PHOTOS
Jeff Boam
Opening This Weekend
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox
Back in 1986, animators were working overtime to bring audiences Transformers: The Movie, an animated big-screen adventure of the TV cartoon series and children’s toy starring no less than the voice of Citizen Kane impresario Orson Welles. Then, some 21 years and innumerous pimply faced virgins later, computer animators worked overtime to bring the visions of director Michael Bay and executive producer Steven Spielberg of the popular plaything to the screen … to the outstanding tune of $319 million at the American box office. Now, in this PG-13-rated sequel, Transformers stars LaBeouf and Fox re-team with friendly robots-in-disguise for an action-packed globetrotting battle against a gi-normous baddie from their home planet. The Plus: The potential franchise. Transformers decimated the international box office as well and put toymaker Hasbro in the good graces of their stockholders. Also, actors Josh Duhamel (Turistas), Tyrese Gibson (Death Race), John Turturro (The Taking of Pelham 123) and Rainn Wilson (TV’s The Office) are joining LaBeouf and Fox in a non-computer-generated capacity. The Minus: The expectation. The film reportedly has a budget of $200 million, which is quite a nut to make back. And then, there is the 2½ hour running time, so … hello, is anybody still there? Oh drat, you’re already lining up for tickets, aren’t you?
My Sister’s Keeper
Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin
Since his breakout role in ’80s cult classic The Lost Boys, actor Jason Patric (son of Scranton native and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Jason Miller) has carved an interesting niche for himself in the film biz. Some high profile H’wood turns garnered him acclaim (Rush, Sleepers) while others generated disdain (Speed 2: Cruise Control, Alamo). All throughout, however, he has maintained his acting cred with some winning performances in some highly regarded independent films (Your Friends and Neighbors, Narc). His latest high profile project, My Sister’s Keeper, is based on the best-selling novel of the same name. In this PG-13-rated drama, a young girl (Breslin) conceived to provide a donor match for her leukemia-stricken sister seeks to earn medical emancipation from her parents (Diaz, Patric). The Plus: The players. Director Nick Cassavetes has given audiences three-hanky dramas with acclaimed casts before (The Notebook). Even though she is playing against type (a mother in a cancer courtroom drama), Diaz is still a bona fide movie star with a number of hits under her belt (Charlie’s Angels, Shrek, What Happens in Vegas). Breslin’s star is still burning bright from Little Miss Sunshine and her well-reviewed follow-up (Definitely, Maybe). Stacking the deck with Patric, Alec Baldwin (TV’s 30 Rock), and Joan Cusack (School of Rock) should only help matters. The Minus: The competition. Clearly, the movie’s release is counter-programmed to scoop up the demographics not interested in seeing Transformers … but My Sister’s Keeper also has to contend with the numerous pictures already in release.
Away We Go
John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph
Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, The Road to Perdition) teams with acclaimed novelists Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida in this R-rated dramedy. In Away We Go, a 30-something couple with a child on the way (Krasinski, Rudolph) travel the U.S. in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise a family. The Plus: The Players. Though Krasinski and Rudolph may only be familiar to TV viewers (The Office and Saturday Night Live, respectively), their supporting cast features the likes of film vets Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Dark Knight), Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale), Catherine O’Hara (Best in Show) and Allison Janney (Juno). The Minus: The odds. Mendes’s work has not exactly been the toast of critics or film fans as of late. Both Jarhead and Revolutionary Road fared less than favorably in reviews and at the box office.
Now Playing
The Proposal
Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds
If John Q. Filmgoer ever stopped to examine a shrink-wrapped snack cake and wondered how something so bad (loaded with enough fat to stop Blue the Ox’s heart and treated with enough chemicals to withstand a nuclear war) could, adversely, seem so pleasing to the palette, than The Proposal might very well be up his alley. Pre-packaged on a factory line, the movie checks off every box on the romantic comedy list — including two affable players who ultimately make the trip worthwhile. It begins as predictable fluff and ends up as predictable fluff, but this fatty snack staves off hunger for as long as it takes Mr. Filmgoer to stuff it into his craw.
In the PG-13-rated romantic-comedy The Proposal, Bullock plays a high-powered executive who fakes an engagement to her assistant (Reynolds) at the threat of being deported back to her native Canada.
God bless, Betty White. The producers whisk her out as weapons-grade comic relief and, not surprisingly, she steals a number of scenes out from under the rest of the cast. This is not to say that the rest of the cast hits the skids. In fact, Bullock and Reynolds make a perfect rom-com team. Together, they hit all of the right notes … only the audience has heard this tune before, ad naseum. The movie proposes nothing new or blue — only something borrowed. But the comedy — though never outright hilarious — proves a pleasantly harmless romp that is better than most of its recent ilk (27 Dresses, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past). Bottom line: Cake walk.
Year One
Jack Black, Michael Cera
To say that Year One really rolls back the clock on comedy would be mildly insulting to our forebears — and this doesn’t refer to primitive hunter-gatherers (surely, the Old Testament had funnier material than this!). Rather, it refers to Mel Brooks (who very well could have written for God) and the Monty Python troupe (who are probably still running from God), both comic deities who have mined this subject matter before and to better effect. Though it sounds like a caveman comedy (wouldn’t Year One be a more appropriate title for an A.D.-set movie?), the few chuckles that result come from the comic pairing of Black and Cera — two actors who have their respective, albeit limited, shticks down pat.
