It's a Crash Landing for LUCY IN THE SKY

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from director Noah Hawley and Fox Searchlight Pictures is the story of space and life when your feet are back on the ground for LUCY IN THE SKY.

Lucy (Natalie Portman) has just returned from an incredible experience in space. Getting back to life at home with husband Drew (Dan Stevens) and niece Blue (Pearl Dickson), Lucy also focuses on when she will have the opportunity to go up again. Working hard and training every chance she gets, Lucy realizes that just because she has been in space once doesn't mean there aren't others waiting in line.

She meets Mark Goodwin (Jon Hamm) who is also training to go into space. Mark tries to get Lucy to lighten up a little and join in the fun with other astronauts. Being very focused on the next mission, Lucy lets herself go for a moment and Drew is supportive.

Lucy finds herself in an awkward place when feelings rise up for Mark and a relationship begins. She also discovers who she is up against for the next seat into space, a very young Erin Eccles (Zazie Beetz). Encouraging her to remember what she wants is Nana Holbrook (Ellen Burstyn) who is the touchstone that Lucy keeps close.

As things become more serious, Lucy finds herself in a place she has never been before and her ability to handle it becomes jaded. What she wants and what she needs becomes blurred and Lucy becomes unable to express her anxiety. She pulls on the life thread and when things unravel, a side of her is set lose and there is no turning back.

Portman as Lucy is, unfortunately, flat and not fun to watch. There is this weird accent she is trying (I'm assuming she's trying) and it just doesn't work. What it does manage to do is annoy the living daylights out of me and bring me back to 2010 and another unhinged character in BLACK SWAN. There isn't anything in this character that I mentally want to hold on to but in fact would have no problem cutting the cord to send it into another universe. Obviously I'm not thrilled to have spent two hours sitting in a theatre watching a hot mess when I could have been home watching Below Deck on Bravo.

Hamm as Mark is just a skuzzy user of women and there is nothing redeeming about him either. It doesn't do anything for NASA's image to have him re-play Garrett Breedlove from the 1983 film TERMS OF ENDEARMENT as another astronaut womanizer. The only difference between Lucy and Aurora Greenway I could watch on screen forever.

Beetz as Erin is side candy which is unfortunate. Playing the 'women have to stick together' card it actually turned into 'women have to stick each other' and it gets all messy and boring. Stevens as Drew gets the shaft in this story and I actually felt bad for the actor AND the character. Dickson as Blue just wants something more in her life instead of a crappy dad, an opinionated grandmother and an Aunt who can't keep it together.

Burstyn as Nana Holbrook was under used in this film. Why do they continue to put these amazing actresses in roles that have bite and then take their teeth? Burstyn is an actress in every sense of the word and here she is stuck in a bed once again reliving her 2014 deathbed scene as the older Murph in INTERSTELLAR.

Other cast include Colman Domingo as Frank Paxton, Jeremiah Birkett as Hank Lumch, Jeffrey Donovan as Jim Hunt, Tig Notaro as Kate Mounier, Stella Edwards as Chelsea, Arlo Mertz as Emily, Tobias Schonleitner as Miles Henckle, and Diana DeLaCruz as Dr. Addison.

Okay, so a few weeks ago I sat through AD ASTRA and I wasn't thrilled much by that film either. It had its moments and the cinematography was pretty cool. LUCY IN THE SKY just put AD ASTRA higher up on the scale of films I might sit through again. What is it with these space films that there has to be this epiphany about life. Oh how small we are compared to the universe. I mean did you have to really go to space to find that out? I'm on the ground and I know that…saved a ton on rocket fuel and space junk floating out into space.

Seriously, doesn't NASA do some kind of testing on these people to see how they will handle space before and after because these movies don't seem to show that. Instead its always something going wrong (GRAVITY for example) and THEN they get the meaning of life? Hey NASA, don't use this as a recruitment film. This movie doesn't even have cool space scenes!

Instead, the film decides to make a woman look crazy because she saw the earth from space. I truly wasn't invested in the storyline and didn't care whether she went back to space and the rest was just surface noise, 124 minutes of surface noise. The cheery noise on the cake was the sappy version of the most cool of Beatles songs - way to make sure the knife goes all the way in eh? To just put it all out there, I feel like I've been space punk'd once again! Give me Tom Hanks in APOLLO 13 any day and you can keep the rest.

In the end - in space no one can hear me scream!

LEGION Takes us on an Unexpected Trip on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from creator Noah Hawley from the Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment comes an intense series on the search for what is truly real when part of the LEGION.

David Haller (Dan Stevens) has had problems most of his life. Hearing things and feeling out of control has landed him in the psychiatric ward. The problem is, Haller also has psychic abilities yet no one believes him. Haller also has a friend in another patient Lenny (Aubrey Plaza) and tries to help him stay together. Keeping him sane is when he falls for another patient Sydney Barrett (Rachel Keller). The difficulty in their relationship is that Sydney doesn't like to be touched. When it does happen, she has the ability to change places with that person.

 When Sydney is discharged from the hospital, Haller kisses her and that's when things get even more out of control. The minds of Haller and Sydney change places and no one believes them. That becomes even more problematic when Syd can't control Haller's reactions and hospital staff are hurt and his only recourse is to escape. The switch between the two is only temporary and Haller wants Sydney back.

