Category: Film Review

20 years ago, Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” would’ve been a very different movie — lighter, schmaltzy, and soaring. Today, the feature represents the director’s current tastes in wartime realism and elongated emotional momentum, trying diligently to cater to the old Spielberg screen magic, only to be blocked by a matured filmmaker who’s rusty with this type of material. The two creative sides never quite settle on a consistency for this episodic adventure, keeping “War Horse” unsteady, earnest yet painfully dull. While it seems like grand slam material for the bearded maestro, the story rarely gets off the ground, lost between its dreamy storybook qualities and need to reinforce the bone-chilling tragedy of war. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

To be underwhelmed by a Cameron Crowe movie feels awful. He’s a filmmaker with such an open heart, a defenseless master of the soulful ache, and it kills me to admit that I was rarely moved by “We Bought a Zoo,” painfully aware of its well-oiled mechanical parts. It’s a sweet picture, but rarely genuine, working through a formulaic journey of enlightenment and grief in a manner that recalls a particularly flaccid Disney production. Crowe tries valiantly to find crevices of authentic woe, but a few searing moments of honest pain are steamrolled by a feature that wants to be loved in a big bad way. It’s troubling to watch the desperation unfold. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Artist” is perfectly pleasant, affectionate, studied, charming, and masterfully performed. It’s a fine motion picture with an inescapable hook of nostalgia, crafted with care and attention to detail. Its artistry is never in question, and cinephiles will surely slap themselves silly with delight, standing before an affectionate resurrection of the silent film era. Appreciating “The Artist” is simple, enjoying the feature is another matter entirely. It’s tough not to come off as a Grinch with this sort of effortlessly lovable effort, but there are certain productions that wear a broad smile and carry little personality, with director Michel Hazanavicius’s valentine to moviemaking days of yore perfectly, utterly, monumentally…fine. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

For most of the world, the character of Tintin is a hero, a staple of literary efforts dating back to 1929. For most Americans, Tintin is an example of stuttering. Enter director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson, who’ve partnered to produce a brand new Tintin extravaganza for the digital age, using motion capture technology to envision a vast world of ruthless pirates, endless deserts, and spunky sleuthing, giving old-fashioned entertainment a slick update. Having no prior knowledge of the character, it’s difficult for me to ascertain how faithful the production has remained to the original material. Beyond detailed comparisons, “The Adventures of Tintin” is a satisfactory but slightly poky romp, saved by marvelous, expressive animation that generates a crisp, colorful feel for the world Belgian artist Herge created so very long ago. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Albert Nobbs” is a picture designed to showcase the versatility of its lead actress. In this case, the star is Glenn Close, a highly celebrated performer who’s been tearing up basic cable in recent years during her stint on FX’s “Damages.” “Albert Nobbs” is a rare big screen outing for Close (her first in four years), and her performance as the titular enigma is extraordinary in its study and interior emotional shiver. It’s a shame there’s more to the movie than just Close, as the conventional screenwriting and distracted direction tends to dilute this powerful show of thespian control. While it never comes together is a satisfying manner, the feature contains a few scattered moments of captivating awakening from Close, making the film worth a view if only to observe the actress find her footing in a challenging, highly bizarre role. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Without causing much of a film culture ruckus, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise has grown into one of the most dependably entertaining action brand names around. Credit star Tom Cruise, who’s guided four installments to different ends of the globe, always looking to shake up the series and refresh its thrill ride allure. “Ghost Protocol” offers the brightest, boldest action sequences of the bunch, merging spotless visual effects with superb smash-em-up stunt choreography, making sure this latest installment packs the hardest punch. It’s difficult to believe that after three exhaustive efforts Cruise would have anything left to give, yet the newest challenge for the Impossible Missions Force is their fiercest, welcoming a director into the fold who knows a thing or two about flexible superheroes and colorful locations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With the element of surprise now a distant memory, the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise elects a threatening route of sleuthing to entice fans back into multiplexes. Although never grim, “A Game of Shadows” dials down the mischievousness that defined the 2009 blockbuster, an impish quality that did an amazing job clearing away the cobwebs, nudging the Holmes brand back into pop culture consciousness. While it runs a little harsh at times, the sequel remains a sturdy vehicle for Robert Downey, Jr. to weave about with playful concentration, while director Guy Ritchie extends his period recreation further, establishing a pronounced European vibe to the adventure. As follow-ups go, “A Game of Shadows” is most certainly a part two in posture and scowl, but it’s impossible to snuff out the smirking spirit of this wildly entertaining material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Carnage” is a film of pure acid, spraying across the screen like the gush of vomit unleashed from the churning stomach of one of the lead characters (more on that later). It’s a harsh sit, watching four perfectly reasonable people slowly reveal their fractured self over 75 minutes of screen time, thrashing and bickering as a peaceful New York City apartment summit explodes into a revelation of true natures and brazen opinion. “Carnage” is uncomfortable to watch, but that’s part of the fun, observing a complete breakdown of courtesy performed by four top actors having a ball gnawing away on such meaty material. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After two highly successful “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies, it makes perfect sense that a third installment would be here in a hurry. However, I wasn’t expecting the producers to make such a shoddy, insistently mild follow-up, padded with unenthusiastic plotting and lame, moldy jokes. Even the prized musical performances have been dialed back some, making room for iffy CG-animated creatures to scurry around a desert island adventure, while the actors unlucky enough to appear in human form attempt to sell the chirpy fantasy, each cast member wearing a pronounced paycheck face. “Chipwrecked” assumes a DTV stance for this unimaginative sequel, dishing up the bare minimum to keep cashing in on the brand name. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Literary best-sellers are a funny thing. Sometimes they involve delicate tales about picturesque bridges in a place called Madison County, delighting the nation with a gentleness of spirit and fixation on rural sway, lulling fans into comfort with its anodyne dependability. Or, in the case of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” the entire world finds itself wrapped up in a story that graphically details the particulars of torture, murder, invasions of privacy, and anal rape. Go figure. Because the author’s “Millennium Series” is so ragingly popular, moviegoers are now faced with an all-new cinematic take on “Dragon Tattoo,” a year after a Swedish production made a domestic box office dent worth noticing. While the European take on this guttural European tale was quite marvelous with its performances and frosty execution, the Swedes didn’t have David Fincher. With its isolation, rage, and penetrative possibilities, the celebrated director was practically born to helm this graphic murder mystery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Shame” is a film that crawls under your skin, isolating a specific velocity of obsession that’s unbearable to watch, yet it’s impossible to look away. Co-writer/director Steve McQueen takes a look at the ravages of sex addiction with this uninviting motion picture, plunging star Michael Fassbender into a murky world of urges and conquests, using 100 minutes of screen time to paint perhaps the most cleanly defined portrait of an overlooked compulsion, making viewers feel the euphoria and toxicity of such volcanic sexual pursuits. “Shame” has even been allowed the prestige of an NC-17 rating, allowing it the full intensity it deserves, rare in this age of soft-peddled adult dramas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” is an immaculately crafted picture, shellacked with a sickly brown coating of English indifference, used to communicate a 1970s world of spies and paranoia, originally conceived by author John le Carre nearly four decades ago. The movie is simply amazing to study. Digesting the staring contests and tangle of last names is another story, at least for those not privy to traditional le Carre mechanics. This is an icy picture, perhaps best appreciated by those who enjoy challenges of memory and patience, who don’t require a substantial influence of personality to feel around a knotted scheme of espionage and memories, communicated in the most detached manner imaginable. Dramatically dry as toast, “Tinker Tailor” remains a potent, heroically detailed visual experience, worth a look just to linger on the background details while the characters gradually slip into comas. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With “Juno” and “Jennifer’s Body,” screenwriter Diablo Cody made a name for herself playing with paper dolls, dreaming up puckered dialogue for cartoon characters, hitting the industry with a pungent gimmick in serious need of refining. With “Young Adult,” Cody reveals astonishing maturation, unbuckling her belt of cutesy behaviors to sculpt a rough ode to the cocoon of extended adolescence, embodied to sheer perfection by a disheveled, Diet Coke-swilling Charlize Theron. “Young Adult” is a dark comedy with a few bellylaughs, but it clicks beautifully as an examination of a diseased thirtysomething mind enabled to a point of no return, fearlessly returning to her roots with a plan to sort out her idea of unfinished business. The writing is frighteningly spotless and the direction is refreshingly low-wattage, creating a tonally risky picture that’s deliciously mean yet crookedly insightful in a peculiar Codyesque way. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

