Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows / *** (PG-13)

Sherlock Holmes: Robert Downey, Jr.

Dr. John Watson: Jude Law

Madam Simza Heron: Noomi Rapace

Prof. James Moriarty: Jared Harris

Mycroft Holmes: Stephen Fry

Colonel Sebastian Moran: Paul Anderson

Mary Watson: Kelly Reilly

Mrs. Hudson: Geraldine James

Irene Adler: Rachel McAdams

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Guy Ritchie. Written by Michele Mulroney & Kieran Mulroney. Based on the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Running time: 129 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material).

Purists complained that the Sherlock Holmes depicted by Robert Downey Jr. and company in the 2009 movie “Sherlock Homes” was not the character that lived at 221B Baker Street in four novels and many short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. They said Downey’s eccentric, reclusive, and borderline insane interpretation of an early champion of forensic science, while entertaining, did not match Doyle’s description of his great detective. They also complained that this character, known for his ability to think through problems, had been turned into some sort of period action hero by filmmaker Guy Ritchie. These complaints notwithstanding, the first “Sherlock Holmes” was a romp of a movie that was witty and thrilling, and with “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”, Downey and company haven’t missed a beat.

Picking up where the last one left off, “A Game of Shadows” is bookended by Dr. Watson (Jude Law, “Contagion”) writing a book based on their “final adventure” together. Holmes is still dancing with his previous romantic interest, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams “Midnight in Paris”). She is still in the employ of her mysterious benefactor, the elusive and as sharp-witted as Holmes, Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”). London and the whole of Europe have been subject to a series of bombings that have been attributed to terrorists. Holmes has a different theory involving Moriarty, a weapons manufacturer, and the intent to send the continent into its First World War.

Dampening Holmes’s plans to gambol through Europe, chasing the clues with his trusty companion, Watson is the imminent wedding of his anchor to Mary (Kelly Reilly, “Me and Orson Welles”). Holmes sidelines Mary easily enough when Moriarty tries to preempt Holmes’s investigation by sabotaging the Watson’s honeymoon. This occurs in one of the film’s visually impressive action sequences on a train that left me wondering just what happened to all the other passengers aboard. There’s hardly time to ponder such details, though, with the non-stop pace and editing wizardry employed by director Ritchie (“Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”).

The clues lead to a Gypsy named Madam Simza, played by the original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” star, Noomi Rapace. Since Simza herself isn’t directly involved in Moriarty’s plot—rather her brother is—her presence really only seems necessary for the costume department to have another beautiful woman to dress exotically. I was disappointed that the screenwriting team of Michele and Kieran Mulroney couldn’t come up with more for her to do. This inauspicious U.S. debut for Rapace has me even more interested to see what she does in next summer’s “Alien” prequel, “Prometheus”.

Nevertheless, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” is a thrilling and brainy entry into the period action genre. It plays like some of the best James Bond plots, with the fate of the world ready to be snatched by a megalomaniac criminal mastermind who is as cool as his plot is diabolical. Harris makes for the perfect villain, plausibly staying one step ahead of Holmes. Ritchie continues his Holmes signature of showing Holmes’s predictive analysis for combat in slow motion before actually engaging in combat in real time. The finale gives aficionados Holmes and Moriarty’s famous confrontation at the Reichbach Falls from the story “The Adventure of the Final Problem”.

This outing runs slightly more serious than the previous adventure, simply because the stakes are much higher than they were the first time around. Holmes and Watson still engage in their bromantellectual—yes, I just invented that word—bickering that made the first film so entertaining. Stephen Fry (“V for Vendetta”) comes on board as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes for the biggest bout of comic relief. The screenwriters and Ritchie structure the comic timing with the action very well.

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” won’t be changing the face of action movies to come nor win any artistic awards of merit, but it is a sly actioner that will satisfy the fans of the previous film and please those who may have missed that one. There have been some improvements to the plotting elements from the first film, and a few setbacks in other areas. The absence of a strong female lead leaves Holmes and Watson without a fulcrum to balance their bickering. Again, such details are hard to notice, however, in a film that hardly stops to take a breath during it’s over two hour running time.

Hugo / **** (PG)

Hugo Cabret: Asa Butterfield

Georges Méliès: Ben Kingsley

Isabelle: Chloë Grace Moretz

Station Inspector: Sacha Baron Cohen

Mama Jeanne: Helen McCrory

Rene Tabard: Michael Stuhlbarg

Paramount Pictures and GK Films present a film directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by John Logan. Based on the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick. Running time: 126 min. Rated PG (for mild thematic material, some action/peril and smoking).

I love movies. I absolutely love them. I love new movies and old movies. I love good movies. I even love bad movies. I just can’t get enough of them. I love writing about movies. I love talking about movies. I love taking movie quizzes. I love talking incessantly about movies at my wife, even though I know she’s not listening. I’d like to make a movie one day. And yet, all the love I hold for movies can’t even scratch the surface of the love filmmaker Martin Scorsese has for them.

At its heart, that’s what his new movie “Hugo” is about. It’s a fantasy based on the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick, which imagines a history of pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès as seen through the eyes of an industrious orphan. As a fantasy, there is little fact to be found here about Méliès beyond those that he started as a magician and created many cinematic conventions in the more than 500 movies he made throughout his career. But, Scorsese has made a movie celebrating the man responsible for the famous film “A Trip to the Moon” (1902) by inventing thrilling cinema in the same spirit of Méliès. In doing so, Scorsese is able to highlight many of his own passions about cinema, such as film preservation, special effects, over the top characters, and even 3D.

