THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Press Conference

L to R: Jamie Bell as Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock, producer Peter Jackson and director Steven Spielberg.

The press conference for THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN was held on Saturday, December 10^th in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York's Columbus Circle, in a conference room offering a sweeping view of Central Park. On the panel sat director Steven Spielberg, producer Kathleen Kennedy, special effects supervisor Joe Letteri, actor Jamie Bell (who plays the title character) and actor Nick Frost, who plays one of the two bumbling Thompson detectives.

There was an excitement in the air over the presence of one of — if not the — most influential directors of the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. So while most questions were aimed at Spielberg, being the gracious man that he is, he would steer questions, attention and compliments to his co-panelists. (And the articulate and thoughtful director was so fascinating to listen to that I'm including many of his quotes in toto, with only a few snips here and there.)

The first question concerned the painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell. What inspired Spielberg's passion to collect his work, and how have his images inspired his films, especially TINTIN?

"Norman Rockwell has been one of my favorite artists over the years, and I was raised with [him], because when I was a kid we used to get the Saturday Evening Post… I realized the old cliché that one picture is worth a thousand words, which is really true with Rockwell. His images just spoke volumes about America, family, community, religion, faith… When I first started collecting art, the first art I collected was Rockwell. And [George Lucas and I] had a very successful exhibit at the Smithsonian. You probably are seeing images that remind you of Rockwell in TINTIN only because of… the color palette and because it's bright… Rockwell always painted very, very vivid paintings, and also because I will allow the camera sometimes in just a simple frame to say a lot about what’s going on inside the story."

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THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Review (3 out of 5 stars)

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN, one of two highly anticipated Spielberg movies to come out this Christmas season — the other being the WWI-epic, WAR HORSE — sets a high mark for motion capture animation and provides moments of visual ecstasy on the big screen. An extraordinary level of attention was paid to every pixel-sized detail and the three-dimensional adaptation of the fresh-faced, wholesome boy reporter from the 20^th century comic books, with his trademark shock of red hair.

Perhaps it's due to the screenplay’s combination of elements from three (and arguably more) of the original books (The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure), but the film's sprawling, international storyline challenges our comprehension. And some of the action scenes — as with too many modern, big-budget adventure films — are so replete with CGI and swooping camera work that it can be hard to discern what's going on those high-adrenaline moments as well...

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HUGO Press Conference

The press conference for Martin Scorsese's HUGO took place on a recent Saturday morning at the Ritz Carlton in Manhattan’s Central Park South, a light and happy affair centered around a film that obviously delighted both cast and crew. And not just because they got to work with one of the greatest living filmmakers, but to shine a light on the life and work of Georges Méliès, the pioneering director of hundreds of early twentieth century films. Méliès shot three of his little silent masterpieces each week in a glass-enclosed studio by day while also performing magic shows at night. The storyline is an adaptation of Brian Selznick’s award-winning 2007 bestselling illustrated novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret (A Novel in Words and Pictures).

On the panel were Asa Butterfield (THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS), Chloë Grace Moretz (LET ME IN), Sacha Baron Cohen (BORAT), Sir Ben Kingsley (SHUTTER ISLAND), Emily Mortimer (SHUTTER ISLAND), Hugo Cabret author Brian Selznick and co-producers John Logan and Graham King. And while Martin (or "Marty," as everyone referred to him) Scorsese's absence was noted, there was no lack of enthusiastic discussion about working with the fabled director.

Méliès's whimsical filmmaking style lost favor with moviegoers as World War I began to take its toll on Paris and the rest of the world. Losing his fortune, burning his costumes and sets and selling his films to be melted down for chemical use, he  ultimately wound up behind the counter of a toy store in the Montparnasse train station, where he languished for years in depression. But his contributions to film were rediscovered in the '30's, and he was properly celebrated in Parisian society before his death in 1938. It's this rediscovery and rehabilitation of the man and his work that HUGO partly covers...

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ANONYMOUS Review (2 out of 5 stars)

I felt lost throughout ANONYMOUS: its editing is a train wreck, and its characters (and their loyalties) are easy to confuse, since they're referred to interchangeably by their titles and names. The roles of England's neighboring countries (Ireland, Spain, France) are perplexing. And the story's so poorly written, I couldn't keep track of who the actual genius playwright in the story was supposed to be, given the film's allegation that Shakespeare was a fraud.

The idea that Shakespeare didn’t write the material attributed to him is an interesting theory to ponder, but Sir Derek Jacobi's onstage soliloquy (as part of a modern, fictionalized play — Anonymous — presaging the tale to unfold) fails to support the claim with adequate context. Is this fantasy — an Oliver Stone-like conspiracy theory reshuffling of history for entertainment’s sake? Or is it credible speculation based on scholarly facts? You’ll have no idea if you didn’t read up ahead of time. And while the gaps in what we know of the great bard's life story may call his authorship into question, negatives still don't prove a positive — this abstrusely detailed "what if" is made up of guesses, coincidences and fictions...

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THE SKIN I LIVE IN Review (4 out of 5 stars)

We see a woman in a body stocking receive her meal by dumb waiter in a hermetically sealed room. Is she suffering from a rare disease? Is she a wealthy eccentric? Thus begins the torrent of questions you'll inevitably have in the opening moments of THE SKIN I LIVE IN, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar's newest creation.

The sprawling tale of murder, revenge, passion and surgical nightmares it unspools — from present day to years ago and back again — will answer each in time, drip drip. And while the big twist, which is one for the books, is presented in a less plausible way than can be imagined (which robs SKIN of some of its power), you're sure to be riveted, the marvelously unique story ensnaring you in a sticky web. Unsurprisingly, Spain's award-laden director has again summoned so much cream-of-the-crop talent to his side, including a trio of his favorite actors from work past...

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THE THING Review (2 out of 5 stars)

Finally, here it is: the prequel to John Carpenter's cult-classic 1982 horror film, the identically titled THE THING. The new one doesn't quite match up in quality, and its marketing materials' giveaway of so many adrenaline-pumping surprises doesn't help matters. (So don't watch them beforehand.) But it does cleverly and methodically set the stage for the Carpenter film, itself a remake of 1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, based on John W. Campbell Jr.'s 1938 novella, Who Goes There?

In the '82 film, an American team explores the burned-out wreckage of a Norwegian camp — the prequel tells the Norwegians' story, and it ends with the Carpenter film's iconic beginning, in which a Norwegian helicopter chases the alien (in wolf form) to the American outpost.

At the start of Dutch director Matthijs van Heijningen's feature film debut, the Norwegians follow an ominous radio signal into the wilds of Antarctica until their vehicle crashes through the ice, lodges in a crevasse and illuminates a spacecraft below.

Enter young paleontologist Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, listening to Huey Lewis in the one sign that this is the 80's). The Norwegians recruit Kate to help extract the craft's survivor from the ice nearby, its talons just visible beneath the surface. They haul it to camp, where cocky lead scientist Dr. Halvorson (Ulrich Thomsen) drills through the ice it's encased in for a tissue sample. Which is a bad move: the resulting cracks and building's higher temperature enable the beast to break free and begin to stalk, absorb and then replicate the camp's international denizens one by one. And so this team of Norwegian, American, French and British scientists and their helpers must carry out the nerve-wracking task of rooting out and destroying the alien within their ranks...

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TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL Review (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

TUCKER AND DALE is a spoof on college-kid-slasher movies – the FRIDAY THE 13TH films (all fifty-six of them), CABIN FEVER, even BLAIR WITCH – and, like most of those, becomes boringly predictable from early on. Still, Tyler Labine (as Dale) and Alan Tudyk (as Tucker) have a ball playing the title characters, a duo of lovable hillbillies upending an all too often grotesque stereotype in popular entertainment. It's them and their hilarious one-liners that make my recollection of the film a bit warmer than I actually felt watching it in the theater; they alone could make this B-movie a cult classic.

