Michael Bay

Based on the first book in a potential six-book series, it centers on an alien teen (Alex Pettyfer) who, along with eight others, was sent to Earth as a child to escape a hostile invading race. When said race discovers where the kids are and starts eliminating them, the boy and his warrior-guardian (Timothy Olyphant) move from town to town in an effort to evade them. As if that’s not bad enough, Pettyfer starts developing inherited alien abilities, including telekinesis and super strength.

Caruso, who’s fast become one of my favorite directors of thrillers, once again displays a refreshing knack for shooting and editing action clearly. This makes for genuinely thrilling set pieces, from the various third-act battles between good and bad aliens inside a high school, to the fantastic football-field finale, a special-effects spectacle full of alien gunfire, giant alien creatures and a rather spectacular explosion. Especially cool is the way Pettyfer runs while deflecting volleys of said gunfire.

As well the script, written by Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, does a decent job playing with our expectations as to who, or what, is good or bad. The Pettyfer-hunting aliens (led by Lost alum Kevin Durand) are obviously bad, what with their freakish heights and nasty sharp teeth. But we’re not so sure about the blonde hottie (Teresa Palmer) on the motorcycle, nor the shape-shifting creature who latches on to Pettyfer in the form of a Beagle.

And yet the film is more than just a load of eye candy. It has some actual emotional heft. The characters and relationships all feel believable, at least for a movie about teen aliens. Pettyfer’s romance with a cute-girl photographer (Glee’s Dianna Agron) is especially well-handled, and also allows us to see, via a scene with the girl’s family at dinner, his character’s longing for a normal life.

Pettyfer is mainly called upon to be photogenic, be it while brooding, smiling, fighting, crying or waterskiing. Better is Olyphant, who brings a nice mix of sternness and compassion to his protector part. Best, I think, is Callan McAuliffe (Flipped) as a bullied teen Pettyfer befriends. He does a beautiful job conveying his character’s loneliness and frustration. In perhaps the film’s best scene, he pleads with Pettyfer to confirm his suspicions about Pettyfer’s true nature.

My only quibble is the emo tunes on the soundtrack, an inevitable thing considering the demographic to whom the film is meant to appeal (though I did appreciate hearing Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” over the scene of Palmer strutting away from an exploding building). On a related note, I very much liked the score by Trevor Rabin. It enhances the action, brings the tears and, much like Caruso’s straightforward direction, never gets in the way. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Sci-Fi/Thriller

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date 5/24/11

As in the ‘30s radio serial, and ‘60s TV series featuring Bruce Lee, it centers on newspaper publisher Britt Reid (Rogen) and his confidant, Kato (Jay Chou), who moonlight as masked crime fighters posing as criminals in order to infiltrate the criminal underworld. Here they try to stop a Russian mobster (Christoph Waltz) from uniting Los Angeles’ crime families.

The movie as a whole is meant to be a lark, I guess, but it still would have helped to have a main character to root for. We don’t get that with Rogen, who helped write the thing. He plays the same old slacker man-child he always does, albeit a rich one. So instead of a hero who takes getting shot at seriously, we get a boorish frat boy who thinks it’s cool to go after gun-toting bad guys. He’s what Batman would be if Bruce Wayne were full of himself.

As well Rogen doesn’t act so much as goof his way through his lines, which results in some pretty awful scenes, like when he interviews Cameron Diaz to be his new secretary. Scowling is about the extent of his actual emoting. None of this would matter, of course, had there been someone to pick up his slack. Diaz has little to do besides spraying Rogen with mace, Chou looks the part but lacks Lee’s charisma, and Oscar-winner Waltz tries hard to be funny but somehow falls flat (though he does get the world’s coolest gun).

The numerous action scenes are what make the film watchable. For sure Gondry’s good with massive explosions–the bulldozer getting blown into the air is especially cool–but he also gives the shootouts, car chases and Chou’s martial arts brawls an entertainingly off-kilter energy. Watch how, when Chou jumps over a car’s hood to get at some thugs, the car suddenly looks like it’s being reflected in a slew of mirrors. Or how Chou pops into a bad-guy SUV and takes out the thugs inside.

