ANNA KARENINA

 Reviewed by Paul Gibbs and Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: F

Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew McFadyen, Emily Watson and Kelly McDonald

Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy

Screenplay by Tom Stoppard  

Directed by Joe Wright

We often find ourselves debating with fellow film enthusiasts or filmmakers about the merits of innovation for its own sake. Should a great filmmaker be concerned with always doing something in a new and inventive way? Or should style be dictated by the needs of the story? A marriage of stylistic innovation and good storytelling (such as we got from filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock,  Orson Welles or Martin Scorsese) is a joy to behold. A story held hostage to a director's need to prove him or herself a stylistic auteur (such as we sometimes get from filmmakers like Zack Snyder or almost anybody working for Jerry Bruckheimer) can be frustrating and impenetrable. Joe Wright's adaptation of Tolstoy's classic Anna Karenina is the most egregious example of the latter in recent memory.

Keira Knightley assumes the title role of Anna, wife of 19^th century Russian government offical Alexei Karenin (Jude) law, who becomes drawn into an affair with the supposedly suave and handsome Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson. ) . Wright has chosen to set his adaptation in a grand opera house, in a surreal style that evokes Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge! Except that Luhrman's had a method to its madness. The design and style of the film related directly to both the entertainment based world of the characters and the theme of the delirious feeling of first love. Here, it draws nothing insightful or thematic. It's just, as Moe Syzlak would say, "weird for the sake of weird." And, worse, it acts as such a barrier  to the story that not only is the film incoherent, it's impossible to connect emotionally with a single character or moment of dialogue. We couldn't even muster up heartfelt indifference. This despite a quality cast struggling valiantly in their roles, and a script from the great Tom Stoppard. 

      Most of the attention will likely be on Knightley, as she plays the title role. Kinghtley does fine with what she is given, but it's difficult to judge the performance as the character is so poorly developed. She has no chemistry whatsoever with Taylor-Johnson, who, while having having proved such a strong presence as the title role in Kick Ass, comes across here as Christopher Atkins circa The Blue Lagoon attending a costume party dressed as Timothy Dalton.

What is known as one of the all-time great love stories does not play convincingly as love, romance, lust, or even casual friendship (though, again, we feel we must place the lion's share of the blame on the director rather than the cast). Among the cast, Jude Law fares best. Though we never feel get to know Karenin well enough, Law is srill a powerful prescene who manages to improve the film anytime he's onscreen. Others, such as Emily Watson, are completely wasted in thankless roles. Matthew McFadyen does manage to get a few small chuckles in what seems to be the comic relief role as Prince Stiva.

      The film is a marvel of cinematography and production design. But Joe Wright has committed the most unpardonable sin of directing: he has chosen his need to demonstrate that he is a brilliant auteur over the movie itself at every turn, burying everything in a style so overbearing that sex scenes are staged as almost balletic sequences where in it is difficult to tell which of Knightley and Johnson is which, and where nearly every appearance by a character is marked by frustration at not being able to determine who he or she is supposed to be. It's very difficult to give the film any credit for how visually beautiful it is when the overemphasis on style is so instrumental in making it an abysmal piece of story telling. Ar what should be the most emotional and gripping moments, we are consistently pulled out of the heads and hearts of the characters because the filmmakers are more interested in turning confetti into indoor snow, or making grass grow in theatre seats. There's no denying that this is sometimes a beautiful film to look at if you can stay awake, but it's like trying to admire Denise Richards: no matter how taken you are with the sumptuousness of the body, there's no brain or personality to be found.

        As we were giving our thoughts on the film to the studio representative, the audience member behind us seemed genuinely offended that we referred to the film as "a disaster". "Did you hear that?" she kept repeating to the people accompanying her, "They called it 'a disaster'!". Yes, ma'am, we called it a disaster. And will continue to do so at any opportunity afforded us. Because it is a disaster. In an Oscar season wherein the successes have been triumphant and most of the failures have at least been worthy efforts, Joe Wright has created a candidate for worst film of 2012, ringing more empty and soulless than even the most inane summer blockbusters, and yet will be championed by many as "culture" because its source material is considered a masterpiece.  This emperor has no clothes. He's buck-ass nude. And we are proud to say so.

Anna Karenina is Rated R for sex, though frankly that seems quite harsh, since between the hyperactive editing in the sex scenes and the physical similarities between Knightley and Taylor-Johnson it is quite frankly too hard to tell who or what you are looking in the sex scenes, and though far from subtle, they fall within the range of PG-13 territory.

THANKSGIVING TURKEYS

By Patrick Gibbs

It's that time of year again when families gather together and honor the memory of the Puritans by parking themselves in front of the TV and pretending that there is nothing strangely homoerotic about watching large, sweaty men in helmets pat each other on the backside. It's that time when the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade comes along to showcase giant inflatable characters like Willard Scott, roughly 18,000 High School marching bands, and several high spirited production numbers from upcoming Broadway musicals, most of which are so bad they will close at intermission. It's a time when people complain that this special holiday is passed over far too quickly in favor of Christmas, which they whine has become all about commercialism, as they make sure they have collectively forked over enough money to the Norbest and Stove Top Stuffing Corporations to cover the national deficit.