The two are best buds in the West Virginian Appalachians and thrilled to spend some much-needed vacation time in a dilapidated, lakeside shack in the woods forty miles outside town. While stocking up on supplies at the local store – the drawling owner reads out their list of hilariously sinister purchases, which include a machete and chainsaw -- they encounter a gaggle of obnoxious, entitled college kids. The frat-tastic, boorish males and boobalicious, ditzy cheerleader types get an immediate, negative impression of the sweet-natured duo when Dale approaches them, cluelessly, with a Grim Reaper scythe in hand and asks between anxious giggles, "You guys goin' campin'?" His pseudo-psycho behavior is Tucker’s fault however, who gave him the questionable advice to hide his nervousness around women with laughter...

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TAKE SHELTER Review (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)

The wonderfully unique and beautifully shot TAKE SHELTER features performances by two gifted actors and images that will stay with you well beyond the theater. It's not easy to watch – the main character, Curtis (Michael Shannon) wakes gasping from nightmares of apocalyptic scenarios, people scrabbling for his daughter and leviathan-sized storms, and his life and relationships spiral from the envy of others to what may be the undiagnosed beginnings of schizophrenia. Indeed, the movie teeters on the brink of madness or annihilation or both, framed by a foreboding score full of weird, discordant notes, Curtis's agitation and spaced-out distraction, news of a chemical spill nearby and visions of birds falling from the sky, levitating furniture and furious twisters materializing on the horizon.

Working-class Curtis LaForche has a beautiful, loving wife Samantha (the incredible Jessica Chastain) and a six year-old, deaf daughter Hannah. His horrifying dreams seem to carry over into his waking life as he shudders at nonexistent thunderclaps or experiences excruciating pain from a dog bite that never actually happened. All these events convince him that doom is nigh. So he prepares for it, but doesn’t inform Samantha, first buying a shipping crate and then burying it in the back yard while she's selling hand-stitched wares at a local fair. He sinks every last bit of the already struggling family's savings into the underground shelter, and then takes a risky home loan to continue to finance it. He stocks up on canned food and gas masks. He installs electricity and plumbing and spends his nights there, eyes shut tight in thought. Hell does eventually break loose – not with the weather but those close to him, and most of all the woman he loves, in pain over being misled then ignored.

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50/50 Review (4-1/2 out of 5 stars)

50/50 successfully navigates a very tricky line between pathos and humor – and nails them both in the process. Joseph Gordon-Levitt knocks it out of the park as the main character Adam (possible Oscar nod, I'm thinking), Seth Rogen is wonderful as his loudmouth pal and Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Huston and Bryce Dallas Howard each rock in their respective roles. The film smacks of recognizable realness (especially when compared to another recent hipster-with-a-tumor show, Gus Van Sant's RESTLESS – which this leaves in the dust). It offers a new and refreshing take on cancer diagnosis and the daily, often banal squirms and struggles to follow, in a way that’s neither condescending nor sentimental nor cutesy. And the humor is delightful. It's even got a fantastic soundtrack. This "cancer comedy" – an idea that sounds so dreadful on its face – really wowed me in the end.

It's inspired by a true story, and written by the real-life Adam – Will Reiser – who's actually buddies with Rogen, meaning the latter reenacted his experiences. Adam is a writer for Seattle Public Radio, a cute, self-effacing, mellow guy thrown for a loop when the source of his back pain is revealed to be a tumor growing along his spine -- he thought it was due to his positions during sex. "I don’t smoke. I don’t drink… I recycle?" Alas, his cancer’s genetic.

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PUNCTURE Review (2 out of 5 stars)

PUNCTURE provides a great service in documenting the corruption surrounding an innocuous-sounding but important medical device: the safety syringe. Yet in the hands of a first-time screenwriter and co-directors, this cinematic retelling of the late Houston attorney Mike Weiss's (Chris Evans) gripping, uphill battle with insidious corporate forces in the late 90's falls into such an instantly recognizable formula that much of its entertainment potential is lost.

It begins with Vicky (Vinessa Shaw), a pretty, young local ER nurse, who accidentally sticks herself with a needle while attempting to sedate a shaking PCP addict. Then flash forward three years to the shirtless, rippled CAPTAIN AMERICA physique of Chris Evans as hotshot personal injury lawyer Weiss, snorting coke and speed-talking through a case in his hotel room.

And… I'm already bored. (And tempted to call their number, 1-888-GOT-PAIN.) It's already crystal clear that Evans is the anti-hero meant to grow on me (didn't happen) as he slugs away for justice. Tony Goldwyn's CONVICTION (2010) comes to mind, another gripping, true underdog story (Hilary Swank vs. small-town police corruption) and also sadly reduced to mediocrity. But similar to ERIN BROCKOVICH or THE CONSTANT GARDENER, PUNCTURE faces off with nasty, behemoth corporations – yet feels like a retread from the get-go.

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RESTLESS Review (2 out of 5 stars)

This prettily shot, sweetly performed film about dying young suffers due to a simplistic script, despite the proven talents of two-time Oscar-nominated director (for MILK and GOOD WILL HUNTING) Gus Van Sant.

Enoch Brae (Henry Hopper) is a handsome young teen heartthrob type with tussled blonde locks and self-consciously hip, vintage outfits (i.e. poseur). While brooding in a double-breasted black suit, outsized collar and pocket watch at a funeral, he's busted by unfazed hipster mourner Annabel Cotton (Mia Wasikowska) for crashing the proceedings. She too is a pretty, skinny blonde delighting in duds from decades past, her pixie do reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn or another Mia, in ROSEMARY'S BABY. And so they begin crashing funerals together, which we're meant to find cute but to me felt insensitive and mocking of people's pain; that they're young and foolish and it's their own coping mechanism for personal tragedies is no excuse.

These two eccentric model-types engage in a sweet, first-time romance over the course of the coming autumn, each finding solace in the other's similarly close acquaintanceship with mortality, between his coma following a car accident that killed his parents and Annabel's mere three months left to live due to a brain tumor.

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DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME Review (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

This Chinese murder mystery (with a title that sounds like a Scooby Doo episode — ruh roh) and wannabe epic positively bursts at the seams with nonstop hand-to-hand combat, often on a phony-looking stage set or framed by inexpert CGI. Unlike its lineup of far superior kung fu predecessors over the past decade-plus — CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON; HERO; HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, even May's TRUE LEGEND — DEE’s lack of compelling characters and abstruse storyline had me primarily wondering when it would end. The title character is based on legendary Tang Dynasty official Di Renjie, a real-life judge known in every Chinese household today and made famous in the West in the mid-twentieth century by Robert van Gulik’s Judge Dee novels.

The fictional story's setup informs us that it's 689 in the city of Luoyang. A series of bizarre deaths — in which victims spontaneously burst into flame — prompts the wise Empress Wu (Carina Lau) to release her political prisoner, Detective Dee (Andy Lau, of 2004’s HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS), with the proviso that he crack the case. The victims are all involved in the ongoing construction of a skyscraper-sized Buddhist statue, the official unveiling of which is timed to coincide with Wu's inauguration as China’s first female emperor. She assigns her trusted bodyguard Jing (Li Bingbing) to keep an eye on the p.i.

