"MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST
PROTOCOL"
The
"Mission Impossible" movie franchise does not have the same
flavor as the original television series, in which the
Impossible
Missions Force (IMF) relied on
psychology, deception and manipulation as much as technology
to achieve its goals. As a result, the movies lack any
distinction from the rest of the action flicks in which
elite squads go after the bad guy.
Still,
"Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" is very entertaining.
All the high-tech gadgetry is what has been seen before, and
the
movie falls into the rut of
repeated chase scenes. However, Tom Cruise's scaling of the
tallest building in the world in Dubai is
thrilling -- and hard to watch
for anyone with a phobia over heights.
"MI"
also falls short on development of the villain, Hendricks,
played by Michael Nyqvist, who was so good as the journalist
Mikael Blomqvist in the Swedish "Dragon Tattoo" trilogy.
Hendricks, who has obtained the launch codes for some
Russian nuclear devices and plans an attack on a target in
the U.S., gets very little screen time, and most of that is
spent fleeing from Cruise's Ethan Hunt character. We get
minimal information on Hendricks as to his motivations,
reducing him to a inexplicable madman.
Cruise
is joined by Simon Pegg, who provides comic moments as the
wide-eyed, sometimes bumbling gadgetry expert Benji; Paula
Patton as the beautiful and capable Jane; and Jeremy Renner
from "The Hurt Locker" as the agent with some baggage that
initial hampers his effectiveness.
"THE
GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO"
On a
more serious level, director David Fincher teams up with
Oscar-winning screenwriter Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's
List") for
an American interpretation of the
late Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." A
mystery thriller, it features one of the most intriguing
heroines ever in Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the tattoo.
She also has multiple piercings and spiked hair and looks
like someone who hangs out in
dark, noisy clubs with other members of the leather and
chains gang.
But
Lisbeth is an expert computer hacker and tenacious
researcher, a ward of the state in Sweden for trying to kill
her father, and a
person with more resourcefulness
that one might expect.
Rooney
Mara may be an Oscar nominee for her portrayal of Lisbeth,
drafted to assist the discredited journalist Mikael
Blomkvist, who has been commissioned by the patriarch of a
wealthy Swedish family to uncover the mystery of the
disappearance back in the 1960s of one of the young female
members of the family.
Daniel
Craig steps in as this version's Blomkvist, and while he and
Mara really click on screen as unlikely partners, Craig
lacks the
vulnerability so effectively
conveyed by Nyqvist in the original Swedish version of
"Dragon Tattoo."
Fincher
and Zaillian do a credible job in revealing layer by layer
the mystery, but the movie is bolstered by Mara's Lisbeth, a
brave
performance of a young woman who
can be as brutal as she is brutalized. A superb supporting
casting includes Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger,
patriarch of the wealthy family, along with Stellan
Skarsgard, Joely Richardson, Stephen Berkoff and Robin
Wright. This movie should inspire lively discussions in
comparing it with the Swedish version, especially Mara's
take on Lisbeth against Noomi Rapace's performance in the
same role.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL8LI-h2WFc
"SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF
SHADOWS"
Those
who are aficionados of Sherlock Holmes may have trouble
digesting director Guy Ritchie's take on this classic
detective. The rest of us will just go with the flow of our
only remedial knowledge of Holmes and Watson and enjoy
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" as the rollicking
mystery buddy flick it is.
Robert
Downey Jr. and Jude Law are back again as Holmes and Watson,
respectively, in the follow-up to the successful 2009 movie.
While Law's Watson is properly and Britishly dapper,
Downey's Holmes is disheveled, but definitely primed for
heavy action.
In this
episode, Holmes faces a worthy adversary in Professor James
Moriarty (Jared Harris), a brilliant man who is scheming to
start a war and corner the market on weaponry and other
necessary accessories of battle. Moriarty is such a
challenging foe that Holmes must tear Watson away from his
honeymoon -- he has married his love, Mary (Kelly Reilly) --
to stop this warped genius.
