Hugo in 3D

Movie: Hugo in 3D

Genre: adventure-drama-fantasy

Synopsis: This is set in a train station in 1930’s Paris.  Hugo is an orphan who lives in – and winds – the massive clockworks in the train station.  He is terribly lonely and is trying to fix an automaton – a kind of wind-up robot-like creation - to be his companion.  He befriends Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz) whose god-father (Ben Kingsley) runs a fix-it shop in the train station.  When, with the help of Isabelle, he finally fixes the automaton – a surprise and mystery awaits the two of them.  Solving the mystery – and keeping out of the clutches of the train station policeman (Sasha Baron Cohen) takes up the rest of the movie.

My two cents: Although a bit long at 2:07, this movie never dragged.  Within the first five minutes, I knew it was going to be good.  The 3D effects were good, without overdoing it.  I have been a fan of  Chloë Grace Moretz since “500 Days of Summer” – and I really liked her in this.  Ben Kingsley was great at Isabelle’s god-father, Christopher Lee was great as kindly bookseller.  Sasha Baron Cohen was good – but strange – as the train station cop.  I am still not sure exactly what it is about this movie that so captivated me.  One measure of how good I think a movie is, is how far into the movie I get before I look at my watch.  I was 85 minutes into the movie before I checked the time.

[189]

The Muppets

Movie: The Muppets

Genre: animated comedy

Synopsis: It’s the Muppets – need I say more?  Actually, I do.  This takes place decades after the Muppet series.  All of the Muppets have split up and gone their separate ways.  Enter, a pair of brothers: Gary and Walter.  Gary (Jason Segal) and Walter (Peter Linz) – who looks an awful lot like a Muppet.  Walter has been a fanatical fan of the Muppets ever since he found some old tapes of their show. Gary is taking his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) to Los Angeles for a vacation.  They decide to take Walter with them so that he can see the old Muppet studio.  They discover that an evil businessman (Chris Cooper) is going to tear down the studio and drill for oil unless the Muppets can come up with $10 million.  So . . . they find Kermit and Kermit decides to get the old gang together and put on a show to raise the money.

My two cents: I loved this movie. Any Muppet fan should enjoy this.  Jason Segal was perfect for his role.  Chris Cooper makes a properly maniacal bad guy.  Just about all of the Muppet regulars are back, and the reunion scenes are great.    For example, they find Animal in an anger-management group therapy session (the group also had Jack Black as a member).  Animal is not allowed near drums any more – “drum” is his trigger word.  If you are any kind of a Muppet fan – you must see this.

[188]

Happy Feet Two in IMAX 3D

Movie: Happy Feet Two in IMAX 3D

Genre: animated comedy

Synopsis: Mumbles (Elijah Wood) is now an adult with three child – Eric (Ava Acres).  Eric is having trouble figuring out what he is meant to do – the dancing gene does not seem to have kicked in yet.  A natural disaster results in their entire penguin community being trapped away from the water.  In order to save them, Mumble and Eric have to enlist the aid of another penguin community, as well as other creatures.  And of course – there is a lot of singing and dancing along the way.

My two cents: It took a while, but eventually this movie hooked me – although not as deeply as the first.  We had many of the same characters and voices as well as some new ones.  This one also seemed to have a few more lessons to teach about getting along and finding yourself – but it does not get too preachy.  In the first Happy Feet, by far my favorite character was Ramon (Robin Williams).  This time, my prize goes to two krill: Bill the Krill (Matt Damon) and Will the Krill (Brad Pitt).  Bill and Will decide to leave the “hoard” of krill they have spent their lives in and see what lies beyond.  Second prize goes to Ramon’s new love interest: Carmen, voiced by Sophia Vergara.  The 3D I could have lived without – but the IMAX was great – especially when they were doing group dances.  If you liked the first one, you will probably like Happy Feet Two too (pun intended).