As for me, having been a vegetarian for roughly ten years now, I spend a lot of time around now thinking about the turkey I won't be eating, content with a small helping of dinner rolls filled with cranberry jelly with a side of mashed potatoes. But I'm still thinking about that turkey. They call it Turkey Day for a reason, and it is in that spirit that I now plunge into a forced and clumsy segue to an article about bad movies.

The following is a list of turkeys that I am either thankful for, because of the unintentional laughs they provided, or, like so much over eating, simply made me nauseous. (No, I am not going to mention “TROLL 2” - that would be too easy, and frankly I am sick to death of talking about the damn thing.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

IN THE NAME OF THE KING: A DUNGEON SIEGE TALE (2007)

Set in the kingdom of Ehb, “In The Name of The King” stars Jason Statham in the role of a simple farmer, creatively identified to the audience by the name “Farmer.” It seems that Farmer is an orphan who was adopted by the village (which makes you wonder if his name used to be”Orphan” but he changed it when he got old enough to grow five o'clock shadow across his entire head.). When Farmer's wife and son leave to sell vegetables in the town of Stonebridge, his farm is attacked by creatures called Krug. Fortunately, this being a Jason Statham movie, Farmer happens to be an expert at every form of Hollywood mixed martial arts, and with the help of his friend and mentor, Norrick (Ron Perlman, who deserves far better), he fights off the Krug and travels to Stonebridge, while on the way encountering various obstacles, including a mischievous band of tree dwelling lesbians. I am not making this up.

Now, if you're going to make a medieval fantasy adventure, you of course need a Wizard and a King. And who better to cast as the evil Wizard and the corrupt monarch than . . . Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds? Yes, that is really who plays these roles. And if you are asking yourself the questions “how' and 'why?” the answer is simple: this is a Ewe Boll film. For those unfamiliar with this great artist, Boll is the recipient of the Golden Raspberry 's Worst Career Achievement Award, and is widely regarded as having directed most of the the worst movies ever to be made based on video games. Think about that last one for a moment.

Ever the class act, Boll issued a press release in 2006 stating that he would challenge each of his five harshest critics to a 10-round boxing match. But his greatest claim to fame as a filmmaker comes from publicly announcing, in response to criticism of his work, that if a million people told him to stop making movies, he would do so. This was followed by a massive internet petition, and as of June 2011, there were 364,572 signatures.

THE CONQUEROR (1956)

And speaking of unique casting decisions, wait until you get a load of John Wayne as Mongol chief Temujin, later to be immortalized as Genghis Khan, in the Howard Hughes produced epic THE CONQUEROR.

The story follows Temujin in his early days, as he wages war and falls madly in love with the Tartar Princess Bortai (played by Susan Hayward – apparently, Tartar women were known for their red hair). From the moment they meet, Temujin is so excited he can barely keep his false mustache on, and he proclaims that Bortai is “Wuh-man. MUCH wuh-man.” With this kind of steamy, romantic dialogue, it's no wonder Hughes himself kept a copy of this film shut away with him, watching it over and over again by himself in his later years.

The site of Wayne earnestly stumbling his way through the role is initially amusing, and when you add to that the embarrassingly inept dance sequences by Hayward and company, and the presence of Agnes Moorehead (of “Bewitched” fame) as Temujin's mother, this really sounds like a bad movie to be savored, but sadly, THE CONQUEROR is genuinely an ordeal to sit through. By the end, you won't just be glancing at the clock, you will be staring at it in fascination in the vain hope that perhaps itl will do something entertaining.

This is one of the most infamous films of all time, for many reasons, but perhaps the most note worthy is the fact that while most of the movies mentioned here can at least make the lame defense that they never killed anybody, that is tragically not the case here. The exterior scenes of THE CONQUERORwere shot on location in Kanab, Utah, 137 miles downwind of the government's Nevada test site. In 1953, extensive above-ground nuclear weapons testing occurred at the site. The cast and crew spent many arduous weeks on location, and Hughes later shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood in order to match the Utah terrain to lend authenticity to studio re-shoots. The filmmakers knew about the nuclear tests, but the federal government reassured residents that the tests caused no hazard to public health. Director Dick Powell, actors Pedro Armendariz, Agnes Moorehead, and even the films stars, Susan Hayward and the legendary Duke himself passed away due to cancer that has been linked to the nuclear testing.

CABIN BOY (1994)

This movie is noteworthy if for no other reason than the simple audacity of trying to make a whole movie based on the idea that “it's funny because it's not funny.” This philosophy can be hilariously effective on LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN sketches (for example, the week long “Find Out How Much Gas Smokin' Joe Frazier Has In His Car” bit), but as a premise for a feature film, it is a bizarre oddity that really didn't work, but it's strangely fascinating for it's uncompromising, if asinine, vision.

Chris Elliot, who first gained fame as “that annoying guy on David Letterman,” plays Nathaniel Mayweather, a snobbish, self-centered "fancy lad", who has been invited by his father to join him in Hawaii by setting sail on the Queen Catherine. However, after annoying the carriage driver, he is forced to walk the rest of the way to the docks.