Ritchie
employs slow-motion and stop action to extremes here, which
can be visually stunning but often jarring interruptions in
the
movie's flow.
The best
parts of this movie include the love-hate interplay between
Holmes and Watson, and Holmes' voice-over revelations of
the clues he gathers and analyzes to solve the mysteries.
Rachel
McAdams as Holmes' love interest Irene Adler and Eddie
Marson as Inspector Lestrade are back also, but relegated to
small roles, one of which is required to intensify
Moriarty's villainy while the other just looks like an
obligatory cameo to link the two "Sherlock" movies.
Other
than a few scenes with Mary and Irene, the female
participation here is left to Noomi Rapace, who as a gypsy
fulfils an
expendable plot device.
Overall,
for what it is, "Sherlock Holmes" comes through as a
sometimes witty, sometimes brilliant but often messy couple
of hours
of crazy entertainment, bolstered
by a clever ending.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77UdYWDkgVE
"WAR HORSE"
Just
like John Winger (Bill Murray) trying to get his fellow
soldiers in "Stripes" to admit they cried when Old Yeller
was shot,
people can corner friends and ask
if they cried when the horse in "War Horse" gets . oops .
don't want to spoil the movie for those who are yet to see
it.
"War
Horse" is directed by Steven Spielberg, and it is not one of
his better efforts. But even a less than stellar Spielberg
movie is
pretty good.
Red
flags are flapping all over among animal lovers hesitant to
sit through this film for fear of seeing animals in peril,
suffering and
dying. Yes, these things happen,
and there is one particularly excruciating scene that really
creates an urge to get up and walk
out. But if you can endure it,
the rewards do follow.
This is
a war movie, after all, and movies about the sting of battle
can be emotionally draining, especially when innocent
animals are involved. When the horse in this movie is born
and starts taking its first wobbly steps, you cannot help
but wince over what this beautiful creature will be
experiencing later.
The
screenplay by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, based upon the
novel by Michael Morpurgo, is reminiscent in the early
scenes of
"Seabiscuit," focusing on the
early pre-war years of the horse, seen as something of a
misfit. Purchased at an auction by a struggling farmer, Ted
Narracott (Peter Mullan), who pays way too much for the
animal, the horse is forced to learn to be a plow horse.
This appears to be an abysmal failure until the farmer's
teenage son, Albert (Jeremy Irvine), takes over the training
and succeeds in plowing what had been deemed an unplowable
field. Unfortunately, heavy rains destroy the crop in that
field and the Narracott family -- which includes Emily
Watson as Rose, the farmer's wife -- is forced to sell the
horse, named Joey by Albert, to the English army as war has
started.
Here the
action picks up. Young naïve English soldiers riding horses
into their first battle with the Germans get a vicious
reality check. Joey ends up in the hands of the Germans, who
use the horses to haul wounded soldiers and heavy artillery.
For a briefly blissful while, Joey is owned by a French
girl, Emilie (Celine Buckens), who lives with her
grandfather (Niels Arestrup). But all too soon, Joey is back
serving the Germans and now seeing more perilous action.
The
horse or horses portraying Joey would earn an Academy Award
nomination if there were a category for Best Performance by
an Animal(s). This horse exudes a stubbornness along with
sweetness and certainly the sleek majesty of a horse in its
prime.
This
movie has all the signature Spielberg camera angles and
close-ups, along with the stirring emotional moments, both
happy and sad, and bits of humor. Ultimately it is a story
that mixes luck, toughness and love, showing how these can
help anyone overcome dire circumstances.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhueHIXbTF4
"THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN"
It was
inevitable as a director, Spielberg would focus his
formidable moviemaking juggernaut on motion-capture
animation technology. While his "War Horse" produces lumps
in the throat, his "The Adventures of Tintin" offers a
throwback to his Indiana Jones days. Based upon the comic
book series by Herge, "Tintin" is another in the burgeoning
empire of animated marvels.
The
story itself is a variation on the Indiana Jones story.