The story gives us Hugo Cabret, a brave performance by Asa Butterfield (“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”), who is a watchmaker trained by his father (Jude Law, “Contagion”). When his father is killed in a fire, his uncle (Ray Winstone, “The Departed”), a drunk, puts him to work maintaining the clocks in a Parisian train station. This is where the majority of Hugo’s story will take place.

Hugo’s biggest threat is the Station Inspector. Played fairly broadly, but with heart, by Sacha Baron Cohen (“Sweeney Todd”), the Station Inspector makes sending vagrant children to the orphanage his number one priority. Hindered by a leg brace due to a war injury, the Station Inspector, never named, uses a Doberman to help corner his “victims.”

In a stunning opening sequence, which includes a chase by the Station Inspector, we are introduced to him and Hugo and the regular train station vendors that occupy their own little community on a daily basis. There’s the flower girl (Emily Mortimer, “Shutter Island”) for whom the Station Inspector has feelings. There is the station romance between the café owner and an art vendor (Frances de la Tour and Richard Griffiths, both of “Harry Potter” fame). And, there’s the glowering bookseller (Christopher Lee, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”), who warms up pretty quick if you get to know him.

Finally, there is the toy maker played by Ben Kingsly (“The Wackness”), who holds a deep secret that will unravel once he decides to uncover Hugo’s secret. Hugo has been stealing mechanical clockwork parts from the toy maker for some time, and the toy maker is finally fed up with it. He takes a book of plans the boy has for an automaton. The boy’s father found these plans and tried to build the automaton before his death. The book deeply affects the toy maker, whose name is Georges. Georges takes the book from Hugo but can tell the boy has a talent with machines. He hires the boy on as an apprentice. Hugo recruits Georges’s ward, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz, “Let Me In”), to help him get the book back so he can finish re-building the automaton.

The automaton is a mechanical humanoid figure that Hugo’s father assumed could replicate the act of writing. What the automaton really does and what connection it holds with the toy maker I will leave for you to discover. Mystery is one of the storytelling devises that Scorsese ("The Aviator") uses and celebrates here. He also uses a classical story structure and a luxurious production design that captures the mystique and romance of Paris and the spirit of Hollywood’s Golden Age. This picture is even more beautiful than the alien worlds of Pandora. It provides a fantasy version of post-war Paris that makes you wish you existed in that place at that time.

As for the 3D, even Scorsese is unable to convince me it is a necessary element to the movie; but in a movie that celebrates the innovations of cinema, it’s a fitting use of the technology. It does add some amount of thrill to the action sequences and a small amount of wonder to everything else, but nothing compared to the overall beauty of the production or the solid storytelling that acts as this fantasy’s foundation.

“Hugo” might seem slower and more introspective compared to the latest “Alvin and the Chipmunks” high seas adventure, but I hardly site that as a negative element. This is a movie that will work on everyone’s childlike sense of wonder, and it gives back so much more than your standard family film. For audiences who are film enthusiasts, the power of the movie is increased ten fold. There is so much for a cineaste to feast on here. Perhaps when Scorsese’s game is up, as it is on this film, I do have as much love for cinema as he does. 

Penny Thoughts ’11: Dec. 9-15

Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011) ***½

Director: Werner Herzog

Writer: Werner Herzog, Judith Thurman (article)

Starring: Werner Herzog (also narrator), Dominique Baffier, Jean Clottes, Jean-Michael Geneste 

Werner Herzog’s “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” unearths the earliest cave drawings ever discovered. For the documentary, Herzog was granted exclusive access to the Chauvet caves in Southern France, where recently the oldest cave drawings on record were discovered in pristine condition, preserved by the rock as if they were drawn yesterday.

The discovery in itself is amazing and makes for fascinating subject matter. The doc doesn’t feel quite like a typical Herzog film. It doesn’t have the central dissection of character that Herzog is so skilled at as a filmmaker. Instead it mostly regards the drawings. There are a few talking heads explaining the history of the discovery and of other artifacts found from the same time period, but Herzog isn’t interested in the modern human subjects.

Without the people who actually created the drawings to scrutinize, Herzog is content with simply observing the drawings themselves. Much of the movie is spent in silence, with the camera simply photographing the drawings. It was released in theaters in 3D, which seems an odd format for Herzog and documentaries in general. I would’ve liked to see it in 3D, however, for that sense of actually observing the drawings in person.

This is a simpler film than Herzog usually makes. What Herzog is best at, however, is observation. Here, instead of observing a man and his weaknesses, Herzog observes one of man’s greatest strengths—his ability to communicate, even over centuries.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977) ***

Director: Jim Henson

Writers: Jerry Juhl, Lillian Hoban (book), Russell Hoban (book)

Starring: Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Marilyn Sokol, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Eren Ozker, Jim Henson

I remember anticipating watching “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” when I was a kid. I’d watched “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show” with great glee for Jim Henson’s creations, and the prospect of a Christmas special with Muppets was quite thrilling. I knew it wasn’t starring the regular Muppet crew, so I was quite surprised to see Kermit riding a bike in the opening moments. I also remember that the band Foreigner was popular at the time. For some reason, the Nightmare reminded me of Foreigner. I now realize the Riverbottom boys are much more talented. My older brother was also dreaming of rock ‘n roll stardom at the time, so the story of Emmet’s dream of owning a guitar and the whole notion of the Nightmare band just struck a chord in the Wells household.

Looking back, I’m surprised at how much of a musical the holiday special was. There are more songs than dialogue in the show. It’s also kind of fun to see how poorly the filmmakers were able to cover the wires and puppetry involved in making the movie. Does it spoil the illusion? Hardly. It reminds us of simpler times, times when it was ok to see the seams in our entertainment. Those gaffes aren’t what we take away from the experience anyway. Although, it’s awfully hard to block out how goofy those woodland creatures look when they walk, with the knees flying out in front of them and their feet never touching the ground.

