Twilight – Teenage girls will surely squeal with delight
throughout this feverishly awaited adaptation of the hugely selling
vampire novel. Just the very sight of the word
”
Twilight
”
on screen inspired piercing screeches of glee at a recent
screening. And the arrival of our tormented monster-hero Edward
Cullen is certain to send another wave of shivers, and that’s
before he ever sinks his teeth into anything – or anyone.
Director Catherine Hardwicke was also clearly taken by the
character, and by the actor playing him, Robert Pattinson: She
shoots him as if he were the featured model in an Abercrombie
&
amp; Fitch ad, adoringly highlighting his angular cheekbones,
his amber eyes (with the help of color contacts), those pouty red
lips and that lanky frame. He might be too pretty – and perhaps
that’s a crucial key to the character’s popularity among girls and
young women. He’s a non-threatening, almost asexual vampire. But
much of what made the relationship between Edward and the smitten
Bella Swan work in Stephenie Meyer’s breezy book is stripped away
on screen. The lively banter – the way in which Edward and Bella
teased and toyed with one another about their respective
immortality and humanity _ is pretty much completely gone, and all
that’s left is one-note, adolescent angst. It doesn’t help that, as
Bella, Kristen Stewart looks singularly sullen the entire time.
She’s supposed to be enraptured by the thrills of her first love.
Instead, she merely appears to be in the throes of pain. Bella’s
story, for the uninitiated: The quiet, awkward girl moves from
Phoenix to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her police-chief dad
(Billy Burke in a bad cop mustache) and quickly finds herself
entranced by her mysterious, ethereal classmate Edward. At first,
Edward fights his all-consuming attraction to Bella but eventually
finds he can’t stay away. Good thing, too, because she’ll need him
to protect her from even greater dangers than the one he
potentially presents – and that’s where
”
Twilight
”
really collapses in a heap of cheesy visual effects. Drama,
PG-13.
Hitting the theaters
Opening this week
By the Associated Press
Cadillac Records – Darnell Martin could have made an entire movie about Muddy Waters. Or Etta James. Or Chuck Berry. Instead, the writer-director has made a movie about all of them, cramming their complicated individual stories into the larger tale of Chicago-based Chess Records, the label that launched those stars and so many others during the 1950s and ’60s. The result feels even more cursory and rushed than the average music biopic, a genre that’s already difficult to depict without lapsing into self-parody. (Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow and Co. had long known that when they made “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”)
It’s all here, over and over, just as you’ve seen it countless times before: the early struggle, the rise to the top (accompanied by the obligatory montage of press clippings and positions on the Billboard chart), the waste of fame and talent with various controlled substances. Despite the glimmers of potential for typically strong work from Jeffrey Wright as Waters, Mos Def as Berry and Adrien Brody as the label’s founder, Leonard Chess, Martin too often gives them too little of substance with which to work.
Columbus Short gets some amusing moments as flashy harmonica player Little Walter, but Gabrielle Union gets too little to do as Waters’ initially supportive but ultimately put-upon wife (yet another cliche in this type of film). And Beyonce Knowles doesn’t seem to have splurged on acting lessons since her wooden turn in “Dreamgirls.” From the second she enters the film as the tormented, tempestuous James, you want to see her sing “At Last,” then get out. The music itself is the most reliable star of all – so much so, “Cadillac Records” makes you long for a documentary on the subject instead. Biopic, R.
Frost/Nixon – “No holds barred,” Richard Nixon urges to David Frost as the two prepare to sit down for a series of interviews in 1977. It’s equal parts promise and threat from both the disgraced figure on screen and the actor playing him. Frank Langella is positively formidable as the former president, a skilled manipulator under optimal circumstances whose desperate desire to rehabilitate himself through these talks makes him extra dangerous. Langella isn’t doing a dead-on impression, which is probably preferable; Nixon’s tics and quirks have been imitated so frequently and poorly, such an approach might run the risk of lapsing into caricature. Rather, he seems to have internalized a volatile combination of inferiority, awkwardness, quick wit and a hunger for power. He loses himself in the role with rumbles and growls, with a hunched-over carriage and the slightest lift of the eyebrows. He and Michael Sheen, also excellent as the breezy British TV personality Frost, reprise the roles they originated on stage in Peter Morgan’s Tony Award-winning stage production. But you never feel like you’re watching a play on film: The way Morgan has opened up the proceedings in his screenplay feels organic under the direction of Ron Howard, who’s crafted his finest film yet and one of the year’s best.
“Frost/Nixon” is talky and weighty and meaty, but it moves along with an ease and fluidity that keeps it constantly engaging. Supporting performances are uniformly solid from Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell and Matthew Macfadyen as the more serious journalists and experts in Frost’s corner, as well as Kevin Bacon as Nixon’s fiercely loyal chief strategist. Drama, R.