Instead of a itinerant archaeologist, Tintin (voice of Jamie
Bell) is an
intrepid reporter, despite being
barely into puberty, who along with his trusty and often
even more resourceful dog, Snowy, teams up with the drunken
and bumbling Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) in trying to
unlock the mystery of a sunken treasure before the evil
Saccharine (Daniel Craig) discovers it.
So there
are the chases, perilous airplane flights, duels and fights,
moments of triumph along with psyche-riddling setbacks.
All is in fun, however, and
"Tintin," enjoyable in 2D as well as 3D, shows Spielberg has
not lost his touch in presenting viewer-friendly, fun films.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ua_4ajpP58
"WE
BOUGHT A ZOO"
Matt
Damon, working with director Cameron ("Almost Famous")
Crowe, offers a warm, decent man in Benjamin Mee, widowed
way too early in life and trying to cope as he is propelled
into single parenting in "We Bought a Zoo."
Mee,
unable to shake the melancholy that follows him around,
seeks a big change in his life and purchases a struggling
zoo that will be shut down if no one invests in it.
Though
risky financially and otherwise, Mee is driven to get the
zoo back on its feet, aided by the dedicated zoo keeper
Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson), while deflecting the
tenacious efforts on the part of his accountant brother,
Duncan (Thomas Haden Church) to give it up before he
jeopardizes his and his children's future.
With
animals as co-stars, it is hard to go wrong, but "Zoo" also
features some notable people performances. Damon, for sure,
exudes an everyman quality of a man who had been so in love
with his wife and sees in the aftermath of her death how
much she still is part of his life. Young Maggie Elizabeth
Jones is wonderful as Mee's daughter Rosie, exuberant in her
child innocence and in many ways better at getting along in
life than her dad.
On the
other hand, Benjamin's son, Dylan (Colin Ford), has issues.
He is a talented artist, but his works convey a very dark
theme. His pent up anger at being forced to move away from
his friends is hard to shake even when he is pursued by the
pretty girl, Lily (Elle Fanning), who works at a neighboring
restaurant.
"Zoo" is
a story of renewal. Mee and the zoo workers face tough
challenges but remain optimistic. Mee and Dylan have intense
moments, but the feeling is that these two will connect
somehow. And of course, despite trying to maintain an
uncomplicated boss-employee relationship, Benjamin and Kelly
are destined to break down those invisible walls between
them.
Feel-good movies always have the sad moments, and there are
a few, but the end result is a movie that reinforces the
faith we have can have in each other even in the toughest of
times.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STXvAhrVP0U
"WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN"
"We Need
to Talk About Kevin" is an ominous title because the phrase
"we need to talk" carries with it the "uh oh" connotations
that it is not going to be a pleasant conversation.
The
movie with this title, based upon a novel by Lionel Shriver,
is a drama but also is a horror story, tapping into one of
the worst
fears of parenthood: that your
child does not turn out to be a well-adjusted person.
Tilda
Swinton, who also serves as executive producer of "We Need
to Talk About Kevin," throws herself wholeheartedly into the
lead role of Eva, a woman who has taken on motherhood
reluctantly, and her apprehensions turn out to be warranted,
as her son, Kevin, from day one has problems. As an infant
he is always crying -- not just crying but screeching. As a
toddler he is slow to start talking and is unable or
unwilling to be toilet trained, resulting in him being in
diapers after he does start talking.
Kevin's
behavior becomes increasingly erratic. He does become potty
trained but also develops a potty mouth. His relationship
with Eva becomes a battle of wits. He is psychologically
manipulative, even at a young age, making him downright
scary.
Meanwhile, Eva's husband, Franklin (John C. Reilly), is a
doting father and totally in denial that there is something
wrong with Kevin. "We Need to Talk About Kevin," with a
script co-written by director Lynne Ramsay -- collaborating
on the screenplay with Rory Kinnear -- requires full
attention with its non-linear structure. It bounces between
the past and present. The current Eva is a gaunt,
traumatized woman, living alone in a rundown house, feeling
lucky to land a job as a clerk at a travel agency. She is a
social pariah, vilified by people who hold her responsible
for some unspeakable tragedy.