The Change-Up (2011) **½

Director: David Dobkin

Writers: Joe Lucas, Scott Moore

Starring: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin

The new body-switching movie “The Change-Up” wasn’t half as bad as I expected it to be. The absurdity of this ages old premise is always a tough one to get around. I think “The Parent Trap” is the only one that does it in an acceptable way by having the change-up be physically possibly since the two switching roles are actually twins. Sure it’s the parents that are worked on in that one and not the switchees, but at least its plausible.

This one really takes the cake though by having polar opposites Jason Bateman (the family man) and Ryan Reynolds (the single party guy) switch by peeing in a fountain together. Uh-huh. But anyway, despite the film’s blatant attempts at making all facets of adult life and marriage vulgar, it’s actually pretty thoughtful about its protagonists and their dilemmas in their everyday ruts. The movie gets a lot of details about marriage and parenthood correct, although the baby poop in the mouth is a little much. A fountain of pee getting in there? Sure, that can happen; but the poop is just gross for grossness sake.

The story is perhaps a little too drawn out. You expect a comedy like this to run about 90 minutes or so. This one runs close to two hours and the extra thirty minutes can be felt. But, if you’re looking for some mindless fun and a few pretty good laughs, you could do a lot worse than having them delivered by Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds. And on the female side, there’s also Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde. Not too shabby.

The Grapes of Wrath (1940) ****

Director: John Huston

Writers: Nunnally Johnson, John Steinbeck (novel)

Starring: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Charley Grapewin, Dorris Bowdon, Russell Simpson, O.Z. Whitehead, John Qualen, Eddie Quillan, Zeffie Tilbury, Frank Sully, Frank Darien, Darryl Hickman, Shirley Mills

“I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too.”

                                                                                                —Tom Joad

Seeing this movie and “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” in the same week has me worried for our country. Both seem to be born out of the depression, although the Muppets special was from a children’s book published in the early seventies. Both are about impoverished American families (I assume the Otters are American). Both strike remarkably close to home in our current economic climate.

Both of these movies made me think about GOP hopeful Newt Gingrich’s comments about how the poor need to learn about work ethic. I’m sure there are some poor people who do need an injection of work ethic, but both of these movies depict a poor class that works very hard for what little they have, and they’re thankful for what they get. Perhaps that’s what this country needs more of today. I rarely get the impression that the rich are thankful for what they get. Too often I hear people who are more well to do than others complaining about their situation. We’ve become soft all right, but it ain’t the poor that got us there.

The Future (2011) ***½

Director/Writer: Miranda July

Starring: Miranda July, Hamish Linklater, David Warshofsky

“The Future” is a quirky little dark comedy about a stray cat that gets rescued, taken to the vet and dies waiting for the people to pick her back up again, and it involves time travel. OK, none of what I just wrote is true, but it sort of is. That’s the great thing about “The Future”; it has such a free spirit. Perhaps too much free spirit in the film’s protagonist played by the movie’s writer and director Miranda July.

July’s original debut “Me You and Everyone We Know” was a sensation, but it’s almost upstaged by her follow up, which is more intimate and inventive. It follows a couple older than they look or feel. They perhaps suffer from what many Gen-Xer’s do as we reach our 40s; we still think we’re 20. One day their reality comes crashing down on them, and they realize they’re unobtrusive existence of going to jobs they never wanted and surfing the internet as they sit next to each other in their apartment doesn’t exactly match the dreams they once had. They decide to make drastic changes, which will have much different effects on their lives than they imagined. The good news is that the man can stop time by will. Unfortunately, he doesn’t really know how to or even if he wants it to start it back up again once he realizes how things have changed between he and his wife.

Throughout all of this that cat is waiting for them to come pick her up from the vet’s office. The cat will most likely die within six months anyway, but her life of being a cat has become a life about waiting. There are some deep messages here about how we wait for our life to become what we think it will be rather than shaping the lives we want. What’s so charming about this movie though is how July doesn’t really push that message on its story. It evolves naturally from it, much like our lives evolve naturally from our actions

Western of the Week

Dead Man (1995) ***

Director/Writer: Jim Jarmusch

Starring: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henricksen, Michael Wincott, Eugene Byrd, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Robert Mitchum, Mili Avital, Gabriel Byrne, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Jarred Harris, Alfred Molina

I saw “Dead Man” in 1995 and was less than impressed by it. Last week, I watched the movie “Reel Injun”, about the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood. Director/Writer Jim Jarmusch contributed many of his observations about Hollywood Indians to the documentary and that inspired me to give this movie a second look. Gary Farmer certainly provides a non-traditional Hollywood depiction of an Indian portrayal with his outcast Nobody. He’s fat. He doesn’t understand everything about his world. He doesn’t know how to fight. He exists as much by luck as he does by his “noble” wisdom. It’s just as untraditional as Johnny Depp’s accountant hero is to the western genre.

I remain unsure as to just what Jarmusch is trying to accomplish in this film beyond the deconstruction of the Western myth as defined by Hollywood. Certainly that’s enough of a goal, but he’s also trying to tell the story of this man played by Depp and his journey toward death. That’s the part I’m not sure about, but I was more entertained by it this time around. The opening train sequence has a sort of brilliance in the way it shows us how a western journey at that time was much more of a bother than it’s often depicted on film. In just a few shot compositions and a fairly short amount of screen time, he’s able to express how endless such a journey must have felt. Perhaps that’s part of what he’s saying about our journey toward death.

Beginners (2011) ***½

Director/Writer: Mike Mills

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Mary Page Keller, Cosmo

Mike Mills’s “Beginners” is a romance realized through the necessity to fight the insecurities we work our whole lives to build. When you can write a sentence like that about a film, it’s a pretty good bet its worth the watch. “Beginners”, however, goes beyond just its message and tells its story in an interesting way.

