War Horse

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Plot: A old farmer buys an expensive horse, and gives it to his son to train to plough, but then the horse is sold to the British Army as World War I starts. The horse has a series of four owners during the war, and each one has a little adventure.

Review: War Horse is a kid's movie that is completely earnest, and it is a bit of a fairy tale oriented around the heroism of the horse. Some people, like myself, might find this story too obvious and "cheesy," however I am sure that children and horse-lovers will find it wonderful. 

I found certain sequences painfully slow -- so much that I closed my eyes and wished I was somewhere else. Closing the eyes is not recommended generally because the photography was wonderful. All the sets were beautiful, and the shots of the horses were almost poetic. I also liked the music. 

 The acting was straight-forward, which is about all that can be expected from such a story. I did not feel any special emotion coming from the horse -- as in Sea Biscuit, for example. Sea Biscuit was a much better movie.

The best scene was when Joey, the horse, raced in the the "No-Man's-Land" between the trenches pulling up the barbed wire and becoming entangled in them. A highlight was the interesting battle scenes in WWI. There was a section that reminded me of Saving Private Ryan. 

I was pretty disappointed. I wished I would have seen something else. 

Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Based on the book by: Michael Morpurgo

Rating:   2.0 stars, which I think is generous. It probably deserves less based on the fact that it is NOT fun-to-watch. However it is really pretty, and might be good for a family with grade school kids except that the battle scenes were violent (though not bloody.)  

More:  I wonder how this movie would have worked without the dialog. I bet I could have followed the story just fine, and it would not have seemed as cheesy.  

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Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

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Plot: Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) gets framed for blowing a up a Russian building, and then gets abandoned by the US government. He and three others work to prevent a crazy man from starting a nuclear war.

Review: Ghost Protocol's strength is that  the super-smart and well-equipped good guys are abandoned and become are the underdogs. Worse, things keep going wrong -- one thing after the next, and Ethan Hunt seems to absorb a lot of physical punishment too. This creates good will, and keeps the movie fresh.

We have seen a million spy movies, and three previous Mission Impossible movies. With such a simple story, and the writers appear to be trying to find new material, and for the most part succeeding. This film is well crafted, and a little bit humorous.

The best scene is the one from the preview where the Secretary of State is explaining how the IMF has been "disavowed." This is a plot thread that Mission Impossible has been setting up since the first TV episode, and it is about time that they played out what happens when you get "disavowed."

Another good scene is the opening scene with an IMF spy falling backwards down a building, and shooting badguys with a pistols in each hand as he falls -- it is a copy of Trinity's fall in Matrix Revolutions, and just as cool here.

The plot is simple and most of the story is told visually, as the film keeps going in the same direction from beginning to end. The characters have small backstories, but seems to be acting out of self-less dedication instead of personal motivation.  The music is good. The special effects are good quality without being too superhero.

Ghost Protocol is a fun movie; the morale is about self-less devotion to country despite the fact that the government betrays you --  not a serious message.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist

Directed by: Brad Bird

Rating:   A strong 2.5 stars, almost made three based on its fun-ness. 

 
More: Paramount is making a new, fifth Mission Impossible.



Even more: Does anyone use the word "disavowed," besides Mission Impossible?

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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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Plot: Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) tries to solve a 40 year old murder with the help of young hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara.) Lisbeth is sexually assaulted by her lawyer, but strikes back. Blomkvist uncovers half century old sex crimes enroute to the surprising ending.

Review: It's like a fruit cake -- good parts held together with a not-so-great cakey binder.

There are some powerful scenes in the movie, and maybe that is enough. Only a fan can follow the complex plot which is crammed in and brimming over. I read the books and saw the Swedish version of the movie, and I am sure I missed things. A non-fan would need three viewings.  There are too many villains, too many Vanger Family relatives and too many gray-suited businessmen.