Playing in theaters Dec. 5 – Dec. 11
Australia – Overlong and self-indulgent, Baz Luhrmann’s homage to epic adventure films feels like a slog through the outback itself. And yet it can be a visually wondrous journey, one with striking visuals that will take your breath away again and again. No one ever doubted the director’s capabilities as an inventive aesthetic stylist – this is the man, after all, who dared to set the balcony scene in a swimming pool in his revisionist of “Romeo + Juliet,” who turned “Moulin Rouge!” into a dizzying dance of light and color, complete with Elton John and Nirvana songs.
Here, he focuses his considerable talents on a more traditional genre: the big, old-fashioned, wartime romance. The result is grandiose and dazzling, repetitive and predictable. Set in pre-World War II, “Australia” stars Nicole Kidman as the British aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley, who travels to the Northern Territory ranch of Faraway Downs to confront the absent husband she suspects of philandering. She immediately clashes with the roguishly charming Drover (Hugh Jackman in full-on Sexiest-Man-Alive mode), who works on the ranch, and Luhrmann is clearly aiming to replicate the kind of chemistry Bogart and Hepburn enjoyed in “The African Queen” with their antagonistically flirty banter. Once Lady Ashley discovers her husband is dead, it’s no big shocker that she finds herself falling in love with the place, and with the Drover (and really, how could she resist?). It also comes as no surprise that, after expressing zero fondness for children, she experiences maternal instincts for the impish Aboriginal boy Nullah (Brandon Walters), who’s adorable but also an unfortunate racial stereotype. Drama, PG-13.
Bolt – Harmless as a puppy, “Bolt” comes bounding into theaters, stumbling over its big, goofy paws, wagging its fluffy tail and begging to play ball. It’s sweet and eager to please but, sadly, nothing terribly special: Girl finds dog, girl loses dog, girl gets dog back.
You’ve seen this sort of thing countless times before, namely in any movie with the word “Lassie” in the title. But if you happen to be a girl who loves dogs, you may find yourself wiping away a tear or two. This animated 3-D adventure follows a scrappy, white shelter mutt named Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) who isn’t a superhero, but he plays one on TV. Trouble is, he has no idea he’s an actor in a role. He thinks he’s really saving plucky, young Penny (Miley Cyrus) – his “person,” as he’s so proud to call her – from bad guys and explosions over and over again. When Bolt accidentally gets shipped across the country from Hollywood to New York City, in totally contrived fashion, he must make that tried-and-true, intrepid trek back home. Along the way he befriends the street-wise, wisecracking alley cat, Mittens (Susie Essman in a slightly less vulgar mode than you’d find her on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), and the overeager, overfed hamster Rhino (the scene-stealing Mark Walton), who’s obsessed with television and is totally psyched about the prospect of being Bolt’s crime-fighting sidekick. A sort of small, furry Louie Anderson look-alike, the delusional hamster is an undeniable hoot but “Bolt” goes to him a few times too many for the reliable laugh; a little of Rhino goes a long way. Animated, PG.
Four Christmases – The size difference between Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. His signature rat-a-tat overconfidence and her pleasing girl-next-door perkiness turn out to be an awkward mix. Individually likable, Vaughn and Witherspoon never mesh as a couple. And that’s a problem, since we’re meant to root for them to stick together through the myriad obstacles thrown their way during one massively contrived Christmas. It doesn’t help their cause that they’re saddled with hackneyed holiday gags: wacky relatives making inappropriate remarks, decorations that cause severe bodily harm, uncomfortable gift exchanges. And “Four Christmases” began with some promise, too.
Vaughn’s Brad and Witherspoon’s Kate are a happily unmarried couple. They keep things lively by role-playing at bars, as they do in the film’s amusingly naughty opening, and they lie to their families about doing charity work to avoid seeing them during the holidays. Then, when they’re caught on the news getting stuck at the airport on the way to Fiji, they get roped into seeing both sets of parents – who are divorced – hence, they must celebrate four Christmases. The visiting begins in painfully broad fashion with Brad’s family, all white-trash stereotypes led by Robert Duvall. Vaughn makes the movie tolerable here and there with his easy delivery of some brash lines, but this kind of slapsticky physical comedy doesn’t suit Witherspoon, and director Seth Gordon fails to make best use of the qualities that make this bright actress shine. Comedy, PG-13.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – The pampered zoo animals of the 2005 animated hit this time are dropped off on the African mainland for what amounts to more of the same in this shrill, unamusing sequel. Key voice stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith return, along with Sacha Baron Cohen and Cedric the Entertainer. Operating on the principle that the bigger the menagerie, the merrier the movie, the filmmakers tack on fresh characters to the point of distraction, including the late Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin and singer will.i.am. With so many characters to cram in and not much for many of them to do, the sequel ends up a choppy, episodic affair.