Nathaniel makes a wrong turn into a small fishing village and he meets the not-so-bright cabin boy/first mate of a vessel with the charmingly low key moniker The Filthy Whore. Nathaniel mistakes this for a theme ship, due to its condition. Actually it's a fishing boat that is home to four foulmouthed fishermen. It is not until the next morning Nathaniel realizes that he is on the wrong boat. So Nathaniel becomes a part of the crew, sharing in their “adventures.” Along the way, he falls in love with a beautiful young woman named Trina, who has been trying to break a world record by swimming around the world without any assistance or contact by another human being. The plot only gets more muddled and inane from here. Letterman himself appears in a cameo, speaking the now famous line “Would ya like ta buy a monkey?” Producer Tim Burton, who seems to have a strange penchant for deliberately alienating audiences, wisely decided to back out as director of the film, leaving that duty to co-writer Adam Resnick.

THE AVENGERS (1998)

Not to be confused with Marvel Studio's mega blockbuster, beloved by all, this 1998 clunker was based on a popular '60's television series which still has many enthusiastic fans, most of whom would like to forget this movie ever happened, as would the distinguished cast , as well as director Jeremiah Chechik (“BENNY & JOON”), who went on to direct episodes of “GOSSIP GIRL” and “JONAS.”)

The film opens with John Steed, played by Ralph Fiennes, a dashing and extremely proper gentleman, and agent of “The Ministry,” in a training course, which he finishes successfully. Next, we see Dr. Emma Peel (Uma Thurman)  at home, where she receives a phone call telling her to go to a gentlemen's club - no women allowed - where she meets Steed for the first time. The Ministry confronts Peel with an accusation of sabotaging the “Prospero Project,” a secret program to control the weather. Mrs. Peel claims she is innocent, and she is sent to work alongside Steed to find the real culprit. Enter August De Wynter, an old ally of The Ministry, played by Sean Connery (you get it? It's a spy movie, but the VILLAIN is played by Sean Connery. Isn't that clever?) De Wynter commands an army of evil doers in Teddy Bear suits, and together they have whisked the instruments needed for the Prospero Device off to a secret island. Emma and Steed arrive at the island, and Emma defuses the device just as a hurricane forms over London, while Steed and De Wynter engage in a duel. The film ends with a rousing song entitled “Strange Weather,” which has a tune that must have had two or three notes just different enough from “Goldfinger” to avoid a major lawsuit. Either that or Connery was the only person ever connected to the Bond franchise ever to see this dreadful film.

Early buzz was extremely enthusiastic – the trailer looked like colorful, campy fun, and the chance to see perennial Oscar nominee Fiennes in a light- hearted adventure, Sean Connery as a sneering villain, and Thurman in tight leather jumpsuits, seemed to appeal to both audiences and critics alike. Unfortunately, the final product is a plodding, jumbled mess, completely devoid of excitement and humor, played too seriously to be fun but written and directed too ludicrously to be taken seriously. In an effort to salvage this disaster, the studio chopped the film to bits in editing in the theory that if it can't be good, at least it can be short. To say that the stars have all fared better is to be charitable to the point of Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Thurman's one note, vampy seductress routine is even more forced and irritating than it is in “BATMAN & ROBIN,” and Fiennes seems to be experiencing severe intestinal discomfort throughout, especially when he is called upon to smile (and with this script, who could blame him?). Fairing marginally best is Connery, who seems to be channeling “Flintheart Glongold” from DUCKTALES, and frankly, was so used to making bad films at this point that he only occasionally seems to stop and wonder why he is waving a cane, wearing a kilt, and, I cannot emphasize this enough, COMMANDING VILLAINS DRESSED IN TEDDY BEAR SUITS. If this movie was a horse it would have been shot to put it out of it's misery. Sadly, it was not a horse, and instead it was shot to cause viewers misery.

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964)

The people of Mars, including Momar ("Mom Martian") and Kimar ("King Martian"), are terribly concerned that their children Girmar ("Girl Martian") and Bomar ("Boy Martian") are watching too much Earth Televison (Errtel?). The children are enthralled by the broadcasts from Eath, in particular station KID-TV's interview with Santa Claus in his workshop at the North Pole. Consulting the ancient 800-year old Martian sage Chochem (a Yiddish word meaning "genius," because no Christmas movie would be complete without a Jewish joke), they are advised that the children of Mars are growing distracted due to the society's overly rigid structure; from infancy, all their education is fed into their brains through machines and they are not allowed individuality or freedom of thought.

Chochem notes that he had seen this coming "for centuries", and says the only way to help the children is to allow them to have their freedom and be allowed to have fun. To do this, they need a Santa Claus figure, like on Earth. After careful deliberation, the Martian leaders, using all of their logic skills, conclude that the ideal Santa Claus figure would be . . . . SANTA CLAUS. The decision is then made to abduct Santa from Earth and bring him to Mars, stopping off briefly to attack Iraq (okay, I made up that part.)

