Penny Thoughts ‘12—Fritz the Cat (1972) ***

UR, 78 min.

Director: Ralph Bakshi

Writers: Ralph Bakshi, Robert Crumb (characters)

Starring: Skip Hinnant, Rosetta LeNoire, John McCurry, Judy Engles, Phil Seuling, Ralph Bakshi, Mary Dean, Charles Spidar

When I was much younger I had a hell of a time when I kept hearing about an animated movie called “Fritz the Cat”. I just couldn’t separate this cartoon in my head from “Felix the Cat”. But, what I heard about Fritz just didn’t jive with Felix. Felix is an old timey cartoon cat who does whacky, silly things that kids laugh at. Fritz is an adult cat, who concerns himself with adult things like drugs, violence, racism and sex. It wasn’t until I became aware of the other creations of alternative cartoonist Robert Crumb that I was able to make sense of my confusion.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Billy Elliot (2000) ***½

R, 110 min.

Director: Stephen Daldry

Writer: Lee Hall

Starring: Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis, Jamie Draven, Jean Heywood, Stuart Wells, Nicola Blackwell

I never caught “Billy Elliot” when it was making waves in the box office.  It seemed like another one of those British feel goods in the same vein as “The Full Monty” or “Waking Ned Devine”, and although I figured it was worth the watch, the impetus to see it just wasn’t that strong, even with it’s Oscar recognition.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Electric City (2012) ***½

NR, 20 5-min. webisodes

Creator: Tom Hanks

Director: Joel Trussell

Writer: Tom Hanks

Starring: Tom Hanks, Holland Taylor, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Joey Kern, Tara Sands, Edith Fields, Jason Antoon, David Kaye, Tara Strong, John Rubinstein, June Diane Raphael, Paul Scheer, Georg Stanford Brown, James Urbaniak, Chad Coleman, Ginnifer Goodwin

Tom Hanks’ “Electric City” is an animated sci-fi web series that is totally unexpected. Taking place in a future world where some catastrophic event has totally changed our world, which has rebuilt itself into a more totalitarian state where electricity is a precious commodity that is controlled by the state. Anyone using electricity outside of the guidelines set forth by the state, even in small transistor radios, is dealt with by law enforcement. If their transgressions are more subversive to the establishment, there are assassins sanctioned to kill on behalf of the state.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—The Hardly Boys in Hardly Gold (1996) ***

NR, 28 min.

Director/Writer/Narrator: William Wegman

Starring: Battina, Crooky, Fay Ray, Chundo

So, I’m visiting my old stomping grounds in Maine, the Brunswick/Topsham area, and my mother tells us about an art show at Bowdoin College covering the work of William Wegman. He’s the guy who takes all the pictures of his Weimaraner dogs that I’m sure most of you have seen. He dresses them up as people, or he just takes shots of them in interesting poses. Anyway, he draws much of his inspiration from the time he spends in Rangeley, Maine. So, a show of his work at Bowdoin College makes some sense. Apparently he was present at the opening of the show. That would’ve been nice to go to.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Beat the Devil (1953) ***

NR, 89 min.

Director: John Huston

Writers: Truman Capote, John Huston, James Helvick (novel)

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Edward Underdown, Ivor Barnard, Marco Tulli, Bernard Lee, Mario Perrone, Saro Urzí

“Beat the Devil” is a nice small picture from one of the original great epic filmmakers, John Huston. It’s a European-based crime picture starring Humphrey Bogart that is often described as a madcap comedy. It doesn’t seem so madcap to my eyes, but I think topical context played a good deal into the comedic elements. It is funny for a modern mindset, but more in a chuckle, chuckle sense than a knee slapping one.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Chronicle (2012) **½

PG-13, 84 min.

Director: Josh Trank

Writers: Max Landis, Josh Trank

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw

“Chronicle” is another 2012 release that almost works, but not quite. It shows us what might happen in the real world if some ordinary people were suddenly imbued with superpowers. Its failure does not come in its story, but in its execution. Even that might’ve worked just fine if not for a poor stylistic choice by the filmmakers.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Slumdog Millionaire (2008) ****

R, 120 min.

Director: Danny Boyle

Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Vikas Swarup (novel “Q & A”)

Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Rubina Ali Tanay, Hemant Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, Ankur Vikal, Himanshu Tyagi

I haven’t seen Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” since about a week before it won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2009. It’s one of those Best Picture winners that’s kind of easy to forget about for some reason. Sometimes that’s just what happens to the Best Picture winners. Sometimes the losers are more memorable. Sometimes ones that weren’t even nominated were more memorable.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Screwballs (1983) ½*

R, 82 min.

Director: Rafal Zielinski

Writers: Linda Shayne, Jim Wynorski

Starring: Peter Keleghan, Kent Deuters, Linda Speciale, Alan Deveau, Linda Shayne, Jason Warren, Jim Coburn, Terrea Foster, Donnie Bowes, Kimberly Brooks

I honestly don’t know why I watch movies like this. I tend to do it when I’m tired and I just can’t see myself really processing anything with any sort of complexity. You know like getting from point A to point B. That’s awfully complex for me at the wrong times.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) ***

NR, 110 min.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writers: Hayao Miyazaki, Harauya Yamazaki, Monkey Punch (graphic novel), Môrisu Ruburan (characters)

Starring: Sean Barker, Dorothy Melendrez, Ivan Buckley, Ruby Marlowe, Sparky Thornton, Richard Barnes

“Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro” is the first feature length film by master animation director Hayao Miyazaki. The Oscar-winning animator directed the first television series of “Lupin the Third” as well as two episodes of the second series. He then went on to create Studio Ghibli, responsible for such amazing movies as “Spirited Away”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and “My Neighbor Totoro”.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Tiny Furniture (2010) **

NR, 98 min.

Director/Writer: Lena Dunham

Starring: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, Jemimah Kirke, Merritt Wever, Alex Karpovsky, David Call

Sometimes independent features rub me the wrong way. Creatively there is certainly nothing wrong with Lena Dunham’s feature film “Tiny Furniture”. It tells the story of a recent college graduate who moves back in with her mother and younger sister in New York. Played by Dunham, with her real life mother and sister playing her mother and sister, Aura isn’t having an easy time adjusting to being a responsible adult.

The Dark Knight Rises / *** (PG-13)

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale

John Blake: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Selina Kyle/Catwoman: Anne Hathaway

Bane: Tom Hardy

Commissioner Gordon: Gary Oldman

Lucious Fox: Morgan Freeman

Alfred Pennyworth: Michael Caine

Miranda Tate: Marion Cotillard

Deputy Commissioner Peter Foley: Matthew Modine

John Daggett: Ben Mendelsohn

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer. Based on characters created by Bob Kane. Running time: 164 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language).

It seems that as the conclusion of any movie trilogy approaches these days, everyone points out before they see the final installment that the third one never lives up to what came before it. This is not one of those truths that our forefathers claimed to be self evident, but perhaps it should be taken as one. It seems that without fail, the third installment in a trilogy does fall somewhat short of its predecessors. “The Dark Knight Rises”, which concludes the Christopher Nolan directed trilogy of Batman films, is no exception.

The Dark Mourning

In light of this morning’s tragic events in Aurora, Colorado, A Penny in the Well will not be posting a review today. I do, however, offer some commentary on what happened.

I attended a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” last night, as record numbers did across the nation today. I woke this morning after four hours of sleep because of my late night activity to learn of the horrors that occurred at the Century 16 in Aurora. It was a jolt that brought me immediately back to the Columbine massacre that occurred 13 years ago. At that time, I was living in Colorado and working as a manager of a movie theater. There are almost too many coincidental connections there for me process it.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Flash Gordon (1980) *

PG, 111 min.

Director: Mike Hodges

Writers: Lorenzo Semple Jr., Michael Allin (adaptation), Alex Raymond (characters)

Starring: Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max Von Sydow, Topol, Ornella Muti, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Peter Wyngarde, Mariangela Melato

Anybody who saw the movie “Ted” this summer can probably guess why I was inspired to pull this piece of trash out of the garbage. “Ted” is obsessed with every piece of pop culture that went into forming my generation’s collective consciousness. One of the main pieces in it is the 1980 movie “Flash Gordon”. I believe the teddy bear remarks about it, “So bad, but so good.”

