We've all seen remakes of fairy tale stories before. We've even seen updated versions of these stories, but in "Mirror Mirror", not only was the title changed, but also a lot of the character names as well. It's like being in the past visually, but with up-to-date cultural attitudes.
One of the most beloved stories of all time just got repackaged, reshuffled all in the name of humor and wit and satire.
An evil Queen (Julia Roberts) marrys a King (Sean Bean) whom she has killed, only to steal control of the kingdom and eventually exiles a princess-- her stepdaughter Snow White (Lily Collins). The timid Snow ends up meeting and enlisting seven resourceful rebel dwarfs-- Napoleon (Jordan Prentice), Half Pint (Mark Povinelli), Grub (Joe Gnoffo), Grimm (Danny Woodburn), Wolf (Sebastian Saraceno), Butcher (Martin Klebba), and Chuckles (Ronald Lee Clark) to help her win back her birthright and kingdom.
Through all this, the Queen is hopelessly broke, so she summons her kiss ass bungling assistant, Brighton (Nathan Lane) to put together a ball to beat all balls to win over a young, rich prince (Armie Hammer) so she can be solvent again.
Others to round out the cast are Robert Emms as Charles Renbock, the prince's assistant, Mare Winningham as Margaret, a castle baker, and Michael Lerner as Baron.
This film was visually directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar ("The Cell" 2000, "The Fall" '06, "Immortals" '11). I say visual because one look at his resume, and it screams color, which make his films a pleasure to watch even if you're not wild about the story. It was written by Jason Keller and Marc Klein based on a screen story by Melissa Wallack which was based on an original story by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. With the exception of very few inconsistencies in plot, this had just the right amount of wit and satire that made this repackage work.
The cast really worked well off one another and Roberts was simply a hoot! The real change of character here was of the dwarves. The names, personalities, attire-- everything about them were changed but they rocked.
This rendition was fun for one and all and with all the colors-- costumes, sets, even the beast in it, you'll get a lot of bang for your buck here.
Out of 4 stars: 3.5 Rated: PG 106min.
We've all seen a bunch of films starring Will Ferrell, and they typically are similar in their writing, i.e. Ferrell's physical presence. But when I had heard of "Casa de mi Padre", I felt that this project was a bit different than his usual fare. As with "Stranger Than Fiction", this appeared to be, at least, different, and I was right.
Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) has lived and worked on his father's ranch in Mexico his entire life. As the ranch encounters financial problems, Armando's younger brother Raul (Diego Luna) shows up with his new fiance, Sonia (Genesis Rodriguez). It seems that Raul's success as an international businessman means that the ranch's troubles are over as he pledges to settle all debts his father Miguel Ernesto (Pedro Armendariz Jr.) has incurred.
As Armando has a rocky start in getting to know Sonia, he then falls for her. And as Raul's business dealings turn out to be less than legit, all hell breaks loose as they find themselves in a war with Mexico's most feared and notorious drug lord, the mighty Onza (Gael Garcia Bernal).
Others to round out the cast are Adrian Martinez as Manuel and Efren Ramirez as Esteban, Armando's ranch hands and friends, Manuel Urrego as Officer Blancardo, Nick Offerman as DEA Agent Parker and Jerry Collins as DEA Agent #2.
This project was directed by Matt Piedmont ("The Joe Buck Show" (TV movie) '08) and it was written by Andrew Steele ("The Ladies Man" 2000). Both of these guys have had extensive Saturday Night Live experience which is where Ferrell came from originally, hence the collaboration. I'm sure these guys will collaborate again in the future, because this was an interesting and bold attempt.
Speaking of interesting, what really made this anything palatable was the fact it was totally in Spanish, even Ferrell's performance. For not being Hispanic, Ferrell did an incredible job. His dialect was amazing. I'm not usually a Ferrell fan, but after seeing this, I yearn for him to do other different roles so as to showcase his ability to act in something that isn't just physical comedy. This was a much more subtle, satirical type of comedy which made it more funny. It did have some problems in that the writing kind of meandered in places, but believe me, I find this a lot more refreshing than his usual shtick.
Out of 4 stars: 2.5 Rated: R 84min.