When they arrive on Mars, Santa and the children build a factory to make toys for the children. However, the evil Voldar (no idea what that is short for) and his assistants, Stobo and Shim, sabotage the factory and change the programming so that it makes the toys incorrectly. Of course, it's up to our heroes to save the day, and to sing the theme song, “Hooray for Santa Claus,” as follows:

S-A-N-T-A, C-L-A-U-S

Hooray for Santy Claus!

You spell it S-A-N-T-A, C-L-A-U-S

Hooray for Santy Claus

Hooray for Santy Claus

Yay yay for Santy Claus

He's fat and round, but jumpin' jiminy

He can climb down any chiminy!

When we hear sleigh bells ring

Our hearts go ting-a-ling

'Cause there'll be presents under the tree

Hooray for Santy Claus!

Hoo-raaaaayy forrr Sannn-tyyyy Clauuuusss!

Hooray for Santy Claus!

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS is a standard on any list of the worst films of all time, and film scholars love to point out that the young actress playing “Girmar” was none other than a young Pia Zadora, or at least they did back when anyone, anywhere, knew who in the hell that was.

ENTRAPMENT (1999)

For the last time, once nice shot of Catherine Zeta-Jones's butt does not make this a good film. Grow up.

THE THREE MUSKETEERS (2011)

Not since Geena Davis and Renny Harlin made the glorious one two punch of “CUTHROAT ISLAND” and“THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT” has there been a Hollywood couple so committed to the art of big budget bad cinema as Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife, Milla Jovovich.

So, the duo has moved on from video games to higher minded fair, and they decided to tackle classic novelist Alexandre Dumas. Unfortunately, they don't just tackle him, they leap on his back and beat him to death with shovels. They also apparently think that his last name is pronounced “Dumbass.”

In Venice, the Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, with the help of Athos' lover, Milady De Winter (Jovovich), steal airship blueprints made by Leonardo Da Vinci, in a sequence that plays so much like it wants to be in a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE movie that at any moment we expect to see Jovovich rip her latex mask off to reveal the face of Tom Cruise (which would be a marked improvement.). However, they are betrayed by Milady, who gives the blueprints to the Duke Of Buckingham, played by Orlando Bloom, who seems to have been told to play the character “sort of like a gay record producer.” When the Musketeers return home, Cardinal Richelieu forces them to disband to pay for their shame.

One year later, the young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerrman) leaves Gascony in hopes of becoming a Musketeer, like Chris O'Donnell before him, but he is mortified to discover that the Musketeers no longer exist, and at press time there are no plans for a reunion tour. It isn't long before D'Artagnan challenges the villainous Captain Rochefort to a duel, and along the way finds himself scheduling duels with Athos (Matthew MacFadyen), Porthos (Ray Stevenson) and Aramis (Luke Evans.) all for the same afternoon. Sound familiar? Sounds like a fairly typical adaptation of Dumas, right?

Well, we can't have that.

Before long, the movie seems to say “Book? What book?”and D'Artagnan and his new found friends are off to stop an evil scheme by the Cardinal and Buckingham, which, for reasons that I am still trying to figure out, involve giant airships just like the one Teddy Ruxpin used to ride on with Grubby and Professor Newton Gimmick, except that these come equipped with flamethrowers and steam punk Howitzers (for those of you who don't know, steam punk is a term used in popular fiction to justify adding stupid, anachronistic machines into stories where they don't belong.). The majority of the action packed final third takes place aboard these airships, which is refreshing, because the last thing we want when we go to see a version of “THREE MUSKETEERS” is a lot of sword fighting.

The performances range from passable (MacFadyen, Stevenson and Evans, capable actors who have given memorable performances in better films, but are given little to do here), to awkward (Lerrman, who is painfully out of place as the lone American trying to pass himself off as French in a cast full of Brits trying to pass themselves off as French), to laugh out loud terrible (Jovovich – is there really any need to say more? - and Orlando Bloom, who has become fashionable to bash, but honestly is not without talent, and showed in the “THE LORD OF THE RINGS” and “PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN” that he could fight like a modern day Errol Flynn. Here he is reduced to prancing around like a fop, doing an a vague, unidentifiable accent (the Duke of Buckingham can't be British, after all – the French are British!) and delivering lines such as “Athos, as I recall, the last time we met you were down on your knees as well.” But the most jaw dropping performance comes from Oscar winner Christophe Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”) as Richelieu. Waltz is clearly very aware that the material is beneath contempt, and that he is there to add prestige and pick up a fat paycheck, and proves once again to be a major addition to the Hollywood elite by, in only a few years time, giving up and churning out the same kind of half hearted, “eh, you still like me because I was good in that one movie you liked” style of utterly lifeless performance that it took Robert De Niro decades to perfect.

The only consent Anderson made to restraint was leaving the “D” out of the title following the word “Three,” and in truth, the 3D is actually pretty good, and the only reason to watch the film. But in an age when everything is made in 3D, this is hardly a selling point. If you want a Three Musketeers that leaves you satisfied, buy a candy bar.

So that's my list of Turkeys, and if you haven't seen any of these films, then you truly have something to be thankful for this year. 