Rooney Mara and the costumer Trish Summerfield gave Lisbeth with a great look. She is detached and damaged, smart and tough. I liked her look, even though the book's Lisbeth is more petite

The best parts are the scenes when she goes crazy and gets revenge. Mara does a great job of coming alive and being psycho. I don't think she is psycho often enough. 

The worst scenes are the crime procedural parts; these are too packed together to be fun. Also we don't see the genius Hacker part of Lisbeth enough.

The sex scenes between Lisbeth and Mikael don't make sense, and they did not make sense in the book either -- hard to believe Lisbeth and Mikael are any kind of couple.

Daniel Craig plays a more thoughtful character than James Bond, and he does well. His well known face does not detract because he is deeply in character.

In summary, some excellent scenes Lisbeth is still a great character, but the complex story is too thin to connect all the cool scenes together. This movie would benefit from Cable News style subtitles to people what is going on. 

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara

Directed by: David Fincher

Rating:   3.0 stars: I had high expectations, and I was a little disappointed. Lisbeth Salander is still a great character, and you should go see her.

More: I loved the opening credits. The acid distorted version of the Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song is great shown over the drippy black paint and creepy images. Definitely the best opening credits of the year. 

Even more: Love the ending. Go Lisbeth.  

Yet more: Many similarities to the Swedish movie.

Young Adult

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Plot:  Writer Mavis (Charlize Theron) is supposed to be finishing a pulp romance novel, when she finds her high school boyfriend Buddy (Patrick Wilson) just had a baby with his new wife. She jumps in her Mini Cooper and is off to win him back. When she gets there Matt has a drink with her, and she begins  work on getting him back. In a bar, she meets old high school friend Matt (Patton Oswalt,) who may be gay, and is now disabled.  She puts herself in increasing desperate, and embarrassing situations trying to break up his marriage. 

Review:  Young Adult is a light drama about how Mavis can't never grew up, and is reliving her high school life. She is upset that Buddy is living an adult life when she is still drinking hard and sleeping around.  Hard drinking Mavis keeps pushing until she becomes pathetic, and crashes. A lot of people never resolve their high school issues, just like Mavis. 

Diablo Cody's dialog is the best, and Charlize Theron facial acting is a great combination. Despite the gimmicky plot, most of the fun is the small gestures and intonations between two people. It can be very funny, but you have to like this kind of comic drama. 

Ultimately Mavis decides that she needs to grow up, and that produces a feel good ending. 

Charlize Theron should be considered for an Oscar.

Cast: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt

Directed by: Jason Reitman; written by Diablo Cody

Rating:   4.0 stars - fun to watch with a heart too; at first I thought only 3.5, but the more I think about the film, the more I like it. 

More: It looked like a Diablo Cody cameo on the TV in Mavis's hotel room. 

Even More: Mavis's poor neglected dog

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J. Edgar

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Plot: FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DiCaprio) was a colorful and corrupt government official whose austere lifestyle and paranoid beliefs made him a colorful figure. The movie starts in the twenties with the Lindbergh baby kidnapping,  catches mobsters during Prohibition, battles communists during the 50's and blackmails Martin Luther King during the '60s.

Hoover has an odd personal personal life forcused on his mother (Judy Dench,) his work, and his assistant Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer.)  The nature of the relationship is hard to understand.

Review: J. Edgar is a historical memoir with voice over narration and a laser focus on J. Edgar Hoover. The story of eccentricity of Hoover is interesting on human level, but also how Hoover fit in to the events of the 20th Century gives the story heft and substance.

This is the best performance from Leonardo DeCaprio in a longtime.  The dialog is great. In historical movies, it is difficult to know what is real and what is move adaptation. This is especially true here as the film is presenting Hoover's version of the story, which is overstating his importance.

I liked the sound editing -- it isn't usual that the sound editing seems sharp, but it did here. There is not much muscial sound track and the photography was unexceptional.

The old age make up works on DiCaprio and Watts, but Hammer looks awful. What happened to his face?

