The Dark Knight Rises

Movies to See Right Now

by
Emile Hirsch, Gina Gershon, Thomas Haden Church and Juno Temple in KILLER JOE

Killer Joe, which opens this week, is NC-17 for a reason and will either thrill or disgust you; that notwithstanding, it pops and crackles with excellent performances by Mathew McConaughey and Juno Temple. 

The Intouchables is a crowd pleasing odd couple comedy – an attendance record breaker in France.

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Farewell, My Queen is a lavishly staged and absorbing French drama of Marie Antoinette’s Versailles at the onset of the French Revolution; it features excellent performances and was shot at Versailles itself.

Dark Horse is an engaging dramedy from writer-director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness); it has his trademark quirkiness, but without the trademark perversion.

The wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom is another must see. Adults will enjoy Brave, Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess, and it’s a must see for kids. To Rome with Love is an amusing Woody Allen comedy, but not one of Woody’s masterpieces. If you really like Neil Young, then see Neil Young Journeys. The exceptionally popular The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is continuing its long run in second-run houses.

The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles. Magic Mike has male stripping, but no magic.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is from Turkey, the long, enthralling and profound Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.  I must add that The Movie Gourmet is the only place where you can read about Killer Joe and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia in the same week!

Movies to See Right Now

by
THE INTOUCHABLES

The Intouchables is a crowd pleasing odd couple comedy from France, which is finally opening more widely.

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability. It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

Farewell, My Queen is a lavishly staged and absorbing French drama of Marie Antoinette’s Versailles at the onset of the French Revolution; it features excellent performances and was shot at Versailles itself.

Dark Horse is an engaging dramedy from writer-director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness); it has his trademark quirkiness, but without the trademark perversion.

The wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom is another must see. Adults will enjoy Brave, Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess, and it’s a must see for kids.  To Rome with Love is an amusing Woody Allen comedy, but not one of Woody’s masterpieces.  If you really like Neil Young, then see Neil Young Journeys. The exceptionally popular The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is continuing its long run in second-run houses.

The Dark Night Rises is too corny and too long, but Anne Hathaway sparkles.  Magic Mike has male stripping, but no magic.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is Woody Allen: A Documentary.

The Dark Knight Rises: Unfortunately, over 2 hours when Catwoman is not on the screen

by

Well, there’s 2 hours and 44 minutes that I’ll never get back. First, the good news about The Dark Knight Rises.  Anne Hathaway excels as the best Catwoman ever, and the banter between her and Batman crackles.  There are some exceptional CGI effects of Manhattan’s partial destruction. There’s a cool personal hovercraft, the Bat, and an equally cool combo motorcycle/cannon, the Batpod.

Unfortunately, that’s all the good stuff in director Christopher Nolan’s newest chapter of the Batman saga.  The problem is the screenplay, dotted with the corniest of dialogue and laden with pretentious Batman mythology.  When Catwoman tells him “you don’t owe these people any more! You’ve given them everything!”, Batman solemnly replies, “Not everything. Not yet.”

The plot simply exists to transition from action set piece to action set piece.  There are too many times, when a good guy is in peril, that another good guy pops up utterly randomly and just in the nick of time – too many even for a comic book movie.

With her bright wit and lithe sexiness, Hathaway fares far better than her colleagues.   Christian Bale continues his odd husky growl as Batman.   As the villain, an uber buffed Tom Hardy glowers from behind a fearsome mask.  The hackneyed screenplay wastes the rest of the extremely talented cast:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.  We barely glimpse Liam Neeson.  The captivating Juno Temple is apparently dropped into the story just enough to set her up for the sequel with Gordon-Levitt.

I saw The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX, which worked well for the long shots of NYC and made the fight scenes more chaotic.

Movies to See Right Now

by
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

The brilliantly made Louisiana swamp fable Beasts of the Southern Wild enters the life and imagination of a child and celebrates her indomitability.  It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2012 – So Far.

The wistfully sweet and visually singular Moonrise Kingdom is another must see. Adults will enjoy Brave, Pixar’s much anticipated fable of a Scottish princess, and it’s a must see for kids.   If you can still find it, I recommend the romantic character study Take This Waltz, starring the great Michele Williams in an exploration of attraction and fulfillment from a woman’s perspective.

Continuing a very long run, the story of aged Brits seeking a low-budget retirement in India, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is a proven crowd pleaser. Men In Black 3 is delightfully entertaining, as Will Smith time travels back to 1969 and meets the young Tommy Lee Jones (nailed by Josh Brolin).

To Rome with Love is an amusing Woody Allen comedy, but not one of Woody’s masterpieces. Prometheus is a striking and well-acted sci fi adventure with a horror film tinge; I recommend it for sci fi fans.  If you really like Neil Young, then see Neil Young Journeys.

Magic Mike has male stripping, but no magic. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter has blood-sucking, irony and not enough of either to justify watching it.   Your Sister’s Sister wastes a promising premise and a superb performance.

I haven’t yet seen Dark Horse, The Dark Knight Rises or Farewell, My Queen, which open this weekend.  You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick this week is the documentary This Is Not a Robbery, the true story of a nonagenarian serial bank robber.

More July Movies

by

Other than the superb Beasts of the Southern Wild and Take This Waltz, it hasn’t shaped up to be a very rich July at the movies.  But I’m interested in three upcoming releases.

Dark Horse is an indie comedy by Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse) in which an epic underachiever falls in love with a heavily medicated depressive.  Reportedly, Solondz’ take on these characters is clear-eyed, but not mean.

Christian Bale growls on in Christopher Nolan’s newest chapter of the Bat Man saga, The Dark Knight Rises.  The cast includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Juno Temple and Liam Neeson.

Farewell, My Queen is a lavishly staged French costume drama tracing the end of Marie Antoinette’s reign.  Early reviews focus on the performances by Diane Kruger as the Queen, Virginie Ledoyen as the Queen’s intimate friend and Lea Seydoux as the servant with ambiguous motives.

You can read descriptions and view trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To. Here’s the trailer for Farewell, My Queen: