Opening this week
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.
Hitting the theaters
Opening this week
By the Associated Press
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.
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.
Playing in theaters Nov. 14 – 20
Beverly Hills Chihuahua – Warning: This film contains talking animals – and their not animated. In the film from Raja Gosnell, a shi-shi Beverly Hills Chihuahua gets parted from her owner while on vacation from Mexico. Voiced by Drew Barrymore, Chloe runs into a motley crew of Mexican dogs as she tries to find her way back home across the border. Comedy, PG.
The Changeling – Directed by Clint Eastwood, the movie tells the true story of Christine Collins, a woman whose son goes missing in 1920s Los Angeles. A boy is soon returned to her, but she begins to suspect it is not her son. Starring Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich and Michael Kelly. Drama, R.
The Duchess – Ralph Fiennes and Keira Knightley star in this movie about 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, and her husband the Duke of Devonshire. In the true-life story, Georgiana is trapped in a loveless marriage to the Duke whose mistress also resides in their home. When she falls for a young politician, the affair causes conflict and threatens to erupt in scandal.
The Haunting of Molly Hartley – Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) moves to a new school for a fresh start, but her haunted past continues to follow her. Also starring Jacke Weber, Chace Crawford and Shannon Marie Woodward. Thriller, PG-13.
High School Musical 3 – It’s senior year for the Wildcats, and Troy (Zac Efron) and Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) need to get used to the idea of being separated for college while spending time with their friends. Also starring Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and KayCee Stroh. Musical comedy, G.
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.
Role Models – The premise is completely formulaic and potentially cheesy: A couple of buddies get arrested and, for their community service assignment, must serve as big brothers to a pair of misfit kids. You know from the beginning that many necessary life lessons will be learned and that all parties ultimately will be better off for the unlikely friendships they’ve formed. But it’s the wildly, hilariously crude way that director David Wain and Co. approach this concept that makes “Role Models” so disarming. The rampant wrongness would have been amusing enough on the page, but the delivery from co-stars Seann William Scott, Paul Rudd and the supporting cast of both comedy veterans and up-and-comers makes the material consistently laugh-out-loud funny.
Wheeler (Scott) and Danny (Rudd) spend their days giving just-say-no talks at Los Angeles schools and peddling the energy drink Minotaur, a job that requires Wheeler to dress up in a furry costume and guzzle gallons of green gunk. Danny, fed up with his life and frustrated that his longtime girlfriend (Elizabeth Banks) has just rejected his marriage proposal, snaps one day and gets himself and Wheeler in trouble with the law. Rather than going to jail, the two end up working with the Sturdy Wings mentoring group, led by the damaged but overly earnest Gayle (Jane Lynch, stealing every scene she’s in, as usual). While Wheeler gets paired up with the freakishly foul-mouthed Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson, radiating a scary amount of confidence for a 12-year-old), Danny gets dweeby teen Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse of “Superbad”), who’s obsessed with his live-action fantasy role-playing game. Comedy, R.
Saw V – The Jigsaw murder spree continues in Saw V with Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor) and Agent Strahm (Scott Patterson) following the leads. Also starring Betsy Russell, Tobin Bell and Julie Benz. Horror, R.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno – The extreme opposites within Kevin Smith’s filmmaking personality co-exist here, to hit-and-miss effect. Yes, there is a ton of sex in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” as the title would suggest, including one scene that is so incredibly wrong, words don’t even begin to describe it. A proliferation of raw, raunchy dialogue has always been one of the writer-director’s preferred tactics, dating back to his pioneering 1994 debut, “Clerks,” and that’s certainly true this time, as well – actually, it’s more relevant than usual.
But “Zack and Miri” also reflects the sweetness that has crept intermittently into Smith’s movies in recent years as he’s settled into his real-life roles as husband and father. (See: “Jersey Girl.”) A guy and a girl, longtime best friends and roommates, realize they’re secretly in love with each other – it’s one of the most hackneyed romantic comedy premises of all time. Through Smith’s skewed prism, though, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) achieve this epiphany while having on-camera sex during an amateur adult movie, something they do out of desperation to pay the bills during a miserable Pittsburgh winter. Rogen and Banks make an extremely likable comic pair, despite the fact that they’re an unlikely romantic match (or perhaps because of it).