There was a futuristic sci-fi film back in 1975 entitled "Rollerball", and its selling slogan or tagline to the film was, "In the future there will be no more wars, but there will be... Rollerball." It was an interesting concept in that instead of battling in some country where innocent people can be hurt or killed, society will have there 'wars' in a controlled arena or rink type of environment whereas no one will be hurt or killed that are innocent. Instead, these players play or fight to the death with an international audience and producers/sponsors duking it out for the bottom line... money. Well, this is kind of what we get with "The Hunger Games", except these are kids who are the players and this film had multiple layers within the plot a lot more than "Rollerball" could muster up. And I liked "Rollerball".
In a not-too-distant future, North America has collapsed, weakened by fire, drought, famine and war to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year two young representatives, ages 12-18, from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, quite literally, with all citizens required to watch.
When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to take her place which no one has ever done. She and her male counterpart, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, such as Kato (Alexander Ludwig) and Glimmer (Leven Rambin), who have trained for this their whole lives. Katniss and Peeta do get training through the likes of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) and Cinna (Lenny Kravitz). With President Snow (Donald Sutherland), whose after his own interests and MC of The Hunger Games, Caesar (Stanley Tucci), whose all about the show and ratings, do any of these representatives have a chance?
Others to round out the cast are Liam Hemsworth as Gabe, Katniss' friend in district 12, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, a publicist, Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane, head of The Hunger Games, Toby Jones as Claudius Templesmith, Isabelle Fuhrman as Clove, friend of Kato, Amandla Stenberg as Rue, whom Katniss takes 'under her wing', Kimiko Gelman as Venia, Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh, and Jack Quaid as Marvel.
This was cleverly directed by Gary Ross ("Pleasantville" '98, "Seabiscuit" '03) in that in an entertaining way, this guy can really slickly convey a strong message. This film was so multi-layered with elements of 'big brother', greed, deception, fear, survival of the fittest, connection, comraderie. This made this film more than 'kids killing kids'. It was equally well written by Ross ("Big" '88, "Mr. Baseball" '92, "Dave" '93, "Lassie" '94, "Pleasantville" '98, "Seabiscuit" '03, "The Tale of Despereaux" '08), Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray based on Collins' novel.
We've seen post-apocalytic, grim futuristic films before, but not quite with the punch that this film will give you and keep you thinking well after the end credits roll.
Out of 4 stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 142min.
Films about people obtaining supernatural or special powers are usually movies whereas those obtaining the powers gradually get used to and can strengthen their powers and use them for good, with the exception of "The Lawnmower Man". However, with "Chronicle", yes their powers become stronger, but they really never get used to them.
Three high school students, Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan), Matt Garetty (Alex Russell) and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery down a hole and into an underground cavern which radiates a glowing light. Soon, though, they find their lives spinning out of control, and their bond is tested as they embrace their darker side. Andrew evidently has the most difficult time adjusting to his powers. This could be that he has always felt like the outsider in life, i.e. his Dad, Richard (Michael Kelly), who abuses him for his own screwed up reasons, the kids at his high school, etc. Because he wants the ridicule to stop, these powers just goes to his head. So it's up to Matt and Steve to try constantly to keep Andrew in check in whatever way they can.
Others to round out the cast are Ashley Hinshaw as Casey Letter, a friend of Matt's, Bo Petersen as Andrew's dying Mom, and Anna Wood as Monica.
This was directed by Josh Trank and considering that his only other experience is TV and shorts, it wasn't too badly helmed. It was written by Max Landis based on a story by Landis and Trank. Landis is about as much a newbie as Trank, and given these guys can get more work, they will probably excel, but only time and more experience will tell. The idea that most of it was photographed by Andrew's character was an interesting aspect.
The visual effects were predominantly created by Rhythm & Hues Studios and Shade VFX and they were executed extremely well. But, unfortunately, they were still not enough to save this.
The film was just too disjointed in that you don't know what gave them the powers or where this glowing light in this cavern came from. Also, why did Andrew feel he had to film everything in his life after a point. He said he was going to film, but never gave a reason. I guess this was his neurosis. But then, there were places that were extremely predictable, like Andrew's Dad getting his 'just desserts' and he and Matt's friendship getting more and more strained.
It was an admiral attempt at an interesting premise. I think it just needed more seasoned people working on it to get it that kick it really needed to keep the audience riveted.