First, its narrative is broken up, out of chronological order. It tells the story of an unhappy man, played by Ewan McGregor. His father has just passed away. His mother had passed four years earlier. He’s in that difficult period where he has to pick up his pieces and finding he’s the only one left to do it. His friends try to be helpful, but can’t break through his malaise.

Part of his problem is that in his father’s final years, his entire perception of what his life had been was turned on its head by his dad’s revelation that he was gay and had been his entire married life. He never cheated on his wife, but the distance between them defined much of their boy’s life. Without falling back into a full synopsis, I’ll just say that McGregor’s direction changes when he meets a girl who makes him feel the type of love his parents never shared.

From there we discover a unique romance that isn’t as happy as we expect our romances to be, but much more fulfilling. Mills uses unusual editing techniques to express McGregor’s inner emotions. There are graphics that depict the size of his father’s tumor. He adopts his father’s Jack Russell, and theirs is one of the most unique owner/pet relationships I’ve seen. He talks to the dog, who answers back in subtitles. Most emotionally effective, however, is the way in which his story is edited. Mills has a knack for revealing facts to the audience at just the right time, right when it will shuffle the puzzle of McGregor’s emotions around in just the right way to have maximum impact.

I may have made all this sound too technical, and too sad. It isn’t. “Beginners” is a sweet story that is in touch with the way we live our lives. It handles cancer in a way that survivors will understand and relate to. It understands love equally as well. It’s a complete movie, with heart, mind and soul.

Penny Thoughts ’11: Dec. 2-8

African Cats (2011) ***

Director: Alastair Fothergill, Keith Scholey

Writers: Keith Scholey, John Truby

Narrator: Samuel L. Jackson

As a child, I loved watching nature documentaries. I’m not sure which I anticipated more on Saturday mornings, the cartoons or Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom”. Disney produced some of the best classic nature docs, like “The Vanishing Prairie”. A few years ago, Disney rebooted their nature documentary series under the banner Disneynature. I’ve been meaning to get my kids into this series for a while. With their most recent release “African Cats”, I finally did.

The movie tells the story of two cat families in the plains of Africa. One is a lion pride that is threatened by another pride of lions. The other is a Cheetah mother trying to protect her cubs until they’re old enough to survive on their own. Samuel L. Jackson narrates it, and I kept expecting him to tell my kids to “go the f@#$ to sleep.” The narration tries a little too hard to make a storyline personalizing the cats for the audience.

The doc contains all the typical moments of killing to survive, which my wife had some problems with. The boys didn’t enjoy the film as much as I expected. I think their problem with it was similar to my wife’s. It was too depressing. The lives of these cats are depicted a very difficult. I think they wanted it to be all fun and happy. I don’t remember having the adverse reaction to the reality of nature my boys had. Are they too sensitive? Did I do something wrong? I think they really enjoyed it; they just didn’t like what it had to say.

Cold Weather (2011) ***

Director: Aaron Katz

Writers: Aaron Katz, Brendan McFadden, Ben Stambler

Starring: Chris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Raúl Castillo, Robyn Rikoon

“Cold Weather” is a quiet, quirky independent noir. It follows a forensic science drop out who just seems to want to hang out in his hometown of Portland, OR. It does look very cold there. You don’t want to rent this one if you’re looking for action. The pace is mystifyingly slow. I won’t go so far as to say too slow, however, because I was still interested.

Our maybe Sherlock Holmes wanna be eventually finds something to do in the form of a mystery. An ex-girlfriend turns up missing. Not for very long though. Long enough for our hero to dig up enough dirt on her activities to continue his investigation even after he finds her. Or rather she finds him to tell him to stop following her.

Anyway, it’s a more interesting plot than it appears at first and I felt the ending was just perfect. Many will complain about it because so much is left unresolved, but a solution was never the point. What do you think all the waiting around doing nothing was about?

Lethal Weapon (1987) ****

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Shane Black

Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe

When you lose your love

And it makes your life turn cold

When it tears you apart

Your heart and soul just can't go on

When love's alive, it sets you free

When it's gone, it's plain to see

How even love can become a lethal weapon

When you lose control

And you scare yourself sometimes

When you really don't care, yeah

That your life is on the line

No one outside can understand

You take your life in your own hands

And even love can become a lethal weapon

Killing you, that's the last thing love

Was ever meant to do

Become a lethal weapon

You know there is no hope of breaking free

And what you suffer happily

That's when love itself becomes

A lethal weapon

—“Lethal Weapon” by Honeymoon Suite.

Perhaps the worst theme song ever written.

Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2010) **

Director: Jean-François Richet

Writers: Abdel Raouf Dafri, Jean-François Richet

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Ludivine Sagnier, Mathieu Amalric, Samuel Le Bihan, Gérard Lanvin, Olivier Gourmet, Georges Wilson

During most of this second film about notorious French bank robber Jacques Mesrine, I had to wonder just why they bothered to tell his story in two movies. Too much of the first hour and fifteen minutes of this movie is spent showing similar events in this criminal’s life. The first movie, “Killer Instinct” suffered from this one’s lack of insight into what made this man tick, but it was fascinating to learn of his audacity in the face of no hope of escape. In this one its just, “oh yeah, I’ve heard this one before.”

I’m not sure I could’ve taken another bank robbery or prison break where the driver made a minor mistake that caused them to get into yet another accident that they somehow manage to escape either on foot or with the car limping off into the woods somewhere. Jean-François Richet (“Assault on Precinct 13”) directs these action sequences with great expertise, but it feels like someone set them on a ten-minute repeat cycle.

Then, just when it seems this is the structure of the film until the end, the tone of the film changes drastically. Suddenly, the story shifts to how Mesrine tries to justify his actions with a revolutionary ideology. He’s not convincing, and maybe that’s intended, but the movie never really makes that clear. Considering the epic nature with which Richet approached this ambitious portrait, it’s disappointing that he couldn’t come up with a stronger statement on Mesrine.

Die Hard (1988) ****

Director: John McTiernan

Writers: Jeb Stuart, Steven E. de Souza, Roderick Thorp (novel “Nothing Lasts Forever”)

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson, Alexander Godunov, Paul Gleason, William Atherton, Hart Bochner, De’voreaux White, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Robert Davi, Grant L. Bush

Why wouldn’t the building security guard just tell McClane to begin with that the only people left in the building were on the 30^th floor at the Christmas party?

Look forward to more observations on a movie I’ve seen far too many times during future holiday seasons. 

The Tempest (2010) **½

Director: Julie Taymor

Writers: Julie Taymor, William Shakespeare (play)

Starring: Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Reeve Carney, David Strathairn, Tom Conti, Alan Cumming, Chris Cooper, Ben Winshaw, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina

Julie Taymor’s vision is exactly what Shakespeare needs to connect with a cinematic audience. What she lacks is an ear for his language. “The Tempest” is one of the most visually stunning Shakespeare film adaptations to date, and with good reason since it deals with the mystic arts of it hero Prospero. The character has been transformed here, rather painlessly in regards to Shakespeare’s text, to a woman in the form of the unsinkable Helen Mirren. Mirren understands the importance of Shakespeare’s language, if Taymor doesn’t. Her soliloquies provide the best moments of the story.

The other cast members don’t come out so unscathed. Taymor seems to identify with the freakish comic relief provided by the characters of Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano, played strongly by Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, and Alfred Molina respectively. They do cause a few awkward cinematic moments visually, but I appreciate the kind of visual experimentation Taymor tries with them and the spritely character of Ariel here. It is with the “normal” human characters and the main dramatic storyline that “The Tempest” falls on its face.

Between nearly incomprehensible dialogue (a poor sound mix), I believe edited dialogue from the original text, and the utter whininess of the characters, there is no power to the deceit these people are willing to inflict on each other. It feels as if they’re playing at the same childish games as Stephano and Trinculo, who are supposed to act as counterpoint to the drama of the main story. The leads are childish, but there are real stakes involved in their treachery. You wouldn’t know that by the way Taymor handles the material. And, the romantic leads are like that cute couple in high school that everyone says they admire but really get on everyone’s nerves with all their cutie pie talk. In truth, that’s how Shakespeare wrote them. He was much better at political intrigue than he was at romance.

Western of the Week

Reel Injun (2010) ***½

Director: Neil Diamond

Writers: Catherina Bainbridge, Neil Diamond, Jeremiah Hayes

Starring: R. Michael David, Adam Beach, Clint Eastwood, Chris Ayres, Charlie Hill, Jim Jarmusch, Sacheen Littlefeather, Russell Means, Ron Rondeaux, John Trudell, Jesse Wente

“Reel Injun” is a surprisingly enlightening documentary about the treatment of Native Americans in Hollywood and about the real modern history of the American Indian. The movie is so convicted in its subject matter that it feels wrong to use the terms “native American” or “Indian” to describe its subjects, as they are terms placed on this land’s long term human inhabitants by the white man. As the famous activist John Trudell puts it in this movie, “those (words) are sounds that were never uttered before the white man, and we were here for a long time before they showed up.”

Famous humans from this country’s native nations—comedians, actors, directors, activists, film critics, stunt men and poets—and a few white filmmakers, populate the movie. They give insight into how Hollywood shaped not only the nations, but also Indians’ perception of Indians. Clint Eastwood talks about how the script for “The Outlaw Josey Wales” saw Indians in terms of their humanity, rather than their stereotypical nobility. The documentary filmmakers take us to several different Indian nations today. I found the Crow to be one of the more fascinating in the way they had embraced some of the positive stereotypes perpetuated by Hollywood.

The activists Trudell and Russell Means, however, bring the real power to the material in the way they clarify many of the injustices against the Indian nations and how Hollywood portrayals shaped and cemented many of these unfortunate misconceptions. The film is also a great source of reference for film. Even many of the films that were responsible for misconceptions about Indians make useful reference material, and this film is invaluable in how it points out the recent renaissance in native filmmaking. It cites one of my favorite movies of recent years, “The Fast Runner”—and one I forgot to place on my Top 25 of the Oughts list a couple of years ago—as the best Native American movie ever made. It may be one of the best movies of any kind ever made. 

We Bought a Zoo / ***½ (PG)

Benjamin Mee: Matt Damon

Kelly Foster: Scarlett Johansson

Dylan Mee: Colin Ford

Rosie Mee: Maggie Elizabeth Jones

Lily Miska: Elle Fanning

Duncan Mee: Thomas Haden Church

Walter Ferris: John Michael Higgins

Peter MacCready: Angus Macfadyen

Robin Jones: Patrick Fugit

20^th Century Fox presents a film directed by Cameron Crowe. Written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Cameron Crowe. Based on the book by Benjamin Mee. Running time: 124 min. Rated PG (for language and some thematic elements).

Fatherhood has been the most demanding and frustrating thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s also more rewarding than anyone can imagine. I know that sounds oh so cliché. There’s nothing worse than a parent spouting off about the hardships and rewards of parenting, but it’s really something that is impossible to express in words and impossible to understand without doing it.

One thing that would heighten the emotions of being a parent would be to loose your spouse and have to do it all by yourself while coping with the mourning process at the same time. I can’t imagine having to do that. I think it would kill me, but in truth, it wouldn’t. I’d survive no matter how painful it was. I don’t know how, but that’s what we do.

