no dummy. His engineering training saves his life, along with a cheap knife. Yes, that arm comes off. But it's not cheap horror-film gore. The blood and tissue are nasty, difficult to watch, but real. Visceral. James Franco gives a killer performance – reckless, geeky, scared, desperate, starving, delirious, comical and fully determined. Boyle’s film soars on Aron’s – Franco’s – spirit, and amazing editing and camera work. A-

The Great Raid (2005)

How can an American man not love “The Great Raid”? It’s the dramatic retelling of U.S. troops leading a spectacular assault on a cruel POW camp run by the Japanese during World War II. The mission: Save 500+ Americans inside. It has sacrifice, valor, tragic death and American flags waving high and proud. It’s even filmed in that honey-gold hue that makes everyone think, “Them sure was the days,” even if they weren’t around for them days, and the reality that those days sucked. But the film’s a loss. Directed by John Dahl, “Raid” is as riveting as a high school textbook. The plot splits into three stories that connect with each other, but never the audience: The troops (led by Benjamin Bratt and James Franco), the suffering POWs (led by Joseph Fiennes) and the nearby resistance fighters (led by Connie Nielsen) all play like an NBC Miniseries from 1985. Edited to ribbons. Only the end credits provide spark as footage from the real battle’s aftermath plays. The rest is like a forced march. Franco’s narration is mind-numbing. C