Out of 4 stars: 2 Rated: PG-13 84min.
Comedies can and have been a great genre for entertaining us, so we can have fun with the characters involved and enjoy ourselves for the 90 minute- 2 hour running time. I would say, in some respects, I got that with "21 Jump Street", but in other ways probably not.
In high school, Scmidt (Jonah Hill) was a dork and Jenko (Channing Tatum) was a popular jock. After graduation, they both joined the police force, Jenko being the brawn and Schmidt being the brains, and ended up as partners riding bicycles in the park which they actually botched up. To put them somewhere, Capt. Dickson (Ice Cube) decides to put them undercover, mostly because of their youthful looks, as high school students. They will have to infiltrate a drug ring with Eric (Dave Franco) as dealer, that is supplying high school students with a synthetic drug called HFS that has already killed a couple of students. Their mission is to find the dealer that will lead them ultimately to the supplier.
Others to round out the cast are Brie Larson as Molly, girlfriend of Eric, Rob Riggle as Mr. Walters, a teacher, DeRay Davis as Domingo, Dax Flame as Zack, Chris Parnell as Mr. Gordon, and Ellie Kemper as Ms. Griggs, one of Jenko's teachers.
This was adequately directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. These guys don't have a ton of experience, but if they keep plugging away, they will get better which will lead to more work. The best thing about this flick was the chemistry between Schmidt and Jenko. They're such enough of an odd couple, it make their friendship on screen look real. The actual culprit here is Michael Bacall as writer. The idea for the story by him and Jonah Hill was an interesting one and had great promise, but it just got a little bogged down with the way a lot of comedies have been going... to see how much 'toilet' humor and 'fart' jokes one can put into a film to insure that certain demographical audience. Believe me, I've seen worse, but this could've been a much tighter script and still reached that demographic the studios are obviously trying to get into those theater seats.
Out of 4 stars: 2.5 Rated: R 110min.
Fantasy, adventure, action films are what escaping into a movie is all about. We all have problems, issues of the day to deal with, obligations, work, etc. This is all the more reason why films to escape into is so important. The list is plentiful: "Star Wars", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Batman", "Iron Man", "Jurassic Park", "Harry Potter", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Alien". We can now add to that list in the form of "John Carter".
Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) discovers a lush, incredibly diverse planet mostly inhabited by 12-foot tall green barbarians, headed up by two opposing leaders, Tal Hajus (Thomas Haden Church) and Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe). Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to discover the princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) who is in desparate need of a savior. She is destined to marry Sab Than (Dominic West) or her people will perish. Sab Than has been given power by Matai Shang (Mark Strong), an otherworldly evil being bent on Dejah Thoris' people to be under his thumb and manipulating Sab Than to this end.
Others to round out the cast are Samantha Morton as Sola, daughter of Tal Hajus, Ciaran Hinds as Tardos Mors, James Purejoy as Kantos Kan, Bryan Cranston as Powell, Polly Walker as Sarkoja and Daryl Sabara as Edgar Rice Burroughs as the nephew of John Carter.
This was interestingly directed by Andrew Stanton ("A Bug's Life" '98, "Finding Nemo" '03, "WALL-E" '08). I say interestingly, because here's a guy that's directed only animated films up to this film. But since this is fantasy and adventure, a director who specializes in animated flicks certainly would be just as qualified to direct this genre of film. It was written by Stanton, Mark Andrews, and Michael Chabon based on the story "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The stunning visual effects were predominantly created by Double Negative, MPC (Moving Picture Company), and Cinesite. They were awesome and seamless, and could deem worthy come Oscar time. And the 3D process just added to those effects.
If you loved the aforementioned fantastical films, you'll love this also. It's a great way to be able to leave your problems at the theater door, and escape into another world, even if it is for a fairly short time.
Out of 4 stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 132min.
Eddie Murphy, of recent past, has taken his comedies to a much safer level. We can see this in the likes of "Meet Dave", "The Nutty Professor","Dr. Doolittle" and "Norbit". I don't really think it's a step down of what he can actually do, but with the aforementioned films, along with his most recent, "A Thousand Words", the scripts could be a bit more polished and tight.