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Rating:   3 stars: always entertaining; 

More: Gotta like Judy Dench

Even more: Here is a photo of the real Hoover and Tolson:


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Hugo

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Plot: Hugo (Asa Butterfield), an orphan in 1920's Paris, lives in a train station where he winds the clocks, and tries to keep clear of the constable (Sacha Baron Cohen). He tries to steal parts for an automaton from a toy dealer (Ben Kingsley,) but is caught and soon meets the dealer's foster daughter Isabella (Chloe Grace Mortez.) Isabella and Hugo discover a secret about the toy dealer which propels the movie to its conclusion. 

Review: This story about the plight of orphans in Paris is a stylized fantasy, but well-done, always entertaining, and fun to watch. 

The tween actors, Asa Butterfield and Chloe Grace Mortez, are excellent, and they execute their lines with emotion and not woodenness.

I also liked the Sash Baron Cohen character, who is handicapped physically and emotionally. His whole subplot was pretty cool, and is a parallel story to Hugo's. 

A really well-directed 3D movie where much of the action occurs in a plane perpendicular to the screen rather than left to right. The photography is very good, and the giant clock scenes are outstanding in art direction. 

Cast: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Mortez, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Rating:   3.5 stars: top film: nearly 4.0

More: The filmmaker is certainly in love with film making. 

Even more: I liked the stylized artwork in the old silent movies.

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A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas

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Plot: Harold is married, and his father-in-law brought a home-grown Christmas tree, which Kumar burns down. Harold and Kumar need to replace the tree before Harold's wife and family get back from Midnight Mass. They buy another tree but it gets wrecked in a traffic accident, and then they run around town trying to get another while avoiding getting shot by mobsters.

Review: This is a light movie with some funny parts and lots of low-brow humor -- especially drug jokes and penis jokes. The first half hour is relatively intelligent, Rom-Com humor with Harold and his wife's family. I thought the film might have potential early. As the film progresses, the situation-comedy get more and more extreme and not as good.

In the middle, there are fifteen minutes of Neal Patrick Harris scenes that were pretty funny. 

I saw it in 2D, and we missed some scenes which were clearly only for 3D. I wish I would have seen it in 3D. 

The soundtrack had some interesting versions of Christmas songs, and a few may be worth downloading. Overall it is a likable, sophomoric movie.

Cast: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neal Patrick Harris

Directed by: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Rating:   2.0 stars

More: Waffle-Bot is the new R2-D2. I'd like a Waffle-Bot sequel.

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Tower Heist

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Plot: Josh (Ben Stiller) manages a NYC super luxury apartment, where a Bernie Madoff type financial villain named Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) lives. Arthur had lost the apartment worker's pension fund huge financial scandal, and the apartment workers are mad and want to get even. The crew plots to get their money back. Josh recruits his childhood friend Slide (Eddie Murphy) to help.

Review: Tower Heist is fast and always entertaining; it is not great cinema. It has a few good scenes with sit-com set-ups and sit-com laughs.

I liked the analogy between the real life Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, and Arthur's scandal. When that wears thin, there is Eddie Murphy's larger-than-life character stealing every scene that he is in. Gabourey Sidibe spices things up with a tough girl Jamaican character.

The music is good. The photography is nothing special.

Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Gabourey Sidibe, Mathew Broderick.

Directed by: Brett Ratner

Rating:   2.5 stars:  Entertaining enough to recommend. It is a good evening at the movies. A good popcorn movie.

More: Tower Heist and last week's In Time both have Occupy Wall Street themes. Is this a trend?

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In Time

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Plot:  In a distopian future, people grow up to be 25 years old when they either die, or if they have money they can buy more time, which is additional days of life. Everyone looks like they are twenty-five because they stop aging.

A person's lifetime is recorded on their forearms, and lifetime used as money to buy things. If you go bankrupt, then you die.