Penny Thoughts ‘12—The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, season 1 (2010) ***

TV-MA, 6 21-min. episodes

Creator: David Cross

Director: Alex Hardcastle

Writers: David Cross, Shaun Pye

Starring: David Cross, Sharon Horgan, Will Arnett, Blake Harrison, John Fortune, Amber Tamblyn, Zahra Ahmadi, Madison Masters, Stewart Scudamore, Steve Davis, Colin Salmon, Sara Pascoe, Janeane Garofalo, Spike Jonze

If there’s one thing that David Cross and Will Arnett are great at it’s making complete asses of themselves. That’s the whole point of David Cross’s television series “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret”. They’re different kind of asses, to be sure, but what a couple of a**holes!

Penny Thoughts ‘12—The Dark Knight (2008) ****

PG-13, 152 min.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, Bob Kane (characters)

Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Ekhardt, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Chin Han, Nestor Cabronell, Eric Roberts

…And so we get the Joker, but how different than anyone could’ve expected.

I haven’t seen “The Dark Knight” since it was released in theaters. Revisiting it was like watching a movie I’d never seen before. I think that speaks toward the film’s strengths. Most comic book adaptations are pretty much variations on the same. Even if you haven’t seen a movie in four years, you still pretty much know how it goes. Not the case with “The Dark Knight”. It was a like a brand new movie to me this time out.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Batman Begins (2005) ***½

PG-13, 140 min.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Writers: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman,  Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Mark Boone Junior, Linus Roache

“Batman Begins” redefined the concept of the comic book adaptation movie. It took the comic book superhero out of the comic book and into a legitimate cinematic universe. Preceded by the successes of “Spider-Man” and “Spider-Man 2”, which worked because someone finally put a fan of the comic books at the helm of the movie, “Batman Begins” took the comic book movie a step further away from comic books with another fan at the helm.

Savages / *** (R)

O: Blake Lively

Chon: Taylor Kitsch

Ben: Aaron Johnson

Lado: Benicio del Toro

Elena: Salma Hayek

Dennis: John Travolta

Alex: Demián Bichir

Spin: Emile Hirsch

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Oliver Stone. Written by Shane Salerno & Don Winslow & Oliver Stone. Based on the novel by Winslow. Running time: 131 min. Rated R (for strong brutal and grisly violence, some graphic sexuality, nudity, drug use and language throughout).

Savages (noun) (chiefly in historical and literary contexts) Members of a people regarded as primitive and uncivilized.

Oliver Stone’s new movie “Savages” tackles a subject that has become familiar cinematic fodder over the past forty years—the business of illegal drug trade.  As is often the case with such stories, it involves pretty young people who start out living the high life profited from the lucrative business of drug manufacturing. Instead of life getting better, however, they eventually find themselves over their heads in the violent world sculpted by the people who hold all the power, and they must either perish or lower their moral standards to fight that violence with similar behavior. They must become savages, which they may have been all along.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Breaking Bad, season 4 (2011) ****

TV-MA, 13 47-min. episodes

Creator: Vince Gilligan

Directors: Adam Bernstein, Michelle MacLaren, David Slade, Colin Bucksey, Michael Clovis, Peter Gould, Johan Renck, Terry McDonogh, Scott Winant, Vince Gilligan

Writers: Vince Gilligan, George Mastras, Sam Catlin, Moira Walley-Beckett, Thomas Schnauz, Gennifer Hutchinson, Peter Gould

Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Aaron Paul, Dean Morris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Giancarlo Esposito, Jonathan Banks, David Costabile, Lavell Crawford, Jeremiah Bitsui, Ray Campbell, Jim Beaver, Matt Jones, Charles Baker, Emily Rios, Nigel Gibbs, Jennifer Hasty, Bill Burr, Marius Stan, Jeremy Howard, Ashley Kajiki, Maurice Compte, Steven Michael Quezada, Jere Burns, Michael Shamus Wiles, Javier Grajeda, Christopher Cousins, Carlo Rota, Steven Bauer, Mark Margolis

The amazing thing about this series is its writers’ continuing ability to raise the stakes. What’s so amazing about that is that the stakes started so high in season one. Never does it seem the characters are ever as in control of events as the events are of them. Never do their choices seem implausible or out of character. Walt is such an asshole. That’s a key element to making him work. Jesse is a screw up, even when he’s getting things right. Skyler and Walt love their family. That’s unshakeable. Without any of these elements this series wouldn’t work.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Sleeping Beauty (2011) **

NR, 101 min.

Director/Writer: Julia Leigh

Starring: Emily Browning, Rachel Blake, Ewan Leslie, Peter Carroll

I know Snow White has been getting the live action treatment lately, but this is not a remake of Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty”. If you go into this expecting a live action princess story, you will be severely shocked.

20 Personal Answers About Movies

People are always making lists on Facebook. You see these types of things go around fairly regularly. “10 most influential albums.” “What books formed your reading habits growing up?” Things like that. The other day an acting friend of mine sent out this list that was actually taken from an interview with Emma Stone he’d read. I thought it might be a good opportunity for my readers to get to know just how my opinions on movies may have developed throughout my life.

The first movie I remember watching: The first movies always seem to be at drive-ins, perhaps because it was easier for parents to deal with kids in that environment. The first movie I can remember was “Benji” (1974). I would’ve been 3.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Brian Regan: The Epitome of Hyperbole (2008) **

NR, 45 min.

Director: Troy Miller

Writer/Star: Brian Regan

I like Brian Regan’s comedy. He’s been popular long enough that my appreciation could allow some to categorize me as ‘lame.’ What’s up with that trend in comedian popularity? As soon as a comic hits a certain realm of popularity, he becomes unfunny to many people. Brian Regan’s Comedy Central stand-up special “The Epitome of Hyperbole” might explain that phenomenon to some degree. It just isn’t as good as he is.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Zulu (1964) **½

UR, 138 min.

Director: Cy Enfield

Writers: John Prebble (also article), Cy Enfield

Starring: Stanley Baker, Michael Caine, James Booth, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobson, Nigel Green, Patrick Magee

I know I’ve been throwing a lot of 2½ star reviews out there lately, but I’ve just been seeing a lot of movies that almost have it right. The 1964 British depiction of their war in Africa “Zulu” is one of those movies that came just this close to being good. Where it falls short the most is it’s one-sided depiction of the conflict. “Zulu” is told completely from the British point of view. Why the title “Zulu”, if you aren’t going to depict the Zulu’s point of view at all?

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Escape from New York (1981) ***½

R, 99 min.

Director: John Carpenter

Writers: John Carpenter, Nick Castle

Starring: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, Season Hubley

Because this is Penny Thoughts, this will not be a proper review. The great thing about that is it gives me an excuse to watch the movie again sometime soon so I can review it properly. No, instead of a review I’d like to tell a little story about Ernest Borgnine, who passed away Sunday at the age of 95.

The Amazing Spider-Man / **½ (PG-13)

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: Andrew Garfield

Gwen Stacy: Emma Stone

Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard: Rhys Ifans

Captain Stacy: Dennis Leary

Aunt May: Sally Field

Uncle Ben: Martin Sheen

Rajit Ratha: Irrfan Khan

Richard Parker: Campbell Scott

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Marc Webb. Written by James Vanderbilt and Alvin Sargent and Steve Kloves. Based on the comic book by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Running time: 136 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of action and violence).

The job of a critic requires walking a delicate balance. As criticism, everything we write is subjective, yet in order to be a fair critic we must try to weigh a certain measure of objectivity into anything we dissect. It is impossible to write opinion without bias, but it is also important for a good critic to take into account what the filmmakers are trying to achieve and how well they do without allowing personal preference to cloud our judgment on how well they achieve their artistic goals. I make it a point to try my hardest to keep this delicate balance with every film I write about. In the case of “The Amazing Spider-Man”, I must admit that my status as a Spider-Man fan may very well overshadow my objectivity towards its subject.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2012) ½*

R, 93 min.

Directors/Writers: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim

Starring: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim, Robert Loggia, William Atherton, Twink Caplan, John C. Reilly, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Baggio, Will Ferrell, Will Forte, Zach Galifianakis, Ray Wise, Matt O’Toole

There is this trend in comedy filmmaking that I think was originally birthed in the spoofs of Mel Brooks and the Zucker brothers. I refer to it as moron comedy. Those masters never depended solely on moron comedy, but it consists of allowing your main characters to be so moronic you build comedic moments around it. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, who became popular on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming, deal in a comedy style that seems to consist of nothing but moron comedy. Tim and Eric are the morons.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Kinyarwanda (2011) ****

NR, 100 min.

Director: Alrick Brown

Writers: Alrick Brown, Ishmael Ntihabose

Starring: Cassandra Freeman, Edouard Bamporiki, Cleophas Kabasita, Mazimpaka Kennedy, Hadidja Zaninka, Hassan Kabera, Abdallah Uwimana, Marc Gwamaka, Mutsari Jean, Kena Onyenjekwe

“Kinyarwanda” opens up the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to a new level of understanding. Alrick Brown’s movie moves between different sides of the conflict at different age, economic and religious perspectives to provide a broad viewpoint of how it escalated and how it affected everyone in Rwanda.

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) ***

R, 131 min.

Director: John McTiernan

Writer: John Hensleigh

Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Graham Greene, Colleen Camp, Larry Bryggman, Anthony Peck, Nick Wyman, Sam Phillips

What could be more American than watching John McClane trash talk and then kill some German thief scum? Doing that and watching Samuel L. Jackson yell about how white people are all crazy, that’s what.

Ted / ***½ (R)

John Bennett: Mark Wahlberg

Lori Collins: Mila Kunis

Ted (voice): Seth McFarlane

Rex: Joel McHale

Donny: Giovanni Ribisi

Sam J. Jones: Sam J. Jones

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Seth McFarlane. Written by McFarlane and Alec Sulkin & Wellesley Wild. Running time: 106 min. Rated R (for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, and some drug use).

So, I’m watching this movie about a teddy bear, who talks because the boy who got him for Christmas one year wished they could be friends for the rest of their lives. After they become adults, they continue their adolescent behavior until the boy’s girlfriend insists he grows up, which means the teddy bear must grow up and move out on his own. So, the boy, now a man, is leaving the teddy bear on his own in a strange apartment for the first time in his life, and I’m sitting there thinking, “You can’t do that, man! This poor teddy bear has never been on his own before. How can you leave him alone?” And I’m getting all choked up over a teddy bear. A fucking teddy bear!!!

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Archer, season 2 (2011) ***

TV-MA, 13 21-min. episodes

Creator: Adam Reed

Writers: Adam Reed, Mehar Sethi

Starring: H. Jon Benjamin, Judy Greer, Amber Nash, Chris Parnell, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Adam Reed, Lucky Yates, George Coe, Kari Wahlgren, Clarke Peters, Jeffrey Tambor, Dave Willis, Peter Serafinowicz, Rachel Harris, Neal Homan, Charles Napier, Joan Van Ark, Craig Ferguson, Ona Grauer, Peter Newman

The second season of the spy send up adult cartoon “Archer” continues with the series signature absurdities and sexual and violent spoofs. Sterling Archer isn’t exactly James Bond, but he sure thinks he is. Actually, he probably thinks James Bond is lame compared to his abilities as a spy and lover. Yet Bond doesn’t have to deal with an entire spy agency full of imbeciles and sociopaths. ISIS is a private spy agency that puts the global scale disaster in the word ‘incompetence.’

Penny Thoughts ‘12—Coriolanus (2011) ***

R, 123 min.

Director: Ralph Fiennes

Writers: John Logan, William Shakespeare (play)

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain, John Kani, James Nesbitt, Paul Jesson

I was a drama major at Hofstra University, which boasts one of the best undergraduate Shakespearean acting programs available. Everyone in the department had a huge volume of the complete works of Shakespeare. Throughout a four-year program all read most of those plays. A select few were not read. Despite my knowledge of Shakespeare, I only had a vague notion that the play “Coriolanus” even existed until British actor Ralph Fiennes decided to make his directorial debut with a film production of it.

Moonrise Kingdom / **** (PG-13)

Suzy Bishop: Kara Hayward

Sam Shakusky: Jared Gilman

Captain Sharp: Bruce Willis

Scout Master Ward: Edward Norton

Mr. Bishop: Bill Murray

Mrs. Bishop: Frances McDormand

Social Services: Tilda Swinton

Narrator: Bob Balaban

Cousin Ben: Jason Schwartzman

Commander Pierce: Harvey Keitel

Focus Features presents a film directed by Wes Anderson. Written by Anderson and Roman Coppola. Running time: 94 min. Rated PG-13 (for sexual content and smoking).

“Even smart kids stick their fingers in electrical sockets sometimes.”

                                                                        —Captain Sharp, “Moonrise Kingdom”

A critic once said that the mark of a great director was the identifiably of his or her work with just a few frames worth of footage. Wes Anderson’s work is identifiable usually with just one still of footage. Even just 20 seconds or so could distinguish it for someone who isn’t even familiar with his work. Anderson is probably the most unique filmmaker working in movies today. His latest film, “Moonrise Kingdom”, is his most accomplished film to date.