I almost forgot about Black Beauty, the duo’s sleek supercar that’s one of the sweetest-looking set of superhero wheels around, decked out as it is with green headlights, ejector seats, rocket launchers, side-door machine guns, wheel saws and, for our more enlightened era, a bean bag launcher. During the action-crazy finale, Rogen and Chou are still able to drive around in its front half after it gets cut in half going up in an elevator. That ability alone makes it more of a star than the humans around it.- [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Comedy/Crime

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 5/6/11

Kidman and Eckhart play a couple mourning the loss of their 4-year-old son, who only months earlier ran into the street and was hit by a car. During their struggle they lash out at each other, friends and family, and find new ways of coping, she by talking to the remorseful teen (Miles Teller) who was driving the car, he by befriending a pot-smoking member (Sandra Oh) of their support group.

The film was directed by John Cameron Mitchell, best known for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and he proves very skilled with the technical details. He lights the film beautifully, his framing of shots is exquisitely precise and he utilizes a gentle score to provide the right note of sadness. As a result it feels more like a big-studio effort than an indie flick that took less than a month to make.

What it lacks is the necessary emotional intensity. Which is frustrating, because the script by David Lindsay-Abaire, who based it on his play, gets the words and situations right, like the awkward moments when people ask Eckhart if he has any kids or accuse Kidman of not being a mother. Or when Kidman sums up the bleak state of their lives by saying, “Things aren’t nice anymore.”

The problem, I think, is that Mitchell’s direction is a little too low-key, and so the scenes of Kidman and Eckhart letting go emotionally, be it arguing or crying, never feel as cathartic as they should. It doesn’t help that Kidman’s performance, which was touted as being this really raw thing, feels so controlled. She’s never less than good here, but I don’t think she dug down nearly deep enough in trying to convey her character’s pain.

Thankfully, the always-reliable Dianne Wiest is around to pick up the emotional slack. As Kidman’s mother, a woman still stung by the years-ago death of Kidman’s drug-addicted brother, she effortlessly communicates weary anguish, without sentimentalizing it. Her moments with Kidman are the film’s best, none more so than when she explains to Kidman that grief never really goes away, but it does change, and even becomes bearable, “like a brick in your pocket.” – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 4/19/11

Director Peter Weir’s films can have an exceptional if not perfect melding of character, subject and setting. The best examples like Master and Commander, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Last Wave and even the flawed Mosquito Coast offset the trite efforts like Green Card. As locusts buzz in the Australian outback, unbearable tension is maintained through the whole of Picnic at Hanging Rock and in the thriller Witness, what could have been any other genre exercise for a paycheck, Weir crafts as fine a character study as anything by Kazan.

So why doesn’t The Way Back work?

The escapees’ daunting trek is not particularly composed in any real fashion through Weir’s and cinematographer Russell Boyd’s lens. It’s like a point-and-shoot exercise at staggering vistas. Through most of the film the prisoners head in a compass direction, there’s an aerial view of rugged terrain, and then they’re on the other side of the obstacle. Interspersed scenes of them inventively finding food and maintaining their humanity feel just that way… interspersed. The viewer is never invested in these tiny figures traipsing through a blizzard or into an approaching sandstorm.

Jim Sturgess as Janusz the Polish officer is fine. Saoirse Ronan as Irena, another escapee they pick up on the way, is touching and warmhearted and Ed Harris is his gruff and fatalistic best. All concerned fit the bill performance wise, but when the film keeps misfiring, there’s no character richness past a certain point. Other things, like knowing how to combat body lice in a gulag, are detail for detail’s sake. The flat ending is predestined.

In light of his body of work, this seems a stumble for Weir and it’s too bad. In these days of franchise reboots, we could use a truly visceral return to the film epic á la David Lean. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Adventure/Drama

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 4/19/11

Adventure/Drama/Fantasy

Rated PG-13

Country Strong.