Will (Justin Timberlake) is poor and lives with his mom (Olivia Wilde) in a poor "ghetto", and they scrape together enough time to live one day at a time. Will meets a guy in a bar who has 130 years with him, and robbers swoop in to take his time. Will rescues him, and is rewarded with the 130 years. Will runs to a rich area where his new wealth will not stand out, and he meets wealthy time-banker Phillippe Weis (Vincent Karthauser) and his adventurous daughter Sylvia (Amada Siegfried.) When the cops catch Will, Will and Sylvia run. Soon they are robbing the rich, and donating the money to the poor, Robin Hood style. There is a strong class-warfare, social justice message.

Review: In Time has many levels, and the political commentary is what carries it. It is like the science fiction movie version of the Occupy Wall Street Protests. The movie takes the themes of the recent protest movement and plays them in the this allegorical science fiction universe. If you are going for the action movie or science-fiction movie aspects, you may not like it.  

 Justin Timberlake does a fine job as a caring working-man hero. His mom Olivia Wilde is emotive and has a great death scene. Vincent Karthauser's Phillippe is greasy and completely self justified. Amanda Siegfried was disappointing. A better performance from her could have made this a major movie. Chemistry between Justin and Amanda just was not there. Cillian Murphy does a great job as a cop, but at 35 he looks too old.

The plot is highly conceptual, and the convention of a clock in one's forearm keeping you alive is odd. My wife found the whole clock/timebank/time-is-money metaphor too distracting. 

Director Andrew Niccol produces some painterly scenes and solid art direction. The soundtrack is OK.

In Time is reasonably entertaining, but the script and its political narrative are the real stars. If you don't like politics, you'll find it dull and preachy. 

Cast: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Siegfried, Vincent Karthauser

Written and directed by: Andrew Niccol

Rating:   2.5+ stars; It is a two star movie that gets another half because of its ambition. I am glad I saw it. It is a good conversation movie.

More: The robberies that Will and Sylvia do are justified by saying "How many people are killed every day in the ghetto?"  This is the kind of rhetoric that is used to justify terrorism, so it is a pretty dangerous argument.  Will and Sylvia shoot people as they steal time, and while they don't they kill civilians, this is getting close to terrorism.

Even more: I have described the film's message in terms of social justice and politics, but it could just as easily be described in terms of anarchy and revolution. Ideas that are more dangerous. 


I wonder how thin is the veneer of civilization in the US, and how far underneath is anarchy. 

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Melancholia

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Plot: The movie starts with a (slow motion) visual poem that ends with planets colliding. When the live action starts, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) is heading to her own wedding reception at her sister Clair (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her husband's (Kiefer Sutherland) huge estate. They can't get the wedding because their huge limo can't drive the serpentine roads to the house, so they arrive late. She is easily distracted and tired, and spends time outside looking at the stars, upstairs taking a bath, and otherwise lounging. Afterwards, they realize a planet (Melancholia) may hit the earth, and end all life. Those who know the planet is going to hit commit suicide, but others lie to themselves saying it will miss. Clair becomes more devoted to her young son.

Review: I had a really good attitude when I started watching, and I wanted to like this movie. I saw the opening visual poem, and I said -- look at all the pretty barely moving photos -- how artistic! When the limo got stuck on the road, I said, "What a great metaphor for society!" At the wedding reception, I thought that the incomprehensible weirdness must be leading somewhere, but it was just leading to the end of the world.  The slow pacing was just too much. I got tired of watching the little that was happening, happen so slowly. Soon I was dozing off. I missed a few suicides. 

I never fall asleep at movies, except for this movie. When I woke up, Justine was depressed and unable to care for herself, and Clair was trying to help her. 

This is an intelligent script with some clever metaphors that are thought provoking. The film dealt with death and personal destruction. It says that it is best to help each other by lying to each other. Not uplifting.  (See "Even More" section below for more ideas on the meaning of the movie.)

 Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg give great performances. The others are forgettable, except child actor Cameron Spurr, who is bad. The visuals are generally good, and tell the story better than the words.