Going to his sister Amy (Katie Aselton) for help it actually sets her up to be hurt by those who want Haller for themselves. Quickly enough Ptonomy Wallace (Jeremie Harris) and Kerry Loudermilk (Amber Midthunder) help Haller escape with the help of Melanie Bird (Jean Smart). He is taken to Summerland and discovers there are more people who have abilities. Bird explains that Haller isn't ill at all and that they need to go into his past to understand where he is now. While in an MRI, he sees that the group called Division III has taken Amy and his anger does something that shocks everyone at Summerland. Wanting to save her, Amy tells him that he has to control his power first before he can help anyone.

Working with Ptonomy on memories of a time when he did drugs, Haller is still plagued by the figure called the World's Angriest Boy in the World from a childhood book. Unable to control his powers again, Haller and Sydney end up at Division III where he sees someone called the Eye (Mackenzie Gray). Bird has to explain that his name is Walter who was one of the founders of Summerland. Everything gets so out of control that Haller has to be sedated enough so that Bird, Ptonomy and Sydney can get a better look inside his head but he is too strong for them.

When Haller doesn't wake up, Bird has to find out what happened to him before he ended up in the hospital and the only person that might have a clue is his ex-girlfriend Philly. Ptonomy gets a chance to see inside Philly's memory and learns that Haller attacked his previous therapist named Poole. Haller is on a journey of his own but Lenny comes to him to escape.

As Haller is dealing with problems in the astral plane, Cary believes that Haller's brain has been infected by something he calls the gruesome Devil with Yellow Eyes. The creature isn't at all done with Haller when it attacks Sydney but worst of all; the entire group at Summerland is now at Clockworks with Lenny as their caregiver!

Now under her control, Lenny takes on each of them and their issues but it is Sydney that notices something is different which costs her. Lenny isn't about to let any of them get the upper hand, especially when she knows things about Haller and has no problem demonstrating her control over his mind. Cary Loudermilk (Bill Irwin) thinks they've had it all wrong and that it is actually the powerful mutant Shadow King Amahl Farouk who is messing with Haller.

Haller believes that Farouk and his real father might have had issues that led to an altercation and that was the reason he was put up for adoption. Finding Haller as a kid, Farouk managed to place a device in his mind which is what has caused all the havoc. Trying to get back to Summerland, the group is intercepted by Division III!

In the finale, Haller manages to break free of Division III but it should have been seen as all too easy. Clark (Hamish Linklater), his interrogator, wants to get in on the action and goes with the soldiers to Summerland. Haller believes that Clark is their hostage but what they don't know is that Division III can see and hear everything happening. It’s a chance for some serious body exchanging to happen, Clark changes sides and Haller becomes doesn't see something little coming his way.

Stevens as Haller is truly doing some serious acting! This is a role that keeps the viewer guessing as to where Haller actually is in the grand scheme of things. What is trippy about this whole thing is that I like it! Stevens first caught my attention in the role of Matthew Crawley in the amazing series Downton Abbey followed by Sir Lancelot in NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: SECRET OF THE TOMB and more recently the role of Charles Dickens in THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS. The role of Haller is so complex and original that LEGION is the perfect place for Stevens to just let loose and explore all the avenues.

Keller as Sydney is a girl with her own set of powers that is equally as frightening as Haller's. He learns quickly that touching her can transform and change their situations. This also means that she is detached out of fear and can not allow her emotions to get any deeper for Haller. Smart as Bird is a woman who seemingly wants to help those with powers at Summerland. Jumping into the memories of the group has her unraveling the mysteries and Haller is proving to be her most difficult case.

Plaza as Lenny is just out and out creepy and I love it. You can never tell from one appearance to the next whether she is going to be on Haller's side or just messing with his memories. Aselton as Amy thought Haller was just dealing with serious mental issues, imagine her surprise to discover that those mental issues were nothing like she was raised to believe.

Harris and Midthunder still have their roles to play knowing that there are mysteries about Haller that are going to take digging and it seems it is harder than they have ever explored before. Gray as the Eye is another character that creeped me out because I was never quite sure what he was up to or what is place was in it all. Linklater still has a part to play but will it be for the good of those in Summerland? We shall see, we shall definitely see.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

The Bluray includes the Special Features of Fractured Reality: A Different Kind of Hero, Uncanny Romance, Production Design, Powers, Make-Up (Making The Devil with the Yellow Eyes), Visual Effects, Costume Design, Locations and Deleted Scenes. Also included in the 2-disc Set are Episodes Chapters One Through Eight.

LEGION has definitely been on the radar with nominations for awards and wins like TVLine's Performer of the Week going to Aubrey Plaza, Best Sound Editing given by the Golden Trailer Awards, and tied for Runner Up for Best Action Series by the IGN's Best of 2017 Awards and the People's Choice for Best New Series.

If you want to watch the most interesting and twisted trip you'll every take, then LEGION is exactly the show you want to watch. From twists and turns in the story line to singing and dancing trips, this series isn't about to give you one little hint about the direction it plans to go.

I am going to be thrilled when Season Two begins but let's be clear, I had to watch Season One of LEGION twice because there is so much to take in I wanted to be prepared for what is to come. This is definitely a series that needs to continue to think out of the box and go places no one expects the story to go and don't ever put on the brakes!

In the end - there is no door to this rubber room!