Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Dir. Lasse Hallstrom (2012)

Judging by the title, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen sounds about as exciting as a film called Paint Drying on the Wall. It's not nearly that tedious, but the movie did surprise many by scoring a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture in the Comedy or Musical category. Call it this year's The Tourist in that nobody saw it coming.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is based on a novel by Paul Torday that served as political satire. Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who also penned The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours, turns the more of a story about the indomitable human spirit. Director Lasse Hallstrom gives Salmon Fishing a quaint romantic sheen that puts it in line with some of his previous pictures like The Cider House Rules and Chocolat.

The wealthy Sheikh Muhammed (Amr Waked) is a fly fishing aficionado who desires to bring the joys of salmon to the Yemeni desert. The Sheikh's financial advisor Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) consults with fisheries expert Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor), who dismisses the idea as wholly unfeasible. However, the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas), sees the project as a feel-good story to divert the public's attention from the constant stories of war and violence from the Middle East. Dr. Jones reluctantly acquiesces and soon discovers the Sheikh isn't the frivolous one-percenter he assumed.

Salmon Fishing works best when it focuses on the central story and the budding relationship between the leads. It's refreshing to see McGregor use his natural Scottish accent in his portrayal of an uptight scientist in the vein of Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby. 2012 was a banner year for Emily Blunt and although this was one of her lesser works (she was better in Looper and Your Sister's Sister), she's wonderful here. Kristin Scott Thomas is terrific as the forceful Patricia Maxwell, one of the few holdovers from the novel's original satirical bent though the character was male in the book. Thomas plays like she just sprung from the mind of Armando Ianucci. Amr Waked, who bares a strong resemblance to a young Ben Kingsley, serves as the heart of the movie and it's always nice to see a Middle Eastern actor play somebody other than a terrorist.

Unfortunately, Beaufoy overstuffs the script with too many subplots that complicate what should have been a simple romance. Jones is in a loveless marriage with a workaholic who is almost never home while Harriet has a boyfriend who is deployed in Afghanistan. The Sheikh's project is threatened by fanatical fundamentalists, which is at odds with the film's lightweight tone. What's more interesting is the finagling done to realize the Sheikh's wild dream. The engineers behind the Three Gorges Dam are called in to help design the dam and irrigation system. 10,000 salmon are needed to populate the newly created river, but depleting England's stock upsets the fishing industry. Thus, farmed salmon are used without knowing whether they will swim upstream like their brethren.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the sort of safe and conservative arthouse fare that old folks enjoy. It's a pleasant, but listless experience that could have used a more whimsical and energetic touch.

Rating: ** (*****)

Trouble with the Curve

Trouble with the Curve – Dir. Robert Lorenz (2012)

Gran Torino was supposed to be Clint Eastwood's last hurrah as an actor. Something must have lured him back for Trouble with the Curve. It certainly wasn't the chance to play a radically different character than he usually portrays. Once again Eastwood slips into the role of the dusty old timer searching for that one last glory. It's a role he's played numerous times dating back to 1982's The Honkytonk Man. Then, there's the aforementioned Gran Torino, Unforgiven, Space Cowboys, Million Dollar Baby, and In the Line of Fire, which was the last time Eastwood starred in a film he didn't direct. You wouldn't be able to tell since Trouble with the Curve looks and feels just like an Eastwood picture. It does feature many of Eastwood's regular collaborators including Editors Gary Roach and Joel Cox, Production Designer James Murakami, Costume Designer Deborah Hooper, and Cinematographer Tom Stern with Eastwood's long-time producer Robert Lorenz making his directorial debut.

Eastwood is Gus Lobel, an aging talent scout for the Atlanta Braves. Eastwood gets one of his least flattering introductions in a while as he has problems peeing in the morning and tripping over his own furniture. They have to let the audience know that Gus is old, dammit. He has a disdain for the "interweb" and refers to yoga as "voodoo." Gus is coming on with a case of glaucoma and he's got a young hotshot (Matthew Lillard) bucking for his job. Gus is out to prove decades of knowledge and intuition will trump a computer any day when he hits the road to look at a high school power hitter named Bo Gentry (Joe Massingill). With his eyesight fading, Gus's friend, Pete (John Goodman), convinces Gus's estranged daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), named after Mickey Mantle, to accompany him. Mickey doesn't have the warmest feelings for her father since the old man shipped her off to boarding school after her mother died. Along the way, they pick up Johnny "The Flame" Flanagan (Justin Timberlake), an ex-pitcher whose career fizzled after he blew out his shoulder. He's hoping to make it as a scout in order to transition to the broadcast booth.

Trouble with the Curve is the anti-Moneyball with the new school proponents of technology and sabremetrics cast as obnoxious and willfully ignorant while the old-school scouts battle to uphold baseball tradition. As a baseball themed drama, the filmmakers also get the chance to trot out ham-fisted sports analogies about life handing you extra innings and such. The screenplay by newcomer Randy Brown trades in Hallmark homilies and sitcom solutions with a few inert jokes about Dr. Phil and Desperate Housewives. Gus will learn to open up and rely on others while Mickey, a type-A personality, will learn to put down her smartphone. The resolution doesn't rest on a big game, but it does take place in a stadium where every plot point is wrapped up neatly.

Eastwood, Timberlake, and Adams make for an easygoing trio. Adams, in particular, is a joy as the feisty, strong-willed female lead. Those of you who enjoy playing 'Spot the Character Actor' will be kept busy by a supporting cast that includes Robert Patrick, Bob Gunton, George Wyner, Chelcie Ross, and Ed Lauter.

Trouble with the Curve isn't a deep film, but it is the sort of sweet and safe drama that scores with Middle America and the elderly.

Rating: ** (*****)

Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher - Dir. Christopher McQuarrie (2012)

"Do you think I'm a hero? I am not a hero. And if you're smart, that scares you."

Even without the tragic headlines still fresh in our minds, the opening of Jack Reacher is a tense and disturbing sequence as a sniper primes himself across from PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. We peer through the crosshairs of his rifle scope as the shooter picks off five targets, including a woman clutching a child while fleeing for safety. The investigation is swift and a retired Army sniper named James Barr (Joseph Sikora) is apprehended. During his interrogation by D.A. Alex Rodin (Richard Jenkins) and Det. Emerson (David Oyelowo), Barr remains silent and simply writes on a legal pad, "Get Jack Reacher."

Reacher (Tom Cruise) is a hard man to find. A decorated soldier and a former military investigator, Reacher has dropped off the grid completely. He drifts across the country with only the clothes on his back and a portable toothbrush in his pocket. He's so old-school that he still uses pay phones. You don't find Jack Reacher, Jack Reacher finds you. Reacher is familiar with Barr from a previous case and doesn't arrive as a savior crusading for his innocence, but to ensure he is properly punished for his crime. Despite the pleas of Barr's defense attorney, Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), who also happens to be the district attorney's daughter, Reacher is ready to take the first bus out of town.

However, something bothers Reacher about the murders and he sticks around. As he digs deeper, Reacher unravels a dark conspiracy involving a clandestine cartel headed up by a man known only as The Zec (Werner Herzog). The Zec is a chilling puppet master who chewed off his own frostbitten fingers while imprisoned in a Siberian gulag.

There was immediate controversy when Tom Cruise was cast as Jack Reacher, the hero from a series of novels by Lee Child. In the books, Reacher is described as a craggily 6'5 juggernaut with shortly cropped blond hair. He's John Rambo, Sherlock Holmes, and the entire A-Team rolled into one. Imagine everyone's surprise when the 5'7 Cruise stepped into his large shoes. There are moments where Tom Cruise's…well, Tom Cruise-ness works for and against his portrayal of a no-nonsense action hero.

