Who doesn’t love ponies? War Horse, based on the Broadway play, which was in turn based on the children’s book by Michael Morpurgo, is a grand and glorious look at what life must have been like for the young stallions and mares that had to give their all in World War I. Sounds a bit too kiddie for you? Not by a long shot. This movie opened during the holiday season for one reason; it’s an enjoyable treat for everyone, from the youngest pony-happy child to the oldest humbug-happy grouch. There’s something for everyone to like in this movie, no small trick but then with Stephen Spielberg at the helm did you expect anything less? Hey, I liked 1941. No you stop it.
Movie Review: We Bought A Zoo
Matt Damon can do anything. He can solve the maths, he can fly like an angel, work the spy thing and the cop thing, and now he runs a zoo. Okay, so he needs a little help from a passel of zookeepers, but the end result is totally worth it. We Bought A Zoo is a trip I’d take anytime.
Based on We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever by Benjamin Mee, the film tells the story of a man who decides to chuck it all and start afresh after the death of his wife. Moving the action from the U.K. (the real zoo is Dartmoor Zoological Park in England) to SoCal here in the States, the story takes a few liberties with the real-life tale, but those changes make the story easier to follow as well as easier to tell in the limited span of a feature film. How do you manage to find yourself after the world has dumped all over you? With lions, tigers and bears. Oh, my!
Movie Review: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
God I love this time of year. Tons of great movies hitting the multiplexes. God I hate this time of year. Tons of reviews to crank out, and I’m a two-bit hack as it is. Oh well. Still with me? Okay, ‘cause you’re really gonna want to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Yeah, it’s up for two Golden Globes (one for actress Rooney Mara, and another for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score), but don’t go because it’s been nominated. Go because there’s a reason why it’s getting noticed; it’s good.
Movie Review: Shame
Ooh, NC-17? Isn’t that dirty? Well, kinda. NC-17 is the rating that’s supposed to be used to separate intense filmmaking from the XXX sleazefests that pop up in adult movie theaters. You know, the theaters where the floor is sticky, and it’s not because of the butter on the popcorn. Okay, now I feel dirty. But sadly this rating has typically been given back-of-the-bus treatment, hoping that one day a film with this rating will resonate with viewers and grant it the respect it deserves.
Shame is the latest NC-17 film to hit theaters, and it stars X-Men: First Class hottie Michael Fassbender as a man who is a slave to his sexual addictions. He’s able to keep his work life and play life separate until his hippie vagabond sister Sissy (yeah, the name’s pretty stupid, but it’s the awesome Carey Mulligan from An Education) moves in. Ready for the pr0n to hit the fan? Well, it never quite explodes. Much like a peep show, Shame is all flash and no substance, a movie that promises a deep look at a racy subject but leaves the audience unfulfilled.
Movie Review: Young Adult
High school. Whatever. But for some, high school was their best, shining moment; the time where they were everything to everyone and nothing could stand in their way. Like Mavis Gary, a former Queen Bee of her high school that moved to the big city and became a bestselling writer. Oh, so that sounds good to you? Me too. But for Mavis, her world is a revolving door of writing, drinking, passing out face-first on the bed, and regret. Her way out of this slump? Go find her high-school boyfriend and get him back, of course. I’m sure his wife and baby girl won’t be too much of an obstacle.
Jason Reitman has gotten a bit serious with the amazing Up In The Air, but with Young Adult he comes back to his quirky comedy-drama niche that made Thank You For Smoking and Juno so enjoyable. Speaking of Juno, screenwriter Diablo Cody is on her A game here; with Young Adult, I forgive her her Jennifer’s Body trespasses. Mostly because I am ZOMG excited to see how her work on The Evil Dead plays out, because her snarky ‘tude is a perfect fit for that film, but also because Young Adult itself is a whole lot of fun. Embarrassing fun. Uncomfortable fun. Hey-I-Did-That-Once-How’d-She-Know fun.
Movie Review: The Descendants
Hawaii. Land of the Lost, land of palm trees and black sand beaches, spam and shave ice, natives and haole. In The Descendants, a family whose lineage in the islands goes back for generations (but looks about as haole as Gwynneth Paltrow in Micronesia) deals with changes within and without the nuclear family. As a man who must figure out how to go on when his wife is diagnosed with an untreatable brain injury, George Clooney gives a performance that will surely have the Academy sitting up and taking notice.
Movie Review: J. Edgar
A brash young upstart rising up the Government ladder thanks to a little bit of skill and a whole lot of being at the right place at the right time. Someone who liked to throw on a pretty frock every now and then, and lived with a dashing young man amid much speculation. A touch insecure, lived with Mommy for way too long, but managed to hide most personal foibles under a thick cloud of Type A…. Oh, enough about me in my twenties, let’s get on with the review. Clint Eastwood’s look at J. Edgar Hoover is one that skims the span of his life and shows not a cross-dressing laughingstock or a larger than life hero, but a man, the good, bad and sometimes downright ugly. It’s not the most organized movie ever made, but it’s an interesting look at a powerful man, and his efforts to create one of the most powerful Bureaus in the United States.
Movie Review: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
Deck the halls with bowls of doobie…’Tis the season to be groovy. And if you’re in the mood to pass up the frankincense and myrrh for something with a bit more kick, then A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas is for you. And because they love you, it’s coming out before Thanksgiving, so you can…relax a bit before the family gatherings.
Movie Review: The Skin I Live In
Take bits of Frankenstein and Fall of the House of Usher, add a touch of Pygmalion and…well, if I mention the fourth film that comes to mind I’d give away a major plot point of the movie. Trust me that it’s an unusual, messed up concoction of obsession, desire and science that only Pedro Almodóvar could bring to the screen. Based on the novel Mygale (also known as Tarantula) by Thierry Jonquet, The Skin I Live In takes you on a winding, dark road to a conclusion that is repulsive and fascinating. This movie may not be for everyone — Almodóvar can be an acquired taste — but if you’re looking for a jaw-dropping experience, this is the ticket. I only wish it had opened in time for Halloween, since it has a feel that’s tailor-made for that holiday.
Movie Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene
Martha Marcy May Marlene takes a look at a modern-day Manson family, and one girl’s attempt to break free. But you can take the girl out of the cult, but you can’t take the cult out of her head, leading poor little M4 to increasingly outrageous acts of paranoia and terror. But an overwhelming abundance of brilliant performances can’t make up for leaden, choppy storytelling and an ending that makes the final scene from The Sopranos seem like a tidy little package.