Both are clearly comfortable in such naughty but highly verbal territory as alumni of Judd Apatow movies – and, as in Apatow’s “Knocked Up,” this is yet another wish-fulfillment comedy in which the tubby, schlubby Rogen lands an impossibly beautiful woman who would never give him the time of day in real life. Comedy, 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.
Slumdog Millionaire – Despite the exotic nature of its foreign locale – the teeming, cramped, impoverished streets of Mumbai, India – this is every inch a Danny Boyle film. The hope within the squalor, the humor within the violence, they’re all thematic trademarks of the British director of the druggie drama “Trainspotting” and the zombie saga “28 Days Later.” Only this time, Boyle takes his wildly high-energy visual aesthetic and applies it to a story that, at its core, is really rather sweet and traditionally crowd-pleasing. The unassuming Dev Patel stars as our slumdog underdog, Jamal, an 18-year-old who comes from nothing but is on the verge of winning more money than anyone’s ever won before on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” The game show’s host (an ideally smarmy and egotistical Anil Kapoor) grows unshakably suspicious as Jamal prepares to face one last question for the top prize of 20 million rupees and has him hauled in for police questioning (by the ever-imposing Irrfan Khan).
Simon Beaufoy’s complex script, based loosely on the Vikas Swarup novel “Q & A,” glides effortlessly between Jamal’s interrogation, his unlikely success in the television hot seat and his rough-and-tumble upbringing, which provided the life lessons that serve him so miraculously well now. Jamal reflects upon the desperate times he shared with his older brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), after their mother was killed in a savage anti-Muslim attack. He remembers the cruelty of the Fagin-like figure who forced them and other orphans into slavery. And he recalls fondly the time he spent with Latika (stunning former model Freida Pinto), his first love who, as a scared child, became the brothers’ third Musketeer. The cinematography from Anthony Dod Mantle gives even the most depressing images an unexpected beauty, with Chris Dickens’ expert editing keeping the action moving fluidly. Drama, R.
Hitting the couch
Movies out on DVD and Blu-Ray Nov. 18
WALL-E – The adorable little robot wheels his way onto home video. Continuing the perfect critical and commercial track record of Pixar Animation (“The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille”), the animated smash defies convention, presenting a clunky robot and his sleek new girlfriend who communicate only through mechanical noises. WALL-E is a persevering worker ‘bot, tending his job to clean up the mess of trash on Earth even after humanity has abandoned the polluted planet for an idle life on a spaceship. The film comes in one- or three-disc DVD versions and two- and three-disc Blu-ray sets, all featuring the cartoon short “Presto” that preceded “WALL-E” in theaters, plus deleted scenes and commentary with director Andrew Stanton. A documentary on Pixar is offered in the multidisc sets, and a digital copy of the movie is included in the three-disc DVD and Blu-ray packages. Single-disc DVD, $29.99; three-disc DVD set, $39.99; two-disc Blu-ray set, $35.99; three-disc Blu-ray set, $40.99. (Disney)
Tropic Thunder – Ben Stiller co-wrote, directed and stars with Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black in this action comedy about a gang of self-important actors whose Vietnam War shoot turns into real combat as they encounter a ruthless drug gang in the jungles of Asia. Stiller’s unrated director’s cut, with 14 minutes of additional footage, is available in a two-disc DVD set and in the Blu-ray release, while the R-rated theatrical version comes in a single-disc DVD. Among the extras on each release are two commentaries from Stiller, one with his filmmaking collaborators, the other with Downey and Black. The two-disc DVD set and Blu-ray release also have deleted and extended scenes and a huge batch of behind-the-scenes segments. Single-disc DVD, $29.98; two-disc DVD set, $34.98; Blu-ray, $39.99. (Paramount)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 – America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively return as the foursome of friends who bond over a ragged article of shared clothing. This time around, the four are off on their own, attending college while trying to maintain the connection to their old pals despite the distance between them. The DVD and Blu-ray come with deleted footage accompanied by commentary from director Sanaa Hamri, plus a gag reel and a featurette on how the movie’s final scene was developed. DVD, $28.98; Blu-ray, $35.99. (Warner Bros.)