This ambitious movie could have been so much better, because sad movies don't need to be glacially slow.

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland

Written and directed by: Lars von Trier

Rating:   2.5 stars: A dreary and sleepy movie experience that I don't recommend, but it is thought-provoking, and well-made.  It should be rated lower since it is so hard to watch. It should be higher because it is so fun to talk about. 

More: I wonder how the gravity would change if another planet would hit the earth. I wonder if people would become weightless in the end. How would you film that?

Even More: Maybe Melancholia is not really about death, but actually is about depression. It is about how lying to oneself is necessary to keep functioning. People who fail to lie, kill themselves. Living with depression requires some self-deception and other people to help.


Yet More: We saw Melancholia on pay-per-view prior to theatrical release. I wonder if watching new films on TV will catch on?

Ides of March

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Plot: Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is a spokesman for presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney,) and they are trying to win the Ohio primary against a rival campaign led by campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti.) Campaign staffers are sleeping around, and the higher ups are leaking to the press and making shady deals. There is a surprise twist that drives more dirty dealing that leads to the conclusion.

Review: Ides of March is a workmanlike film with a few good scenes. It is interesting but not fun or good or merit-worthy. The message seems to be that everyone in politics is a jerk, and it could lead to a new low in voter turnout.

One would think that director Clooney was trying to promote liberal policies since Morris/Clooney is always giving punchy speechs promoting these policies.

 The best part of the movie were the Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti scenes. Some of their dialog was excellent, but they are not in the film enough. Instead we get policy speeches from Morris/Clooney and soap opera from Myers/Gosling & Molly Stearns/Evan Rachel Wood. Most of the plot is too predictable to be interesting. The election drama was just not suspenseful -- I would rather have watched the news.

As the movie goes through its plot twist, Ryan Gosling stops acting and turns into same wooden actor we saw in The Driver. I don't get that -- he seems engaging early in the film. It is like tough guys don't smile, or perhaps that he sold his soul somewhere.

There were 1-2 scenes with creative cinematography, especially the confrontation in the kitchen. The soundtrack was very dull.

Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei

Directed by: George Clooney


Source: Based on the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon. The play was based on the Howard Dean campaign.

Rating:    2.0 stars: - disappointing the reviews were so good.

More: Can anyone figure out why this was called Ides of March?

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50/50

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Plot: Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 28 and he gets spinal cancer right at the beginning of the movie. 50/50 is his chance of dying. His best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) his Mom (Anjelica Huston,) and his girl friend Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) try to help as he starts chemotherapy. Soon he meets cute counselor Katherine (Anna Kendrick,) and they flirt as they talk about his feelings.

Review: 50/50 is 50% medical drama and 50% comedy alternately Bro-mance and Rom-Com. Most of the actual jokes are delivered by Seth Rogen who plays a larger-then-life best friend who is obsessed with sex and getting high. Rachael and Katherine are the Rom-Com girls who are perky & cute because of the dialog and facial acting.  

The movie is more about being sick than about dying with hospital scenes and getting bald being prominent  There are some scenes with older cancer payments that address preparations for death. The film's advice on threat of death is to get high and scream.

The performances were all great especially Howard, Kendrick, Gordon-Levitt. Rogen is a bit of a cartoon character, and Huston did not have a big part. Perhaps the dog could have played a bigger role in consoling Adam.

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston

Directed by: Jonathan Levine; produced & written by Will Reiser; Will Reiser is a cancer survivor.

Rating:   3.0 stars: Engaging and entertaining, but not inspiring. It is thought-provoking, and the characters are well done. It is worthwhile, but you can't expect a movie about cancer to be fun-to-watch. 

More: Everytime I saw Katherine and Adam, I kept thinking that the ethics board would not like what they were doing.

Even more: Writing a good comedy about death instead of about being sick is hard. When I went to the theater I was hoping for a more ambitious film, but this was still good.

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