That sound you hear is “Adventures in Babysitting” breathing a sigh of relief, now confident in the knowledge that it still holds the crown as the top babysitting movie of all time. “The Sitter” doesn’t even come close, marking the second 2011 comedic disaster for director David Gordon Green, last seen in theaters blowing millions on the fantasy stoner extravaganza, “Your Highness.” Returning to his low-budget roots, Green appears lost with this material, stitching together customary R-rated monkey business with peculiar stabs at After School Special melodrama, constructing a comedy that’s neither funny nor sincere. It could very well be Green’s career low-point, though after this year’s disastrous efforts, I’m afraid to see what the filmmaker has in store for 2012. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

What kind of film is “New Year’s Eve?” Over a shot of cooing babies, freshly born in 2012, Louis Armstrong’s abused anthem of hope, “What a Wonderful World,” soars on the soundtrack. That’s right, director Garry Marshall has returned with a pseudo-sequel to 2010’s unexpected smash “Valentine’s Day,” once again cracking open a holiday to inspect the broken hearts and soiled dreams of troubled souls competing for happiness. What worked before will likely work again, with little of the formula changed to bring audiences a slightly more advanced viewing experience. However, the cast shines a little brighter and the festivities are much less obnoxious, but there’s little sorcery capable of loosening Marshall’s directorial death grip, which always manages to squeeze intriguing emotional disturbances and crucial acts of longing into a glop of unflavored cinematic pudding. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I Melt with You” is more of a sensorial carpet bombing than a motion picture. Although cast with name actors and detailing significant emotions, the film is lost in its own swirl of pretention and indulgent HD cinematography. It’s a mess, but that’s exactly how director Mark Pellington intends it to be, dragging unlucky viewers through a military training field of sickly colors and harsh textures, loud music and obnoxious entitlement. “I Melt with You” is a rough sit, always distracted and synthetic, and while I’m sure a tolerant few will find smears of art buried somewhere beneath the relentless excess, I feel most who approach the feature will walk away with bloodshot eyes, tinnitus, and a urgent feeling to never sit through another Mark Pellington movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The heavy hearts of Angelenos are once again united in sorrow in “Answers to Nothing,” a determined multi-character downer that aims to make its audience feel horrible about life and all of its challenges. Perhaps I’m being as overdramatic as the film, but it’s difficult to not feel overwhelmed by director Matthew Leutwyler’s effort, which is such a persistently melancholy creation, slowly foiling up the windows as it beats tepid subplots into the ground over the course of its indulgent 120-minute run time. Some impassioned performances ease the flow of gloom, but it’s a long, steady walk to the noose for a picture in dire need of Prozac and some fresh air. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Takeshi Kitano is a sublime Japanese comedic performer and poetic screen stylist, but one would never get that impression over here in the United States. His forays into violent cinema typically receive the widest international distribution, obviously due to their easily marketable content, but also because they’re often extraordinarily crafted. His latest, “Outrage,” continues Kitano’s exploration of vicious criminal behavior, yet this picture endeavors to be a knotty, cyclical viewing experience, an Eastern “Godfather” event, with numerous characters running various schemes to attain power, dividing families and destroying allegiances. A calculated bullet train of deception and aggression, “Outrage” is an outstanding genre exercise from an exceptional filmmaker, returning to the blood-soaked territory that helped to solidify Kitano’s reputation as an unflinching master of the thousand-yard stare. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Sleeping Beauty” is a grueling interpretive experience where writer/director Julia Leigh only gives her audience fragments of information and behavior to work with. For some, the inscrutable moviegoing experience will be bliss, a rare opportunity to piece together an unsavory puzzle of twentysomething recklessness and sexual immaturity. For others, viewing “Sleeping Beauty” will carry all the suspense and sexual fury of bread baking. A tepid series of vaguely salacious encounters mixed with mummified emotions, Leigh’s feature is a provocative idea in serious need of some actual perversion. Hoping to mimic the likes of Stanley Kubrick and Lars Von Trier with a challenging piece of painterly misery, all Leigh achieves here is a trivial slog featuring lots of cold naked bodies and nary a heartbeat. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Here’s a film that leaves a host of unanswered questions and uncontested behavior behind. A deliberately opaque psychological drama, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” is a frustrating picture to watch, and it’s not because of its gut-churning portrayal of survival and surrender. Writer/director Sean Durkin aims to produce a mood of escalating disease, watching the title character succumb to her demons, fighting to grasp an enormous amount of trauma incurred by enigmatic seducers and antagonistic types. There’s plenty of meaningful staring and teary acts of mental distortion, but insight? Not in this remote art-house effort, a feature that prefers to exhibit pain instead of understanding it. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com