What writer/director Cameron Crowe does is somehow translate those deep emotions of love in an understandable way for an audience. “We Bought a Zoo” is Crowe’s first feature in six years, following his first critical failure “Elizabethtown”. That film’s failure may have stemmed from the fact that Crowe was reproducing a formula without the necessary passion behind it. Working for the first time from someone else’s screenplay and using real life source material, Crowe has found a subject he can be passionate about again.

“We Bought a Zoo” seems an almost innocuous subject matter for Crowe, who hit the ground running at the age of fifteen, touring the country with rock bands like The Allman Brothers and Led Zeppelin and writing for Rolling Stone magazine. The story of a widower who decides to buy a broken down zoo to restore and revitalize his relationship with his children seems like it could easily veer off into Disney Family Movie of the Week territory. Crowe isn’t interested in telling a story where animals contain the magical healing properties for human interaction, however. This movie is more mature than that.

Matt Damon (the “Bourne” trilogy) plays the patriarch, Benjamin Mee, wounded by his wife’s death, barely holding things together with his children, with no plan to escape from the daily rut created by the loss of the family’s driving force. His relationship with his daughter, Rosie—charmingly portrayed by Maggie Elizabeth Jones (“Footloose”)—is flourishing. Pay attention to what Benjamin sees as his responsibility to her as a parent during a speech late in the movie. Wow. What a dad!

Meanwhile, Benjamin’s connection with his teenage son, Dylan (Colin Ford, “Supernatural”), is growing more tenuous. When Dylan is expelled from school and Benjamin quits his reporting gig for being handled with kid gloves by his editor, a change is forced. They go house shopping, and find the “perfect” house. There’s one hitch, it’s attached to a small zoo and can only be sold to a buyer interested in keeping up the property as an animal sanctuary. Notice how Crowe handles the character of the Realtor (J.B. Smoove, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). Although he’s a minor character, he’s given a full treatment while they travel in the car to the properties. This pays off later when he has to explain the stipulations on the house sale.

Of course, Benjamin’s brother, Duncan, tries to tell him what a bad investment buying a zoo would be. Thomas Haden Church (“Sideways”) does a good job imbuing Duncan with genuine concern for his brother’s well being. There’s a sense that they’ve been doing this brother dance all their lives and know how little effect they’ll have on each other’s judgment. The staff of the zoo also doubts Benjamin’s dedication to the animals. Scarlett Johansson (“Iron Man 2”) is probably too pretty to be a realistic representation of the head zookeeper, Kelly Foster, who sees the spark in Benjamin that everyone else is missing. Johansson is nice too look at, but she also makes us believe in what her character sees in the animals and in Benjamin. The women get Damon, its only fair that Johansson be there for the rest of us.

There is a villain of sorts in the form of a zoo inspector, played with cold severity by John Michael Higgins (“Bad Teacher”). He’s the kind of guy who thinks he’s an integral part of keeping the world order functioning. I like how Crowe has him drive so recklessly, but never has anyone point it out. It’s just one of those things you see in life. There are people like that and we accept it without bothering to fight it.

This plot synopsis hardly suggests how well this movie is made. Crowe’s attention to details, even concerning the supporting characters, helps flesh what could be a standard family film into something more. While the television ads have been selling this as a typical family film experience, it isn’t. Both Crowe and Damon were determined that the material here did not go down the Disney route of turning the animals of the zoo into cute personalities or allowing the father’s relationship with his children slide into schmaltz. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (“The Devil Wears Prada”) achieves this by keeping the focus squarely on the father’s determination to make his new life situation work for him and his children.

As usual Crowe fills his movie soundtrack with an incredible array of music from classic rock and current alternative artists. His knack for finding just the right song to punctuate his characters’ feelings is matched by his ability to hold the right shot and cut away at the right time for the perfect emotional moment. Like Crowe’s “Jerry Maguire”, “We Bought a Zoo” hits your heart at just the right spot and allows you to connect in a very personal way to what is really a very unusual true story.

The Muppets / *** (PG)

Gary: Jason Segel

Mary: Amy Adams

Tex Richman: Chris Cooper

Veronica Martin: Rashida Jones

Jack Black: Jack Black

The Muppets:

Walter: Peter Linz

Kermit/Beaker/Statler/Rizzo: Steve Whitmire

Miss Piggy/Fozzie Bear/Animal/Sam Eagle/Marvin Suggs: Eric Jacobson

Gonzo/Dr. Bunsen Honeydew/Zoot/Beauregard/Waldorf/Kermit Moopet: Dave Goelz

Swedish Chef/Rowlf/Dr. Teeth/Pepe the Prawn/Bobo/Fozzie Moopet: Bill Barretta

Scooter/Janice/Miss Poogy: David Rudman

Sgt. Floyd Pepper/Camilla/Sweatums/80’s Robot/Lew Zealand/Uncle Deadly/Roowlf/Crazy Harry: Matt Vogel

Cameos:

Alan Arkin, Bill Cobbs, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jim Parsons, Kristen Schaal, Sarah Silverman, Donald Glover, Emily Blunt, James Carville, Leslie Feist, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, David Grohl, Neil Patrick Harris, Judd Hirsch, John Krasinski, Rico Rodriguez, Mickey Rooney

Walt Disney Pictures presents a film directed by James Bobin. Written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. Based on the characters created by Jim Henson. Running time: 98 min. Rated PG (for some mild rude humor).