[187]

The Skin I Live In

Movie: The Skin I Live In

Genre: thriller – in Spanish with subtitles

Synopsis: Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas) is a brilliant plastic surgeon in Spain.  His wife is horribly burned in a tragic accident.  When she dies, Robert becomes obsessed with developing a synthetic skin to help burn victims.  Unfortunately, he chooses to skip a few of the standard testing steps and begins experimenting on a human.  The result is a beautiful female patient who is pretty much a prisoner in his private clinic.  The patient spends all of her days wearing a flesh-colored body suit in a locked room.  The movie gives us the background and reason(s) for his obsession and exactly how he performed his experimental testing on his patient.  By the end of the movie, the doctor’s plan is coming pretty severely unraveled,

My two cents: I put off seeing this movie because I was afraid it might get a bit too graphic.  Turns out my fear was unfounded.  While some parts did make me squirm a bit – nothing that was shown was the least bit graphic. The story line was fascinating – especially when some twists started entering into the story.  When I finally learned the whole story of the patient – it was jaw dropping.  If you like off-beat thrillers with a touch of horror, don’t pass this one up. If you like some good vengeance – it will be icing on the cake.

[186]

Like Crazy

Movie: Like Crazy

Genre: romantic drama

Synopsis: Jacob (Anton Yelchin) and Anna (Felicity Jones) are college students in Los Angeles who fall madly in love.  The problem is that Anna is British, attending school on a student visa.  Her plan is to return briefly to England after graduation and then to come back to Los Angeles and Jacob.  A hitch in the plan occurs when Anna violates the terms of her student visa and is unable to return to the U.S.  For the next several years Anna and Jacob experience the ups and downs (mostly downs) of trying to maintain a really long distance relationship.

My two cents: This was another movie I enjoyed more than I thought I would.  I think it presented a pretty realistic look at the pitfalls a couple like this could face, given the visa problems.

[185]

My Week With Marilyn

Movie: My Week With Marilyn

Genre: drama

Synopsis: Based on the memoirs of Colin Clark, this movie is set in 1956 London.  Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) is working as a 3rd directory (aka a gofer) on a movie starring Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams).  Marilyn is an emotional wreck and latches onto Colin as someone she can trust.  The movie details how he became her companion (and more?) during the filming of the movie.  We see just how emotionally fragile Marilyn was and how incredibly insecure she was.  A large part of the film also dealt with the conflict between Laurence Olivier and Marilyn.  He was forever being frustrated by her behavior on the set – constantly being late, forgetting her lines, and consulting Paula Strasberg for her motivation – Marilyn was a devotee of the Lee Starsberg school of method acting.  Laurence Olivia considered all of this to be incredibly unprofessional behavior.

My two cents: A much better movie than I expected.  Michelle Williams did a fabulous job of portraying her – she can really be stunningly beautiful.  She seemed to be effortlessly switch back and forth between the screen idol Marilyn Monroe and the insecure fragile Norma Jean.  Judi Dench was delightful as a famous elderly actress (not much of a stretch).  Emma Watson had a small role.  It was nice to see her without a magic wand – I just wish her role had been bigger.  It was fascinating to see what an emotional wreck Marilyn Monroe was.  She was the most famous woman in the world, but as insecure as a 14-year-old. 

[184]

J. Edgar

Movie: J. Edgar

Genre: drama - biography

Synopsis: This is the story of J. Edgar Hoover (Leonardo DeCaprio) from his early years in the Justice Department through the founding of the FBI and his reign as director from 1935 until his death in 1972.  It covers his battle against the gangsters of the depression era, his fight against organized crime as well as his no-holds-barred fight against anyone he though was crossing him or getting in his way– whether it be his doctor, a senator or the president of the United States.  While he did a lot of admirable work in building the FBI, his utter disregard for the constitution and laws – when they got in his way was pretty scary.  In his world anything was acceptable if it furthered his ends.

My two cents: I thought this was a pretty good movie.  It did a great job of displaying the rotten underside of what Hoover became.  Leonardo DeCaprio’s performance was right up there with his portrayal of Howard Hughes.  Naomi Watt’s portray of his secretary, Helen Gandy was dynamite.  I thought she was really effective in showing the conflict Helen Gandy felt.  She was Hoover’s personal secretary for virtually his entire reign as directory and struggle with the conflict between her innate loyalty to the man and her realization that much of what he was doing was just plain wrong.  My only really beef with the film was with the makeup job on         Armie Hammer (as Clyde Tolson).  Whereas the makeup of DeCaprio was dead-on as Hoover aged, the makeup of Armie Hammer seemed almost amateurish by comparison. 

In any case, I found this movie to be well worth my time and money.

[183]