Brave

Plot: Merida is a Scottish princess. Her father, Fergus, wants to her to marry a prince from a neighboring clan. They have a contest to pick the best prince, but Merida does not like any of the boys so she runs away, gets a magic spell that back-fires, and that leads to a big plot twist. In the middle of the movie Merida and her mom, Elinor, spend time bonding, while all the men drink and fight -- also act stupid and run around naked. In the end, modern American values triumph over medieval tradition. No spoiler there. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: This is a good film for moms to see with their little girls. Like all princess movies in the last 40 years, the princess is super-competent, and the values of the film reflect middle class American values -- aside from the pro-monarchy thing. No one is for arranged marriages -- hard to believe you can still build a movie plot on such an idea. 

There is nothing surprising about the  basic story except how conventional it is. The positive aspect is the sequence after the plot twist -- clever and suspenseful -- and I have not seen that before. 

This film is most retro in that all the men are incompetent -- I suppose they needed to be losers so that we did not sympathize with the suitors. Screen-writers know it is possible to have a strong female character in a story that also had likable male characters, but that was not this movie. The guys don't have to be heroes, but maybe someone can not be an idiot or a jerk. 

The core curls in Merida's hair. Here is an article on it.

The best thing about this movie is Merida's hair. It is like its own big fuzzy red character. Computer animation sure has progressed. All the characters and the animals had lots of hair too. We have come a long way from Toy Story.

I also liked the mix of photography with animation in the outdoor scenes. 

In the end, Merida and the princes shirk off any adult duties for an extended childhood.  This is not so unlike what is happening with young adults here and in Europe -- although the economy is a factor in that.  

Written and directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman with  Steve Purcell and Irene Mecchi

Rating:   1.5 stars: not recommended

More: MINOR SPOILER  I wonder if they made this film before or after Sarah Palin made her famous "Momma Grizzly" speech. 

The concept art for Merida

Even more:  Maybe Merida's hair can have a sequel!

.

.

The Amazing Spiderman (3D)

Plot: Amazing Spider-man revisits the Spider-man creation story with Peter as a high school student.  Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) visits his dead father's scientific collaborator, Curt Conners, (Rhys Ifans) and gets bitten by a genetically engineered spider -- and get super powers. Super powers make him more popular at school, but complicate his relationship with his favorite girl, Gwen Stacy, (Emma Stone.) Spider-man fights criminals and then fights an evil lizard man. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: I did not think it was time to redo the Spider-man origin story again, and I was not excited about seeing it.  Happily, Amazing Spiderman is a better telling of the Spider-man origin story than the 2002 Spider-Man movie. It was better because it was more authentic and less comic. This movie is almost a romance because it spents so much time on the Gwen & Peter love story, and because the acting & dialog were so good. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone really stepped up. All their scenes were engaging, and better than the lizard fighting scenes. To use a cliche' "they had great chemistry." 

Amazing Spiderman was a straight-forward story without campiness or comedy like James Bond or there previous Spiderman series. 

Even though the root cause of the Lizard Man was a greedy chemical company, I did like the positive roles for scientists in the movie. 

I liked the scenes of Spider-man swinging around the streetscape. It looked like so much fun to do that, and it had such energy and grace. I understand it was an animation, but I liked it. I did not think the 3D was effective. The interior scenes had almost no 3D, and the outdoor web swinging scenes did not use the 3D that well. 

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans with Sally Field, Dennis Leary and Martin Sheen

Directed by: Marc Webb -- no really his name is WEBB.  Marc grew up in Madison Wisconsin.

Rating:   3.0 stars: the talking scenes were so good. The action part of the movie was weak and not as suspenseful as it could have been. The action movie effects were competent, but not outstanding.

More: Stay for the extra scene after the first group of credits. 

.

.

Moonrise Kingdom

Notice how they in front of a picture.
This is typical of the humor in the film. 

Plot: Sam (Jared Gilman) escapes from scout camp to meet up with Suzy (Kara Hayward) and together they run away to camp out in the woods. The Sheriff (Bruce Willis), Scoutmaster (Edward Norton), and Suzy's parents (Bill Murray & Frances McDormand) get together with the remaining scouts to search for them. Sam and Suzy are both social misfits who connect in the wilderness. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: Moonrise Kingdom is absurdist comedy -- campy, satirical, and ridiculous. It is funny because it is ridiculous. Suzy and Sam watch as ridiculousness spins around them. 

Everyone in the movie plays with deadpan earnestness -- different from a sitcom where people act out.  Only Suzy is able to see how silly her situation is. In the end, the audience is suppose to think how ridiculous their lives are.

