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.
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MAY 4-11, 2016 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM The 2nd Art and Flowers Juried Competition, April 22 - May 21, 2016 at The Arts Council Fayetteville/Cumberland County A celebration pairing of original oral artworks created by today's contemporary artists, with eye-catching oral arrangements created by local area oral designers and event planners. This juried exhibition showcases over 60 works of art submitted from forty-one artists from across the country. Members Preview and Artists Reception Thursday, April 21, 2016 • 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. This project is supported by a Project Support Grant and an Exhibition Space Grant from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County made possible in part by contributions from businesses and individuals, and through grants from the City of Fayetteville, Cumberland County and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources. It is entirely possible that Hardcore Henry (96 minutes) made me feel sick because I simply wasn't hardcore enough. It enter- tained me through the opening credits, which featured close-ups of really fun vio- lence, like the close-up of a knife penetrating somebody's neck. I managed to stay focused through the opening sequence, which, like the rest of the film, was shot entirely using a GoPro camera. Right about the time the parkour running began I started to wish I had taken some Dramamine. By the halfway point I had, no lie, draped a white blanket over my head so I could hear the dialogue without watching the screen. By the way, if you were one of the people in the theater with me that day I probably looked kind of creepy. Sorry about that. The film opens as Henry (played by approximately 10 different stunt people and camera operators throughout the film) is in the middle of a flashback of being bullied as a child. He awakens to find himself strapped to a lab table; a scientist named Estelle (Haley Bennett) attaches cybernetic limbs to his body. She tells him the story of how he got there, and that his memories will return in time, then escorts him through the lab. Right before he gets his voicebox switched on, a snazzily dressed psychopath named Akan (Danila Kozlovsky) bursts in. He has some bizarre mannerisms and speech patterns and is also telekinetic, because, sure, why not. I think he looks exactly like Ewan McGregor with bleached hair and white make-up, but not everyone will agree. Anyway, in what really reminds me of the plot of a 1990s video game, he makes a villain speech, shoots up the lab and tries to abduct Estelle and Henry. They get away and end up in the middle of Moscow. Mercenaries in black vans that say "We Are the Bad Guys" manage to snag Estelle while Henry is res- cued by Jimmy (Sharlto Copley). Jimmy provides Henry and the audience with some backstory, explaining that Henry has to do a thing or die because, science. Jimmy is then horribly killed. This happens several more times, in increasingly graphic detail. Awesomely, Sharlto Copley plays a different version of Jimmy in almost every scene. Sort of like Tatiana Maslany in Orphan Black. Multiple versions of Jimmy help Henry advance the plot, finally leading him to Jimmy's secret lair. The virtual insanity culminates with an old Cole Porter standard, "I've Got You Under My Skin," sung in turn by several Jimmy's in a variety of fun costumes. I took the blanket off my head for that one. The blanket went back on for the big climax, a massive battle between Henry, a few Jimmys, and a bunch of cybernetic super soldiers. I really wanted to like Hardcore Henry because it was so weird, but it turns out that GoPro footage is even more migraine-inducing than shaky-cam footage. At the end of the day, I think I liked the plot of the film, but I really wish they had used the POV gimmick with more care. I don't think I'll be able to watch it again. Point-of-View Gimmick Gets Old Hardcore Henry (Rated R) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.