It's
obvious that Kevin is a ticking bomb. His wires are crossed
for whatever reasons. By the time he is a teenager -- played
with
brooding intensity by Ezra Miller
-- it is just a matter of time before what were private
standoffs in the home escalate into
something horrible.
Viewers
squirm in their seats as the story unfolds. Eva and Franklin
have a daughter, Celia (Ashley Gerasimovich), which clearly
does not get Kevin's blessing. Celia gets a pet hamster you
know is doomed. Franklin, still convinced Kevin is just a
normal young male, gets his son interested in archery. You
can see where this is all going. Do not expect a happy
ending.
"Kevin"
is a sobering movie about a family gone awry, about a person
who tries to cope but is without support, while another
person amiably glides along believing everything will work
out despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
Swinton
gives a tour-de-force performance as Eva, a woman with a
restless spirit who probably never should have had children.
She loves Franklin despite being exasperated at his
inability to accept that Kevin has problems. She loves Kevin
also, for all the emotional pounding she endures from him --
even to the end.
Miller
presents a frightening teenage Kevin, mastering a daunting
look of someone harboring an inexplicable rage and
cultivating an enigmatic relationship with his mother.
Reilly, seemingly miscast as the man who would win the heart
of Eva, builds a character all too real -- one who will not
concede to the reality, with tragic consequences.
"YOUNG
ADULT"
An
indulgence we might not want to admit is that of fantasizing
about going to our high school reunion and learning that the
hotshot classmate, the beautiful and/or smart person that
breezed through socially and academically, does not have
that pristine post-school life.
Such it
is with "Young Adult," a witty, uncompromising look at
somebody who seemed to have it all but now is pretty messed
up.
No doubt about it, Mavis Gary
(Charlize Theron), still is a knockout. She is an author who
has escaped from the quaint little
Minnesota town where she was
raised, and now resides in Minneapolis. But a closer look
reveals a lot of cracks in the veneer. She is divorced, her
career actually is that of a ghost writer penning a series
of teen books that is about to be discontinued. She lives
with her neglected little dog and relies on alcohol to cope.
When her
old high school flame, Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson) sends
out via the Internet an announcement of the birth of his
daughter, Mavis gets so bugged about it she decides to go
back to her old hometown and reclaim him.
Written
by Diablo Cody, who won an Academy Award for her original
screenplay of "Juno" four years ago, "Young Adult" does not
sugarcoat the self-absorbed Mavis, who becomes so twisted in
her desire to lure Buddy away from his seemingly blissful
marriage.
Cody
eases up on the crackling dialogue of "Juno," that, while
amusing, stretched reality with its teenage characters being
so
spontaneously witty. The putdowns
uttered by Mavis are of the type common folk make and the
humor flows easily via her shallow observations.
Once
back in town. Mavis first encounters Matt Fruehauf (a
wonderful Payton Oswalt), who as a classmate of Mavis was
one of those non-entities who otherwise would have been
forgotten except for being a victim of senseless brutality
as a teen.
The
interaction between Mavis and Matt is the highlight of
"Young Adult." Both characters are blunt with one another,
with Matt being unabashedly honest about himself. As it
turns out, Mavis finds herself increasingly clinging to him.
As Mavis
tries to insinuate herself into Buddy's life, using all the
tools that worked in high school, she finds that the old
tricks do
not work. Buddy is clearly in
love with his wife, Beth (Elizabeth Reaser), and devoted to
being a new father.
Mavis,
for all her ability to create fictional characters and
situations, cannot see or accept the simple fact Buddy,
while still willing to be a friend, is well past whatever he
and Mavis shared in high school.
Directed
by Jason Reitman, who collaborated with Cody on "Juno,"
"Young Adult" has its share of squirm-in-your-seat moments
of emotional discomfort. Theron, a Golden Globe nominee for
her performance, has already shown in her Oscar-winning work
in "Monster" a willingness to present a flawed person both
physically and psychologically.