The adult characters seem like they have back-stories, but they aren't given enough screen time to develop themselves. Generally, the adults provide a back-drop for the kids.

Director Wes Anderson films are all absurdist, existentialist humor. Moonrise Kingdom is more purely absurd than Fantastic Mr Fox, Darjeeling Limited and Life Aquatic. Moonrise Kingdom had more sweetness and emotion than the others. Life Aquatic had the most plot and was the strangest and funniest. Darjeeling Limited had an Ayn Rand political twist that I didn't like. The animated Fantastic Mr Fox was the most entertaining.

In summary, Moonrise Kingdom was always interesting and engaging.  It was fun, occasionally funny.

Cast: Kara Hayward, Jared Gilman, Edward Norton with Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton. 

Written and directed by: Wes Anderson; the humor is similar to other Anderson films. The similarity to the other films makes this seem less fresh. 

Rating:   2.75 stars: Fun, but not super-fun. Interesting, but ultimately without a message beyond the absurdness of life. 

 and 3/4

More: The Narrator (Bob Balaban) is dressed like a traveling gnome, and shows up with silly facts about the island. 

.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Plot: Some old English people move to an old folks apartment-hotel in India to save money in their retirement. Immediately soap opera love stories develop among the old folks. The hotel is broken down, but some of them learn to like it. The hotel owner can't afford to marry his girlfriend, and his mom wants him to sell the hotel.  [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: Marigold Hotel is unpleasant to watch. The individual characters are interesting, but when they talk to each other its boring. Slow pacing and unrealistic dialog kill this movie. None of the relationships are believable. There is constant sermonizing, and offensive racism early in the movie. None of the racist jokes were funny. 

Maybe director Madden thinks that repeated calls to break out of your shell are inspiring, but it is actually old and familiar. Have you ever seen a Hollywood movie where the message is to stay in your shell?  No, it is an overworked movie trope; no amount of stilted language and blank verse voice-overs is going to change that. 

I liked Sonny's (Dev Patel) relentless optimism, especially at the end when things look worst. 

Some of the photography was excellent, especially the texture of the buildings and the wrinkled faces of people. Mostly the scenes were disorganized and chaotic. The pace was too slow for a comedy. 

Cast: Judi Dench, Dev Patel

Directed by: John Madden based on the novel by Deborah Moggach. I have to believe the novel is better than the movie. 

Rating:   1.5- stars

More: Dev Patel was the actor in Slum Dog Millionaire.

.

.

Prometheus

Plot: Scientists Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Hathoway (Logan Marshall-Green) find astronomical clues in archeological digs, and build a spaceship to go to the indicated planet. A crew of 17 fly there on a ship called Prometheus, where they quickly find buildings made by the aliens, whom they call "The Engineers." Turns out there are other creepy aliens living there too, and soon the crew starts dying. Meanwhile robot crewman David (Michael Fassbender) pursues his own agenda, which lead to plot twists at the end. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: This was intense. I knew it would be scary, and it was.

Once they get to alien planet, it suddenly gets suspenseful, dark and creepy. These aliens have so many ways to kill you, and no one is trust-worthy on the human crew. The humans are nearly as creepy as the aliens.

Noomi Rapace had a great range of expressions, and was a good heroine. I loved the surgery scene. Very creepy and yes intense, plus it just kept going ratcheting up the anxiety.

Prometheus is burdened with the Alien backstory so they had to explain the odd life-cycle of the alien, and introduce "The Engineers." This was cumbersome, but the basis assumptions in science-fiction films are usually stretches, and it is not fair too complain too much. It seems like these aliens have too many ways to kill you.

 I would have liked a climatic battle with Vickers (Charlize Theron.) however. 

Shaw is trying to find God on this space mission. David the robot questioning Shaw about her faith -- especially her cross necklace. In the end, she takes back the cross saying that this was what she chose to believe, and then making a promise that sets up the sequel. The writers don't say much more about the meaning of life than that, but I suppose it is not fair to ask them to. It appears the sequel will have the same theme.

The creatures are always creepy and realistic. There is one exceptional scene with a 3D computer animation that explains "The Engineer" plan that is worth the price of the 3D glasses. There are several "holographic" sequences.  The alien base is rendered well, but it feels a little stilted, and you can't see the scenery that well.  The humans are creepy too. The music is unexceptional. 

Cast: Noomi Repace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, 

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Rating:   2.5+ stars

More: Noomi Rapace had one scene where she flared one nostril to show how agitated she was; clear acting technique. 

.