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OUR IDIOT BROTHER (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

The spontaneity of the moments captured by OUR IDIOT BROTHER's outtakes, shown during the closing credits, in no way resemble the insipid and even insulting blather of the film itself. IDIOT is another ham-handed attempt to throw together a lengthy list of famous faces (I'm looking at you, VALENTINE'S DAY) in a bland cavalcade of cinematic clichés and flat characterizations. It's yet another corporatized, profit-maximized "comedy" showing neither ingenuity nor insight and barely qualifying as entertainment.

Paul Rudd — an actor whose innately clever sense of humor always emerges in unscripted interviews but is all too rarely displayed in his abysmal choice of films — plays Ned, a sunny, oblivious hippie type who naively asks a stranger on the subway to hold his cash. After serving an eight-month jail sentence for selling dope to an undercover cop (in a clear case of entrapment, if you ask me), he couch surfs with each of three sisters while working, not terribly hard, to get his life back on track.

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FRIGHT NIGHT (2 out of 5 stars)

This predictable, paint-by-the-numbers remake of the scarier '85 cult classic is chock full of moments that may have proven suspenseful or hilarious had they not been so sloppily timed. Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin and David Tennant's characters are all dreadfully dull, the dialogue is trite and multiple details go unexplained in a script not too different from the original (with a few modern touches such as iPhone apps and Real Housewives), yet still somehow worse.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a semi-geeky teen in puce-colored sneakers living in a remote desert McNeighborhood bordering Las Vegas. Imogen Poots plays his gorgeous girlfriend Amy, and unlike most nerd-and-a-hot-girl film items, they're believable together. His spurned childhood friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) rightly suspects a vampire behind the growing number of classmates' disappearances, a disparity not necessarily easy to gauge given the many strippers and other nocturnal entertainers who hide away in the daytime.

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5 DAYS OF WAR (4 out of 5 stars)

5 DAYS OF WAR astounded me, especially considering its mere $20 million budget (per IMDB), lack of stateside publicity and disappointing marketing materials. (A badly Photoshopped poster and heavy metal-fueled trailer framing it as a run-of-the-mill blow-'em-up.) The Georgian army apparently gave director Renny Harlin — known for big-budget action flicks like DIE HARD 2 and CLIFFHANGER — free use of their tanks, helicopters, jets, guns and even military personnel, contributing greatly to a vastly entertaining, horrifying war film.

Documenting a five-day war in the summer of 2008 that few Americans were fully aware of due to round-the-clock Olympic coverage coming out of Beijing, the movie also serves as a worthy tribute to war correspondents who risk their lives to communicate urgent news to the world, a sacrifice all too easily taken for granted. Indeed, the film is dedicated to the more than 500 reporters who've perished in action over the past decade.

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THE HELP (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)

Based on Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel, THE HELP is an unexpectedly amusing film about a segment of American history rarely explored on the big screen: the daily lives of African-American maids in the segregated South.

The story pulls you in from the get-go and may make you shed tears as its misty moments increase proportionally to the characters' raised stakes. Some performances are sure to receive recognition come Oscar season, although the one character who’s lacking — and my primary complaint about the film as a whole — is Emma Stone's "Skeeter," a sort of Erin Brockovich without the sex appeal.

The year is 1963 and Eugenia Phelan (a.k.a. Skeeter) has returned home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from Ole Miss with a journalism degree. She moves in with her ailing mother Charlotte (Allison Janney), hiding the effects of chemo with an array of ugly wigs and determined to marry off her only daughter before she dies.

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GOOD NEIGHBORS Review (1 out of 5 stars)

Given GOOD NEIGHBORS' fiercely unlikeable characters, weak stabs at black humor and dour, predictable film noir sensibilities, the real mystery here is why it didn’t head directly to DVD.

Despite its gray, snowy bleakness, perhaps the film's one redeeming quality is its Montreal setting in 1995, during Quebec’s failed referendum for independence; unfortunately though we get little sense of the tumult on the ground.

Louise, (Emily Hampshire) a bland, depressed thirty-something waitress at a Chinese restaurant, has a crush on her neighbor, sunny Spencer (Scott Speedman), always inexplicably grinning despite being stuck in his apartment, paralyzed in a wheel chair. They soon become pals with the geeky new tenant in the building, Victor (Jay Baruchel).

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HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 2 Review (4-1/2 out of 5 stars)

I am happy to say that the eighth and final installment in the planet's top-grossing film franchise is far and away the best of the series: a dazzling action adventure that’s epic in scope and wows from start to finish. Due to superb editing, the zigzagging plot never misses a beat, the dialogue's timing’s spot-on and no scene lags or feels wasted. Harry, in other words, goes out with a bang.

Longtime friends and enemies perish, monsters run amuck and magical mayhem (plus lots of explosions) preside as the forces of good and evil clash on the battlefield, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (which we saw little of in the last film). All as our young wizard protagonist (Daniel Radcliffe) and BFF’s Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) struggle in desperation to unearth and destroy the final four Horcruxes — and eliminate the serpentine Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) once and for all. Unlike in the dreary, exposition-heavy PART 1 — in which Harry’s world falls to the Death Eaters — loose ends from throughout the series are tied, secrets are revealed with panache and long simmering attractions are spectacularly consummated, minus its predecessor's ickiness. DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2 is scarier, creepier, far more thrilling and more profound than most HP's preceding it, a cathartic climax to a long and eventful but inconsistently satisfying journey over the past decade...

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WINNIE THE POOH Review (4-1/2 out of 5 stars)

It's been 35 years since our honey-colored friend last ambled across the big screen, and this latest mini-tale's clever pencil and watercolor flourishes serve as a tenderly delightful reintroduction of the beloved icon to a new generation of moviegoers. It will also entertain folks of all ages. Indeed, grownups will feel like kids again and can even take it from Pooh's creator back in the 1920's, A.A. Milne, who claimed they were meant for adults in the first place.

You know the backstory: Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) is a portly, sweet-natured bear owned by young Christopher Robin (voiced by Jack Boulter and named after Milne’s son). But he’s really a stuffed animal come alive, just like his pals: Eeyore the gloomy donkey (Bud Luckey), scared, stuttering Piglet (Travis Oates), pretentious Owl (Craig Ferguson – woohoo!) and rambunctious Tigger (also Cummings) among them.

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THE LEDGE Review (2-1/2 out of 5 stars)

THE LEDGE boasts an engaging script, commendable performances and images that truly stay with you. Its characters are also so intriguing that a television series should be made to carry their lives past the silver screen. Although the story could take place anywhere, it's set in Baton Rouge, a refreshing change from the typical LA or New York. THE LEDGE has its flaws, sure: it could have used tighter editing, Charlie Hunnam's oddly masked British accent can be distracting (though his performance still works) and more suspenseful crescendos would've been nice instead of saving it for the climax, which is riveting nonetheless. But movie-making ain't easy, so I congratulate both cast and crew for keeping me consistently entertained...

Gavin (Hunnam) is a likeable, laid back guy who manages a pleasant hotel. His over-drinking is of some concern, but his happy-go-lucky ease around his HIV-positive roommate reflects a charm and maturity not seen enough among male characters in film. His eye is on the shy, reserved woman across the hall, Shana (Liv Tyler), who is married to a fundie Christian named Joe (Patrick Wilson), quick to condemn anything he deems immoral. Shana takes a job cleaning rooms at Gavin's hotel, an introduction made by one of Gavin's part-time workers, a college student attending grad school with Shana. She and her hubby invite their neighbors — Gavin and his gay roommate, a pair they assume are a couple--over for dinner. Joe's homophobia sends an infuriated Gavin marching out the door, only for them to go tête-à-tête later on in a fiery debate about God, a discussion this critic welcomes from an often controversy-averse Hollywood. Their argument boils down to whether an atheist, like Gavin, can die with peace of mind.

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Questions for President Obama

2008 Campaign

• Why do you think so many supporters feel let down by your presidency?
• Do you regret saying during the 2008 campaign that you'd close Guantanamo?

