Disney's A Christmas Carol
Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn, and Cary Elwes.
There's little harmony among critics assessing the latest cinematic version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. (Actually, this one is called Disney's A Christmas Carol.) Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times,
somewhat surprisingly, calls it "an exhilarating visual experience."
Ebert, who has repeatedly denounced 3D technology in previous reviews
(viewing a film through 3D glasses, he once remarked, is "like looking
through a window that needs Windex.") remarks that director Robert
Zemeckis is "one of the few directors who knows what he's doing with
3D." While he's reluctant to advise parents to take their kids to see
it since it may be too frightening for them, he nevertheless concludes
that it "has the one quality parents hope for in a family movie: It's
entertaining for adults." A.O. Scott in the New York Times,
while writing that Zemeckis goes overboard with the special effects
near the end of the movie, says that he otherwise "sticks close to some
of the sturdy virtues of the source material." And Chris Vognar in the Dallas Morning News regards
the movie as "a worthy stab at mixing old and new, a vintage tale done
with some fresh dazzle and a reminder that the movies can still bring
the wow." On the other hand Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal condemns it as "a calamity." The story, he writes, feels "embalmed by technology." Likewise Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer calls it "visually immersive but emotionally uninvolving." As for the 3D technology, Claudia Puig in USA Today writes
that Zemeckis "takes a story rich in nuance and renders it
one-dimensional, more antic than thrilling."
RATING: PG for scary sequences and images.
Capitalism: A Love Story
With Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore is receiving --as usual -- props for his skill as a propagandist filmmaker and -- also as usual -- he is being criticized for failing to offer workable solutions to the injustices he exposes. "It's the morning after in America," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, "and Captain Mike is here to explain it all or at least crack jokes, milk tears, recycle the news and fan the flames of liberal indignation." "Capitalism: A Love Story" sounded like my kind of film," Kyle Smith, perhaps the only major-city film critic to wear his conservative politics on his sleeve, writes facetiously in the New York Post. "I had heard Michael Moore found some exciting new historical footage, and I was picturing hot, steamy love scenes featuring Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan writhing atop piles of gold coins. Imagine my disappointment." Many critics say that Moore simply takes on too many issues in his film and that he was more successful dealing with individual ones as he did in Fahrenheit 9/11, his biggest hit, and last year's Sicko. As Kenneth Turan puts it in the Los Angeles Times: "Capitalism misses the narrower focus that gave his earlier films some of their punch." Other critics underline that point. "It's like watching a man wrestle a dozen octopuses," writes Joe Neumaier in the New York Daiy News. "Moore's reach exceeds his grasp," comments John Anderson in Newsday.
RATING: R for some language.
Where the Wild Things Are
Starring Catherine Keener, Max Records, Mark Ruffalo, Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, and Forest Whitaker.
The film tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. The Wild Things desperately long for a leader to guide them, just as Max longs for a kingdom to rule. When Max is crowned king, he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy. Max soon finds, though, that ruling his kingdom is not so easy and his relationships there prove to be more complicated than he originally thought.
RATING: PG for mild thematic elements, some adventure action and brief language.
The Vampire's Assistant
Starring John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Massoglia, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Orlando Jones, Willem Dafoe, and Salma Hayek.
16-year-old Darren was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood. He hung out with his best friend Steve, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble. But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren. That's the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty. Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady and a gigantic barker. As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts. And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what's left of his humanity.
RATING: PG-13 for sequences of intense supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language.
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