Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/258661
20 UCW FEBRUARY 12-18, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I read voraciously but I never picked up anything by Tom Clancy. I am obsessed with movies, but I have never seen one of the previous four movies in the Jack Ryan franchise, either. As much as I like Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and as much as I like making fun of Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears), the films just never reached out and grabbed me. This material all struck me as by men and for men — and not a cool-zombies-eating-your-brain kind of way. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (105 minutes) did nothing to change my mind. It is an original story and served to reboot the franchise, though the planned sequel will be based on Without Remorse. Although, perhaps I should clarify that calling it an original story in no way implies that it is not endlessly derivative. Shadow Recruit uses the character of Jack Ryan but tweaks the backstory for the modern audience and does absolutely nothing but mix up elements of other spy/action/thriller movies with foreign bad guys. Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is studying in London during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which prompts him to leave school and join the Marines. He almost breaks his back during a helicopter crash, but distinguishes himself by rescuing two other Marines. During his extended rehabilitation he attracts the attention of Thomas Harper, CIA (Kevin Costner) and future doctor Cathy Muller (Keira Knightly). The CIA sends him back to school to get his Ph.D. and sets him up with a Wall Street job to covertly monitor suspicious looking money. As you can imagine, that takes up quite a bit of his time. He still manages to woo Cathy and get her to move in with him despite all his shady secretive habits — like going to movies alone and jogging. Given no reasonable explanation for his exceedingly bizarre and abnormal behavior, Cathy decides he is probably having an affair. And when Jack refuses to blow off his important money-making business activities for a spontaneous trip to Paris, her suspicions are confirmed. Aside: for real, that is how it goes down. Cathy finds a movie ticket in his pocket, tries to trick him into admitting something by asking about movies he's seen lately, then tries to get him to blow off a business trip to Moscow to go to Paris with her for two days with just a few days' notice to prove that he is not having an affair. I guess her medical degree was free so buying expensive last minute tickets isn't a problem, and two hours in airport security followed by an eight hour flight are nothing compared to half a day sleeping off jetlag and a day in Paris. However, her snoopiness, lack of trust and conclusion jumping are a real turn off. And, FYI, she is not doing feminism any favors with her actions later in the movie. End Aside. Right, so after 10 years of working on Wall Street Jack has charmed everyone he works with and finally succeeds in finding a shady financial transaction. He is sent to Russia to figure out how millions of dollars held by a Russian conglomerate have "disappeared." Apparently, American filmmakers are back to using Russian bad guys, because Viktor Cheverin (Kenneth Branagh, who also directed) is doing something terrorist-y with the money. The plot gets a bit complicated, so you might want to get your friend who is also an economist to come along to the movie with you and draw diagrams of exactly how the Big Bad Russians holding U.S. dollars will wipe out the U.S. economy. Of course, if your economist friend is smart enough to do that, then they are probably also smart enough to ask why the CIA doesn't simply eliminate the Big Bad Russian Guy — I hear guns are a popular option for accomplishing exactly that. Overall, if you like Chris Pine and/or action movies, give it a try. Reasonably Interesting Reboot Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upand- comingweekly.com. Extraterrestrial Without a Cause Star-Crossed is a misfit-teen story featuring aliens TV by DEAN ROBBINS After aliens crash-land on Earth, the military herds them into a detention camp. They look just like humans — indeed, the gorgeous alien teenagers could easily be mistaken for stars of a CW series — but most Earthlings despise them. As an experiment in integration, the authorities allow seven alien kids to attend a normal high school. That leads to disaster, but it also allows the cute human girl Emery (Aimee Teegarden) to meet the hunky alien boy Roman (Matt Lanter). Cue the Romeo-and-Juliet romance, hinted at in the series' title: Star-Crossed (Monday, 8 p.m., CW). With its immigration subtext, Star-Crossed is less reminiscent of Shakespeare's play than the Romeo and Juliet adaptation West Side Story. The aliens are ethnic types, misunderstood in their new land. Roman himself is the kind of smoldering misfit familiar from countless teen movies — an Extraterrestrial Without a Cause. But Lanter fits the role, and Star-Crossed proves itself a superior high school soap opera. The science fiction setting adds an appealing novelty, with futuristic gadgets and miraculous medicine. Plus, it's hard to top Roman's reaction on seeing Emery in peril: "One of my hearts stopped beating for a minute!" Wicked Tuna Sunday, 9 pm (National Geographic Channel) How exciting is it to watch a bunch of dudes catching fish? In the case of Wicked Tuna, extraordinarily exciting. These are Old Man and the Sea-type fishermen, in search of the elusive bluefin tuna in Gloucester, Mass. The fish are like floating money pots, with a single 500-pounder going for as much as $20,000. The reality series focuses on a handful of guys in small boats who pursue the tuna with old-fashioned rods and reels — a quest that can lead to great joy or great sorrow, depending on their luck. As if the man-against-nature theme weren't compelling enough, the fishermen also fiercely compete with each other. In the season premiere, they jockey to find the best fishing holes and catch the biggest tuna. "Karma, baby!" whiz-kid Tyler crows when he gets the better of a rival. After you've experienced the high drama that goes into catching these fish, just imagine how thrilling it will be to eat your next tuna sandwich. Rich Kids of Beverly Hills Sunday, 10 pm (E!) The problem with most reality series about L.A. socialites is that the stars are witless. That's not the case with Dorothy Wang and Morgan Stewart, who banter their way through RichKids of Beverly Hills at a mile a minute. Yes, they indulge themselves as extravagantly as any Kardashian, but they often do so ironically, with an edge of self-mockery. Dorothy is aware of how silly she is examining her latest selfie: "Do I look this bitchy in real life?" Morgan, checking her own selfie, matches Dorothy quip for quip: "Oh my God, I could do a Crest Whitestrip ad!" When's the last time you met a quotable rich-kid reality subject? I understand that some viewers might have a hard time enjoying an hour's worth of shopping, clubbing and more shopping. My advice is to take a cue from Dorothy and Morgan and enjoy it ironically. Episodes Sunday, 10:30 pm (Showtime) In its third season, Episodes is wreaking satirical destruction upon Hollywood. We see the industry through the eyes of two smart, sane British writers, Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig), who've been lured to L.A. to adapt their BAFTA-winning TV series for an American audience. One idiotic network decision leads to another, and soon their sophisticated creation is reduced to a hockey comedy called Pucks, starring Matt LeBlanc (playing himself). LeBlanc should win the Good Sport of the Decade Award for going along with this merciless lampoon of himself. The Hollywood of Episodes is populated by stupid, jealous, vain, lying, paranoid hacks, whose only real talent is looking out for their own interests.