Banks

• Why shouldn't we break up the big banks given that they proved themselves "too big to fail" in 2008?

Bush Administration

• In declaring that we should "move on" lieu of investigating potential crimes by Bush administration officials, are you living up to your full responsibilities as our country's chief law enforcer?

THE PERFECT HOST (1 out of 5 stars)

 
The idea behind THE PERFECT HOST — part dark comedy and part suspense thriller — is a clever one: a street tough (a one-note Clayne Crawford) menaces a well-mannered victim (Henry Hyde Pierce basically reprising his role as Frasier’s Nigel), only for the "wimp" to turn the tables and reveal himself as a psychopath.

Pierce's antics are amusingly offbeat, such as when his staid nerd Warwick (with a silent second w) joins a conga line or leads a choreographed dance scene from atop his dinner table. But his violent acts against a wailing captive stifle any laughter. It doesn't help that neither he nor his prisoner are remotely likeable: an issue that leaves the filmmakers unable to engage the audience. The pace is slow and the plot points often predictable, all of which results is an uneven mishmash of SEVEN, MISERY and Frasier turned (maybe dropped) on its head. And so, despite its wonderful potential, this party's a bust.

The film begins with a badly bleeding career criminal, John Taylor, staggering away from a bank robbery gone off plan. The radio blares a description of his getaway car, so he ditches the vehicle and seeks a hiding place until the mayhem subsides. After he strikes out trying to weasel his way into the first suburban LA home he comes to, he wins entre into the neighbor's place.

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TERRI Review (2 out of 5 stars)

 
TERRI is an odd little film, long on art house quirkiness — but also sweet, believable characters and noteworthy acting, most of all from John C. Reilly. Not a lot happens in the small town where the story takes place, or in the story itself for that matter, composed of one too many scenes with talking heads. But "Fitz" (Reilly as Vice Principal Fitzpatrick) and Terri (Jacob Wysocki in his film debut) develop a satisfying and endearing friendship, one of enough pluses here to convince me that Azazel Jacobs — the man behind a number of other equally small films such as 2008's well-reviewed MOMMA'S MAN, has talent to build on.

Terri's an obese teenager caring for an uncle suffering from Alzheimer's. (Terri's parents abandoned him in childhood, a detail that ought to have been elaborated on.) Picked on for his weight and facing loneliness and depression – the latter evident in the PJ's he wears to school every day – Vice Principal Fitzpatrick takes Terri under his wing and arranges informal chitchats for the two of them on Monday mornings. This gives Terri a sounding board and ally, and soon the fifteen-year-old makes new friends and begins to emerge from his shell.

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A BETTER LIFE Review (3 out of 5 stars)

The small and humble film A BETTER LIFE concerns a good man, who happens to be an illegal immigrant, working exhausting hours as a day laborer so his teenage son can relocate to a better neighborhood and school.

We empathize with these souls as we follow them into a world, invisible to most, of people living in fear of deportation. The movie lacks a political agenda, merely aiming to show life as it really is on such margins of society. Told in a straightforward and unsentimental style, LIFE centers itself as much around our country's undocumented residents as the tender father-son relationship that brings us to such unknown territory. It's the first film featuring an almost entirely Hispanic cast that I can recall seeing since 2007's UNDER THE SAME MOON, and it’s significantly better (although in all fairness, they're very different stories).

Carlos Galindo (Demián Bichir) is a gardener whose retiring boss Blasco offers to sell him a step toward autonomy: his pickup truck. After borrowing money from his sister Anita, a nurse, mother, and now citizen by marriage, he purchases the vehicle and takes on Blasco's route through the splendor and luxury of Malibu and West LA's estates.

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CARS 2 Review (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)

Pixar's twelfth animated film is among the best of its progeny, overflowing with creativity, eye-popping visuals, clever and engaging storytelling and the minute details of a mechanized world on an IMAX screen.

It's a giant leap from the tepid 2006 prequel, part international spy flick and part immersive adventure spanning a colorful, cartoon globe. The ambitious plot extends from Japan to Paris, the red-tiled roofs of Rome and august London (with a "Big Bentz" clock tower) and proffers secret agents, high-tech gizmos, unexpected suspense and races that — this time — are actually exhilarating to follow. It shows a maturity and sophistication the first CARS lacked, yet for the most part remains appropriate for children. (Although parents be warned: cartoon violence does lead to one character’s death, by torture no less.) Overall it's sweet natured and laugh-out-loud throughout and accomplishes the Herculean task of weaving the nonsensical idea of a planet full of living, breathing, chattering, cars — let alone spy cars — into an absorbing, relatable, highly memorable adventure.

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GREEN LANTERN Review (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

We've seen everything in this re-imagined DC Comics tale in one form or another before. It's a sporadically entertaining experience at best (with fun special effects); a bloated and predictable blockbuster at worst. Not a single character is fleshed out, from the dashing yet occasionally self-effacing Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) to Peter Sarsgaard's initially sympathetic nerd-turned-villain, Dr. Hector Hammond. (And Blake Lively just can't act.)

One would assume that joining an intergalactic police force would prove a complicated venture requiring more than a bit of explanation, but GREEN LANTERN doesn't bother with such pesky details. We're hurried through the convoluted back story and in the end feel betrayed by the filmmakers' contempt for their audience. Adding insult to injury, the $200 million movie shoplifts from mega-hits TOP GUN and the STAR WARS and original SUPERMAN films (even mimicking John Williams' superb score from the latter).

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BEAUTIFUL BOY Review (2 out of 5 stars)

Bill and Kate's 18-year-old son Sammy goes on a shooting rampage at his school and causes multiple fatalities before turning the gun on himself. The tragedy takes the parents completely by surprise and forces the pair on a stomach-turning roller coaster of grief, rage, guilt and resentment, as Bill's career and their relationships outside the house suffer amidst societal condemnation.

There are few surprises to this story. The parents, already contemplating separation when disaster strikes, seesaw from angry to despondent and hysterical to silent. When Kate seems to be recuperating and fixes up the house to sell, Bill plummets into a fresh round of insanity upon returning to work and threatens to again bring her down with him. I find it odd that neither see a psychiatrist: Bill tells his boss fuck off when he insists upon it. But unfortunately for the story, they isolate themselves in their grief and so suffer in a vacuum — making for a one-note and fairly self-indulgent screenplay. BEAUTIFUL BOY feels meant to be a journey in self-discovery, yet there’s little evidence of such in the writing.

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SUBMARINE Review (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)

SUBMARINE's deadpan style, wonderfully bizarre characters, and meticulously arranged shots call to mind the style of Wes Anderson, specifically in RUSHMORE, another cleverly understated, tenderly hilarious comedy centering on a neurotic, stone-faced teen. In this case, Craig Roberts plays Oliver Tate, a confused fifteen year-old living in the British burbs who's dually obsessed with classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige) and his parents' shaky marriage, a veritable Max Fischer minus the confidence.

Like most teenagers, the precocious Oliver over-analyzes his world to the point of distraction. He invents his own sense of reality, imagining his death and an outpouring of grief a local news reporter breathlessly describes as "incredible… unprecedented" and entailing "scenes of quiet devotion." Girls who never acknowledged him lapse into hysterics in front of a quickly growing, candle-lit shrine, all narrated in a hilariously melodramatic tone that pervades the film to come. Resembling a little man in his upturned coat collar, coiffed hair, tie and briefcase, he's the weirdo people react to as well as the proverbial straight man.

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THE HANGOVER PART II (1 out of 5 stars)

The sequel to 2009's over-hyped hit THE HANGOVER — which made $277 million domestically, the biggest R-rated comedy of all time — more than doubled its predecessor's budget (to $78 million). Despite that, though, it qualifies as an unmitigated creative disaster.