It's rare to find someone physically imposing with the acting chops to kick start a blockbuster franchise. The filmmakers could have gone for someone like Dolph Lundgren or The Rock, both of whom likely would have given a one note performance. Liam Neeson might have done in a pinch or Ray Stevenson. A younger Clint Eastwood could have also been a good choice, especially since the sniper angle is reminiscent of Dirty Harry. In any event, Cruise won the role and had the clout to get it made. At 50 years old, Cruise doesn't look like he's aged in the past two decades. Not an easy task to picture the exceedingly handsome star as a world weary combat veteran who shops at Goodwill. It doesn't help that Cruise's leading lady, Rosamund Pike, is taller than he is.

What Cruise does possess is a grim determination and a forceful screen presence. He may not be playing Jack Reacher any differently than Ethan Hunt or John Anderton, but he's convincing when delivering tough guy lines, such as when he threatens to beat someone to death and drink their blood from a boot. Cruise's Reacher isn't the guy you don't want to mess with, he's the guy you mess with and realize what a mistake that was. Cruise's small stature leads to one of the movie's cleverest sequences in which Reacher evades the police by simply stepping into a crowd waiting at a bus stop.

Jack Reacher was adapted for the screen by Christopher McQuarrie, best known for writing The Usual Suspects. This is his second directorial effort with the first being 2000's Way of the Gun. Handsomely photographed by Caleb Deschanel, Jack Reacher is an old-fashioned action film with McQuarrie eschewing the rapid-fire editing employed by many directors. The fight scenes are captured with a steady camera and a series of extended shots with Cruise performing the majority of his own stunts. There's a climatic confrontation in a quarry as well as a prolonged car chase, a throwback to Bullitt with Cruise ripping through the streets of Pittsburgh in a '70 Chevelle.

The script takes a by-the-numbers approach to the genre and though Cruise is miscast, he handles the material well. What really boosts the film is the inspired casting of German auteur Werner Herzog as the Zec. Despite being on screen for maybe ten minutes, Herzog is one of the most memorable movie villains in recent memory. He is downright eerie as he drones on in that unmistakable drawl of his. The plot centers on a needlessly complex obfuscation, but Herzog is so creepy you're quick to believe his mind works on such byzantine levels. Robert Duvall is also terrific when he pops up in the third act playing a crusty coot as only Robert Duvall can.

Jack Reacher is a rather generic start to a potential franchise for Tom Cruise and Paramount. Still, the movie stands as a solid bit of popcorn entertainment with several well done action sequences. Herzog and Duvall are certainly worth the price of admission.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Stolen

Stolen - Dir. Simon West (2012)

When Liam Neeson's daughter is kidnapped, she's taken. When it's Nic Cage's daughter, she's stolen.

Stolen is the latest piece of cinematic schlock starring Nicolas Cage, who just cannot say 'no' anymore. Cage returns to New Orleans, his stomping grounds for past films Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans and Seeking Justice. Here, Cage plays Will Montgomery, the brains behind a bank robbery gang that includes Vincent (Josh Lucas), Hoyt (perennial character actor M.C. Gainey), and blonde bombshell Riley (Malin Akerman). His latest heist is boosting $10 million all while the gang is under surveillance by the FBI. The job might have gone down smoothly if Vincent hadn't tried to kill a janitor who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Will saves the man's life and leads the cops on a merry chase as his cohorts escape. He serves eight years in prison and returns to find his now-teenage daughter, Alison (Sami Gayle), wants nothing to do with him.

Vincent has also returned to kidnap Alison, locking her in the trunk of a stolen cab moving through the city. In exchange for the girl, Vincent demands the return of the $10 million. Poor Will burned all the money before being arrested to receive a lesser sentence. The feds don't buy his story and with no other choice Will enlists the aid of Riley for another heist to get the ransom.

Stolen is a low-rent effort for Simon West, who just came off The Expendables 2 and previously worked with Cage on Con Air, an enjoyably mindless flick from the Bruckheimer action factory. For all the shootouts and car chases, Stolen remains utterly lifeless. The script by David Guggenheim (who also wrote Safe House) is rife with plot holes and feels slapped together at the last minute. Apparently, nothing in New Orleans has changed in the eight years of Will's incarceration.

Even in his worst pictures, Cage can be an entertaining train wreck when he's allowed to be unleashed. Unfortunately, there's nothing for Cage to latch onto with such a bland protagonist. The only thing remotely resembling a Cage-ism is the character's penchant for listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival. If only he could have switched roles with Josh Lucas, who starred in another movie titled Stolen in 2009. Once a handsome bad boy, Vincent went off the deep end and resurfaces as a disheveled psycho with one leg. That's the kind of scene chewing part that could have given us another in a long line of loony Nic Cage performances.

Wasting away in the supporting cast are Mark Valley and Danny Huston as the FBI agents assigned to watch Will. For some reason, Huston spends the entire movie wearing a pork pie hat like he's Popeye Doyle.

If only someone had stolen the original negatives for Stolen and burned them. This is such a stinker that it makes you long for more masterful Nic Cage works like Season of the Witch or Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Rating: * (*****)

Resident Evil: Retribution

Resident Evil: Retribution - Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson (2012)

Trying to make sense of the convoluted mythos of the Resident Evil film franchise is a more daunting task than attempting to complete the games on the highest difficulty level. Even the architects of the series, writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife/starlet Milla Jovovich, can’t tell what the hell is happening. That hasn’t stopped them from soldiering on with a fifth film, Resident Evil: Retribution.

Proof that Anderson has sacrificed substance at the altar of style is found in the opening credits, which play out in reverse, slow-motion 3D. Picking up where Resident Evil: Afterlife left off, Alice (Jovovich) and the survivors on board a cargo freighter are attacked by forces of the Umbrella Corporation led by a brainwashed Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). From there, Jovovich gives the audience a recap of the series so far. Next is a prologue out of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake with Alice as a suburban housewife married to Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) with a deaf daughter named Becky (Aryana Engineer). As the zombies slaughter everyone, Alice awakens naked (save for a convenient towel) in a holding cell where she's tortured by Valentine. Suddenly, Alice is freed by Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) and former archenemy Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who has been usurped from his position as Umbrella boss by the malevolent A.I. from the first movie, The Red Queen (Megan Charpentier).

Alice learns she is trapped inside a massive research facility beneath the Arctic where Umbrella has recreated major cities around the world to test their biological weapons on unsuspecting clones, including good and evil versions of past characters like Rain Ocampa (Michelle Rodriguez) and James Shade (Colin Salmon). Meanwhile, an assault team consisting of Leon Kennedy (Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand), and Luther West (Boris Kodjoe) is dispatched to rescue Alice and Ada.

Retribution scores a minor victory in the fact that it comes closest to replicating the video game experience more than any other game adaptation. The protagonists collect items and weapons in order to advance from one level to the next with helpful map graphics to orient the viewer. It's about as thrilling as watching someone play video games while hogging the controller. The barebones plot shamelessly rips off Aliens with Becky fulfilling the role of Newt to Alice's Ripley in a vain effort to inject some heart into this hollow action flick. The connections between each installment are tenuous with Anderson hitting the reset button whenever he feels the need. Alice has superpowers then she doesn't. Not that it matters either way since she has no problems defeating hordes of the undead with gravity defying flips, all while dressed in a tightly buckled leather outfit. It still provides more protection than Ada Wong's combat attire of a slinky evening gown and strappy high heels.

At least, Anderson keeps the pace brisk and action packed so as not to call attention to the thin plot or the clipped dialogue recited in increasingly wooden fashion by the cast.

Resident Evil: Retribution is more visually impressive than its predecessors, but no less dull or derivative. Only the most hardcore fans of the series will be entertained, especially by an open ending that threatens us with additional mind-numbing sequels.

