Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) a Mixed Bag

Tim Burton’s live action take on Alice in Wonderland (B-) is pretty enjoyable, relying, as he does, in style over substance. The visually inventive director has a field day with the 3-D and whimsical characters; it’s a “drink me” dreamscape of oddities to ogle. The film is a pretty fun confection but largely forgettable. Mia Wasikowska is a solid female lead, and Helena Bonham Carter was funny. Johnny Depp may have run out of eccentric ideas.

Eastwood’s “Hereafter” a Stirring Ensemble Drama


Matt Damon and ensemble provide an intelligent, nuanced look at the afterlife in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter (B+). Three stories “crash” together in a film that is moving while avoiding being sentimental. Deliberately paced but good payoff.

2010 Remake of “True Grit” a Stunner


True Grit (A) is another masterpiece from the Coen Brothers with superb acting from the leads and enough adventure to please western film purists. It’s a fun, feisty and rightly acclaimed modern classic in the Western milieu with Jeff Bridges in the “Rooster Cogburn” role formerly inhabited by John Wayne. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are also standouts, with newcomer Hailee Steinfeld making a superb impression as a feisty 14-year-old farm girl embarking on a quest for vengeance.

Movie Musical “Nine” Fails to Shine

Nine: C-

Rob Marshall’s Fellini and Broadway-inspired Nine (C-), despite gorgeous costumes and cinematography, is as dramatically inert and unengaging a movie as one could imagine. Daniel Day-Lewis gives perhaps the only ho-hum performance in his catalogue. Kate Hudson’s scenes are fun (first time since Almost Famous), and the “curtain call” style ending reinforces the notion of “suppose a lot of major stars congregate and then do virtually nothing.”

“An Education” (2009) is Sublime

educationAmong many end-of-year prestige pics, here’s a gem: Lone Scherfig’s An Education (A+) in which surefire Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan plays a determined British schoolgirl who falls topsy turvy for older man Peter Sarsgaard. The film captured young love with timeless, poignant truth as moments of Lolita-ish unease heighten the heroine’s struggle with moral ambiguities. Mulligan is a revelation and the film an instant coming-of-age classic.

“The Hangover” is a Hoot as Friends Piece Together What Happened Last Night

imageTodd Phillips’ The Hangover (B+) is vulgar, audacious and altogether winning. Pairing Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis in a hybrid comedy/mystery, the film follows a gang of groomsmen who must piece together what happened the previous night in a debaucherous Vegas bachelor party where the groom mysteriously disappeared. The episodic antics and misadventures of the so-called “Wolfpack” keep upping the ante, and dark hilarity ensues. These hedonistic Hardy Boys are best when displaying their vulnerabilities, with escalating levels of haplessness. The humor and highjinks add up to a delightful entertainment.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) a low Point in Series

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine character, such a highlight of the X-Men film series, was bound to get his own movie. Unfortunately it’s Gavin Hood’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine (D+), which plunges a distinctive character into a rather routine action thriller. Hood manages to suck the charm right out of the enterprise as weak effects, tired subplots and less-than-witty retorts doom this ponderous prequel.

“(500) Days of Summer” Offers Romcom with Innovative Structure

500daysMarc Webb’s (500) Days of Summer (B+) is a charming and sophisticated romantic comedy featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel as young people searching for love amidst the iciness and irony of modern Los Angeles. The film is enriched by its nonlinear structure in which the 500 primary days of the central duo’s relationship are told out of order. Gordon-Levitt is the revelation here as the greeting card writer who aspires to put his sunny solicitations to good use and ultimately his actual architecture skills to work in building a legacy. For a debut feature, Webb’s work is remarkably assured. It’s a funny valentine to being young and a bit confused, and the film’s unusual structure ultimately gives it the propulsive force that makes it move in its own distinctive and inspiring way.

“Inglorious Basterds” (2009) Finds Revisionist History in Wartime

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds (B+) is an audacious piece of revisionist history that imagines what WWII might have been like if a couple of clever factions of bounty hunters, cinephiles and revenge seekers could have tried to kill Hitler at a movie screening. Leave it to Tarantino to take such a high-concept idea to such delicious detail and cast his film with such relish, especially with Christoph Waltz as a particularly menacing Nazi officer and Brad Pitt as a motormouthed mercenary. Some moments are uneven, but overall, this one hits the mark.

“District 9” Effectively Blends Sci-Fi and Action

Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 (B+) is an amazing hybrid science fiction action film and part dramatic mockumentary that chronicles the ghettoization of alien life forms in Johannesburg. Sharlto Copley holds together most of the scenes with human interactions, spliced with news footage and a series of interviews as illegal experiments are exposed and as a battle ensues. It’s an intriguing metaphor for Apartheid and a whole new way of making an alien movie.

“Star Trek” 2009 Reboot is a Pleasurable Enterprise

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (A-) is a spectacular reboot of the classic franchise with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto stepping in nicely as Kirk and Spock, respectively. We step back to Starfleet Academy and origin stories and now have a parallel path wormhole device so that new installments can exist in their own universe. On top of the thrilling warp speed action, there was massively funny humor, especially as the chief protagonists both romance Uhura (Zoe Saldona).

“Up” is a Sentimetal and Original Animated Adventure

Pete Docter’s Up (A-) is a lovely animated film that peaks in its first ten minutes but then opens up to a variety of rich vistas of imagination. The story of an old man and a kid who drift off in a helium balloon bouquet propelled house to a magical world is a true original. I could have done without the talking dogs and some of the stock villains, but it was mostly gorgeous and moving.