AU CINEMA February 2011

Good **

Largo Winch 2 **1/2  (vo French and English)    The James Bond franchise should wish to be as smooth, cool and smart as the Largo Winch films. There are super chases, financial intrigues and political treachery, a serious love affair, a sweet kid and gorgeous locations, especially in the Far East.  Jérôme Salle (who wrote and directed the French film, Anthony Zimmer, which inspired The Tourist) directs it all with respect for our intelligence, and Tomer Sisley (a stand-up comedian from TV with an Israeli/German/French background) is perfect as Winch, the reluctant billionaire. The violence of the fight scenes could be toned down.

Hereafter (Au-delà) **  Matt Damon can hear and see spirits, but does not want to. Cécile de France comes back from death after a tsunami accident, and a shy English boy loses his closest soul mate. In this Clint Eastwood yarn, all these people converge somehow and there is a connection and a raison d’être. Ok, he knows his audience well, but it nevertheless feels concocted, like an overly-intricate puzzle.

Narnia 3 – Voyage of the Dawn Treader **1/2  This is a great one for the kids – inspiring, adventurous and especially fun due to a really nasty cousin paired with a talking monkey on the high seas.  Good to have clean thrills for our kids and some moral lessons in this hazardous world.

The Next 3 Days (Les trois prochains jours) **   A happy couple is torn apart when the wife is accused of murder and jailed for life. When her desperate husband finds no legal recourse, he decides to get her out any way he can. Russell Crowe is intense as usual, but the convoluted scenario and Elizabeth Banks as the wife are too weak to be as convincing as the French original, Pour Elle, despite the fine director Paul Haggis, of the award-winning Crash and In the Valley of Elah.

Tron – the Legacy **  For adolescents and the testosterone crowd, this is a clever futuristic and back-to-the-future action blockbuster that is fun to watch, especially a young Jeff Bridges created by computer graphics, vying against the real Bridges of today. This is quality popcorn stuff.

Burlesque **  GREAT musical numbers, like going to a Broadway show, but the script and acting are so banal that it’s embarrassing, especially for dear old Cher, who is looking mummified. Christina Aguilera sure can move and belt out those numbers, especially the blues!

The Tourist *1/2   It’s like a party – you can have all the right ingredients – best food, guests, locale, but it still falls flat. Same here: there’s top director Florian Henkel von Donnersmarck, from the German Oscar-winning The Life of Others, and Johnny Depp plus Angelina Jolie as protagonists in an international heist film – but it’s boring and lacks chemistry. And it’s so obviously trying to be ultra cool, but doesn’t make the mark. Too bad.  Depp is smooth and above-it-all, though Angelina should put some meat on her bones and lay off the heavy make-up and that lip thing…it’s distracting.

Somewhere *1/2   Here’s another dud. And so empty, though that’s what it’s about – the empty life of a movie star in a cult hotel in Hollywood. The usually brilliant director Sofia Coppola is too minimalist here, but the star’s teenage daughter, played by a radiant Elle Fanning, gives the film its moments of grace.

Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, film critic

Bonnie Au Cinema Angelina Jolie, Au-delà, Burlesque, Cher, Clint Eastwood, Elizabeth Banks, Hereafter, Jeff Bridges, Johnny Depp, Largo Winch 2, Matt Damon, Narnia 3 - Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, Russell Crowe, The Next 3 Days, The Tourist, Tron - The Legacy

AU CINEMA February 2011
Superb ****

Films are not just entertaining.  They are also thought-provoking, stimulate conversations and keep our minds alive.  -  All of which is good for our age esteem.

The King’s Speech ****   This superb film tells the story of the stuttering that plagued King George VI of England (father to Queen Elizabeth II), and the man who helped him overcome it. Each historical figure, from the spunky young Queen Mother (Helena Bonham-Carter) to the abdicating Duke of Windsor (Guy Pierce) and Colin Firth as the central figure, Bertie, shines in this evocative, tightly-wound yet very moving account of the man who did not want to be king, but took the mantle with responsibility and old-fashioned British resolve. Brilliantly directed by Tom Hooper, Firth brings out an amazing array of emotions as the shy king, while Jeffrey Rush is masterful as his speech teacher. Firth fully deserves his Golden Globe (and Oscar?) for best actor.

The Way Back (Les chemins de la liberté) ***1/2   A Peter Weir film is always superlative – Gallipoli, Witness, Dead Poets’ Society, Master and Commander. This latest one, with a strong character-actor cast (including Ed Harris and Colin Farrell), is about the long, harrowing journey on foot to freedom – from Russia to India – of a desperate group that escapes from a Siberian gulag. Fine acting and pacing make this true story a heroic odyssey.