Rating: * (*****)

Lincoln

Lincoln - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2012)

Lincoln opens with a Saving Private Ryan-esque scene of battlefield brutality. Men are impaled by bayonets and strangled in the muck and rainwater. From there, we cut to Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln seated as if he were the D.C. monument come to life. He’s addressed by two black soldiers, one of whom (Colman Domingo) looks up at him with awe. The other (David Oyelowo) is bluntly asking the President about equal pay for black and white troops. Two white soldiers (Lukas Haas and Dane DeHaan) arrive and, with great reverence, begin to recite the Gettysburg Address.  The scene feels lifted right out of a Frank Capra movie and it’s wise of Spielberg to get the mythologizing out of the way first.

President Lincoln is pressured to end the Civil War rather than focusing on the Emancipation Proclamation. Even his closest aides feel the issue will be dead upon arrival at the House of Representatives. Not everyone will be swayed by a heartfelt speech so a great deal of wrangling and backdoor deals is necessary. A trio of lobbyists (James Spader, John Hawkes, and Tim Blake Nelson) is dispatched to curry favor with opposition in the Democratic Party. This includes promises of jobs in the new administration or outright bribery. The House itself is a hotbed for filibustering and childish insults. Have politics really changed that much in the last two centuries? Kushner brings these sequences to life with a steady stream of Sorkin-like dialogue and a surprising amount of humor. Irony isn’t lost in the portrayal of Republicans as the more progressive and compassionate party. The vote for the Proclamation is the centerpiece of Lincoln and a textbook example of classic filmmaking. The outcome is already known, yet there is still palpable tension as each Representative is called upon to vote “Yay” or “Nay.” It’s also interesting to see everyday citizens traveling from far and wide to the White House to seek audience with the President.

Less effective is the delving into Lincoln’s personal life, particularly his rocky marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field). She has been left in a shaky mental state following the death of her son, Willie, at age 12. The scenes shared by Day-Lewis and Field are strong, but showy which means they’ll play well for the Academy voters. There’s also their eldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who feels a burning obligation to serve in the Union army, despite his father’s best attempts to keep him out of the war. While the presence of Gordon-Levitt is always appreciated, his part could have easily been cut from the film with little impact.

It speaks volumes for the A-list ensemble cast that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of its lesser components. The most noteworthy are Jared Harris as Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Jackie Earle Haley as Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William Seward, Gulliver McGrath from Dark Shadows as Tad Lincoln, and Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, the leader of the Democratic opposition. There’s also Hal Holbrook, Michael Stuhlbarg, Walt Goggins, Gloria Reuben, Bruce McGill, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Gregory Itzin. In this sea of talented performers, Tommy Lee Jones has gained the most notice for his performance as the fervent abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. His views on racial and gender equality brought him no shortage of enemies in the Democratic Party. A Best Supporting Actor nomination is almost a lock for Jones though James Spader shouldn’t be forgotten as the oiliest of the lobbyists.

Lincoln hinges entirely on the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis who has effortlessly transformed himself yet again. You wonder if his method acting required him to actually travel back in time to shadow the real Lincoln. Physically, he is everything we imagine Abraham Lincoln to be: tall and lanky with the weathered face of a president hard at work. His soft-spoken manner belies the booming voice that many have portrayed him to possess.  His folksy sense of humor leads him to tell several homespun stories to amuse his staff during dire times.

Each shot is beautifully realized by Spielberg’s superb direction and the gorgeous cinematography of Janusz Kaminski whose work includes night scenes illuminated only by candle and the congressional floor backlit by hazy sunlight. The film is set to a score by John Williams that never drowns out the drama.

Lincoln is the film that Amistad should have been. It is Spielberg's best work since Munich and lacks the saccharine sentimentality that plagued War Horse.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Skyfall

Skyfall - Dir. Sam Mendes (2012)

It's been a rocky road for the Daniel Craig-era of James Bond. After the critically reviled Die Another Day, the 007 franchise was rebooted for a post-9/11, post-Jason Bourne world. Gone were the corny double entendres, goofy gadgets, and tongue-in-cheek tone. In their place was a Bond who would rather shank someone with a steak knife than kill them with an exploding pen. Casino Royale was one of the best Bond films since the early Roger Moore flicks The Spy Who Loved Me and Live and Let Die. Only Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan's first outing as the iconic spy, comes close. However, the series almost fizzled out before it really got going with Quantum of Solace. The sequel suffered from script problems and a director with only a loose grasp of action sequences. Marc Forster was an experienced hand at smaller dramatic fare like Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland, but was clearly overwhelmed while directing his first blockbuster. It seems he's had similar problems with the troubled production of World War Z.

Skyfall rights the ship immediately with a thrilling chase through the streets of Istanbul. Bond is after a stolen hard drive containing the identities of undercover NATO agents embedded within terrorist organizations. Within the prologue, we get shootouts, a motorcycle race across the rooftops, vehicles blowing through a crowded bazaar, and Bond ripping through a train car with an excavator. A fistfight on top of a speeding train leads to Bond being accidentally shot by fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris). He plummets into the river below and is presumed dead.

Bond returns months later following an explosion at MI6 headquarters. Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem), a malevolent figure from M's (Judi Dench) past has returned to wreak havoc for previous betrayal. Bond must also contend with another dangerous adversary: old age. Has 007 lost a step, especially when he's faced with a brilliant enemy who can kill with a simple keystroke?

Skyfall boasts one of the strongest pedigrees of any Bond film with Sam Mendes as director and Roger Deakins as cinematographer. It's wider in scope than anything Mendes has directed before, but he has a firm handle on intimate character moments as well as exciting action scenes. Mendes embarks on a globe-trotting adventure that traverses a floating casino in Macau, the London underground (where Silva tries to kill Bond with a subway train), and the bleak moors of Scotland. The most impressive sequence takes place in a gleaming skyscraper in Shanghai. There, Bond confronts a sniper on a floor with walls of glass where everything is shot in silhouette and bathed in a blue light from a digital billboard across the street. Mendes also gives Silva the grand entrance befitting such a flamboyant villain. The camera is kept static for one long take as Silva enters from the background and strides towards a captive Bond while giving a creepy monologue about rats fighting for survival. It gets stranger when Silva caresses Bond's thighs in an effort to unnerve the masculine secret agent.

Bardem's performance rivals his chilling turn as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. Silva is flamboyant cut from the same cloth as Heath Ledger's Joker. Indeed, The Dark Knight served as an inspiration for Skyfall, which is ironic since the Bond movies partly inspired Christopher Nolan's take on Batman. Silva is a villain for the 21^st century who isn't out to conquer the world or steal its wealth. He has a vendetta against M, making his assault far more personal than Quantum, the clandestine organization that previously antagonized Bond. In stereotypical fashion, Silva has his secret headquarters on an abandoned island in the midst of a ruined city.

As a result, Skyfall reexamines the mythos of James Bond by making him more vulnerable and exploring his damaged psyche. Following the botched mission, Bond retires to paradise and drowns his sorrow with booze and meaningless sex. To paraphrase Sean Bean in Goldeneye, he silences the screams of the men he's killed with vodka martinis and finds forgiveness in the arms of willing women for the one she failed to protect. When he has returned, Bond faces his own mortality and the fact that he's a few steps off. There are even allusions to Bond's troubled childhood. Thankfully, the filmmakers avoid simplifying the complexities of Bond. They've expanded the character beyond just a dapper secret agent armed with a few quips and a Walther-PPK.