It's as if the writers, a different group from the original, and this time including director Todd Phillips — simply dropped the first film's plot into Southeast Asia and made a few cursory alterations. The exotic setting of Thailand drowns out the half-assed dialogue and incompetently constructed plotline; the film veers into melodrama and even adopts an existentially bereft tone; and you ultimately leave the theater amazed at the sheer awfulness of what you just witnessed: a hollowed-out shell of a thing resting entirely on its predecessor's laurels.

This time it's nerdy Stu (Ed Helms) who's engaged (instead of Justin Bartha's Doug), to a Thai woman (Jamie Chung), whose gorgeousness makes them a strange-looking pair. The group is once again led by Phil (Bradley Cooper) and undermined by man-child Alan (Zach Galifianakis). Phil talks Stu out of a non-alcoholic "bachelor brunch," and, before you know it, they wake up in a sleazy hotel room in Bangkok, having been unwittingly drugged the night before.

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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

A big budget, big stars and big effects are, as we all know, meaningless if attached to a weak storyline – making PIRATES Numero Quattro in the end a muddled and predictable mess. Meant more as a money machine than a thought-provoking tale – and, as a reminder, this is a set of stories based on an amusement park ride – ON STRANGER TIDES is the first of the series to neither be directed by Gore Verbinski nor feature Orlando Bloom or Keira Knightley. But while veteran producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio remain on hand for director Rob Marshall’s (CHICAGO, NINE) directorial debut within the franchise, TIDES offers little that’s new to the series. It offers up the same pointless (pun) swordplay and hijinks-laden chases. And it lacks a consistent supernatural presence, which helped make THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003) and DEAD MAN’S CHEST (2006) the most entertaining of the four films...

ON STRANGER TIDES suffers from a deeply convoluted plot, like its three predecessors. Someone is impersonating Jack Sparrow (Depp, reprising his Oscar-nommed role, and, at this point, too much of a good thing) to put together a crew to find the Fountain of Youth. Turns out it's his former flame, Angelica (Penélope Cruz, phoning it in). It's foretold that her father Blackbeard (Ian McShane, a wonderful actor but sorely underused here) will soon die, which she wants to prevent. But the group that eventually goes on the quest, which includes the kidnapped Sparrow, must secure a mermaid's tear for the fountain to do its magic – and in this film, mermaids are deadly creatures.

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TRUE LEGEND Review (3-1/2 out of 5 stars)

TRUE LEGEND's groovy, vintage exploitation-style poster recalls the kung fu craze of the 70s, much as this Chinese-Hong Kong film does through its over-the-top fight scenes, sensational storytelling and larger-than-life characters. But director Yuen Woo Ping balances his homage with decidedly modern effects, from impressive CGI to, most notably, his groundbreaking, floating martial arts choreography, with which he’s wowed plenty a moviegoer before in the MATRIX and KILL BILL series and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

In the film, retired Qing dynasty general Su Can (Vincent Zhao, or, as the martial arts leviathan is known in China, Man Cheuk Chiu) lives a humble teacher’s life until his vengeful, monstrously transformed brother Yuan (Andy On), returns from war armed with the deadly "Five Venom Fists." Yuan murders their father, poisons and hurls Su into the rapids and kidnaps his son. Su’s wife Ying (Zhou Xun) jumps in after him and drags the maimed warrior into the mountains to nurse him back to health along with the help of Sister Yu. (Michelle Yeoh, the most recognizable face to American audiences and another martial arts giant.) He disciples for the God of Wushu (Jay Chou), or Chinese martial arts, and an eccentric old sage in the never-before-seen art of Drunken Boxing (!) so that he can one day return to vanquish his nemesis and rescue his son.

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THE BEAVER Review (1 out of 5 stars)

Jodie Foster directs and co-stars with Mel Gibson in the fictional story of Walter Black, the head of an ailing toy company who suffers from depression. That is, until he finds a beaver hand puppet in the dumpster outside his local liquor store and channels a gruff alter ego through the toy…

A tragi-comedy is a delicate balancing act — and THE BEAVER falls off the beam. It almost feels as if Foster attempted to mimic AMERICAN BEAUTY: pensive piano strokes, forlorn teens, a turning point in a garage, an unexpected burst of violence, a melancholy shot of a roller coaster ride. And despite a heavy-hitting cast and producer Steve Golin's wonderful record of offbeat gems BEING JOHN MALKOVITCH and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, BEAVER proves a chore to watch.

Walter could have proven a more relatable everyman had he not been a CEO, let alone one who inherits his company: a decidedly unsympathetic role in our 21^st century Gilded Age. And unfortunately Mel Gibson's assault on a former girlfriend and raging prejudice against — well, everybody — undermines his straight man attempts at humor before Walter finally dons the puppet. But Gibson's biggest problem is the script itself: if the actor's seeking to revive his career with a quirky role in a small art house film, this ain't it.

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EXPORTING RAYMOND Review (2 out of 5 stars)

In EXPORTING RAYMOND, Phil Rosenthal, creator of the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005) travels to Russia to help start a Russian version of the show, called Voroniny. The film's trailer begins with scenes from "live before a television audience" filmings and Rosenthal getting accolades for the show’s success. The image freezes as the narrator intones, "Then the Russians called." We flash to a stern-looking Gorbachev, the onion domes of the Kremlin, shots of Red Square and evil-looking weather. Are we supposed to be scared? It’s not as if the Cold War didn’t end twenty years ago.

I've never actually watched a full episode of ELR, but the impression I always got was that it was more geared to middle-aged married couples in the 'burbs than twenty- or thirty-something urbanites (yours truly being the latter). As such, I would have hoped the documentary would make allowances for those unfamiliar with the show – but instead, EXPORTING RAYMOND assumes we’re all fans and know it well. If we were talking about a sitcom indisputably iconic to American culture -- such as Seinfeld, which supplied us with a vast array of lingo now taken for granted (yada yada yada, close talker, regift, mimbo…) – well then, okay. But I can’t even claim to remember overhearing "Oooh, did you see Everybody Loves Raymond last night?" at the water cooler at any point during the show’s nine-year run.

The film's director, writer and star Phil Rosenthal also doesn't make for a very likable protagonist, considering how much fun he and the film make of Russia and its people, be it their architecture, traditions or even parking attendants. (At one point in the film, he whines childishly about how silly it is that his driver must exit the car to pay.) Later Rosenthal pouts at a military museum that the same driver proudly escorts him through – not Phil's cup of tea, I guess – so it’s no wonder the chauffeur makes up an excuse to ditch him in the end.

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PROM Review (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

Don't be anyone's date to this teeny bopper crud.

As Brookside High's prom night approaches, teen overachiever Nova Prescott (Friday Night Lights' Aimee Teegarden) finds herself drawn to a guy from the wrong side of the tracks (Thomas McDonell), and her peers' relationships unspool or catch flame.

It's almost comical how much effort Disney poured into the cast's racial diversity, making their exclusion of any gay characters all the more glaring. Especially given the media's coverage over the past year's time of gay teen suicide rates, bullying, harassment, and even prom exclusion. Constance McMillan is the latter's most famous example: her Mississippi school barred her in 2010 from bringing her girlfriend or donning a tux, then canceled the prom altogether when the ACLU cried foul. Such stories abound, so it would have been a nice touch had Disney expended the tiny bit of effort required to show young gays and lesbians they’re as welcome at their proms as anyone else. But the Mouse didn’t want to take on that thorny issue and instead chose to pretend gay and lesbian teens don’t exist.