True Grit ***1/2  The Coen brothers are back, once again at the summit of their craft, with a bold and entertaining remake of the 1969 John Wayne classic of the same name. And who else but the versatile Jeff Bridges to fill the Duke’s boots, with no apologies and a huge amount of grimy charm. The other wonder of this film is Hailee Steinfeld, a 14 year-old rising star playing the feisty girl who hires Bridges to find her father’s murderer. And Matt Damon makes a fine third wheel. The cinematography is perfect in its rich tones, both indoors and out, the dialogue is melodious, if one dares call it Shakespearean, while the mood is outrageously campy and tongue-in-cheek. Even if you’re not a fan of Westerns, you’ll be bowled over.

Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, film critic

Bonnie Au Cinema, Entertainment & Fun age-esteem, Colin Farrell, Colin Firth, Ed Harris, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Neptune Ravar Ingwersen, Peter Weir, The King's Speech, The Way Back, Tom Hooper, True Grit

Movies – Films

Superb  ****    Very Good   ***     Good **       Mediocre  *      Forget it   -

It’s been almost three months since I’ve written about films! I was away in balmy Florida, but have been keeping up with the movies and have stored them in my head and some in my heart. A few I’ve almost forgotten, they were so inconsequential. Now I’m back, with a backlog of reviews. I know some of the films may be gone and others have not yet arrived, but I hope these inevitably brief reviews will get us up-to-date. And there’s always DVD and Amazon.com.    Neptune Ingwersen

Unmissables

An Education ****  Here’s an intelligent, engrossing and brilliantly acted ensemble piece from England. It’s about a bright young girl who gets waylaid on her mission to attend Oxford, by a seductive older man played by a smooth Peter Sarsgaard. By Danish director Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), it’s set in the early 60s and has it all – a whirlwind romance, misguided parenthood, ambition and folly. Sweet Carey Mulligan was nominated for a best actress Oscar, but lost to Sandra Bullock.

The Last Station ****  This beautifully-acted and atmospheric jewel of a film by Michael Hoffman recounts the turbulent love between Leo Tolstoy and his tempestuous wife, as they spar over his literary legacy to the Russian people, in the last months of his life. Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer are wonderful as the fiery couple (both nominated for Academy Awards), as are their cohorts, James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti. An illuminating work, both emotionally and historically. (I would have given this or An Education the best film Oscar).

Green Zone ***1/2  Matt Damon is getting better with each film and his partnership here with director Paul Greengrass, with whom he’s done the Bourne series, doesn’t hurt. With his clear blue eyes and cute pug nose, Damon is the embodiment of the “good” American in Iraq at the beginning of the invasion, when the troops were frantically searching for WMDs. This smart action yarn tells it how it was – the deliberate deceptions, the Iraqi side (brilliantly done), the different layers of command. Brains and brawn together, what more would you want on a movie night?!

Soul Kitchen (vo German) ***1/2  Fatih Akin, the German/Turkish director of Gegen die Wand and Auf der anderen Seite, is a fan of Jim Jarmusch, and it shows in his eccentric, meaningful films full of color and passion. This one, about the troubles of two close-knit brothers and a funky restaurant in Hamburg (where Akin was born), is joyous, energetic and great fun, showing  marginals in a little-known side of Germany.

Les Chats Persans (No one knows about Persian Cats) (vo Farsi)  ***1/2  This is a surprising, multi-awarded (Cannes, Miami, Sao Paulo) Iranian film about one of the thousands of underground rock bands that exist today in Tehran. Since they can’t perform there as freely as they wish, the lead boy and girl of a band are trying to go to England to give a concert. To help them recruit new band members and get the necessary papers, they turn to a riotous wheeler-dealer (Hamed Behdad)who can charm anyone into anything. By the Kurdish/Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi of A Time for Drunken Horses and Turtles Can Fly, this is a breath of fresh air and a true picture of the suppressed vitality that is Iran today – a must-see for a better understanding of a burgeoning, multifaceted, misunderstood country.

The Hurt Locker (Démineurs) ***1/2  Winning the Oscar for best film and best director, this film by Kathryn Bigelow is a tense study of a bomb squad in Iraq, and one of them in particular (Jeremy Renner, Oscar nominee), who is as fearless and cool under fire as a Steve McQueen character. Filmed in almost documentary style, the story does not delve into the politics or ethics of war, but just observes the raw fear and almost drunken high experienced by those who face instant death at any moment. Powerful – but was it the best of the year? And is it universal enough for the honor?

Crazy Heart ***  Here’s a slow, lazy look at an aging country singer who once was somebody and is now playing in sleazy joints and slowly drinking himself to death. It’s all downhill until he’s interviewed by a lovely young thing and they begin to fall in love. Jeff Bridges mightily deserved his Oscar for this role of a lifetime (one of many for him), which completely carries the film. But Maggie Gyllenhaal isn’t far behind, with her tender portrayal of a lover and a mother. And then there’s Colin Farrell in a surprising cameo role. This is one fine coup for first-time writer/director, Scott Cooper.

Neptune Ingwersen

Bonnie Au Cinema, Entertainment & Fun Carey Mulligan, cinema, films, Jeff Bridges, Jeremy Renner, Leo Tolstoy, Matt Damon, movies, Neptune Ingwersen, Oscar