After stretching the truth on a publishing deal with a spiritual guru, Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis), literary agent Jack McCall (Eddie Murphy) finds a bodhi tree that, all of a sudden, appears on his property. Legend has it that when one speaks, the tree loses a leaf for every word spoken, so the tree holds a valuable lesson on the consequences of every word we speak.
However, in this case, the legend actually comes true, because it happens to Jack. And what happens when most trees lose all their leaves? Yes, you guessed it, they die. So the same thing will most likely happen to Jack unless he gets all his ducks in a row, and quick! His likable, but ass-kissing assistant, Aaron Wiseberger (Clark Duke) tries to help him figure out what to do, but to no avail. How can a wise-cracking, self-absorbed agent going to do if he can't even speak?
This was adequately directed by Brian Robbins ("Varsity Blues" '99, "Hard Ball" '01, "The Perfect Score" '04, "The Shaggy Dog" '06, "Norbit" '07, "Meet Dave" '08). This guy has a tendency to lean toward fairly 'safe' projects, which he does well at, but it would be nice to see him go out on that limb at least once and try something different. It was equally written as well by Steve Koren ("A Night at the Roxbury" '98, "Superstar" '99, "Bruce Almighty" '03, "Click" '06,"Jack and Jill" '11). Again, this guy equally needs to branch out and try other projects he's not used to writing.
I don't know if this was an advocate for new-age philosophy or parodying it, but it does have a good message of reconnection and forgiveness as the film eventually unfolds. It's great for kids in that it does speak of forgiveness, but in an entertaining way. It's just too bad that Murphy has to get this message across in such an over-the-top way. But as with his other projects as mentioned above, the same message in that over-the-top way is played out. And this has a tendency to make these films quite similar, but nice try.
Out of 4 stars: 2.5 Rated: PG-13 91min.
Tyler Perry never seizes to amaze me in that he can go from one film that is a crazy, over-the-top comedy with the likes of Madea in it to a sensitive, well acted, real-life drama like "Good Deeds".
Businessman Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) is jolted out of his scripted, predictable, routine life with fiance, Natalie (Gabrielle Union) when he meets Lindsey (Thandie Newton), a single mother with a 6-year-old daughter, Ariel (Jordeen Thompson), who happens to work on the cleaning crew of Deeds' office building.
Lindsey has her own set of problems with being poor and not being able to stay in her apartment even though she has a job. So between sleeping in their car and staying in the janitor's room at the office building to staying at shelters, their life continues to spiral. Meanwhile, Wesley is trying do deal with his angry, bitter, combative brother, Walter (Brian White) who has no compassion and is incredibly self-absorbed. Wesley, through his meeting Lindsey, starts realizing that there's more to life than his dysfunctional family, non-connected fiance, his business and doting mother, Wilimena (Phylicia Rashad). What's a guy to do?
Others to round out the cast are Eddie Cibrian as John, Wesley's second-hand man in his business, Beverly Johnson as Brenda, Rebecca Romijn as Heidi, and Jamie Kennedy as Mark Freeze.
This was painstakingly well written and directed by Tyler Perry ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman" '02, "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" '02, "Madea's Family Reunion" '06, "Madea Goes to Jail" '06, "Daddy's Little Girls" '07, "What's Done in the Dark" '08, "Meet the Browns" '08, "The Family That Preys" '08, "Madea's Big Happy Family" '11). This was all laid out in an extremely realistic, honest way, so it almost seemed like the audience was looking in on people's lives rather than watching a film.
It had few inconsistencies, such as seeing people smoking in a San Francisco bar which, in California, is against the law. But, all in all, this had a great story with 'real' acting. Perry really pulled it off. How often can one go see a film about people in crisis, dysfunction, upheaval and still be entertained just because of how it's delineated? Not many.
Out of 4 stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 111min.
"Dr. Suess' Horton Hears a Who" was a great homage to Suess' work of the same name made a number of years ago. Well, I must say, "Dr. Suess' The Lorax" carries on that same homage which I think would've made him proud.
A 12-year-old boy, Ted (Zac Efron) searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams-- Audrey (Taylor Swift). To find it he must discover the story of The Lorax (Danny DeVito), the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.