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: A +

Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker, Julia Stiles

Base on the novel by Matthew Quick

Screenplay by David O. Russell

Directed by David O. Russell

Director David O. Russell is, historically speaking, not the easiest guy to get along with in Hollywood. On the set of his 1999 film Three Kings he and George Clooney got into an argument over Russel's treatment of an extra that lead to the two men literally choking each other, and his fight with Lily Tomlin during rehearsals for I Heart Huckabees in a Youtube mainstay. Most recently Russell made a strong comeback with The Fighter, in which he re teamed with Mark Wahlberg . . . who then had a major falling out with Russell over the fact that the director opted to cast Bradley Cooper instead of Wahlberg in the lead role in The Silver Linings Playbook.

In all likelihood, Russell was not very tactful in how he handled things, but he made the right choice, and once again, this difficult but monumentally gifted artist has also made a terrific film. In fact, it may well be my choice for the best film of 2012. The Silver Linings Playbook is a heartfelt, engaging, joyous, touching comedy-drama-romance that deals sensitively yet hilariously with issues such as bipolar disorder, depression, medication and violent mood swings, and it's also the first time in years I've seen a romance that I actually cared about.

Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) has lost everything – his house, his job, and his wife. He now finds himself living back with his mother (Jacki Weaver) and father (Robert De Niro) after spending eight months in a state institution on a plea bargain after beating up the man he found committing adultery with his wife, Nikki. Pat is determined to rebuild his life, remain positive and reunite with his Nikki, despite the challenging circumstances of their separation. All Pat's wants is for Pat to get back on his feet. Meanwhile, Pat's father is convinced that his recent returned prodigal son is a good luck charm that will help him win big on the large bets he is placing on Philadelphia Eagles games.

But when Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) a young woman with problems of her own, things get complicated Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he'll do something very important for her in return. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

The performances are more than good – they are nothing short of perfect. Cooper, a charismatic and talented actor who is often wasted in terrible films and has only once before been cast in something Oscar caliber (The A-Team) is nothing short of brilliant as Pat. This is a guy with real problems, and it's not always easy to like him, but throughout the film, you genuinely love him and root for him even when he's driving you crazy. He's easily the goofiest and most interesting protagonist in a mainstream Hollywood film in quite some time.

But the Oscar performance here is Jennifer Lawrence, who has been nominated once before (and should have won) for Winter's Bone. Her quirky portrayal of a tormented soul seeking happiness while manipulating others and allowing herself to be manipulated is a tour de force that mixes indelible strength with raw vulnerability. If I were De Niro's character in this film, I'd bet everything on Lawrence, because she WILL walk away with an Oscar this year. Ans speaking of De Niro, the brilliant choice made by Russell to actually wake the aging icon up before shooting really pays off, as we remember why it is this guy's name is synonymous with acting.

But still, getting a strong performance from De Niro may not seem impressive – but Russell also achieves the impossible by getting a restrained and likable performance from (I can't believe I'm saying this) CHRIS TUCKER. Now, understand, I've devoted a good portion of my life to hating Chris Tucker, and he is the only actor that I will flat out refuse to see a movie because of his presence, but because of the rest of the film's pedigree I broke my rule, and was delighted to discover that not only does he not ruin the film, he genuinely adds to it. And if that's not the mark of brilliant actor's director, I don't know what is.

In the end, this is a perfect match of writer-director to material, and it's hard to escape the feelings that Russell is more at home with these characters than most (indeed, he has publicly stated that it was important to be accurate in his portrayal of Bipolar disorder because his own son suffers from it.). As a writer, Russell gives us bitingly witty, he rapid fire dialogue that is as funny as it is profound, and this is likely to be up there with films like As Good As It Gets for quotability. And as a director, he manages to turn a dance contest into the most entertaining action sequence of the year.

The Silver Linings Playbook is a triumph from beginning to end, and I could see it a hundred times without ever getting bored, and walk away each time with a feeling of joy and rejuvenation. This is new addition to my all time favorites list.

To quote Pat, “Excelsior!”

The Silver Linings Playbook is rated R for a great deal of profanity, vulgarity, sex, partial nudity, and some violence.

RISE OF THE GUARDIANS

S

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE: A

Rise of the Guardians is a simple idea, adapted from a series of books (with the much better title Guardians of Childhood): take Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and other such characters, and turn them into The Avengers. How you react to this premise may determine how you react to the movie. In my case, I had the same idea when I was a kid, and have always wanted to either see it or make it.. Fortunately, I’m very satisfied with this version.

            The Guardians are a group of legendary figures who watch over and protect the children of the world. They are lead by North (Santa Claus, played by Alec Baldwin, sporting an Eastern European accent), The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman, sporting his own Australian accent, Isla Fisher (American accent) and The Sandman (no voice). The Man In The Moon, their own personal Nick Fury, decides they need another Guardian, and the mischievous Jack Frost (Chris Pine) is chosen to join them in their fight against the Bogeyman (Jude Law).