Nova is the pretty blonde class president, valedictorian, homecoming queen and, naturally, head of prom planning — basically Tracey Flick minus the evil. The poor thing shows such fevered, cult-like devotion to the prom’s sacredness that, when her decorations go up in smoke in an early scene, it's a wonder she herself doesn't burst into flame upon hearing the news. But, despite her foibles (and being named after a Chevy), Nova did finally grow on me, evolving into at least a semblance of a human being. Still, this was thanks only to the unconventional Jesse's influence, much to the chagrin of her father (a creepy Dean Norris), not her own initiative to change.

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AFRICAN CATS Review (3 out of 5 stars)

AFRICAN CATS, based on the title alone, is more fine-tuned in subject matter than its DisneyNature predecessors EARTH (2009) and OCEANS (2010). CATS' real-life lion and cheetah characters, who have names, evolve over the course of the film, their inter-family drama and interactions with the world described with a light and simple narrative geared primarily toward kids. ("The savanna is the greatest schoolyard." "To Mara, he’s the best Dad ever!") All of DisneyNature’s films pale though in comparison to that leviathan of nature infotainment, BBC’s Planet Earth series, and CATS is slower than Warner Bros.' 40-minute-long BORN TO BE WILD, which inspires constant oohs and ahhs with its 3D/IMAX indulgence in baby orangutan and elephant cuteness. (Despite a G rating, it doesn’t shy away from the harshness of nature, though little blood is revealed.) But this film faces a tougher challenge in its focus on three families of animals in the wild, not just their species. So kudos to directors Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill for taking on such a creative and documentarian hurdle and for providing us with an escape from civilization that’s both entertaining and enlightening.

At first I couldn’t identify the voiceover — LeVar Burton? Um, no (and lame guess, I realize): Samuel L. Jackson. But why use Patrick Stewart in the trailer? Captain Picard’s sonorous voice, like Morgan Freeman’s in BORN TO BE WILD and MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, can transform a storytelling into what feels like a larger-than-life event. Jackson’s voice on the other hand sounds so underwhelming for CATS' dramatic imagery, and even sounds oddly strident when he revs up for fight scenes. Perhaps Jackson’s usual choice of self-spoofing badasses for characters undermines his credibility as a serious narrator and guide.

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Welcome Back, Mr. President

I went into our president's speech yesterday with middling expectations, given his forgettable last address, on Libya. That message about our latest military venture abroad lacked the  conviction and context many Americans were seeking and failed to soothe nerves about our constant willingness to invade countries in possession of oil reserves. (I don't recall Obama making a peep about the Ivory Coast massacres.)

But Obama's disappointing performance as the Democratic leader, let alone as a leader for all of us, is the primary reason for my initial lack of enthusiasm this round. I, like many progressives, feel let down – even hopeless – over the current administration's lack of results. The man who in his presidential campaign (2.0 now gearing up) seemed larger than life and promised us CHANGE has proven very much of the same old, same old strain. His growing list of false promises includes the ending of rendition, domestic electronic surveillance (now expanded), military tribunals, and exiting Iraq (now possibly to be extended). And Gitmo's still going strong. And the stimulus was watered down with tax cuts. And the health care "debate" devolved into screaming (literally) chaos until Obama stepped in at the eleventh hour. But he also never entertained the public option (which a majority of Americans support), instead mandating payments to our bloated, profiteering health insurance companies, which the Supreme Court may soon deem unconstitutional. And now, amidst ginned-up deficit chaos, Obama has given the farm away yet again, acceding to the Republicans’ most extreme demands before even beginning to barter.

But Wednesday's speech marked a shift away from this regression. It reminded me of another of his golden moments since entering the White House, his speech on race following the phony brouhaha over Reverend Jeremiah Wright. President Obama spoke words and struck a tone that gave me pause, rising above the fray in a lovely moment which finally helped Americans on all sides quietly reflect. Some, like me, found it awe-inspiring.

World Gleefully Mocks Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl for Hackitude (VIDEO)

Bill Maher the Latest to Join Kyl Pile-On

In an age in which the mainstream media seems all but asleep at the switch, politicians make a daily habit of lying their butts off whenever it suits them and rarely get called out for it. So it comes as a shock when someone prominent does get pegged for their whopper – although it’s often clever comedians Stewart, Colbert, or Maher who get there first, goading journalists and pundits into covering such stories as well. (Which is why so many people get their news from Stewart & Co. in the first place.)

A wonderful recent example comes in the form of Republican Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, who apparently got so whipped up in the current frenzy of false claims on the deficit that he made this especially outrageous statement about our boogeyman du jour, Planned Parenthood...

>> Watch the video at Gather.com

Gates Says Iraq Combat Soldiers Could Stay Past 2011

Secretary says Iraqis must decide "pretty quickly" what they want.

Eight months before pulling American combat soldiers out of Iraq and ending an eight-year war there, Defense Secretary Gates has signaled that the Pentagon is reconsidering. Our involvement has lasted longer and cost more American and Iraqi lives than the George W. Bush administration ever anticipated, with over 4,400 Americans dead, 33,000 wounded and the deaths of anywhere between 100,000 and a million Iraqi civilians.

The Secretary of Defense announced the possibility of an extension during his visit to Iraq on Thursday, alongside the top American commander there, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin. He said an extension could last anywhere from two years to permanency, thus acknowledging off-the-record reports of Pentagon deliberation going on behind the scenes... 

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BORN TO BE WILD Review (4 out of 5 stars)

Next up: the World Cup?

BORN TO BE WILD is remarkably short: a mere 40 minutes long, half the duration of a typical film, yet Disney will charge the full and formidable 3D/IMAX ticket price of around $15, a little more or less depending on your location. (For an evening screening in New York City, a non-senior adult can expect to shell out $19.)

But this is not the traditional wildlife film I expected. The infant elephants and orangutans are precious, their stories touching and Morgan Freeman’s voiceover is as majestic as it was for MARCH OF THE PENGUINS. But perhaps most thrilling is experiencing man-meets-beast in 3D, which finally gave me the 3D aha! moment I’ve been seeking since AVATAR. It brings us that much closer to these exotic creatures and their equally exotic surroundings, and when a baby orangutan stretches its hand toward the camera it’s utterly delightful. IMAX further heightens the immediacy of the experience. African musicians’ joyful tunes both match the subject matter's buoyancy and move the film at a heightened clip. And while the film is tailor-made for kids, spilling over with its multitude of wonderful aww moments, I’d just as heartily recommend it for adults. I loved this film.

BORN TO BE WILD revolves around orphaned orangutans and elephants, endangered species both, and two fascinating women and their teams who rescue, rehabilitate and reintroduce these magnificent animals into the wild. We span the globe as we follow soft-spoken primatologist Dr. Birute Galdikas into Borneo’s lush rain forests and white-haired Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick into Kenya’s dusty savanna. Combined, the two women have devoted a century to protecting these charismatic and highly intelligent beasts and the fragile environs they call home.

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SOUL SURFER Review (2 out of 5 stars)

Bethany Hamilton became a worldwide inspiration for cementing her status as a top pro female surfer despite having only one arm, the other lost in a shark attack. SOUL SURFER is based on the now 21-year-old’s best-selling book about the experience.

AnnaSophia Robb (RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN, BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA) plays the young heroine but like those portraying Bethany’s brothers and friends is perfect looking almost to the point of blandness. The real Bethany is cute, not gorgeous, but most of all radiates a magnetism Robb lacks and which is evident in the real-life videos and photos in the end credits, easily the best part of the film. Still, it’s impressive that Robb, like Dennis Quaid who plays her father, learned to surf for many of the scenes, the actual Bethany performing many of the stunts. 