Heathers – The high school black comedy starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty is back with a reunion edition to mark its 20th anniversary. Ryder stars as a cool chick who hangs with the popular clique, a trio of teens named Heather, with Slater the unstable new kid who unleashes a bizarre wave of murder, suicide and explosive pep rallies. A boxed set shaped like a miniature school locker packs a two-disc DVD version and the Blu-ray debut of the movie, along with a T-shirt, a yearbook replica and a batch of “Heathers”-themed magnets. The Blu-ray release also is available as a stand-alone disc. DVD and Blu-ray set, $89.97; Blu-ray, $29.97. (Anchor Bay)
Television shows out on DVD Nov.18
Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season – Miley Cyrus is an undercover celebrity in the series about a teen living a double life as a pop-music star and an average schoolgirl. The four-disc set has the first 26 episodes, along with cast interviews and a featurette on Cyrus in her hometown of Nashville, Tenn. DVD set, $39.99. (Disney)
Star Trek: The Original Series: Season Three – William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the starship Enterprise crew complete their original TV trek as the final year of the 1960s series lands in a DVD update with new special effects and freshly recorded music. The seven-disc package has 24 episodes, with extras including segments on some of the co-stars. DVD set, $99.99. (Paramount)
The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Collector’s Edition – The joke’s on Python completists who already bought one of the earlier versions of the complete comedy series. Now they’ll want to shell out again for this 21-disc expansion, with the entire series, live Python performances, best-of sketch collections chosen by the stars and two documentaries on the troupe. DVD set, $159.95. (A&E)
Charmed: The Complete Series – A mammoth 49-disc set packs all 173 episodes of the series featuring Shannen Doherty, Alyssa Milano, Rose McGowan and Holly Marie Combs as witches using their powers for good. Extras include the original unaired pilot. The series is available in a regular-sized DVD edition or a massive “Deluxe Edition” in coffee-table-book-style packaging. DVD set, $271.99; “Deluxe Edition,” $317.99. (Paramount)
Bones: Season Three – David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel return as an FBI team digging up grisly remains to solve murders. The third year’s 15 episodes, with extended versions of three, come in a five-disc set. DVD set, $59.98. (20th Century Fox)
“Doctor Who: The Complete Fourth Series” – David Tennant is back as the latest incarnation of the doctor, who journeys through time and space to save the world. A six-disc set has all 14 of season four’s episodes, plus deleted scenes and commentary. DVD set, $99.98. (BBC)
The Odd Couple: The Final Season – Jack Klugman as slob Oscar and Tony Randall as neat-freak Felix complete their five-year run as roommates in the 1970s comedy. The last 22 episodes are packed in a three-disc set. DVD set, $42.99. (Paramount)
Hawaii Five-O: The Fifth Season – Jack Lord and James MacArthur star as state police honchos booking crooks in major crimes on the islands. Season five’s 24 episodes are included in a six-disc set. DVD set, $54.99. (Paramount)
McHale’s Navy: Season Four – A five-disc package delivers the final 30 episodes of the 1960s comedy starring Ernest Borgnine and Tim Conway as members of an oddball naval crew during World War II. DVD set, $39.99. (Shout)
Night Gallery: Season Two – Rod Serling of “The Twilight Zone” offers another anthology of macabre stories. Year two’s 22 episodes are contained in a five-disc set, with commentary from Guillermo del Toro, director of the “Hellboy” movies. DVD set, $59.98. (Universal)