This is told to him by his Grammy Norma (Betty White), who remembers stories of lore. She tells him how all the trees disappeared and what and who caused it. Yes, this is what Audrey wants- to see a real, living tree, something we all take for granted. Grammy tells Ted to go outside of town, which is called Thneedville, and contact The Once-ler (Ed Helms) who then tells him more of his involvement of what happened to the trees and how The Lorax tried to warn him. With all the trees gone, people like Mr. O'Hare (Rob Riggle) took advantage of this and started selling bottled air to the citizens of the town by manipulating them so as to get more money. So he has everything invested to make sure the people don't find out about the trees, hence the politics.
Others to round out the cast are Jenny Slate as Ted's Mom, Nasim Pedrad as Once-ler's Mom, Joel Sweto as 1st Marketing Guy, Michael Beattie as 2nd Marketing guy, Stephen Tobolowsky as Uncle Ubb, Elmarie Wendel as Aunt Grizelda, and Danny Cooksey as Brett/Chet.
This was crisply directed by Chris Renaud ("Despicable Me" '10) and his "Despicable Me 2" is being filmed. And it was co-directed by Kyle Balda. It was written by Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul based on Dr. Suess' book. These guys might have taken a few too many liberties with Suess' work, but not enough to take away from that Suess stamp.
If you're a Suess fan, you will love this. But even if you're not, I still think you'll like this, if for no other reason than to see a film that promotes the environment and points out how the corporate world just exploits us and our planet all for money and greed. This is a great family film in that parents can let their kids see an entertaining film and be taught a viable lesson of how not to treat the planet. Dr. Suess was such a visionary with an entertaining slant. This is presented in 3D also.
Out of 4 stars: 3.5 Rated: PG 86min.
Thrillers can be an interesting and intriguing genre if it's done in an original, creative way, however with "Gone", this was certainly not the case. The start of it really caught your eye, but as it unfolded, every turn it took, kept getting more predictable as it went along.
When her sister, Molly (Emily Wickersham) disappears, Jill (Amanda Seyfried) is convinced the serial killer who kidnapped her two years ago has returned to finish her off. So she sets out to once again confront her abductor. First, she calls the local police, Powers (Daniel Sunjata), Erica Lonsdale (Katherine Moennig), and new guy, Peter Hood (Wes Bentley) and gets no where, because they feel she is hallucinating, because she ended up in a mental facility due to her past abduction, so she must be just having a paranoid episode. After speaking to Molly's boyfriend, Billy (Sebastian Stan) about her whereabouts and coming up empty, she decides she has no other recourse but investigate where Molly is on her own. Will she find her or be killed in the process?
Others to round out the cast are Jennifer Carpenter as Sharon Ames, Jill's friend at work, Michael Pare as Lt. Ray Bozeman, Socratis Otto as Jim, Nick Searcy as Mr.Miller, Sam Upton as Officer McKay, Joel David Moore as Nick Massey, and Ted Rooney as Henry Massey.
This was directed by Brazilian director Heitor Dhalia ("Nina" '04, "Drained" '06, "Adrift" '09), and it had some interesting pacing going on. It was written by Allison Burnett ("Bloodfist III: Forced to Fight" '92, "Bleeding Hearts" '94, "Red Meat" '97, "Autumn in New York" 2000, "Resurrecting the Champ" '07, "Feast of Love" '07, "Untraceable" '08, "Fame"'09, "Underworld: Awakening"'12). I'm giving her resume mostly because even though she is a seasoned writer, this was a rather predictable script. I must say, a number of the films in her resume weren't what I would've called great films due, a lot, to the writing. So I'm not sure if Burnett was just having a bad day for writing or what was going on. There were too many things in this film that were not credible like, why would she meet the would-be killer in a dark secluded park instead of a public place? Or, why wouldn't the police believe her? After all, they knew there was an abductor that got away two years prior. But, I guess that would kill the movie.
Anyway, this wasn't a total wash. Seyfried's intense performance was worthy of the viewing, as were some of the supporting cast. This had an interesting premise, it's just too bad it got so bogged down with a script that matched the title: Gone!
Out of 4 stars: 2 Rated: PG-13 95min.
We've all seen remakes of fairy tale stories before. We've even seen updated versions of these stories, but in "Mirror Mirror", not only was the title changed, but also a lot of the character names as well. It's like being in the past visually, but with up-to-date cultural attitudes.