When Bethany’s parents Tom (Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt) surf, their three modelesque kids hold up their scores, leading to giggling sand-throwing and my nausea. Such chillingly cutesy moments give The Brandy Bunch’s Hawaiian vacay episode a run for its money. This film could and should have played on a family cable channel.

Almost everyone with speaking parts is white, other than a smiley, fictional boy named Keoki (played by Hispanic actor Cody Gomes) and a laughably evil surfer named Malia (Sonya Balmores). Her snide remarks, dagger-shooting stares and obsession with Bethany makes me wonder why they didn’t just give her a mustache to twirl. Otherwise, dark-skinned faces are relegated to the sidelines. Native Hawaiians hover in the background to provide a racially diverse sheen and oddly, they’re the only people to ever stare at Bethany’s stub. We also see Thai victims of a disaster in Phuket where Bethany volunteers with lots of other blondes.

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WRECKED Review (2 out of 5 stars)

The premise of the dramatic survival tale WRECKED would have made Alfred Hitchcock proud: a physically broken man wakes trapped inside a demolished car in the woods, one corpse in the back seat and second twenty feet away. He has no immediate recollection of how he got there or even who he is, and must rely on pure instinct to survive.

Adrien Brody is the youngest winner of the Best Actor Oscar, for his portrayal in 2003 at age 29 of real-life Holocaust survivor Whadislaw Szpilman in THE PIANIST. Here, he puts those award-worthy talents to excellent use in a very physical performance of another type of survivor. And as in THE PIANIST, his face tells much of the story, reflecting panic, disorientation, and madness.

The dark screen of the opening credits swims with muted reds and pinks, as if we’re sensing light through shut eyelids and are coming to with the nameless protagonist. He whimpers at his reflection in the rear view mirror, his eye swollen shut and blood streaking his face. He’s a trapped and injured animal, inarticulate, groaning and crying through his frenzied attempts to break free of this cage. His relief at catching rainwater or even urinating out the window is palpable. Finally, screaming, he yanks his crushed leg from under the dashboard, shoves open the door and drags himself onto the forest floor. He now finds himself a helpless newborn in unfamiliar territory following a painful childbirth. And he’s escaped a crypt.

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IN A BETTER WORLD Review (5 out of 5 stars)

As opposed to a perfect world devoid of suffering, a better world would at least revolve without bullies to wreak terror upon our already difficult lives: suffering the death of a loved one, through a crumbling relationship or from a lack of basic necessities requires no bad guy, after all. That said, IN A BETTER WORLD’s limited release this week is interestingly timed, given President Obama's recent speech explaining America’s military response to Qaddafi's atrocities in Libya. Obama framed his reasoning as reflective solely of the specific circumstances on the ground, not emblematic of a one-size-fits-all doctrine. This nuanced approach falls perfectly in line with this film’s suggestion that no consistent philosophy exists for us to cling to in confronting those who mean us harm. Even the Bible contradicts itself in this way.

Needless to say, IN A BETTER WORLD could easily have devolved into heavy-handed moralizing and melodrama. But despite the harsh reality of its primary theme, I sat determinedly in my seat throughout the closing credits, not wanting to lose its glow. IN A BETTER WORLD's beauty intoxicated me – it won this year’s Academy and Golden Globe awards for best foreign film because it exemplifies why movies exist in the first place.

Anton is a Swedish doctor who lives in Denmark and lends his expertise at a desolate refugee camp in Africa. He and his wife Marianne, who have two young sons, are separated and contemplating divorce. Their ten-year-old Elias becomes fast friends with the new boy at school, Christian, who's bereft over the recent death of his mother. The two boys are caught in a spiral of revenge that begins when they retaliate against a schoolyard bully. The escalating violence engulfs their parents, who are forced to make sense of the chaos not only for their children, but for themselves.

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WHITE IRISH DRINKERS Review (2 out of 5 stars)

The oddly titled WHITE IRISH DRINKERS offers a convincing recreation of working-class Brooklyn in the 70s. It boasts compelling portrayals by newbie Nick Thurston and film veteran Stephen Lang and some memorable (and even unforeseen) moments. But the film unfortunately suffers from a detrimental mix of slow pacing, lack of well-rounded characters, a back load of plot turns saved until the very end and a subpar performance from Karen Allen.

Brian (Thurston) and Danny (Geoffrey Wigdor) are teenage brothers living with their abusive father (Lang) and weak-willed but loving mother (Allen). Danny attempts to enlist his younger bro’s help in carrying out petty crimes, finally capping those efforts with a grand scheme to steal tens of thousands of dollars at an upcoming Rolling Stones concert. Pitching it as their once-in-a-lifetime ticket outta town, Danny forces the shy, sensitive Brian to choose between loyalty to his blood and a brighter possible future through the use of his hidden artistic talent.

WHITE IRISH DRINKERS’ bellbottoms, mutton-chop sideburns and old fashioned phones and furnishings combine for a more-than-convincing return to 1975. The resourceful filmmakers even employed CGI to erase satellite dishes from hundreds of rooftops. And the characters’ clueless offhand remarks about phenomena of the time that were to become future mainstays, such as computers and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW had me grinning.

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PEEP WORLD Review (1 out of 5 stars)

Given its fun cast, I really wanted to like PEEP WORLD. But I found it dreadfully depressing instead, both for its mordant tone and, well, pure badness. The Myerwitz family, around whom the film revolves, are thoroughly unlikable, neither Sarah Silverman nor the big dinner scene at the end work, and while Lewis Black seems like the perfect choice for voiceovers, his narration often feels like overkill here. The action all takes place on Henry Myerwitz's (Ron Rifkin) 70th birthday, during which his four grown children each grapples in their own way with the recent and widespread publication of the family’s secrets.

Each of the four siblings complains endlessly, and rarely in a way that’s amusing. Jack (Michael C. Hall) runs a failing design firm and is discovered masturbating at a porn shop called Peep World by his pregnant wife (Judy Greer). His oblivious, sneering ass of a brother Nathan (Ben Schwartz) is "the voice of a generation" and newbie author of the best-selling novel Peep World, a humiliating tell-all at the heart of each Myerwitz’s angst that’s being made into a movie. (And making for one too many invocations of this film's title.) The middle son Joel (Rainn Wilson) is billed as the black sheep, unemployed, lacking in self esteem and a perpetual drain on Jack's finances. Yet he still manages to attract Mary (Taraji P. Henson), a perky security guard who legitimately cares about him.

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LIMITLESS Review (2-1/2 out of 5 stars)

I'd think I was on drugs too if I were facing off with Jake La Motta.

Between its generic title (I prefer The Dark Fields, from the Alan Glynn novel it's based on), a less-than-engaging lead in Bradley Cooper and De Niro’s typical tough guy routine, I expected LIMITLESS to be God-awful. Yet I left the theater moderately entertained and even fascinated by the premise. The film is buoyed by a brash style and moments of levity, and Eddie Morra is a believable superhero for our modern miracle drug age.

The scraggly, unshaven Eddie we first meet suffers from depression and low self-esteem, a writer unable to write. (Been there, done that. But Cooper as a writer? And how did Morra get a book contract?) Then he runs into his douche-y ex-brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth), a former drug dealer now thriving as a consultant for a pharmaceutical company. Vernon peddles a translucent pill called NZT that he claims will allow Eddie to use his brain’s full potential, but falsely assures him it’s FDA approved. Morra swallows it and ta-da! He’s Uber Eddie.

…And his lightning quick mind enables him to finally write that novel — in four days. He remembers everything he’s ever seen or heard and soon speaks Italian and Japanese fluently. He makes a bundle on the stock market. He’s a hit at parties, beds beautiful ladies and wins his girlfriend back. (Abbie Cornish is the smart, sophisticated Lindy — how did he score her before?) He even morphs into an expert fighter based on Bruce Lee films from his childhood, one of many fun glimpses of things from his past now yielding fruit.