I believe “The Muppet Show” was the first television show that I followed with fervor. I wanted to see every episode as it originally aired. I couldn’t wait to see what guest star was hosting each week. Mark Hamil from “Star Wars” was the pinnacle of television awesomeness for me. The truth is, however, that the guest stars really had pretty small roles in “The Muppet Show” universe, because there was always so much going on backstage with the Muppet characters. What insults were Statler and Waldorf going to sling this week? How mad would Piggy get at some innocuous gesture by her Kermy? The recurring sketches—Pigs in Space, the Swedish Chef, Mahna-mahna, etc.—were a great draw as well.

It appears that “The Muppet Show” made just as profound an impression on Jason Segel, who stars and co-wrote the script with his writing partner Nicholas Stoller. Clearly the Muppets’s jump to the big screen in 1979’s “The Muppet Movie” was just as monumental to them as it was to me and hundreds of thousands of other kids at the time. These are two artists who have made their names with very adult gross-out comedies like “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”. Now, they’ve created a loving tribute to their childhood obsession with “The Muppets”, which finds Segel rounding up the old gang of Muppets to put together a show to save the old theater. It’s a story line right out of the Introduction to Hollywood textbook, and it’s a perfect vehicle for the Muppets.

To ensure the tap into all of the Muppet generation’s nostalgia, Segel takes us back to the late 70’s when the boy version of his character, Gary, watched the original “Muppet Show” with his inexplicably Muppet brother, Walter (voiced by Peter Linz). As the two grow older, Walter finds his experiences and physical body don’t grow like Gary’s because of his… well, Muppetness. Eventually the Muppets are the only thing left that he can relate to, although the humans in this universe seem to operate in a Hollywood fantasy world where the whole population of their hometown will break out into song to wish each other well. Still, it’s not like being surrounded by other cloth beings that don’t blink or age in any discernable way.

Gary and his girlfriend, Mary—played by the born to be in a Muppet movie Amy Adams (“Enchanted”)—plan a romantic trip to Los Angeles. Much to Mary’s chagrin, Gary can’t help from inviting Walter along to visit the former Muppet Studios. Meanwhile, the evil oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper, “Where the Wild Things Are”) has purchased the dilapidated property with plans to tear it down and drill for oil. Something tells me the citizens of Los Angeles wouldn’t be any happier about this development than the Muppets. Regardless, the only way to save the property is to gather the old gang back together and put on a show.

The writers and their director, James Bobin, have a good deal of Muppets-style fun in gathering the gang together. The Muppets seem to take great joy in reminding the audience of the fact that they are watching a movie. After it is pointed out that the process of finding everybody is taking too long, someone suggests that they round everyone else up via montage. And, when they find that Piggy is in Paris where they can hardly travel by car, they decide to travel by movie map, which allows them to travel as a red line on a map until they magically appear on the coast of France.

In true Muppets tradition there are several song and dance numbers and a multitude of guest star cameos. Jack Black (“Gulliver’s Travels”) shows up as himself to play the unwilling host of their show. There are some funny moments as the Muppets sell the idea to the audience that Black’s shtick for the show is that he’s an unwilling host. Black spends the entire program tied to a chair.

“The Muppets” is far from cinematic art, but it is a fun time for both adults and children. The Muppets aren’t action heroes. They’re thoughtful fully formed characters that are willing to star in a movie that depends upon heart. “The Muppets” is a welcome return to form for the once diminishing franchise. With it’s renewed spirit; hopefully the Muppets will be starring in many more movies to come.

Penny Thoughts ’11: Nov. 25-Dec.1

A Christmas Carol (2009) ****

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Robert Zemeckis, Charles Dickens (book)

Starring: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Bob Hoskins

Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” is a brilliant realization of the classic Christmas tale by Charles Dickens. Having played Scrooge five times on stage, I’m a fairly discerning judge of the material. This is the truest screen adaptation I’ve seen.

From the advertising campaign that Disney used to sell the movie during its theatrical release in 2009, I expected it to little resemble the story I’ve come to know intimately. The ads made it look like the same roller coaster ride of a holiday movie that director Robert Zemeckis produced with the same motion capture technology in the disappointing “Polar Express”. On the contrary, the action sequences used to advertise the movie were hardly a reflection of the finished product.

Zemeckis not only captured the spirit of the original Dickens book, he retains the thoughtful period dialogue and speech. Many of the lines that are usually cut from theatrical productions of the story are retained in this movie, which allows many of Dickens’ more challenging ideas to be explored. Zemeckis even keeps Dickens’ criticism of the Church of England in the mix with his handling of the Ghost of Christmas Present.

I would imagine much of this movie would be quite frightening for younger viewers, as Zemeckis doesn’t shy away from the dark nature of Scrooge’s journey with the spirits. The images are striking, scary, and downright beautiful. This is one of the prettiest animated movies I’ve ever seen. The production design by Doug Chiang captures Dickensian England’s gorgeous architecture and the picturesque winter landscape of a world that alternates between the beauty of life and the grime and dirt of the evolving industrial society in its infancy. This is the way Dickens needs to be experienced.

Moscow on the Hudson (1984) **½

Director: Paul Mazursky

Writers: Paul Mazursky, Leon Capetanos

Starring: Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, Cleavant Derricks, Alejandro Rey, Saveli Kramarov, Elya Baskin

It’s not that “Moscow on the Hudson” isn’t a good film; it just doesn’t seem to have as much to say as it should. Mazursky, who forged his directing career out of human social observation, uses this story about a Russian defector as an analysis on the melting pot that is America, or more importantly New York. He doesn’t really seem to come to any profound conclusions beyond that initial notion of the melting pot of culture, however. There is scarcely a white person in the film that is not Russian, but the movie doesn’t really say much about all these different people from their different cultures other than they’re all here.