Then I heard Gwyneth Paltrow was in it.

I still had hope.

Then I heard that it was about a disgraced country music star, attempting to revamp her career, perhaps bringing some up-and-comers along for the ride.

Even less hope.

Then I actually watched it.

I didn’t hate it. I kind of liked it. Gwyneth does well as the damaged-by-fame alcoholic. I liked Tim McGraw as her manager husband. He does cold distance in a distinctly southern way that makes it more believable. I wasn’t blown away by Leighton Meester as the bubbly beauty queen cum country ingenue, but I didn’t dislike her.

All of these I was expecting. The one who surprised me was Garrett Hedlund as the old school country boy who just likes playing for people, be it 5 or 5,000. He was better than I would have expected. After watching Tron: Legacy last week, I was pleased to find out Mr. Hedlund has range.

The story lags, the camera work is efficient, but nothing to write home about. All in all they could have done better, but they also could have done much worse. It’s a solid OK in a time when poor is the standard.

Although I must warn you, the Incredible Hulk does not appear in this film. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama/Music

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 4/12/11

This time ’round, Stiller’s put-upon male nurse must prove to ex-CIA father-in-law De Niro that he has what it takes to assume leadership of the family, while also dealing with an attractive pharmaceutical rep (Jessica Alba, pretty but unfunny) and the return of his wife’s (Teri Polo) too-good-to-be-true ex-boyfriend (Owen Wilson).

The film manages to wring out a few good, clean laughs here and there–De Niro’s cat almost eating Stiller’s son’s pet lizard; De Niro discovering Google; De Niro arguing with Harvey Keitel (who plays a construction worker)–but the majority of the humor is excessively and needlessly smutty, with a few vomit and fart jokes thrown in for good measure.

As well the novelty of watching De Niro lighten up and make fun of himself wore off some time ago, so watching the two-time Oscar winner get stuck with a needle by Stiller in a certain sensitive male body part is less funny than just plain sad. Same goes for his prolonged battle with Stiller in a bouncy castle and plastic ball pit.

I also wouldn’t have minded seeing more of Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as Stiller’s colorful parents, but they’re pretty much sidelined here. Surprisingly, the funniest person turns out to be Wilson, whose naturally mellow mood works to hilarious effect as he casually emasculates Stiller in front of the family. He also figures in the film’s funniest scene, which involves jet-skiing monks. – [DVD]

Comedy

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 4/5/11

Strike that, I’m not sure. He could spend his nights on a panda skin rug for all I know.

But, I was willing to set aside personal feelings, because I found the story interesting. It was a good call.

Fair Game is an account of Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) who was outed as an agent of the CIA by administration officials, and the subsequent battle fought by her husband (Sean Penn) Ambassador Joe Wilson, to bring light to the dirty dealings of said administration. Directed by Doug Liman, the director of Swingers, Go, and a little picture called The Bourne Identity.

If you’ve seen the first Bourne, you’ll recognize the visual style Liman (who was also the director of photography) uses. It works well with this kind of “intrigue.” The performances are solid, Watts is good, and if you forget about the panda thing, Penn is also very good. It presented the story in a way that was interesting, even though I knew the outcome. Like 127 Hours, without the gore. Give it some thumbs up. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Biography/Drama/Thriller

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 3/29/11

Jolie plays a British woman being trailed by Scotland Yard because of her romantic link to a mysterious, and wanted, man who apparently underwent plastic surgery to elude both the authorities and the man (Steven Berkoff) from whom he stole money. Via a letter, he instructs Jolie to board a train, find a man with his physical dimensions and make those watching believe that that man his him.

For its first forty minutes or so, the film possesses just the right note of elegant deception as we watch Jolie coolly ditch the authorities in Paris, board said train to Venice and latch onto Depp’s daffy American. Their initial conversation, in which Jolie verbally dominates Depp–advising him on how to talk to women, telling him she hates his name–is the film’s highlight.

