Rise of the Guardians 2012

     Based on a book by William Joyce and he also co-wrote the screenplay for this film.  Pitch is a dark power who steals the dreams of children and changes them into nightmares.  He wants to change everything to darkness and rule the Earth.  He wants to make children think Jack Frost, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Sandman and Santa Claus are not real. 

     The animation of the characters is very good but I could not remain interested in the storyline.  There is action every minute with everyone flying as a means of transportation.  The voices are recognizable and funny to listen to in the animated guardians.  3* (This movie is OK) 

97 min, Animated, directed by William Joyce and Peter A. Ramsey with the voices of Chris Pine, Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Alec Baldwin.

Note:  Blockbuster 4*, imdb 7.3 out of 10, 74% critic 82% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Beauty is Embarrassing 2012:

     Wayne White is a cartoonist who worked on Pee-wee’s Playhouse.  He was raised in the Tennessee mountains but started his career as a cartoonist in New York.   He moved to Los Angeles with the Playhouse crew.  After Playhouse ended he worked on other projects in LA until he decided to change up his projects.  He buys framed landscape paintings from thrift stores.  He paints words, statements, pithy and sarcastic texts on top of the paintings.  White also performs an autobiographical show for theater audiences.

       I can see this going straight to DVD but not in theaters?  It is nice to see someone able to make a living from doing what they want after paying a lot of dues with grueling computer work on mind draining projects.  3* (This movie is OK)

 

92 min, Doc directed by Neil Berkeley with Wayne White, Mimi Pond, Woodrow and Lulu White, Gary Panter, Mark Mothersbaugh, Ric Heitzman, Billie June and Willis White.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 93% critic 88% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

For Greater Glory 2012

     Mexican patriots risk their lives to defeat an oppressive atheistic government in the Cristero War from 1926-1929.  Men and women make the decision to fight the government for family, faith and the future of Mexico.  Loosely based on real events.

     This film seems like a miniseries fortunately shown in one session and not as long as it might have been.  Will there be a test at the end and will we still be awake to take it?  Not enough background story on the characters and seems to try to have the largest body count per minute.  The last portion is the best section if you can keep watching.  3* (This movie is OK)

150 min, Drama directed by Dean Wright with Andy Garcia, Oscar Isaac, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ruben Blades, Bruce McGill.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 6.2 out of 10, 18% critic 76% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.  

Breathless 1960

     Michel Poiccard is a small-time thief, he cheats taxi drivers and restaurants, he steals cars at every opportunity, he impulsively shoots a motorcycle policeman and he’s always looking for an easy way to make money.  He met Patricia Fanchini in Nice and renews their relationship a few weeks later in Paris.  She is an American girl studying journalism at the Sorbonne and unaware of Michel’s line of work.

     This is probably a French classic movie, the beginning of this type of filming but there is a lot of rambling, smoking to fill time, not very much point and a slog to get to the ending.  Seberg has very short hair but she spends more time fixing and working with it than something with long, thick and hard to manage hair?  3* (This movie is OK)

 

90 min, Crime directed by Jean-Luc Godard with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger, Henri-Jacques Huet, Roger Hanin, Van Doude, Claude Mansard.

Note:  Blockbuster 4*, imdb 7.9 out of 10, 96% critic 89% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Red Hook Summer 2011

     Flik travels with his mother from Atlanta to Brooklyn to spend the summer with his grandfather.  Flik wants to go home to Atlanta as soon as he arrives at his grandfather’s apartment.  He resigns himself to not being able to eat the food he likes, working for his grandfather for the summer and not having any of the kind of summer he wants.  He meets Chazz, a spunky girl with asthma and that starts to change his ideas.

     This film seems to portray a real slice of life in the Brooklyn projects but without enough focus on the majority of the people and too much focus on a few.  The reasons for Flik going to Brooklyn are not given, a big problem arises but the solutions and actions taken don’t seem to be based on reality?  3* (This movie is OK) 

 

121 min, Drama directed by Spike Lee with Jules Brown, Clarke Peters, Toni Lysaith, De’Adre Aziza, Nate Parker, Heather Alicia Simms, Thomas Jefferson Byrd.

Note:  Blockbuster 2 ½*, imdb 4.8 out of 10, 58% critic 36% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Special Note:  The Red Hook community was founded years ago to support the docks and shipyards.  It’s a poor neighborhood with 80 percent unemployment.

360 2011

     This film is based on a play from 1897 by Arthur Schnitzier, set in seven cities exploring social boundaries and the connections between groups of people.  A lonely businessman, blackmail by a colleague, calling off an affair, student breaks up with boyfriend, recovering alcoholic travels to find his missing daughter, newly paroled criminal, widower with religious devotion.

     Many times an ensemble cast of stars do not a good movie make!!  Star power cannot elevate weakness in a screenplay. 2 1/2* (This movie is so-so)

110 min, Drama directed by Fernando Meirelles with Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Ben Foster, Lucia Siposova, Gabriela Marcinkova, Peter Morgan.

Note:  Blockbuster 3 ½*, imdb 5.9 out of 10, 21% critic 35% audience on Rotten Tomatoes. 

The Master 2012

     Freddie Sutton is a Naval war veteran of WWII working for Lancaster Dodd.  Freddie is damaged physiologically and Lancaster is a very charismatic figure focused on building his own religion.  Freddie is an alcoholic and he’s also self- destructive.  This new religion is like a cult and Freddie still has enough self-preservation to keep him from fully joining into this movement.

     This movie is very different than I expected, basically it’s constant confrontation between the characters played by Hoffman and Phoenix.  No resolution with smoke and mirrors surrounding everything they are, believe and stand for.  Is there any purpose for this film, that is my question?  3* (This movie is OK)

   

138 min, Drama directed by Paul Thomas Anderson with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Rami Malek, Price Carson, Mike Howard, Matt Hering.

Note:  Blockbuster 3*, imdb 7.3 out of 10, 86% critic 61% audience on Rotten Tomatoes.

Special Note:  In late 2008, Phoenix announced he had retired from acting to pursue a rapping career.  Later he said this was all eccentric and incoherent behavior for a mocumentary he was making with Casey Affleck?  Maybe this film is still part of a similar project?