            While the early section feels a bit rushed, perhaps from trying to cram too many books into one short movie, when the movie kicks into gear it’s as funny and thrilling as most of the better superhero blockbusters, with dazzling action and animation, and a supremely clever story. All of the voice actors distinguish themselves especially Pine, in arguably his most charming turn yet. The movie is also extremely touching, and I freely admit I’ve been reduced to tears on both viewings. Director Peter Ramsey has fashioned a terrific holiday fantasy (with the help of visual consultants Guillermo Del Toro and Roger Deakins), and DreamWorks Animation follows its new How To Train Your Dragon model to create one of their best movies. It’s a fun, warm-heartedly, action-packed and funny fantasy that may give Disney’s excellent Wreck-It-Ralph some serious competition, and bodes very well for DreamWorks future. The days of smirky pop culture references and pop music have given way to  imaginative and somewhat dark fantasy, and it’s a refreshing change.

            Parents be warned, however: The Bogeyman (or “Pitch” as he is called) is played as the embodiment of childhood fear and nightmares, and he may be too scary for some young children. Use discretion. For everyone else, it’s a great time, and is worth including as part of your holiday season.

LINCOLN

LINCOLN

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE: A+

I am an unabashed, die hard Spielberg fan, so most who know me would expect me to like his latest film. Even more so when you add the fact that I had two childhood heroes: Spielberg, and Abraham Lincoln. So it’s not likely to come as much of a surprise when I say that it will be very difficult for anything to dethrone Lincoln as my pick for best film of 2012 (for the record, I do not always pick Spielberg’s film. Only once in the entire decade of the 2000’s did I pick Spielberg’s film as my #1 (Munich in 2005). But Lincoln is so exceptional on just about every level that it would definitely earns the distinction (barring an end of the year surprise).

            Instead of trying to cover Lincoln’s entire life, Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner have wisely chosen to focus on the final three months of  his presidency. In particular, the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, solidifying Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, thereby permanently ending slavery. Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) has support from abolitionist Senator Thaddeus Stephens (Tommy Lee Jones), Secretary of State William Seward, and three shady characters (played by James Spader, John Hawkes and Tim Blake Nelson) who they have hired to persuade conservative Republicans and just enough Democrats to get the bill passed.  Most of the film is a rather in depth, procedural look at how this process is accomplished. This is easily the talkiest film of Spielberg’s career, easily surpassing it’s closest cinematic cousin, his 1997 slavery drama Amistad, which was broken up by rousing action scenes, montages and other flourish. Fortunately, Kushner’s screenplay is so full of wit, heart and intelligence that it never ceases to be fascinating.  I will resist the temptation to view it through the lens of today’s politics and ad my thoughts as to who is metaphorically who, though it is a difficult task to do so.

The cast is certainly one of the best Spielberg has ever assembled. Daniel Day-Lewis gives what may be the performance of his legendary career, creating what I believe will come to be known as the definitive portrayal of the 16^th President, bringing him to life so vividly it’s hard to remember there’s an actor in there. As intense and moving as ever, Day-Lewis also creates a character so intensely likable that it reminded me or the classic performances of Tom Hanks than it did Day-Lewis’ most famous roles. From his political shrewdness to his folksy storytelling to his personal struggles, every aspect of Lincoln’s character is portrayed perfectly. It seems an absurd formality to even bother with other nominees for the Best Actor Oscar (even when actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Bradley Cooper have done excellent work this year).  This is THE performance of 2012.

            As if that weren’t enough, the supporting cast shines.  Tommy Lee Jones does some of his best work since his Oscar-winning turn in  The Fugitive, stealing every scene he’s in ass he expertly delivers all of Kushner’s best lines, and moving us greatly with scenes of Stephens' personal life. Sally Field is exceptional as the emotionally fragile Mary Todd Lincoln, perhaps the most challenging role in the film. And James Spader is hilarious as W.N. Bilbo, the most weasely of the “vote-getters”. David Straithairn is excellent as always, and such talented performers as Hal Holbrook, David Oyelowo, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Gloria Reuben also have moments to add greatly to the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt also contributes yet another strong turn in the small role of Lincoln’s oldest son, Robert.  

            Perhaps Spielberg’s greatest accomplishment as director of the film is to recognize that this is an actor’s movie, and to keep his direction more low-key and unobtrusive than  we’re used to seeing from him. Spielberg has been flirting with doing a performance-based film since 2002’s Catch Me If You Can,  but he’s recently headed back to more visual, director driven fare like War Horse.  The director I perhaps most saw echoed here was the great Milos Forman, who, in his classics Amadeus and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, combined the best elements of the mediums of film and live theatre, and that’s what Spielberg, a cinematic legend who also happens to be a stage enthusiast, has done here. The fact that the film is actor driven shouldn’t leave the false impression that Spielberg’s exquisite eye for framing or fluidity of camera movement is absent. Merely that it takes a backseat to the phenomenal acting this time out. If I were to voice one minor quibble with Spielberg’s direction, it would be that, as he is sometimes wont to do, he has arguably stretched out the denouement longer than strictly necessary (though it will take me further viewing to decide for certain if I feel this way). But, as he has so often done in the past, just when people are beginning to wonder if he’s run out of new tricks, he stretches himself again.

        Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski does gorgeous work with natural lighting, and editor Michael Kahn creates nearly as much excitement and suspense from the scene of the final vote as he did with the feats of Indiana Jones. And of course John Williams’ musical score is first-rate.

So, without even pretending to be impartial, I rank Lincoln as an instant classic, a film that I look forward to seeing again and again until I have it memorized word for word and shot for shot. As someone who feels he has been waiting for this film his whole life, I wasn’t disappointed. This ranks alongside Glory as one of my two favorite Civil War era films, and is hands down my favorite cinematic portrayal of an American President.

Lincoln is rated PG-13 for a battle scene, a graphic recreation of an army hospital, a few harsh words (especially from Spader’s character), and adult themes. While I feel this could have gone either way as a PG-13 or an R, for those more squeamish viewers I submit that it’s easily one of the most inspiring and uplifting films to come along in quite some time, and it worth the disturbing content. 

SKYFALL

Reviewed by Patrick Gibbs

GRADE: A+

Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, Ben Whishaw  

Screenplay by Neil Puvis & Robert Wade and John Logan

Directed by Same Mendes

The best things in life are worth waiting for.

The latest Bond film was canceled once, and spent some time in limbo. It's taken a while to come to fruition in an age when sequels are in development before the previous film has wrapped. But all that waiting has paid off.

 Casino Royale breathed new life into the stale in the James Bond franchise. A series that probably should have ended decades ago and spared us Diamonds Are Forever and nearly all of the Roger Moore movies was back with a vengeance, and better than ever. Indeed, Royale may have been Bond at his absolute best.

The rushed and under thought Quantum of Solace, sadly, was not. It wasn’t terrible, but it was not as good as the first two Brosnan films, or even License To Kill. It wasn’t so much a movie as it was a sloppy epilogue, and the presence of director Martin Campbell, who rejuvenated Bond not once, but twice, with Casino Royale and GoldenEye before it, was sorely missed. Bond needed to do something daring again.

            Enter Mr. Daring himself, Academy Award Winning director Sam Mendes, who helms Skyfall with an expertise that once again raises Bond to a whole new level. Mendes, helped along by a script by John Logan, who most recently gave us Hugo, gets great performances, deeper characterizations, and action that ranges from delightfully over the top to startlingly intense.

The film begins with a spectacular teaser sequence, as always. As the trailers have given away, Bond appears to be killed on this mission, but, after lying low for a while, resurfaces when he learns that identities of covert agents around the world have been compromised and a bomb blast destroys MI6.

He returns to what is left of the organization, with no small amount of irritation at his boss M (Judi Dench) for ordering an agent to fire the shot that nearly killed him. In addition, there's no small amount of awkwardness in his relationship with Eve (Naomi Harris), the rookie agent who actually fired the shot. In addition, a British Official named Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) is looking over everyone’s shoulders, waiting for Bond and M to mess up, and Bond is introduced to a new – and very young – Quartermaster, or “Q” (Ben Whishaw, last seen in Cloud Atlas.)

From here we go into the obligatory jaunt around the world in search of a villain, but just when we become convinced we’ve seen this all before, Mendes pulls the rug out from under us and gives us perhaps the most original and different film in the history of the franchise, and certainly the one with the best performances. Daniel Craig adds to impressive list of accomplishments being the first Bond to make me cry, and Judi Dench is finally, at long last, fully utilized as a character. Add to that the thrilling performance by Javier Bardem as a villain that echoes Ricardo Montalban's Khan and Heath Ledger’s Joker, plus the welcome presence of Fiennes (who, ironically, turned down the role of Bond in GoldenEye), and the delightful and underrated Harris, and you have a truly stellar ensemble.

But make no mistake, the stars of this film are Sam Mendes and director of photography Roger Deakins, perhaps the finest hand with a camera working today. This is a visually perfect movie, whether we’re watching backhoes fighting trains or quiet character moments framed and lit to atmospheric perfection.

The only downside to Skyfall is the question of whether the next film can live up to the standard set by it. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

Skyfall is rated PG-13 for violence, sex, and mild profanity.

WRECK-IT-RALPH

WRECK-IT-RALPH

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE: A+

I only had moderate expectations for Wreck-It-Ralph. The trailers were pretty good, but not really great. Disney’s non-Pixar CG efforts have improved each time out, but I’m not a big video game fan, so I suspected I would be less than completely engaged by the world of the movie. But Wreck-It-Ralph not only far exceeded my expectations, it managed to be better than even my highest hopes for it.

            The title character (voiced by Jon C. Reilly) is the villain in the video game Fix-it-Felix Jr, and has grown weary of the thankless role of villain, wanting to be loved, appreciated, and included. Ralph makes the bold move to venture into other video games in his arcade (despite the knowledge that dying in another game means actual death, without regeneration), and his adventures take him to a sci-fi action game called Hero’s Duty and a kiddie racing game called Sugar Rush, where he reluctantly joins forces with a “glitch” called Vannellope Von Schweetz (voiced by Sarah Silverman). The jokes are fast and furious, in a way that recalls the Toy Story films. Director Rich Moore and his screenwriters create an interesting and hilarious interconnected video game world that runs the gamut from the old school Atari and arcade games of the 1980s, to the modern “story” and first-person shooter games of today. And they never lose sight of the heart, character and story that make the film work. Pixar head John Lassetter’s influence on Disney has never been quite so easy to spot. In fact, it’s ironic that, while  this year’s Pixar movie Brave had a very Disney-esque feel, Wreck-It-Ralph feels very Pixar. It may not be quite as perfect as the Toy Story movies, but it’s so funny, so touching and so dazzling that I was immediately ready to rush out and see it again.