But as soon as Depp stumbles his way across a slippery Venice rooftop, and subsequently knocks a policeman into the water, you realize director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) doesn’t mean for us to take any of this seriously. Which is a mistake, because he proves incapable of meshing the comic elements with the more serious ones.

The film suffers as a result. The action scenes, including Jolie’s ridiculous boat rescue of Depp that features the unintentionally hilarious sight of Jolie fending off a henchman with a life preserver, are listless. And forget about suspense. What little there is dissipates the second we learn of Jolie’s true motives. The finale, which involves a safe and lots of surveillance, is dull as dishwater.

Pluses include the beautiful Venice scenery and, of course, Jolie, who was made for movies like this. She not only rocks expensive-looking dresses and sports an impeccable British accent, but raises looking cool and detached to an art form. She even gets to prove she can act thanks to a nicely done scene where she admits to Depp how she truly loves and misses her mystery man.

As for Depp, well, he just seems miscast playing a guy whom a British agent (Paul Bettany) rightly refers to as a moron. His performance is a little too broad, and I never believed Jolie could fall for him. He looks a little absurd, too, with his goatee and bohemian hairdo. As such the only thing he really convinced me of here is that he knows how to light up a cigarette. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Action/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 3/22/11

How Do You Know

The plot goes something like this: Reese plays Lisa, a career professional softball player who, at age 31, has just failed to make the team for the upcoming season. Playing ball and her relationships with her teammates have been her life, and she begins her slog through the plot in kind of a lost and confused mode. No better off is Paul Rudd’s character, George, who is in business with his dad, played by Jack Nicholson and, as the movie opens, is under indictment by the federal government for shady dealings (not his fault, or we would in no way want to turn over our darling, Lisa, to him. Though it might have made for a more interesting movie…). Wilson plays Matty, a major league pitcher who is paid millions, and has a superficial, selfish, and somewhat womanizing approach to romance. In my humble opinion, none of these actors are believable in their roles. Maybe if we could have seen each of them doing what was supposedly their job, the back story could have propped up this willing suspension of disbelief (I obviously was not that willing). So Lisa goes out with Matty for about 10 minutes, or so it seems, and decides to move in with him. Meanwhile, George is dumped by his girlfriend, meets Lisa for dinner, and promptly falls in love with her. So which one of these guys is it going to be? How do you know?

Okay, so maybe I could have lived with the plot. I could maybe have even lived with the casting, and subsequent lack of chemistry. Maybe, but probably not. Ultimately, it was the dialogue, though, that was just too painful. It wasn’t funny, it wasn’t at all romantic, and much of the time it was thuddingly boring. And thus, this film was imbued with a lifelessness that I couldn’t forgive. Who can we blame? Let’s start with James L. Brooks, who was at the helm of this project as writer and director. He also gave us Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets. But that was a while ago. He wrote and directed Spanglish, a Rom Com I did like pretty much. It seems, though, that he lost his touch or something just didn’t jell with How Do You Know. When the dialogue wasn’t weird, it was wooden, or sparse. None of the actors seemed comfortable in or with their roles, possibly because the roles were so ill-defined. The exception to this was Wilson’s Matty, whose character was so hyper-defined as to be a caricature, and not believable for that reason.

Enough already with panning the film. One good feature was that the cinematographer was Janusz Kaminski, the cinematographer or director of photography for such notables as Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, and Schindler’s List. And the photography in How Do You Know was good. Too bad it was frequently used to show off Reese’s bronzed skin and impossibly blue eyes. Okay, I better end this review because I’m starting to criticize it again. Reasons to see it? You love Reese, Paul, or Owen (if you love Owen, though, I’d invite you to see (even again) Bottle Rocket or Royal Tenenbaums where he was much more at home). Another reason to see it? You love the Rom Com genre, and don’t feel the need to be as picky as I was about this one. The bottom line is that comedy is subjective, and while this movie was not my cup of tea, it may be yours. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 3/22/11