Movie Junction

A mushroom cloud settles over Gotham City as “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) races to its conclusion. The city under attack from an evil force manages to survive a possible nuclear catastrophe. Even though peace is restored, the city looks like a war zone, with scattered rubble demonstrating the utter destruction and chaos absorbed by the city.  These dying minutes in the film made me wonder if Nolan’s enterprising conclusion to the trilogy delivers on the promise shown by an attention-grabbing, vertigo-inducing, outlandish opening sequence. More so the bigger question from fans: Is the final entry a satisfying end to the series? Certainly, between the opening scene and the all-action climax, “The Dark Knight Rises” covers a lot of ground while unlocking crucial story elements and references from “Batman Begins” (2005) and “The Dark Knight” (2008). For me, “The Dark Knight Rises” is a fitting and entertaining end to the epic series that is even bigger and better on IMAX. ...

“God Bless America” (2011) starts with a pulsating opening sequence. In these scenes, the main protagonist, Frank (Joel Murray), enters a house with a shotgun and goes on a shooting spree, killing a family.  The segment is played in slow motion, with a trigger-happy Frank playing as though an actor in an opera. What looks like a grisly scene is, in fact, Frank’s dream. Frank wakes from this disturbing dream and is soon seen flipping channels on a TV that is bombarded with reality TV shows and fear-mongering news channels. Through Frank’s eyes in the opening moments, we surely get a glimpse of American pop culture manufactured by network media in the U.S. Frank’s character represents the deeper problems of America’s middle class: broken families, loneliness, depression, and job insecurity. Frank is divorced, and his wife has the custody of their only daughter; he never gets to see his daughter, though.  Meanwhile, to worsen the situation, Frank is fired from his job ...