A recurring theme in Skyfall is the idea that the "old ways are best" with an undercurrent on the relevancy of the Bond franchise in the 21^st century. Silva's crusade has pulled MI6 out of the shadows and into the light where they face two other fearsome foes: public scrutiny and bureaucracy. Q (Ben Whishaw) is re-introduced to the series as a tech savvy youngster in the vein of Jesse Eisenberg. Although Q has an embankment of supercomputers, he prefers to equip Bond with a radio transmitter and the trademark Walther-PPK though it does use a biometric grip. There are jokes about the aforementioned exploding pen and ejector seats as a playful homage to the Bond of the past. The same goes for the opening credit song, "Skyfall" by Adele, whose soulful vocals are a throwback to the classics sung by Shirley Bassey.

The one weakness of Skyfall is its treatment of women who've always had it rough in the Bond series. It's almost tradition to have one tagalong Bond girl and one disposable Bond girl. The sidekick here is Eve who is revealed to be Miss Moneypenny. Rather than portraying her as a formidable agent, she's given a reverse character arc where she's taken from the field and put behind a desk. Hopefully, future films will not stick her in the tired role of secretary. To her credit, Naomie Harris is a great verbal sparring partner for Daniel Craig. The disposable Bond girl is French actress Bérénice Marlohe as the sultry Severine whose death is quickly disregarded.

Skyfall is a fitting way to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of James Bond. This is one of the best Bond films in decades and one of the best films of 2012.

Rating: **** (*****)

Ted

Ted - Dir. Seth MacFarlane (2012)

You have to wonder if Seth MacFarlane ever has time to sleep. The man has built himself an animation empire at Fox as the creator of Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show. He writes, produces, and does numerous voices on each show. Fox even put him in charge of developing a new version of The Flintstones to add to their line-up. MacFarlane has hosted several Comedy Central Roasts, Saturday Night Live, and will also host the upcoming Oscars. Somehow, his busy schedule didn't prevent him from writing and directing his first feature film, Ted, which went on to become the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time.

The story begins on Christmas in Boston when a lonely boy named John Bennett (Bretton Manley) wishes that his new teddy bear would come to life. Miraculously, the wish comes true and the two become the best of friends. Decades later, John (Mark Wahlberg) is now 35 and working a lousy job at a car rental agency. The bear, Ted (MacFarlane), is still around and the two have become typical Boston meatheads content to drink beer, smoke pot, and watch Flash Gordon. John's exasperated girlfriend, Lori (Mila Kunis), knows John will never truly grow up so long as Ted is around. Lori finally demands Ted leave when she returns to their apartment to find him carousing with a bunch of hookers. John must now find a way to balance his relationships with Ted and Lori while the bear fends for himself in the real world.

Ted has all the hallmarks of a Seth MacFarlane production. It is littered with profane humor and random celebrity cameos from the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Norah Jones, and Tom Skerritt. Flash Gordon himself, Sam J. Jones, makes an appearance as he riotously parties with the hero worshipping protagonists. Most importantly, Ted features a plethora of pop culture references fired off with machine gun precision. MacFarlane's cannibalization of pop culture can be summed up by a parody of the Airplane! parody of Saturday Night Fever. Characters riff on everything from Diff'rent Strokes to Hootie and the Blowfish. Oddly enough, these gags work better than jabs at more timely targets such as Adam Sandler's Jack and Jill or one-time Superman Brandon Routh.

MacFarlane comfortably surrounded with familiar faces. He co-wrote the script with fellow Family Guy writers, Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, while the score was done by Walter Murphy, who also composed the Family Guy theme song. Patrick Stewart does voiceover narration, Alex Borstein has a supporting role as John's mom, and Patrick Warburton appears as one of John's co-workers. Mila Kunis, the voice of Meg Griffin, brings charm and wit to the usually thankless role of the nagging girlfriend. Giovanni Ribisi has an over-the-top turn as an obsessed fan determined to purchase Ted for his creepy kid.

The entire movie hinges on the friendship between John and Ted. Both Wahlberg and MacFarlane deliver the goods. Wahlberg hasn't much luck at straight dramatic roles as evidenced by his shaky performances in The Lovely Bones and The Happening. He's also done so many C-grade action films that it's easy to forget how talented he is as a comedic actor. He's hilarious in Ted, especially in a scene where he rapidly lists the names of white trash girls. Wahlberg also gets to show off a flair for physical humor when he throws down with Ted. Speaking of the bear, the CGI is excellent with Ted seamlessly blended in with flesh and blood actors. MacFarlane not only did the voice, but the motion capture on set while directing. In another MacFarlane trademark, everyone simply accepts the existence of a talking teddy bear without once raising an eyebrow.

Are people going to find Ted offensive and juvenile? Certainly and it's hard to argue the point when you see a talking teddy bear spray lotion on his face while acting like it's semen. Seth MacFarlane relishes journeying into R-rated territory in a manner he cannot on television and finds a unique take on the buddy comedy.

Rating: *** (*****)

Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly - Dir. Andrew Dominik (2012)

"You ever kill anyone? They get touchy-feely, emotional, a lot of fuss. They either plead or beg. They call for their mothers. I like to kill 'em softly…from a distance."

As the old saying goes, "Never judge a book by its cover." So it goes with Killing Them Softly, a film seemingly depicted by the trailers as an action-packed crime thriller. Comparing it to a John Woo movie, would be like comparing Drive to The Fast and the Furious. Killing Them Softly is arthouse noir masquerading as typical multiplex fare.

Killing Them Softly is written and directed by Andrew Dominik whose previous film was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a hauntingly beautiful picture that had more in common with Terrence Malick than the average shoot 'em up Western. Dominik's latest work is based on the 1974 novel, Cogan's Trade, by George V. Higgins, who stands alongside Dennis Lehane as one of the preeminent authors of Boston crime fiction. The only other book by Higgins that has been translated to cinema is The Friends of Eddie Coyle, a cult classic of gritty 70's cinema with Robert Mitchum perfectly cast in the title role of a low-level crook forced to turn informant to avoid prison.

The stylish dialogue remains largely intact, but Dominik has moved the story to a post-Katrina New Orleans in 2008. Obama, Bush, and John McCain serve as a Greek chorus as excerpts of their speeches about the financial collapse, the massive bailouts, and the murky future of the country play throughout the movie. Dominik sets the stage with a jarring opening as audio of then-Senator Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention is intercut with distorted feedback. A lone figure walks through the desolate streets as litter floats around him. The final images are side-by-side billboards of the presidential candidates and their photogenic smiles as they survey the ruined kingdom they hope will be their prize. It's a prologue that feels ripped out of an experimental film.

From there, Killing Them Softly cuts to a more conventional scene as Johnny Amato aka Squirrel (Vincent Curatola) hires two crooks, Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and his drug-addled friend Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), to knock over a high-stakes poker game for mobsters. The clandestine games are run by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), who actually robbed one of his games years ago. No one could prove he did it though he later drunkenly bragged about pulling the job, yet his bosses still gave him a pass. Johnny knows that if the game is robbed again, it will be Markie who falls immediately under suspicion. This is where Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) enters the story (after almost half an hour) in grand fashion, snorting cigarette smoke and driving a classic town car to the tune of "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash. Cogan is hired to track down the thieves and deal with them in his own indomitable manner.

Dominik incessantly hammers home the idea that the entire film is a parable for the economic crisis and that there is little difference between the financial sector and organized crime. The heads of the mafia are never seen and only represented by Richard Jenkins as a middle management suit exasperated by the corporate structure he's entrenched in. Only in this corporate structure could Trattman be allowed to steal from his own company and be placed in a position where he could do so again. Cogan himself is surrounded by incompetent underlings and indecisive superiors. They move about in a world where everyone makes their money by gambling, stealing, and scamming from one another. It's a world where loyalty is an inconvenience when it comes to saving your own ass. It's a thoroughly masculine world too with the only female character in the movie being a prostitute.