            The voice cast is uniformly excellent (other roles are played by Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk, doing his best impersonation of former Disney mainstay Ed Wynn), and it’s nice to see an animated film where the voices are chosen more for their ability to create interesting characters than to provide star power.   The characters are well developed enough to draw us into the film and make us care about them, as we do in all of the best Disney and Pixar creations. And there is a broad enough variety of humor to render the question of “what if I don’t get the video game references?” question moot.

            Wreck-It-Ralph is sure to be one of the most entertaining films of the holiday movie season, and a new animated classic. Don’t miss it.

FLIGHT

FLIGHT

Reviewed by Paul Gibbs

GRADE: B+

I was extremely excited about the pairing of Denzel Washington and director Robert Zemeckis. So much so that it probably gave me the wrong expectations for Flight.  I was hoping for a film that moved me and inspired me in the way that Forrest Gump and Cast Away did, and I wanted to love Washington’s character the way I loved the characters played by Tom Hanks in those films. Flight is not that kind of movie at all. There’s a lot to admire here, but it has to be approached without any expectation of the kind of crowd pleasing movie most fans expect from Zemeckis.

            Washington plays “Whip” Whittaker, a divorced airline pilot. As we first meet him, he’s in bed with a flight attendant, and doing cocaine to help him get over the effects of the copious amounts of alcohol he’s been  drinking  so he can be up for the flight he’s piloting that morning. As you can probably guess, no airlines cooperated in the making of this film.  When Whittaker’s plane experiences catastrophic equipment failure, Whittaker brilliantly and heroically manages a crash landing that saves the vast majority of the more than 200 people on board.  He’s immediately and rightly hailed for saving the day. But, regardless of the fact that it was equipment trouble that caused the crash, and that Whittaker’s feat of flying was amazing, the toxin reports still show that he had enough alcohol in his blood stream to qualify him as a private club in the state of Utah.  The bulk of the film is spent with Whittaker’s legal team working to get him out of this mess, while Whittaker wrestles with his demons and begins a relationship with a fellow alcoholic/addict (Kelly Reilly, Mrs. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films).

            Denzel Washington is truly great actor, and his work here is a compelling and disturbing portrait of a brilliant man who has thrown his life away on booze and drugs. I tend to struggle with Washington in unsympathetic roles, because I inherently want to like him. It’s  more or less impossible to like Whip Whittaker  He’s a selfish, self-destructive fool. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a very impressive performance, but it makes for a film that’s not terribly enjoyable to watch. Washington is surrounded  by a strong supporting cast. Reilly does good work, as do Bruce Greenwood, Don Cheadle, and the always reliable John Goodman. But the film is hands down stolen from all of them in a one scene cameo by James Badge Dale (probably most remembered as Jack Bauer's partner in Season 3 of 24) as an eccentric and smart-alecky cancer patient in the hospital where Whittaker goes after the crash.

No other director wows me more with his mastery of the camera and the various technical and visual elements of film than Zemeckis. He is the master of the “money shot”, but in a way that never takes me away from the story or characters. His direction of the crash is as impressive as the one he gave us in Cast Away, and throughout I found myself impressed by the work he and cinematographer Don Burgess were doing, and the skill with which editor Jeremiah O’Driscoll was cutting it together. And I feel that Zemeckis is seriously underrated as a director of actors (not just Tom Hanks), and this marks some of the most subtle characterization he’s given us. But, ultimately, for me, it didn't rank with Zemeckis' best films. A lot of this is because it’s simply grueling to watch 2 hours and 20 minutes of Whittaker descending into worse and worse self-destructive behavior. And it often feels like Zemeckis may be too preoccupied with showing us that he’s not limited to uplifting feel-good films by piling on the harsh R-rated content. I feel that Flight offers a truthful and often compelling portrait of addiction, but in the end  I’m not really sure how much that was needed in a world where movies like Leaving Las Vegas and Affliction already exist. Perhaps the value is that this is a big budget, mainstream film with a major star and a dazzling action/effects sequence, and may be seen more than those were. I know the film has me reluctant to even walk past a cooler of beer in a store.

Flight adds to my considerable respect for the outstanding talents of Denzel Washington and Robert Zemeckis.  If you can handle the harshness of the content and the bleakness of the story, there’s much to admire for students of acting and filmmaking. General audiences aren't likely to find a lot to enjoy. As a Zemeckis completeist, this will end up on my shelf eventually, but it’s not going to get anything like the kind of play that Back to the Future or Forrest Gump do.

Flight is rated R for profanity, violence, sex, nudity, alcohol and drug use.