Mark Wahlberg Archives - chimesfreedom

In 2011, Director Rupert Wyatt rebooted the Planet of the Apes franchise with the excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes, featuring wonderful performances by James Franco, Andy Serkis, and John Lithgow. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Franco and Lithgow are gone, and the movie suffers a bit from their absence. But the new film, directed by Matt Reeves, is full of action and Serkis again is outstanding as the leader of the apes, Caesar.

Most critics and fans like the action-packed Dawn, and I did too, although I do not think it matched the first in the new series. The film picks up ten years after Rise, when most humans have died from a virus. Some of the remaining humans struggle to survive, while the apes, still led by Caesar, work to build their own civilization. Not surprisingly, the two groups come in contact. Both the humans and the apes have individuals who want war and individuals who want peace. The film builds to a dramatic and action-filled conclusion that I will not ruin here. In light of current debates about violence among countries, the film also is a gentle reminder about how difficult it is to protect a fragile peace.

Serkis gives an excellent emotional performance in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and Judy Greer does a great job as Caesar’s wife, Cornelia, whose name is likely a reference to the original series (making me wonder if their son “Blue Eyes” — played by Nick Thurston — has the real name of Cornelius?). This time around, the human characters are less interesting, although Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, and Keri Russell do a good job with the roles they have.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a dark movie in more than one way. Besides the storyline, the action takes place on cloudy days and at night. While the CGI effects were fantastic, because 3D glasses make movies even darker and I was not blown away by the 3D effects, I would have preferred to see the film in regular 2D so I would not have had to squint to make out the action in the dark. But I will leave it to you to determine how important 3D is to you.

Finally, the original movie franchise began by landing Charlton Heston in the middle of the established ape world (as the Tim Burton reboot similarly did with Mark Wahlberg) and then later films took us back to the origin stories. But this new franchise opts for more of a chronological version in the way the films are being produced, starting at the beginning of the timeline. Thus, Rise of the Planet of the Apes was comparable to Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) of the original series, while the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is comparable to Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973), which was the last one made in the original series and is generally seen as the weakest. Thus, considering the new very good movie is a reinterpretation of the weakest of the original franchise, I am especially looking forward to seeing how this new franchise develops with future movies. For a look at how the movies fit into a timeline, check out the io9 website.

Conclusion? Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an action-packed sequel and a worthy continuation of the story that began in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. If you liked the first film, you will want to see this sequel. If you have not yet seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes, you can still start with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes without being lost, but you might want to watch the superior first film first.

What did you think of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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Trailer for “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Short Review)

Trailer for “11.22.63” Stephen King Miniseries

“Terminator Genisys” Is Summer Fun Despite Critics (Short Review)

Tommy Lee Jones and “The Homesman” (Missed Movies)

“Little Prince” Trailer (in English)

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Jimmy Stewart's Movie Mom

Happy Mother’s Day this weekend! One famous movie mom was Beulah Bondi’s portrayal of Ma Baily in It’s a Wonderful Life. It was a great performance, including a touching scene with her son George Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, as she sends him off to court Mary Hatch, played by Donna Reed. At the other extreme, in an alternate reality in the same movie, Bondi plays a bitter and angry version of the character who does not recognize her son.

Did you know that Beulah Bondi played Jimmy Stewart’s mother in a total of four movies? She also was his mother in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Vivacious Lady (1938 ), and Of Human Hearts (1938).

I did recently catch her as Stewart’s mom in Of Human Hearts on the Turner Classic Movies Channel. In that movie, she plays a faithful mother to Jimmy Stewart’s ungrateful son, resulting in Bondi’s second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. I learned of the persistent Stewart-Bondi connection from Robert Osborne on TCM when the movie ended. This “Top Ten Facts About It’s a Wonderful Life” also notes the connection.

I have not seen Vivacious Lady, which finally became available on DVD after this original post was written. Bondi makes a brief appearance in this trailer for Vivacious Lady at around the 2:35 mark.

Beulah Bondi gave memorable performances in other movies, including Make Way for Tomorrow (1937), where she played an abandoned mother, and Our Town (1940), where again she played a mother but not to Stewart. Her other Oscar nomination resulted from The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), where she did not play Jimmy Stewart’s mom. Bondi regretted not playing the role of Ma Joad in Grapes of Wrath (1940), where she missed portraying the mother of Stewart’s good friend, Henry Fonda.

Bondi appeared on several television shows, winning an Emmy for a performance as Aunt Martha Corinne Walton on a 1976 episode of The Waltons. Her TV work also occasionally reunited her with Stewart. IMDb notes that Bondi played Stewart’s mother in one episode of The Jimmy Stewart Television Show (1971). Earlier, she appeared in one 1957 episode of G.E. True Theater, called “A Town with a Past,” with Stewart, although apparently not as his mother.

In movies today, producers’ obsession with an actress’s age sometimes lead them to cast a mother who is in reality too young to be the mother of the actor son. For example, in The Fighter (2010), Melissa Leo played Mark Wahlberg’s mother while being only 11 years older than him. But in Bondi’s case, she was a more realistic age to play Stewart’s mother. She was born May 3, 1888 and Stewart was born May 20, 1908, which would have made her 20 years old when she gave birth to the fictional James Stewart.

In real life, one of the movies’ greatest moms never married and never became a mother herself, passing away in 1981. But Bondi’s warm portrayal of movie mothers gives her a special place in the hearts of anyone who loves old movies or moms. So Happy Mother’s Day to Beulah Bondi, to my mom, to the other mothers out there, and to all those who were born by mothers.