Then, there's New York Mickey (James Gandolfini) who could be seen as a thinly veiled representation of the SEC or any other ineffectual watchdog committee. Mickey is a renowned enforcer brought in by Cogan to assist in the murder of Johnny Amato. Much to Cogan's dismay, Mickey has become a bitter shell of his former self. Mickey drowns his self-pity with booze and hookers as he bemoans his shattered marriage and an impending prison sentence.

Buried underneath the ham-fisted political rhetoric is a compelling film yearning to breathe. The dialogue crackles and the performances are strong. Pitt moves across the screen with an effortless swagger wrapped in a black leather coat. The scenes he shares with Gandolfini are some of the best in the movie though they could have been excised entirely with no impact to the rest of the narrative. They exist as if they were separate one-act plays written by David Mamet. Gandolfini initially turned the part down due to its similarities to Tony Soprano. Gandolfini isn't the only one typecast as a gangster, there's also Ray Liotta and Vincent Curatola, another Sopranos alum. You can easily see Soprano, Henry Hill, and Johnny Sack slowly turning into these pathetic wrecks. However, their roles feel short changed, not surprising since Dominik edited the picture from an early two and a half hour cut to 97 minutes. One supporting standout is Ben Mendelsohn, an Aussie actor used to portraying scumbags. He recently popped up as a ruthless executive in The Dark Knight Rises, but first gained notice as the psychotic Pope in Animal Kingdom. As Russell, Mendelsohn is the definition of sleazy so much so you'll want to take a shower after watching him. He's constantly caked in a layer of sweat and dresses like a disheveled hobo. Sam Shepard appears in one scene as an enforcer named Dillon, who was superbly played by Peter Boyle in the aforementioned Friends of Eddie Coyle.

Anyone who has seen Assassination of Jesse James knows Dominik is capable of crafting gorgeous imagery. Killing Them Softly is no exception as Dominik stages sequences that are both poetic and violent. There's a brutal beatdown soaked in rain, blood, and vomit. Later, a shooting occurs in slow motion as a bullet exits a man's skull as beads of water and broken glass swim in a sea of crimson red. When Russell does heroin, Dominik uses a trippy first person perspective reminiscent of Gaspar Noé's interminable Enter the Void. The soundtrack selection is just as on the nose as Dominik's message with "Heroin" by Velvet Underground scoring the scene and Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" over the end credits.

"I'm living in America and in America you're on your own. America's not a country, it's a business. Now fuckin' pay me."

That final line, delivered by Pitt as a cynical response to Obama's hopeful inaugural address, encapsulates Dominik's themes more succinctly than the heavy handed method he employs. It may be amusing to imagine a criminal underworld that subsists solely on a steady stream of C-SPAN and NPR, Killing Them Softly would have been better served with the same distanced approach used by its protagonist.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Wreck-It Ralph

Wreck-It Ralph - Dir. Rich Moore (2012)

If Brave was Pixar's most Disney-like movie, then Wreck-It Ralph might be Disney's most Pixar-esque film to date. The comparison is easy to see since the concept could succinctly be described as Toy Story for video games.

Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) is the villain of an old school arcade game modeled after Donkey Kong. He's a burly brute who is forced to live in the city dump while his nemesis, Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer), lives in luxury in a high-rise apartment with his fellow Nicelanders. Ralph trashes the building, but Felix always manages to fix the damage before Ralph is tossed acrimoniously into the mud. Poor Ralph is tired of playing the antagonist, especially when he constantly sees the other Nicelanders lavish accolades for Felix. To paraphrase Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Ralph's not a bad guy, he's just programmed that way.

Ralph game jumps into a violent, high-tech first person shooter called Hero's Duty to win a medal and prove he can be a hero. From there, he winds up in Sugar Rush, a candy-themed racing game where he meets little Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), who is shunned by the other racers and their monarch King Candy (Alan Tudyk) for being a glitch. Meanwhile, Felix and Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch), the lead in Hero's Duty, set off to find Ralph before the arcade permanently unplugs their game.

Wreck-It Ralph features a wealth of video game references, many of which will go over the heads of younger viewers and casual gamers. At one point, Ralph attends a support group named Bad Guys Anonymous with M. Bison, Zangief, Kano, Dr. Eggman, King Bowser, and one of the Pac-Man ghosts. Other cameos include other Street Fighter characters (Chun-Li, Ken, Ryu), Sonic the Hedgehog, Frogger, and the paddles from Pong. King Candy has a vault with a giant Nintendo controller as the door with the combination set as the Konami Code. Novelty duo Bruckner & Garcia, best known for their 1982 single "Pac-Man Fever," were plucked out of obscurity to write a Wreck-It Ralph theme song. There's even graffiti with internet memes like "Leroy Jenkins was here" and ”All your fortress are belong to us." The most heartbreaking moment in Wreck-It Ralph is the appearance of Q*bert and his supporting cast, who have been rendered homeless after their game was unplugged.

In lesser hands, Wreck-It Ralph could have rested on simply stringing together one pop culture reference after another. However, there is genuine heart and humor to the story thanks to director Rich Moore, who has helmed some of the best Simpsons episodes. He can count "Cape Feare," "Marge vs. the Monorail," and "Lisa's Substitute" on his resume. Moore worked on the script with another Simpsons alum Jim Reardon, Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), and newcomer Jennifer Lee. The results of their work impart tried and true themes of friendship and self-affirmation. The majority of the film is set within Sugar Rush, which may seem like the least interesting world that they could have explored. Yet, the animation is gorgeous and the writers find clever ways to work in renowned food products, such as a volcano of diet cola with Mentos stalactites.

It is here that the movie also explores the budding camaraderie between Ralph and Vanellope, both of whom are considered pariahs within their respective societies. Thanks to the voice actors there's a real tenderness to the characters. John C. Reilly is perfectly cast as the lovable lug while Sarah Silverman brings her trademark caustic (though sanitized) humor. Jack McBrayer is another spot-on casting choice as the "Aww, shucks" Fix-It Felix. Alan Tudyk steals the show as the loopy King Candy with a gusto impression of Ed Wynn.

It may be hyperbole on my part when I say Wreck-It Ralph comes exceedingly close to reaching the heights of Disney's renaissance era when they were pumping out The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. Wreck-It Ralph is not just the best animated film of the year, but one of the best Disney productions in years.

Rating: **** (*****)

Brave

Brave - Dirs. Dirs. Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman & Steve Purcell (2012)

Brave marks several firsts for Pixar. It's their first period piece and their first fairy tale. It was to be the first Pixar project directed by a woman in Brenda Chapman (inspired by her relationship with her daughter) until she was replaced by Mark Andrews and Steve Purcell though she still receives credit. Brave is also the first Pixar film to feature a female protagonist in the lead role.

Set in the Scottish Highlands long ago, Brave follows the strong-willed Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) and her equally stubborn mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Merida prefers to roam free and practice archery while the Queen prefers Merida be molded into a proper lady. That includes lessons in refinement and diplomacy. Now that she's come of age, tradition calls for Merida to be married off to one of the sons of the neighboring clan leaders. Merida discovers a witch (Julie Walters) deep within the forest and asks her for a spell to change her fate. Of course, it all goes wrong with Elinor being turned into a bear. It's Mother Bear, instead of Brother Bear.

You can't help but be awestruck by the beauty of the animation. Pixar has outdone themselves once more in creating a vibrant world of misty mountains, dark forests, and evergreen hilltops. Even Merida's flowing red locks seem to have a life of their own. Animators actually created new software just to render her wild mane of hair, which symbolizes Merida's thirst for freedom. The contrast between mother and daughter is never more apparent than when Merida is forced to wear a restrictive Maid Marian outfit. She slips a tuft of hair from underneath her cap in a defiant expression of identity. There's a palpable tenderness to their relationship even when Elinor is in bear form. The animators do an impressive job in making her emote strictly through paw and facial movements. The creative minds of Pixar have been behind some of the most memorable father-son relationships depicted in cinema, from Nemo and Marlin in Finding Nemo to Russell and his crotchety surrogate Mr. Fredricksen in Up. No surprise that their first exploration of maternal bonds should be as equally heartfelt.