Best yet
is the ending that does not insult the viewer with sweet,
happy conclusion. Mavis will bend a little but she will
never break. Her epiphany is triggered from an unlikely
source, and even then, Mavis typically lacks any kind of
conscience to fully appreciate it.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar_-v7dEEoo
"MY WEEK
WITH MARILYN"
The
exploration of the life of Marilyn Monroe, which was a mix
of Hollywood glamour and the tragedy of a person saddled
with many psychological issues, has become an industry, much
like that of JFK and Elvis. The story is well known: A girl
whose mother is mentally ill and whose father is unknown has
an unstable, likely abusive childhood but as an adult
achieves astounding fame, a public life many pined for but
a personal existence rife with insecurities, chemical
dependencies and an inability to find a true, lifelong love.
This
year marks the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death, so likely
there will be plenty more looks at the life of this woman
who could sets hearts aflutter but never seemed to find true
fulfillment. Michelle Williams is the latest actress to
portray Monroe, the
epitome of the blonde bombshell,
in "My Week with Marilyn." The movie is based upon the
diaries of Colin Clark, who served as a third assistant
director on a lightweight comedy "The Prince and the
Showgirl," made in 1956 and had Monroe starring with
Laurence Olivier, who also served as directed on that film.
Clark,
who would go on to become a documentary maker, is from a
well-to-do family dismayed at his desire to work in the
movies. As played by Eddie Redmayne in "My Week with
Marilyn," he is an ambitious young man who works tirelessly
and shows initiative and good instincts that help him land
the job on the Olivier-Monroe movie. On the set, Clark soon
finds himself as something of a buffer between Olivier and
Monroe, two people who clearly are opposites -- Monroe is a
movie star trying to be an actor while Olivier is an actor
trying to be a movie star. Olivier did put together an
impressive film career, as his 10 Academy Award nominations
and one Oscar proved. But he always was considered a classic
actor rather than a matinee idol.
Olivier,
played with gusto by Kenneth Branagh, like everyone else was
taken in by Monroe's exceptional ability to be beautiful,
ditzy, sexy and calculating on screen. In person, Monroe's
lack of discipline and enormous insecurity -- she always had
to have acting coach Paula Strasberg (Zoe Wanamaker) close
by much like Linus needs his blanket -- has the classically
trained Olivier at wit's end.
Williams
is a heavy favorite to earn what could be her third Academy
Award nomination with this portrayal of Monroe. While
impersonations of Monroe have been done many times, trying
to capture the personal side of this complex woman has to be
a challenge. The Marilyn who has to rely on a virtual
pharmacy of prescriptions to cope, who without her makeup
becomes a vulnerable, needy person, is an acting assignment
that can be bungled badly. Williams does not mess it up. Not
only does Williams perform songs as Marilyn, she has a key
scene wherein as she takes a walk with Clark as an ordinary
citizen comes
upon adoring fans and she says to
Clark, "Shall I become her?" and promptly becomes the
glamorous Marilyn.
"My Life
with Marilyn" details the brief time in which Clark became
the one person on whom Marilyn relied for support. It also
with wit and insight portrays the tug of war between Olivier
and Monroe, two people with monstrous, if distinctly
different, talents.
Directed
by Simon Curtis from an adapted screenplay by Adrian Hodges,
"My Week with Marilyn" also features some delightful work by
top British performers such as Judi Dench as an aged actress
who understands and appreciates Marilyn's gifts; Derek
Jacobi as a genial head librarian hosting a visit by
Marilyn; Julia Ormand as Vivien Leigh, gracious as she
concedes her husband Olivier clearly is infatuated with
Marilyn -- that is until he has to work with her -- and Emma
Watson of the "Harry Potter" movies as a wardrobe girl whom
Clark courts until Marilyn becomes too demanding.
Unlike
other movies about Marilyn Monroe, this one has the
advantage of not ending on a tragic note. For all the
problems on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl" both
Marilyn and Olivier came away with at least some new insight
if not respect for each other and did go on to other
triumphs -- Marilyn on film and Olivier on stage.
Offical Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_tbnTM7zVE
