Mishmash of Movie Reviews

In theaters now, but not on this critic's list of high priorities. I'm stealing opinions from the Dallas Morning News, and making rash statements with nothing to back them up.

Admission starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd. They gave it a C- and the previews looked about that rating. Tina can be so funny, and Paul Rudd is likeably sweet, but as a romantic pair? Um, that doesn't strike me. She's a Princeton admissions officer. He teaches at an unusual school that has a worthy student. She comes out to review the case file, hilarity is supposed to ensue and they fall for each other. Apparently this movie bogs down and slogs through 110 minutes.

The Croods - family movie. animated flick about the Stone Age. Solid B given by DMN. They said it's not the Flinstones and not Ice Age, but funny as the Crood family learn about the world and take some risks in life.
Olympus Has Fallen - C-. It's Die Hard in the White House, starring Gerard Butler (he's cute, but not a good actor) as the secret service agent left inside the White House to save the President from hostages. Apparently it lacks suspense. Not good for a thriller.

Spring Breakers - Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens leave Disney World (literally) and are grown up girls gone bad. Violence, nudity, robbery, James Franco with corn rows, and crazy party scenes. Apparently this movie actually has the suspense lacking in the Olympus movie. This R confection of girls in bikinis is given a B-.

Oz The Great and Powerful (a D) stars James Franco as the wizard before the fabulous classic The Wizard of Oz. One word. Why?

Onward to What's in Your Queue?  I have watched these films on Netflix.

Man on a Ledge stars Sam Worthington. Nick is a fugitive ex-cop out on a window ledge in Manhattan. Is he really going to jump or is there more to the story. Bad guy, mega mogul Ed Harris is across the street along with his safe containing a huge diamond. Could Nick's brother and crew be boring under that building to steal it? And why? This is a fun rental and had some twists and turns.

Step Up Revolution - another in the Step-Up dance movies. The kids are interchangeable as are the plots, but the dancing is fabulous. Everyone has abs of steel and look great in stretchy outfits. One bonus - Peter Gallagher plays the mean father of our heroine. He's so good. Those eyebrows deserve their own applause.

Chronicle - Teens stumble on a weird substance in the Pacific Northwest woods. Soon they exhibit super powers, but trying to harness this power proves challenging. It's the old using power for good or evil plot, but there are twists and turns. The special effects are clever and I liked this movie. It was recommended by younger guys at my work, and for once they were right.

The Flat - this documentary is haunting. Arnon Goldfinger's grandmother dies in Tel Aviv. She was 98. As they clean her apartment they find papers and photos that stun them. This Holocaust survivor and her husband were friends after the war with a former SS officer and his wife. How could that be? The history Arnon uncovers along with emotions makes for a stunning documentary and quite a family tale. Big thumbs up on this one. (Of course, I'm fascinated by that whole time period and the survivors,etc. - strong people with quite a history).

Fall Fame

re-run picture, but brand new review. Thanks to Pat Maples who publishes the Little Paper of San Saba. She supports my film criticism, and publishes it despite a lack of a movie theater in her town. So, it's my birthday week and last week I treated myself to a matinee. Unfortunately, I left the theater feeling old. Here's the review:

A zillion years ago - 1980 - to be exact, I remember coming out of the movie "Fame" feeling exhilarated. I wanted to sing, dance, bang the drums, and express myself. Perhaps I still felt youthful and hopeful and ready to challenge the world and win. The 2009 version of "Fame" is okay, but not mega-uplifiting, not toe-tapping-leap-from-your seat-and-want-to-dance amazing. Perhaps I'm old. Perhaps I've experienced too many rejections in my writing career. Perhaps this cast of kids didn't inspire me, and perhaps a remake was unnecessary.

I just re-read that paragraph and decided I'm old. I identified too much with the teachers and not the students in this new "Fame". The movie is quickly paced. We hurry through auditions, judging the applicants as the teachers appraise them. Then we have freshman year and we're happy to see the students we picked. The principal, played by Debbie Allen (in the original Fame), gives a speech about how hard it is to succeed at the school of Performing Arts. She talks about the pressure, the stress, and the ups and downs. I could relate to her and I wanted to shake the kids who were slouching in their seats, texting friends, and not listening. So, the kids are the usual - super talented dancer, so-so dancer, awesome classic pianist who's pressured by her parents and really wants to play fun music (the girl can sing too), the uptight actress, the angry actor, the filmmaker, etc. We get snippets of talent, snippets of background homelife, and yet this film doesn't pull us in. We don't feel the pain of creativity. This "Fame" is a bit glossy, a bit too hurried to get through the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years.

As I said, it's the teachers who give us the message of "Fame". Megan Mullally, the cool teacher, is out with her kids at a karaoke place. They manage to get her on stage and she wows them with a song. They ask her why she isn't in shows, still in the game. Her story of almost success makes us adults wince. We've been there - good but not awesome. Talented, but... That sums up life - coulda, woulda, not quite good enough. You can see the sympathy in some kids' eyes, plus some pity too.
BeBe Neuwirth, as the ballet teacher, has to tell a student that she won't write a letter of recommendation. Awesome scene in the movie and heartbreaking. This was the blood and guts of "Fame". We needed more of these moments to give the film more heart.

For matinee price, "Fame" is entertaining. But with "American Idol", "Dancing With the Stars", and other talent related shows, this film did not need to be re-made. It's not a novelty and doesn't give insight into what we already know about fame and success. It really doesn't happen overnight, and the odds are cruel. And you know what - the one thing I wanted, they didn't do. The kids didn't spill into the streets to stop traffic and dance and sing with abandon. That could have been exhilarating.

"Remember my name....fame......"