There's plenty of humor (and naked buttocks) to be found in Brave. Much of the humor derives from the "wee devils" that are Merida's younger brothers, the triplets Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. Kelly Macdonald (who replaced Reese Witherspoon) heads up a cast of talented Scottish thespians who end an aura of authenticity. The actors include Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, and the great Billy Connolly as Merida's father King Fergus, who lost a leg in battle against the demonic bear Mor'du.

The critical response to Brave was surprisingly mixed. Perhaps, reviewers were expecting Pixar to completely deconstruct the Disney princess genre. However, Pixar didn't need to reinvent the wheel with Brave because it is so lusciously animated and well-crafted.

Rating: *** (*****)

ParaNorman

ParaNorman - Dirs. Chris Butler & Sam Fell (2012)

2012 has been a strong year for animated films. While computer animation rules the roost, it’s good to know that older forms like stop-motion are still being kept alive. Disney released Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and Universal produced Paranorman from Laika Studios, the same animators that brought us Coraline. Despite being stronger pictures, neither of those pictures did as well as Sony’s Hotel Transylvania, which boasted garish CG-animation and a big-name voice cast with Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez. Out of all three horror themed films, ParaNorman, is undoubtedly the cream of the crop.

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives in the sleepy New England burg of Blithe Hollow and suffers from the same problem as the boy from The Sixth Sense. He sees dead people, all the time. In fact, they’re his only friends, from his late grandmother sitting on the living room couch to the female aviator whose parachute is tangled up in a tree. The people who are still living either openly mock Norman or avoid him like a leper. His mother (Leslie Mann) tries to understand, but his exasperated father (Jeff Garlin) seems like he wants to put Norman in an institution.

Norman’s gifts are called upon when he is visited by the spirit of his crazy Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman). 300 years ago an evil witch placed a curse on the Puritans who burned her at the stake.  For centuries, a chosen few have kept the witch at bay by reading from a book. With Prenderghast gone, the burden is placed on Norman. When he fails, the dead rise from the grave to plague Blithe Hollow.

Right away, you are struck by the incredible set designs and puppet work of ParaNorman. The hardworking folks of Laika painstakingly crafted the film over a two-year period. The animation alone would win it style points, but there’s substance thanks to a script by storyboard artist Chris Butler, who also made his directorial debut here alongside Sam Fell (Flushed Away, The Tales of Despereaux). They’ve boldly made a kid-friendly zombie movie imbued with a palpable sense of pathos. A second act twist turns ParaNorman right on its ear when we learn that intolerance and mob mentality are far more frightening and tangible than a horde of the ravenous undead. The plot thickens in the third act when Norman learns the heart-wrenching truth about the legend of the witch. The filmmakers never forget to bring the humor with the funniest gag involving a slow moving race between the zombies and a vending machine.

The voice acting is superb with youngsters Kodi Smit-McPhee and Tucker Albrizzi portraying Norman and his overweight pal, Neil. They’ve bonded over their shared status as social outcasts. Anna Kendrick is terrific as Norman’s cheerleader sister, Courtney, and Casey Affleck is hilarious as Neil’s older lunkhead brother, Mitch. There’s also Christopher Mintz-Plasse as school bully Alvin, Tempestt Bledsoe as the sassy town sheriff, and Elaine Stritch as Norman’s granny.

ParaNorman draws inspiration from a variety of classic horror tales ranging from the works of George Romero to Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  There’s an amusing gag with a hockey mask ala Jason Vorhees and an opening prologue parodying the type of scary movies shown on late-night TV. The score by Jon Brion is a mix melancholy and suspense with the retro-synth sounds of John Carpenter.

ParaNorman is a remarkable achievement in storytelling and stop-motion animation. It conveys a powerful message about acceptance and forgiveness without being preachy or pandering. Recommended without hesitation for movie fans young and old.

Rating: *** (*****)

Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania - Dir. Genndy Tartakovsky (2012)

This year saw the release of a trio of horror-themed animation films: ParaNorman, Frankenweenie, and Hotel Transylvania. Produced by Sony, Hotel Transylvania is the weakest of the bunch, but it was the most financially successful. Its strong box office run could certainly be attributed to the glossy computer animation whereas the other films were done stop-motion. While all three pictures dealt with themes of tolerance and death, Hotel Transylvania does so with a much gentler hand and doesn’t go to the darker places that Frankenweenie and ParaNorman did.

At the end of the 19^th century, Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) opens a luxurious hotel deep within the woods of Transylvania to serve as a sanctuary for his fellow monsters. More importantly, he sees it as a safe haven to raise his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) following the burning of his castle and the death of his wife at the hands of an angry mob. Over a hundred years later, Mavis is about to turn 118 and the Count is planning a gala birthday bash with all his best friends: Frankenstein (Kevin James), the Invisible Man (David Spade), The Mummy (Cee-Lo Green), and the Wayne the Wolf-Man (Steve Buscemi).

An American backpacker named Jonathan (Andy Samberg) inadvertently uncovers the secret location of Hotel Transylvania forcing Dracula to disguise him as a long-lost cousin of Frankenstein. However, Jonathan sparks a romance with Mavis as well as fueling her desires to finally leave the confines of her home.

Expectations were low for Hotel Transylvania considering Sandler has fallen further into self-parody as he slowly becomes the fictionalized version of himself in Funny People. Thoughts of That's My Boy floated in the air with the reuniting of Sandler and Andy Samberg. A script written by Peter Baynham (Borat) and TV Funhouse's Robert Smigel brings the distasteful fart jokes you'd come to expect from the Happy Madison camp. Somehow Hotel Transylvania manages to come together thanks to the direction of Genndy Tartakovsky of Dexter's Lab and Samurai Jack fame. Tartakovsky adopts the manic pacing of a Tex Avery cartoon and brings such energy to the picture you forget how flat a lot of the humor is. Steve Buscemi is a highlight as a sad sack werewolf worn down by his rambunctious litter of pups.

Hotel Transylvania may be too schmaltzy and saccharine for adults. The groan inducing song and dance number (complete with auto-tune) at the conclusion of the film will test your tolerance for cheese. However, the brightly colored animation and high energy are sure to entertain younger audiences.

Rating: ** (*****)

Savages

Savages - Dir. Oliver Stone (2012)

There are two kinds of Oliver Stone movies. There are the politically charged dramas like JFK and Platoon and the adrenaline fueled Tony Scott-style pictures like Natural Born Killers and U-Turn. Savages falls squarely into the latter category though it touches on the hot button topics of the war on drugs.

The lead character is O (Blake Lively), short for Ophelia, a blonde bombshell living in the idyllic Southern California community of Laguna Beach. With echoes of Sunset Boulevard, O ominously proclaims in the opening narration that just because she's telling the story doesn't mean she's alive at the end. O is in the middle of an unconventional love triangle between Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson). Chon is a war veteran who returned home from Afghanistan with a particularly potent strain of marijuana. Ben is the hippy-dippy type. He took those seeds and grew them into a lucrative network and uses the profits to build solar-powered schools in Third World nations.

Ben is the brains and Chon is the brawn, which will be called upon when their operation piques the interest of a Mexican drug cartel headed by Elena Sanchez (Salma Hayek). The cartel is looking to absorb Ben and Chon's entire network on their own terms, no negotiations. To show how serious they are, they make sure to send the boys a grisly video of decapitated heads. Ben and Chon still turn down their offer leading Elena to order the abduction of O at the hands of her brutal enforcer Lado (Benicio del Toro). Serving as the monkey wrench in everyone's plans is John Travolta as Dennis, a crooked DEA agent willing to deal with any side as long as he profits.