In this PG-13-rated comedy, a pair of village idiots (Black, Cera) embarks on the first road-trip ever, wandering through many Biblical misadventures.
Writer/director Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog Day) made his bones in the comedy world more than 25 years ago … and damn, does it show. The jokes are somewhat humorous (Arrested Development’s David Cross as Abel — c’mon!), but never fall-down hilarious. Many of the tired jokes feel like cast-offs from decades-old comedies like Monty Python’s Life of Brian and The History of the World, Part I. It seems amazing that, in an age when laugh-riots like Superbad rue the box office, this movie (amazingly produced by Superbad’s Apatow) lacks the bite of much older comedies. Couldn’t screenwriters Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg come up with wittier bits than the fact that they condoned sodomy in Sodom … really?! Bottom line: Bible-thumped.
Angels & Demons
Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor
In this PG-13-rated thriller, a symbologist (Hanks) is called in to investigate a nefarious plot to blow up the Vatican after a mysterious group known as Illuminati steals an anti-matter container. All involved work overtime to make this dull actioner as exciting and intelligent as Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the result comes off more like Opie’s Sahara. With its operatic puzzlers and easy-to-surmise ending, Angels is every bit as silly as the National Treasure franchise … moreso, in fact, because filmgoers have come to expect more from the high-stakes players. Hanks is relegated to reciting basic Vatican history lectures to the Swiss Guard. It reminded your reviewer of when the doctors on ’70s TV staple Emergency scarily had to explain routine medical procedures to their nursing staff. Bottom line: Fallen Angels.
The Hangover
Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms
In this R-rated comedy, four friends (Cooper, Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha) head to Las Vegas for a raucous bachelor party only to wake up the next morning with a baby, a tiger and Mike Tyson in their hotel room … but no groom. Chock full of brilliantly played bits, laugh-riot The Hangover hammers home the point that it takes a good degree of intelligence to make (and enjoy) a great low comedy. The set-up is simple, but what results is classic “boys will be boys” monkey business. The movie begins to feel long as it winds into the home stretch, but viewers will be too busy mopping up the embarrassing damp spot where they wet themselves laughing to take proper notice. Bottom line: Hang 10.
Imagine That
Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church
In the PG-rated Imagine That, Murphy plays a financial investor who normally has no time for his daughter until her make-believe friends start to spot profitable trends in the stock market with alarming regularity. The doe-eyed tot is cute, Murphy goes about his knockabout Daddy Day Care man-against-kid routine, and the audience is just supposed to buy it hook, line and stinker. Though the concept holds promise, the follow-through is just too pre-packaged and cloying to feel genuine. For a film called Imagine That, however, it’s amazing how unimaginative this property ends up even with the comedic greatness of Murphy. For more than 100 minutes, he mugs, sings, dances, pratfalls, and mugs some more — for what reason, your reviewer hasn’t a clue. Bottom line: Little imagination.
Land of the Lost
Will Ferrell, Danny R. McBride
In the agonizingly bad PG-13-rated family adventure Land of the Lost, three explorers (Ferrell, McBride, Anna Friel) find themselves thrust into a strange world of dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks. Frankly, your reviewer doesn’t exactly know for whom this big-budget craptacular was intended. As family entertainment, the film fails miserably (boob-grabbing by cavemen, getting doused with dinosaur urine and Sleestak-screwing all play prominent roles). As a comedy, the film fails even MORE miserably (boob-grabbing by monkey men, getting doused … oh, you get the idea). As a vehicle for perennial frat boy Will Ferrell, the film fails MOST miserably. The original was so bad, it was good … this re-imagining is so bad, it’s painful. Bottom line: Lost cause.
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Ben Stiller, Amy Adams
In this PG-rated family adventure, a former museum security guard (Stiller) goes into action when his exhibit friends (Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams) are accidentally shipped to the Smithsonian Institute for storage in order to make way for new-age interactive displays … which is remarkable given the fact that the movie is a 105-minute computer-driven display devoid of much substance. Oh, don’t get your reviewer wrong — there is a lot going on with which to engage viewers … too much in fact. This shallow adventure simply tries to cram too many fine art references into its pop culture craw. The result proves dizzying and, in as much as its predecessor piqued kids’ interest in museums, this sequel will send them away screaming. Bottom line: Embattled.
The Taking of Pelham 123
Denzel Washington, John Travolta
In this R-rated actioner, a New York City subway dispatcher (Washington) becomes the unwitting pawn of a criminal mastermind (Travolta) out to hijack a subway car full of civilians. Amazingly, director Tony Scott’s frenetic headache-inducing style doesn’t derail this remake of a little-remembered 1974 Walter Matthau/Robert Shaw thriller. It certainly doesn’t help matters either, but top honors for said derailment falls on a half-baked script with about as much punch as a comatose boxer. Scribe Brian Helgeland has given audiences great screenplays ... this, however, is not one of them. Washington and Travolta are fully capable of selling through the wares, but struggle to find the substance. Travolta’s villain seems remorseful one minute and full-tilt psychotic the next while Washington’s conflicted everyman gets the high hat. Bottom line: Chattanooga doo doo.