Even more: They handled the detail of how the aliens could be parasites in people with DNA testing in this movie. Typically you'd expect parasites to need to co-evolve with their hosts in order be compatible enough. They figured out an answer in this movie. 


Yet more: How many movies before the alien creatures make it to Earth?  


It just keeps coming: Now check out this 2 minute animated version. Spoilers, but probably too  rapid to understand. 

Snow White and the Huntsman

Plot: It a darker version of Snow White where the Queen (Charlize Theron) is a witch who needs to eat Snow White's (Kristen Stewart) heart to maintain her beauty and magic. Queen Ravenna sends a hunter (Chris Hemsworth) into the woods to hunt Snow White down, but he hates the queen and double crosses her. Snow White meets soldiers, dwarves, fairies, and magic creatures in the woods, and then returns to Queen's castle for the climax. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: The beginning of the movie is pretty great, I liked the dark set up of the movie, the way Ravenna double-crosses the old king, the creepy evil feeling.  The early scenes in the woods with the Huntsman are solid as well.

When the dwarves arrive in the story, the movie slips because suddenly we have campy comedy -- like March's Mirror Mirror. The trip to fairy land had potential, and it established Snow White as some sort of magical figure, but it did not fit the theme. Now I wonder if this was tied some Disney cobranded spin off.

(No spoiler alert, because I know you've heard the story before.) The climactic battle has some great video riding on the beach -- a great visual. When the sword fighting starts, it is less inspired.

Kristen Stewart gives a decent performance, and Charlize Theron handles her evil role with dignity. Neither actress has dialog that gives them deep emotions. I'd have liked to see some hatred in Snow White eyes, but there wasn't any. Ravenna could have shown some fear but instead there was only steely determination. Chris Hemsworth does a workman-like job as an action hero, but he is clearly a supporting actor.

Like all 21st Century fairy tales, the princess is the hero; Kristen Stewart is Joan of Arc: hair back in plate mail armor.  This Snow White is motivated by political revolution not beauty, power, love or revenge. She doesn't hate the Queen, she feels sorry for her. Chris Hemsworth's hunter has some vital roles fighting people and beasts, but fades into the background by the end. No love story anywhere -- maybe that keeps the action flowing, but it reduces the emotion. Snow White has no mentors or friends either -- if they weren't going to do a lover story, I'd have written a girl friend into the story to talk to. If that is too lesbian, then maybe a dog.

The closing scene was like the end of Star Wars: A New Hope -- the hero on a dais at the head of a great hall.  The end felt strangely empty because Snow White was happy by herself. 

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth

Directed by: Rupert Sanders

Rating:   2.75 stars: In summary, entertaining and fun-to-watch for about 2/3's then not quite. 

+

More: More dramatic and enjoyable than the Julia Roberts version. The Julia Roberts version was a satire, whereas this was a fantasy action movie. 

Even more: The only kiss is between the Queen and Snow White. I can't find other evidence of a lesbian theme.  Queen Ravenna seemed to exist for 12 lifetimes in solitary, icy, stoic beauty -- with only her brother to confide in. No one had any interest in having kids. 

.

MIB3: Men in Black 3

Plot: Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones & Josh Brolin) have been working together for a while, but Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) escapes. Boris is a dangerous alien that Agent K arrested on the night of the Apollo moon rocket launch in 1969. Boris travels back in time and killed Agent K before he could arrest Boris. Agent J is the only one who remembers Agent K, and travels back in time  himself to fix things. On the way they meet Griffin, who explains about all the alternate futures. Soon, Agent J teams up with the 1969 version of Agent K, and they go after Boris. [imdb link]    [photos]

Review: MIB3 is a big noisy ride that keeps going top speed without stopping to explain. It is loopy and silly with a simple plot -- it carried by Will Smith's likeabilty, the humor, and the special effects. 

There is not much to chew on though, the satire of the first MIB is gone. This edition digs deeper into the relationship between Agents J and K, and we learn something surprising at the end. It would have been cool to have seen a little foreshadowing of that prior. 

Bill Hader has an crazy scene playing Andy Warhol, at a wild party. 

Jenny, my DW, hated this movie. She asked why does everyone like MIB3, and hate John Carter -- John Carter was way better. I agree that John Carter was better. Like John Carter, the action scenes are shown at high speed, and you can't really see what is happening. John Carter had more drama. MIB3 is funnier. 

Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Jemaine Clement

Directed by: Barry Sonnefeld

Rating:   1.75 stars: Better than Crazy Stupid Love; about as good as Mirror Mirror; Not as good as John Carter. 

+

More: .

..

.