Savages is a sun-drenched clash between the privileged paradise of Orange County with the crime and violence that has plagued Mexico for years. There's the execution of a cocaine lawyer in his ultra-modern, suburban home and the torture of another man whose eyeball sickeningly dangles from the socket.

The segments following the ménage a trois work because the parts were cast well though Blake Lively doesn't have the emotional weight to handle some of the film's deeper moments. In her defense, it's doubtful any actress could credibly spout lines like, "I have orgasms. He has 'wargasms.'" 2012 should have been Taylor Kitsch's breakout year, but it didn't turn out that way following the bombing of John Carter and Battleship. While Savages did lukewarm business, it did give Kitsch his best role of all his recent pictures. He and Aaron Johnson breathe life into their on-screen friendship, making it feel lived in and believable. Johnson's role as Ben is a marked difference from the nerdy fanboy in Kick-Ass.

Yet, the more interesting moments are when the film follows the lives of the drug cartel. Benicio del Toro's Lado is a frightening figure that belies his bushy mustache and odd pompadour mullet. He and his men slip in and out of wealthy neighborhoods disguised as gardeners. Just as O and her boys view the cartel as savages, Lado sees them the same way due to their three-way relationship and their American sense of entitlement. Despite being a merciless executioner, he's more offended that his sons are lazy and his daughter has become a glorified valley girl. As for Elena, she assumed control following the murders of her husband and sons. She has a daughter who wants little to do with her ("She is ashamed of me and I am proud of her for it."). It's no wonder that Elena forges an unlikely maternal bond with O whose own mother (Uma Thurman in a role excised from the final cut) is off globe-trotting with her latest husband. Hayek is gorgeous and plays the role as if she stepped right out of a Telemundo soap opera.

Savages is a handsomely shot, but wildly uneven action-thriller. Old hands like Travolta, Hayek, and Benicio del Toro do most of the heavy lifting through a script bustling with tangled subplots until the movie fizzles out after a trick ending.

Rating: ** (*****)

The Man with the Iron Fists

The Man with the Iron Fists - Dir. RZA (2012)

Anyone who has listened to the music of the Wu-Tang Clan knows they've been heavily influenced by the classic martial arts films of the 1970's. It was inevitable that they're de facto leader, the RZA, would eventually craft a martial arts movie of his own. RZA serves as star and director of The Man with the Iron Fists, based on a script he co-wrote with Eli Roth.

The film is set during the late-1800's in the small Chinese town of Jungle Village. RZA is the Blacksmith, a skilled craftsman who makes formidable weapons for the village's warring factions. He tirelessly works night and day to earn enough money to free his love, Lady Silk (Jamie Chung), from a brothel owned by Madam Blossom (Lucy Liu). Meanwhile, Gold Lion (Chen Kuan-tai), the honorable leader of the Lion Clan, is assassinated by his lieutenants Silver Lion (Byron Mann) and Bronze Lion (Cung Le). Silver is after a shipment of the governor's gold that is set to pass through Jungle Village and is collaborating with the traitorous Poison Dagger (Daniel Wu), a hooded figure employing mercury-tipped blow darts. To assist in eliminating their enemies, the bad guys have hired Brass Body (WWE's David Bautista), a hulking brute with the ability to turn his skin into solid brass. Caught in the middle of this conflict, the Blacksmith finds unlikely allies in Zen-Yi (Rick Yune), the Gold Lion's son who uses an armored suit with retractable blades, and Jack Knife (Russell Crowe), an enigmatic Englishman with a fondness for booze, opium, and women.

Beginning with its grindhouse-style opening titles, Man with the Iron Fists is a loving throwback to the grand era of Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers. Nods to those pictures include the casting of Gordon Liu as a wise Shaolin monk and the use of Sally Yeh's ballad from John Woo's The Killer. Enter the Dragon is evoked through a climax involving a hall of mirrors. There are herky-jerky zoom-ins and stilted line readings meant to evoke badly dubbed chop socky theater. While the fight sequences (choreographed by Cory Yuen) won't rival the fights from classics like Once Upon a Time in China or Drunken Master II, they are an exciting mix of hard hitting kung fu and elaborate wire work with buckets of CGI blood. As expected from Eli Roth, there's plenty of cartoonish violence, such as Jack Knife eviscerating an overweight man. A scorecard might be needed to keep track of all the players and rivalries. Thus, the story feels very overstuffed for a fast-paced runtime of 95 minutes. RZA and Roth have created an entire world with its own mythology and rich backstories that are only hinted at in the final picture. At one point, RZA toyed with the idea of releasing a four hour cut as two episodes ala Kill Bill.

RZA might have done well to concentrate on his behind-the-camera duties. As the protagonist, he doesn't quite have the acting chops or the presence to headline a movie. He's too laconic and his fight with Brass Body isn't as entertaining as the others. The two best performances belong to Byron Mann and Russell Crowe, both of whom are clearly having fun. Mann is appropriately over-the-top while Crowe channels the boisterous spirit of his late Gladiator co-star Oliver Reed.

The Man with the Iron Fists isn't an exceptional directorial debut for RZA, but it does show he has plenty of potential.

Rating: *** (*****)

Alex Cross

Alex Cross - Dir. Rob Cohen (2012)

Is the world truly prepared for Tyler Perry: Action Hero?

Perry has carved his own little niche in the film industry by writing, directing, producing, and starring in a string of comedies and dramas. Each picture has found box office success, despite frequent critical derision. His casting as James Patterson's famed character seems little more than a calculated marketing decision. Perry has yet to distinguish himself on a project not his own, outside of a brief cameo in Star Trek.

The character of Alex Cross is a detective and psychologist, who first appeared in Along Came a Spider, published in 1993. Morgan Freeman previously played Cross in an adaptation of that novel and the sequel Kiss the Girls. Development began in 2010 to reboot the franchise with Idris Elba originally attached as the lead.

Here, Cross (Perry) is a lieutenant in the Detroit police department and the father of two kids. Cross is mulling over a transfer to the FBI in D.C. for a profiling gig when his wife, Maria (Carmen Ejogo), elatedly announces a third child is on the way. A cushy desk job and a quiet domesticated life aren't in the cards with the arrival of a twisted serial killer calling himself the Butcher of Sligo (Matthew Fox). The Butcher has also earned the nickname of Picasso for the surreal charcoal drawings he leaves at the scene of his crimes.

While Perry will bring in many of his loyal fans, he won't win any awards for his wooden performance. He delivers the same flat line readings whether he's cracking wise with his partner and childhood friend Tommy Kane (Edward Burns once again cast as an Irish cop) or ominously throwing psychobabble terms to describe the villain ("He's a narcissistic sociopath…"). He's even less convincing as a gun-toting badass and Rob Cohen's choppy direction doesn't help. Cohen may have kicked off the Fast and Furious franchise, but his initial installment was the cheapest looking and least thrilling of the series, which got slicker and more exciting in the hands of Justin Lin. The climactic fight scene between Perry and Fox is nothing more than a series of brief and abstract close-ups.

The supporting cast with actors such as Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno, and John C. McGinley as the clichéd police captain is largely wasted. At least, Matthew Fox gets the opportunity to chew some massive scenery as a lean, mean torture machine. In spite of sharing his scenes with Perry, Giancarlo Esposito gives a good performance as a local crime lord. There's also Cicely Tyson as Cross's "Nana Mama," a role that might have been more interesting had Perry pulled double duty as Nana Mama Madea.

Alex Cross is supposed to be the start of a fresh, new franchise, yet it comes off as a stale pilot for any of run-of-the-mill police procedural clogging up network TV. There are more thrills and chills to be found in your average episode of Criminal Minds.

