Jimi: All is by My Side

John Ridley's, Jimi: All is by My Side is an ambitious effort that depicts the life of famed musician Jimi Hendrix. The leading role is played rather masterly by André Benjamin, of the hip-hop musical duo Outkast. Imogen Poots & Hayley Atwell act out the roles of Linda Keith and Kathy Etchingham, respectively. Both turn in fantastic performances revealing the multi-layered, nuanced nature of the two women who played pivotal roles in the life of Hendrix.

The setting for Ridley's film begins in Manhattan, in 1966. Benjamin's character has a chance encounter with Poots' character, who introduces Jimi to a few people, connecting with some influential and wise music industry folk, and before not too long he is convinced to go to London, where he's told that he will set the world over there ablaze. Poots' character is highly adept at acting with solely her eyes, letting them linger in scenes and communicating so much more than could be with only words. It's no wonder that Jimi follows her advice on testing the London music scene.

But, insert Atlwell's character, who comes into the film with the attitude and the familiar wear of that of a rock n roll groupie. An emotionally, likely alcohol/drug fueled spat leads to some major emotional and career decisions and Poots' character leaves Jimi to return to the States. Atwell very capably plays a role that is underminded by the premise that the nature of a groupie entails, one of sort of sucking the life from those who have truer intentions and more wholesome habits, but the role of Kathy Etchingham is no simple one to play, and certainly not one that had little importance in Jimi Hendrix's musical influences.

Biopics can be extremely difficult to produce, even when they are about high profile people like Jimi Hendrix. Major studios will typically scoff at the idea because of a lack of commercial appeal (Steve Jobs can be an exception to this). But, this indie picture which was reportedly produced on a budget of $5 million, and received generally positive reviews, did so because it didn't attempt to "do too much". It covered only a year of Jimi's career, albeit it was a short one, but it was able to capture some of the intricacies that made Jimi the man that he was.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

After a very, very long wait the first release of the newly rebooted Star Wars franchise has arrived. The $200 million movie, comes three years after Disney purchased the rights to the franchise from LucasFilm Ltd. for $4 billion, which many industry insiders scoffed at because it seemed like an exorbitant price to pay. Now, after only approximately 20 hours since early screenings began, an analyst from Edward Jones is predicting that it will only take about 2 years for that $4 billion to be recouped.

Money-talk aside, the movie is a rather lengthy one with a running time of 135 minutes. That running time may seem lengthy to those on polar opposites of the age spectrum, which are likely to be drawn to see the movie franchise created by George Lucas in 1977. It has all the elements though to draw audiences from all age backgrounds to it, it has breathtaking sets that evoke the feeling of life on a far away planet, it has a quick-witted, intelligent sounding script that original Star Wars writer, Lawrence Kasdan, wrote. Kasdan was accompanied on writing duties by the movie's director J.J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt. The dialogue between the main characters is paced well and peppered with more humor than expected, which was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Rick Carter & Darren Gilford, the production designers, are two men that deserve more credit for this major accomplishment than they will likely receive. Carter is the Oscar-winning production designer behind Back to the Future Part II and III, Forrest Gump, Avatar, Jurassic Park, and so many more. Last year he was recipient of the Art Directors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award. The work though that he did with his partner, Gilford, and the rest of his team on The Force Awakens was literally breathtaking (Especially on IMAX screens). From the desolate landscapes of Jakku, where the audience first meets Rey (Daisy Ridley) to the snowy forest landscape that plays host to the climactic light-saber battle, the production designing duo created a world, or multiple worlds, that each had a distinct feel which when matched with John Williams score evoked a different type of emotion that nicely tied the movie together.

Newcomers Daisy Ridley and John Boyega, play Rey and Finn who are the main characters, respectively. They do so well too, with a visible chemistry that naturally develops as the movie progresses. Adam Driver and Oscar Issac both have roles that allow their identities to be seen by the audience, but one plays a role that might surprise some, so I won't reveal it here. Andy Serkis is utterly sinister as Supreme Leader Snoke and Lupita Nyong'o is whimsical as Maz Kanata, who delivers a very powerful monologue that drives the movie forward and sets up its climax.

Reviews have been critical of the movie's formulaic nature and of it being a relative carbon copy of the original, but if one does agree with these criticisms they'll at least be happy to watch with a updated CGI and special effects. In Abrams', Kathleen Kennedy's (A producer of the film), and the rest of the teams defense when working with a movie as massive as this one, with a fan following as old and quirky, delicate care must be taken to entice them back into the theater after over thirty years since the original's release. This is probably why the screenplay seemed so similar to the first, and also why some of the familiar faces like Han Solo, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and Princess Leia receive so much on-screen time.    

All in all, The Force Awakens is one of the best action movies to come out this year, whether or not you consider yourself to be the type of person who likes "geeky science fiction" movies.