The screenplay puts a little more effort into finding the differences between the repressive culture of Russia and the freedom and illusions of America. It spends a good deal of time in Russia before going to America where the musician, played by comedian Robin Williams, will defect in Bloomingdale’s. The choice of Bloomingdale’s as the place of defection is certainly a comment on the consumer-based society of America, while the food and goods lines of Moscow are a commentary on the failure of communism.

Williams turns in one of his very subdued and effective dramatic performances that doesn’t even hint at the manic nature of his comedy. The supporting cast also does a good job with what they have to work with. I wonder how we could’ve let such a wonderful actress as Maria Conchita Alonso as Williams’s love interest disappear into obscurity. Perhaps she’s still working on a television show of which I’m not aware. Unfortunately, the characters aren’t given much of a dramatic place to go with their lives. Yes, they live normal lives, and Mazursky makes a point not to over dramatize them; but it leaves them all a little flat in the end.

Pearl Jam: Twenty (2011) ***

Director/Writer: Cameron Crowe

Starring: Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Chris Cornell

The fact that Pearl Jam has turned twenty is first and foremost a reminder that I’m getting old. They now get regular play on the classic rock stations. Didn’t the classic rock label exist long before they did? But considering the music landscape today and its utter lack of resemblance of what it was in 1991 when Pearl Jam’s debut album “Ten” was released, their endurance as a band is significant.

For long time fans of Pearl Jam, people who’ve just discovered them, and former fans that have lost touch with the band, “Pearl Jam Twenty” is an event by event account of the band’s history that will inform and demonstrate the band’s enduring magnetism. Director Cameron Crowe fills in a good deal of pre-band history about the Seattle music scene and the band that birthed Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone.

Anyone who is or was a fan of their music will find themselves swept back up in the thrill of the grunge revolution wave that changed the direction of the music industry at the time of Pearl Jam’s surprising rise. You’ll be singing along with the plethora of hit songs that Crowe uses liberally in the soundtrack and in live concert footage that populates most of the movie. Each member of the current line up of the band—amazingly only the drummer has changed over twenty years—and former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell provide the talking head recollections that drive this history lesson. Crowe keeps all of the interviews separate, which has the effect of making it seem as if Pearl Jam is a thing of the past. Perhaps it’s this separation of their relationships that has allowed these artists’ collaboration to endure throughout the years and perhaps for years to come.

Singles (1992) ***

Director/Writer: Cameron Crowe

Starring: Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Matt Dillon, Sheila Kelly, Jim-True Frost, Bill Pullman

All my life, waiting for somebody

Ah-ha-ha, come and take my hand

All my life, waiting for somebody

Ah-ha-ha, whoa, yeah

Down so long, doesn't really matter

This downtown home, been kicked and I've been spurred

You comin' along? It does't really matter

I'll go it alone--doesn't even hurt

I'm waitin' for the day, waitin' for the day that you come my way...

—Paul Westerberg, “Waiting for Somebody”, “Singles” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.

Because you can’t walk away from this movie without this song stuck in your head.

Attack the Block (2011) ***

Director/Writer: Joe Cornish

Starring: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Luke Treadaway, Franz Dremeh, Leeon Jones, Jumayan Hunter, Sammy Williams, Michael Ajao, Simon Howard, Danielle Vitalis, Paige Meade, Nick Frost

I’d actually like to give “Attack the Block” more than three stars. The only thing holding it back is a lack of ambition to be anything more than the story of surviving an alien invasion. That’s also probably one of the reasons it works so well. It’s simple. Alien creatures start falling from the sky near a London tenement building, known to its tenants as The Block. Many of its inhabitants are criminals, and they determine to beat the aliens.

The design of the alien creatures is fairly original. They look kind of like a cross between apes and dogs. They’re covered in black fur. How often do invading aliens have fur? They have no eyes and glowing teeth. It makes for quite a ferocious looking adversary. Another unique aspect is that they are just animals. They have no intentions of conquering the planet. They’re just following their nature.

The heroes of the film are almost animals too. Moses is the leader of a group of teenage punks who mug a woman on her way home. They don’t realize she’s a neighbor. Later, Moses claims that if they knew she was from the Block they would’ve left her be. She turns out to be a nurse and an ally once one of the boys is bitten by one of the alien beasts.

The movie doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. The characters are pure Londoners, with accents that might be a little thick for some American audiences. But you don’t need to understand their every word, because their tale is so simple. Writer/director Joe Cornish does a good job using the environment of the tenement building as an influential aspect on the events. The lights in the hallways automatically go off to save on energy and build suspense. The characters make the cinematic mistake of climbing the floors to escape, but this makes sense because the more impenetrable apartments are the penthouses. Mostly Cornish keeps the movie fun.

Western of the Week

Lonely are the Brave (1962) ***½

Director: David Miller

Writers: Dalton Trumbo, Edward Abbey (novel “Brave Cowboy”)

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Walter Matthau, Gena Rowlands, Michael Kane, Carroll O’Connor, William Schallert, George Kennedy

So, after watching this previously unknown to me modern western about a cowboy that comes crashing into modern society, I was compelled to look for its mention in the trivia section of IMDb’s entry for “First Blood”. The similarities between the movies are uncanny. A loner, outcast from a by gone era (in this one the old west, in “First Blood” the Vietnam War) wanders into town, is arrested, is beaten in custody, escapes, and is hunted in a mountainous wilderness landscape. There’s even a scene in each movie where the hero takes out a helicopter trying to spot him for officers on the ground.

There is no mention of “Lonely are the Brave” in the trivia section of “First Blood”; but it does reveal that the star of “Lonely”, Kirk Douglas, was originally cast to play Colonel Truatman, Rambo’s superior officer. Douglas dropped out of the production over a dispute about the script. He wanted Rambo to die at the end, as he did in the novel. Perhaps Douglas was still trying to find the ending to his old movie “Lonely are the Brave”.