>> Read the rest at Upcoming-Movies.com

PAUL Review (2 out of 5 stars)

Phone home? More like phone it in. (And stay home.)

Two British sci-fi geeks, Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost), set out from San Diego’s sci-fi/superhero fest Comic-Con on an RV tour of America’s UFO landmarks. (Not sure what those would include beyond Area 51 and Roswell...) Just as their adventure is getting underway, they witness a car crash involving Paul (Seth Rogen), an alien freshly escaped from a military base where he’s been sequestered for 60 years. The trio accidentally picks up a fourth, Ruth (Kristen Wiig), and soon her fanatical father and the Feds are on their tails in a race to return Paul to the mothership.

Paul's CGI is too crisp to seem real and is especially distracting when he’s in proximity to live actors — which is always. His character therefore lacks physical credibility; he might as well have been a cartoon. Perhaps it would have wise to show Rogen as an alien taking human form. The actor feels present anyway since Paul so closely resembles his typical, amiable wise guy characters. And instead of generic frat boy humor, I might've preferred Paul deadpan like Jason Bateman’s hilariously named agent, Lorenzo Zoil. Or even a neurotic alien would have been funnier. Paul boogeying around a campfire — Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" should be banned from further film use — or chucking a moon are antics meant for kids, not adults. Yet the movie is rated R for language, sexual references and drug use. (People blown up in explosions are apparently of no concern to the MPAA.)

The storyline of PAUL follows a pattern very much by the book. The alien’s discovered, he develops human friendships, over-zealous authorities get their chase on and it’s a race to get him home. No surprises there! Fortunately, however, there are occasional bright spots in the dialogue. A clever Bob Dylan joke, men's comments on a comic book character’s three boobs, people fainting at the sight of Paul, a men's room labeled "Maliens..." (The other said “Women.”) I laughed most when the newly toking Ruth went from giggly to ravenous to paranoid in seconds, then flopped over unconscious.

>> Read the rest at Upcoming-Movies.com

New Trailer for SUPER 8, the JJ Abrams Sci-Fi Flick

A new trailer for JJ Abrams’s highly anticipated sci-fi flick SUPER 8 is generating significant buzz after popping up on Twitter (@Super8Movie) over the weekend. Written and directed by Abrams (STAR TREK, co-creator of TV’S Lost) and produced by Master of the Cinematic Universe Steven Spielberg (you know his record well), this latest marketing morsel leaves the 30-second Super Bowl spot that preceded it in the dust. And if that’s not enough, there’s now an official poster for you to feast your eyes on too...

>> Read the rest at Gather.com

MARS NEEDS MOMS Review (3 out of 5 stars)

Someone could use some face cream and conditioner...

MARS NEEDS MOMS functions well as a children's film, but unlike Pixar's productions I wouldn't recommend it for adults. It works off what I consider to be an adorable premise. And while I assumed it'd be primarily Earth-bound, most of the story takes place on Mars. (Which we like!) The title may be a play on the '68 C-film cult classic MARS NEEDS WOMEN.

Milo (Seth Green) is a typical nine-year old with ideas of his own who will barter and debate with his parents any time to get his way. He makes hi mom cry when he yells at her that wishes she wasn’t in his life, then gets what he wished for when she’s kidnapped by Martians! (The aliens want to harvest her maternal essence, or something like that.) Milo stows aboard their ship and upon arriving on the Red Planet enlists the help of juvenile adult earthling Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a spunky rebel Martian named Ki (Elisabeth Harnois). Together the trio attempt to rescue Milo’s mother from her Martian tyrannical captor, the Supervisor (Mindy Sterling), liberate the oppressed Martians populace and find their way back to Earth.

MARS NEEDS MOMS shows off some fun visuals and special effects, some in homage to the STAR WARS series and other films. Milo delicately inching his way along a tower’s ledge looks a lot like Obi Wan’s disabling of the Death Star’s tractor beam. Platoons of helmeted soldiers lining up in a vast hall brings to mind the Empire’s troops assembling to greet their Emperor. Gleeful natives overrunning Martian soldiers conjures up visions of Storm Troopers on Endor being ambushed by Ewoks. For that matter, the neon blue threaded throughout Martian technology recalls TRON: LEGACY, and the fluorescent splashes dotting some ancient ruins seem reminiscent of AVATAR. (This last scene is bewilderingly beautiful -- a real treat for the eyes.)

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BATTLE: LOS ANGELES Review (1/2 out of 5 stars)

The real battle here is keeping sleep at bay.

I'll say it straight out: BATTLE: LOS ANGELES is the worst modern apocalyptic alien invasion movie I’ve seen. The sub-genre includes ID4, SKYLINE, the WAR OF THE WORLDS remake, SIGNS, MARS ATTACKS, the current and original V TV movies and perhaps even CLOVERFIELD, though it’s not a perfect fit. I was one of the few to enjoy the November’s SKYLINE, but I’ll join the majority in slamming BATTLE – at least the former had cool aliens and futuristic gizmos.

In a single sentence: Marine staff sergeant Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon must figure out how to destroy aliens attacking LA, sight of the most important battle in a worldwide alien invasion.

I’m so tired of warring over LA. Why not Portland? Or Atlanta? Austin? SKYLINE centers on LA; So did much of the mother of modern sci-fi takeovers, INDEPENDENCE DAY. Most people I know don’t even like LA -- some would even prefer it destroyed. Why not choose a city everyone values and admires? Just not Gotham: it too has been vaporized ad infinitum.

Tip: Invading aliens should be frightening. Or at the very least, interesting to gaze upon. Spielberg’s aliens in WAR OF THE WORLDS were criticized for being generic, yet even they’re infinitely cooler than BATTLE's E.T.’s.

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THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (1-1/2 out of 5 stars)

In this behind-the-scenes photo, Matt Damon and Emily Morton react with horror to the script. (Kidding!)

George Nolfi's directorial debut THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU takes itself very seriously, its grayness, save for brief bursts of color in Elise’s red dress or the grass below Lady Liberty, further exacerbating its grave tone. I would definitely have welcomed some fun poked at the bureau's Keystone Kop moments. But worst of all, its creators never decided whether the film's a love story or sci-fi adventure, a la THE MATRIX. It vacillates between the genres but in the end fleshes out neither enough to satisfy: Norris’s time with Elise is minimal, and the of unseen manipulators theme — BUREAU’s biggest potential drawing card — is full of gaping holes. The writers take the easy way out of adapting the original short story by neither explaining nor expanding upon any of the ideas the parallel universe of the Adjustment Bureau puts forth.

The story concerns an up-and-coming young politician named David Norris (Matt Damon) who meets and falls for a beautiful ballerina, Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). Yet mysterious men in gray fedoras keep getting in the way. Known as The Adjustment Bureau, these puppeteers of humankind do everything in their power to shape the world according to their own perceived sense of order. But this doesn’t stop Norris from fighting for his own unique destiny and the girl he loves.

The film is based on the 1954 short story, The Adjustment Team, by Philip K. Dick, author of the original tales behind popular films such as BLADE RUNNER, TOTAL RECALL and MINORITY REPORT. (His daughter Isa Dick Hackett served as executive producer.) The bureau members’ fedoras and snappy suits are an obvious holdover from the 1950s when Dick penned his tale, though his all-male organization at least is updated enough to show some racial diversity. And perhaps it’s not coincidental that John Slattery was cast, an actor we’re all accustomed to seeing in the similar fashion of Mad Men’s early to mid 1960’s.

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