Rating: * (*****)

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted – Dirs. Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath & Conrad Vernon (2012)

The Madagascar series could hardly be considered the crown jewel of Dreamworks Animation’s filmography. Shrek is its most renowned and financially successful franchise while How to Train Your Dragon is their finest achievement with Kung Fu Panda a close second.  There’s just nothing memorable about the first two Madagascar movies and the animation and art style could hardly be considered groundbreaking. It’s with great surprise that Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is light years ahead of the previous installments and one of the better animated features of 2012.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Madagascar follows the misadventures of Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith), and the nebbish Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer) as they escape from the Central Park Zoo. Along with a quartet of ingenuous penguins, the runaway animals find themselves on the titular island as well as the plains of Africa where Alex originated. As Europe’s Most Wanted begins, our protagonists grow home sick for their caged confines in the Big Apple and seek to return to NYC. However, their ticket home, the penguins, are enjoying the high life in Monte Carlo.

Owing to the absurdist humor of the film, Alex and the gang apparently swim all the way as they emerge in the harbor with snorkels and goggles. Upon arrival, the furry friends run afoul of a relentless animal control officer named Capt. Chantel DuBois (Frances McDormand), who appears to be a cross between Cruella de Vil and the Terminator. This leads into a manic chase through the streets and rooftops of Monte Carlo with the animals riding in a nuclear powered battle van. It all culminates with DuBois bursting through walls while a makeshift cargo plane manned by a crew of chimpanzees fires banana peels at her from a high-powered machine gun. Did I mention the absurdist humor?

From there, the plane crashes and everyone is forced to hop aboard a train of circus animals. Among the performers are the gruff tiger Vitaly (Bryan Cranston), lithe jaguar Gia (Jessica Chastain), and the dim-witted Italian seal Stefano (Martin Short). The penguins use their casino winnings to purchase the ailing circus through their proxy, two chimps disguised as the King of Versailles. Alex assumes the role of de factor ringleader as he remakes the show into the only circus owned and operated entirely by animals. But, Capt. DuBois is determined to mount a lion’s head in her ghoulish trophy room.

The off-the-wall gags and breakneck pacing are reminiscent of the classic Looney Tunes shorts. Youngsters probably won’t be cognizant of this fact; they will be too busy admiring all the shiny wackiness, especially the climax involving a flying neon circus. The soundtrack will also appeal to both young and old with hip tracks like Katy Perry’s “Firework” amidst Andrea Bocelli’s “Con Te Partiro” for a romantic montage between the lemur King Julien and a unicycle-riding, tutu-wearing bear. There’s also a scene in which DuBois fires up her troops from their debilitating injuries with a rousing rendition of “Non Je Ne Regrette Rien.”

Madagascar 3 isn't as emotionally riveting as the finer works of Pixar, but it is a colorful and highly entertaining experience.

Rating: *** (*****)

Taken 2

Taken 2 - Dir. Olivier Megaton (2012)

The original Taken was the surprise hit of 2008, pulling in over $226 million off a meager budget of $25 million. The film reeled in mainstream audiences through their primal anxieties of xenophobia and white girl peril, then unleashed righteous fury in the form of Liam Neeson. As former CIA agent, Bryan Mills, the Irish-born thespian cut a path of brutal vengeance on the ring of human traffickers that took his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).

It's understandable that Bryan would have a hard time letting go, especially when Kim blows off driving lessons to be with her boyfriend (Luke Grimes). These aren't evasive driving maneuvers, just plain old driving lessons because Kim doesn't have a license yet. Never mind that Maggie Grace is almost 30 and too old to be playing naïve high schooler. In any event, Bryan gets a security gig in Istanbul for a wealthy potentate when ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and Kim pay him a surprise visit. Unbeknownst to them, Albanian gangsters, led by Murad (Rade Serbedzija) are en route to seek revenge for the deaths of their brothers and sons from the first film.

The screenplay by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen is either brilliantly stripped down or lazily slapped together. There's a slight twist on the basic concept with the parents being taken and Bryan making the ominous call to Kim, who must locate the bad guys' hideout. In the silliest sequence of Taken 2, Kim runs around the rooftops of Istanbul lobbing live grenades so her dad can use the sound of explosions to triangulate his position. You'd think an American blowing shit up would raise a few red flags. At one point, Bryan casually guns down a crooked police officer. Sure, he may have been dirty, but murdering a cop still has dire consequences. However, Taken 2 isn't concerned with logic. There's no time for that nonsense when there are unwashed scumbags with funny accents to kill.

From there, the sequel descends into a non-stop stream of indiscernible action. Besson protégé Olivier Megaton turns every fight scene and shootout into a series of abstract images thanks to an overuse of shaky cam and choppy editing. Megaton also directed Transporter 3, the worst of the series, and Colombiana, which is just as ridiculous, yet far more entertaining. Car chases (those driving lessons from the opening are going to come up again, right?) are unremarkably rendered with Bryan shouting such encouragements as, "Move it, Kim" and "You can do it." Speaking of driving, someone in the Besson camp must have just seen Drive because Taken 2 lifts almost directly from the Nicolas Winding Refn film. Kim listens to College's "Real Hero" on her iPhone while Chromatics' "Tick of the Clock" is used for a tense scene in which Kim waits for her father in a getaway car.

Taken 2 fits the bill of easily digestible popcorn entertainment. Perfect for anyone who wants to watch Qui-Gon Jinn fight Boris the Blade.

Rating: ** (*****)

Unknown

Unknown - Dir. Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra (2011)

Most actors tend to take less physical roles by the time they hit 60. Not Liam Neeson, who has reinvented himself as a badass action hero following the success of Taken. He's certainly believable as an unstoppable killing machine with his deep voice and imposing 6'4 frame. Unknown certainly feels like it came from the same Luc Besson machine that churned out Taken with Neeson cutting a swath through menacing Euro-trash villains. On the contrary, Unknown comes from the Joel Silver action factory. It was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who also helmed the horror film Orphan, and based on the novel Out of My Head by French novelist Didier Van Cauwelaert.

Neeson stars as Dr. Martin Harris, a biologist who has just arrived in Berlin for a biotechnology conference with his wife Liz (January Jones). A terrible accident in a taxicab leaves Martin in a coma for several days. When he awakens, he is shocked to discover another man (Aidan Quinn) is now claiming to be Dr. Martin Harris and Liz has no idea who he is. Or Martin's memories a delusion or has he fallen into an elaborate conspiracy? The only clue to uncovering Martin's true identity is the cab driver, Gina (Diane Kruger), who is reluctant to come forward because she is an illegal immigrant from Bosnia.

Unknown is the type of standard fare we've come to expect from a post-Bourne world. The film boils down the Hitchcockian wrong man formula to its barest essentials while trying to plug in various plot holes with fist fights and car chases. Luckily, the one taxi Martin gets into happens to belong to the hottest cab driver in all of Germany. And, of course, Neeson will regain his memories just in the nick of time to dish out some serious beatings.

Neeson is a capable enough actor to make all this silliness credible. He's backed up by some good European talent like Sebastian Koch from The Lives of Others and Rainer Bock from Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon. Frank Langella also turns in a creepy performance as one of Martin's colleagues. The most intriguing character belongs to Bruno Ganz as a former Stasi officer turned private investigator. Ganz is best known as playing Hitler in Downfall, also known as the Hitler from all those YouTube videos where he laments about Burning Man, X-Box Live, and becoming a meme. Too bad you cannot say the same for January Jones. The Mad Men actress turns in another blank-eyed robotic performance as Martin's cold fish wife.

Unknown is best described as Taken meets The Bourne Identity. It's a ridiculous and pedestrian action thriller that may provide some diverting pleasure for about two hours.

Rating: ** (*****)