Whether or not they’ve seen or remember the original flick, young kids will eat up this manic mess, a nonstop rush of slapstick and jabbering dialogue. The noise and mayhem will annoy, or at least bore, most parents, who can take some solace in the movie’s brisk running. Animation, PG.
Punisher: War Zone – Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) is a vigilante anti-hero known as the Punisher. He has been fighting crime outside the law enforcement arena for six years. When he disfigures a mob boss, the man takes on a new alias and sets out to find the Punisher. In the meantime, the FBI has created a Task Force to seek him out, too. Action, R.
Quantum of Solace – “Casino Royale” came along just as the James Bond franchise was sinking into a lazy rehash of all that had gone before. It jump-started 007 with its seamless mix of action and emotion, and now “Quantum of Solace” keeps it humming along – in a familiar, but forgettable, gear. The car metaphor is appropriate. “Quantum of Solace” starts out with a thrilling chase through northern Italy that’s one of the film’s few highlights.
But this is a very slight Bond movie, and it feels especially so compared to “Casino Royale,” easily one of the best of the long-running series. And it’s unusual in that it’s a sequel – that’s never happened before. Director Marc Forster’s film picks up right where “Casino Royale” left off, with Daniel Craig’s Bond trying to avenge the death of the only woman he ever loved, Eva Green’s Vesper Lynd. He’s also trying to pin down the mastermind behind a plot to control the water supply of Bolivia, and maybe, someday, the world! (Mathieu Amalric plays the role with a calm creepiness.) In theory, it could have had a relevant ecological message. Instead, the water angle feels like an afterthought in the surprisingly thin plot from writers Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who also wrote “Casino Royale.”
Along the way, Bond hooks up with the mysterious and dangerous Camille (Ukrainian model Olga Kurylenko), who’s on her own revenge mission. Craig is, of course, sexy and masculine and formidable as always, and he plays beautifully off of Judi Dench as M, the head of the British secret service. They share scenes that are both teasing and meaty, and their exchanges provide the movie with some much-needed substance. Action, PG-13.
Transporter 3 – Jason Statham in another quick action movie where he is a gun for hire who needs to transport goods – usually humans. In this latest installment Frank Martin (Statham) must to deliver the daughter of a Ukranian government official from Marseilles to Odessa. Action, PG-13.
Twilight – Teenage girls will surely squeal with delight throughout this feverishly awaited adaptation of the hugely selling vampire novel. Just the very sight of the word “Twilight” on screen inspired piercing screeches of glee at a recent screening. And the arrival of our tormented monster-hero Edward Cullen is certain to send another wave of shivers, and that’s before he ever sinks his teeth into anything – or anyone.
Director Catherine Hardwicke was also clearly taken by the character, and by the actor playing him, Robert Pattinson: She shoots him as if he were the featured model in an Abercrombie & Fitch ad, adoringly highlighting his angular cheekbones, his amber eyes (with the help of color contacts), those pouty red lips and that lanky frame. He might be too pretty – and perhaps that’s a crucial key to the character’s popularity among girls and young women. He’s a non-threatening, almost asexual vampire. But much of what made the relationship between Edward and the smitten Bella Swan work in Stephenie Meyer’s breezy book is stripped away on screen. The lively banter – the way in which Edward and Bella teased and toyed with one another about their respective immortality and humanity _ is pretty much completely gone, and all that’s left is one-note, adolescent angst. It doesn’t help that, as Bella, Kristen Stewart looks singularly sullen the entire time. She’s supposed to be enraptured by the thrills of her first love. Instead, she merely appears to be in the throes of pain. Bella’s story, for the uninitiated: The quiet, awkward girl moves from Phoenix to rainy Forks, Wash., to live with her police-chief dad (Billy Burke in a bad cop mustache) and quickly finds herself entranced by her mysterious, ethereal classmate Edward. At first, Edward fights his all-consuming attraction to Bella but eventually finds he can’t stay away. Good thing, too, because she’ll need him to protect her from even greater dangers than the one he potentially presents – and that’s where “Twilight” really collapses in a heap of cheesy visual effects. Drama, PG-13.
Hitting the couch
Movies out on DVD and Blu-Ray Dec. 9
The Dark Knight – The Dark Knight – The sequel to “Batman Begins” teams Batman/Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) with Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), the district attorney, against a deranged bank robber. Heath Ledger stars as the Joker in his last role before his death and Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Action, PG-13. On DVD and Blu-Ray.
Horton Hears a Who – Horton Hears a Who – Adapted from the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton (Jim Carrey) tries to save a microscopic world while the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell) realizes there may be more out there than Whoville. Animated, G. On DVD and Blu-Ray.
Man on Wire – The documentary follows Philippe Petit’s illegal high-wire routine performed in 1974 in which he rigged up a tightrope between New York City’s World Trade Center’s twin towers in 1874. On DVD.
Television shows out on DVD Dec. 9
Lost the complete fourth season On DVD and Blu-Ray
The Wire: The complete series
Deadwood: The complete series
