Times Movie Review 11-12-09

Is That All?
By Lisa Miller

THIS IS IT
* * * * (Grade A)
Directed by Kenny Ortega
Starring Michael Jackson
Sony-Rated PG-Documentary-112 min
It seems everyone has an opinion of Michael Jackson -- the man, the songwriter, or the entertainer. However, for all that we have heard of his shocking, perhaps scandalous personal life, we've known little of Jackson's professional life -- until now.
"This Is It," prophetically billed by 50-year-old Jackson as "My final curtain call," sheds light on the process of orchestrating a spectacular stage show. Edited and directed by Kenny Ortega, "This Is It" shows Jackson working to perfect a richly complex presentation. Far from a slapdash vehicle to pay off Jackson's mounting debt (a rumored $500 million dollars), the concert represents a superb treatment of Jackson's work, one transforming the entertainer's songs into Broadway-worthy productions.
Reports that Jackson showed up for a mere handful of rehearsals are borne out in this footage. During each rehearsal he wore one outfit. In various rehearsals spliced together, he wears four different outfits. Behind the scenes Jackson was surely working hard. By the time he showed up to rehearse at the Los Angeles Staples Center, his moves conveyed the grace of one no longer needing to think them through. His physicality, while restrained, was everything audiences expected. Rather than dancing, Jackson gives the appearance of floating across the stage.
Those aware of the rumor mill may have heard Jackson was no longer able to sing. Not only do we see and hear Jackson sing in full voice and in falsetto, doing so sends the singer into minor fits. At one point, an uncharacteristic edge creeps into Jackson's voice when he admonishes his crew, "Understand, I'm warming up my voice. I need to save my throat." Less than a minute later, Jackson breaks into full voice to the delight of his star struck cast.
Onstage Jackson's leadership style is one of quietly exuding charisma that inspires the cast rather than dominates every moment. As we watch and listen to Jackson doling out orders, we begin to understand the detail-oriented vision informing his work. He explains the funky sound he seeks, or the feeling behind a pregnant pause inserted into one of his songs, or the power he senses in a rain forest bulldozer's maw snapping silently shut. Jackson was intimately acquainted with each piece of the puzzle and knew precisely how the pieces fit together.
Investors in the show wisely hired Kenny Ortega as the creative director for the concert series. Ortega, famous for directing the Opening Olympic Ceremony at Salt Lake City, agreed to also direct "This Is It," the film. Several of the show's filmed segments reveal Ortega's genius in conveying Jackson's emotional intent. In one section a little girl attempts to save her patch of rain forest from manmade destruction; in another demons and zombies flesh out Jackson's "Thriller;" in yet another, Jackson is cut into old movie classics. It is Ortega's guiding hand that adds something immeasurable to this rehearsal documentary.
The film starts off modestly. During brief interviews, the principal dancers, 11 of the 5,000 to audition, gush with enthusiasm for the project. Then Ortega cuts straight to Jackson in rehearsal. Snippets of dancers attempting to learn the entertainer's signature moves reveal them to be more difficult than they appear. While backup singers frequently rest, dancers are worked to exhaustion. When not rehearsing, they are led in Pilate workouts, or drilled in their posture, or critiqued on their work over and over again. On stage, they are charged with enhancing every move Michael makes.
My sole complaint is that fully half of Jackson's lyrics are unintelligible. It has always been so because Jackson is more concerned with the sound and the visual power of his performance than he is with the words. Fortunately, the multimedia production helps to clarify his intentions, but unless you know the lyrics to each verse, some of the nuances are lost.
In the end, the documentary is both powerfully entertaining and deeply emotional. Even Jackson's detractors are likely to lament, "Is that all there is?" Yep. This is it.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Grant Heslov
Starring Ewan McGregor, George Clooney, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Robert Patrick, Stephen Root
Overture-Rated R-Comedy-93 min
In this zany satire a news reporter becomes entangled with a secret unit of the US Military. McGregor plays Bob Wilton, a journalist working in Iraq where he befriends special ops soldier Lyn Cassady (Clooney). Wilton's new friend boasts he's a member of a military group using paranormal powers against the enemy. Under the guidance of Bill Django (Bridges), a vet-turned-New Age psychic, Cassady's training included mastering mind-control over goats. With reporter Wilton in tow, Cassady sets off on a rescue mission that takes many an unplanned twist -- all the while insisting everything is under control. Kevin Spacey shows up to sabotage the paranormal unit, though the group needs little help fouling things up.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
* * ½ (Grade B-)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins,
Robin Wright Penn
Disney-Rated PG-Animated-96 min
The beloved Charles Dickens novel has seen many film adaptations, but none to dissuade director Robert Zemeckis from trying his own using motion-capture animation. Like Tom Hanks in the disappointing "Polar Express," Jim Carrey assumes multiple acting roles as miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts of Christmas. Reportedly, Carrey also performed most his own stunts -- such as sliding down a virtual roof. Gary Oldman plays three significant parts while Bob Hoskins and Robin Wright Penn tackle two characters apiece. Disney bah-humbugged early screenings, so we can only hope Zemeckis retained tight control over his egocentric star.

THE FOURTH KIND
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton
Universal-Rated PG-13-Horror
Filmmaker Olatunde Osunsanmi claims his film is based on actual interviews with Nome, Alaska, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler. She tells of treating several clients whose tales of abduction bore eerie similarities. Further investigation revealed a 40-year history of locals gone missing, and the possibility that extraterrestrials were collecting human specimens. Mila Jovovich portrays Dr. Tyler in a documentary-style dramatization that is more jarring than frightening. Will Patton appears as a disbelieving cop who goes to any lengths disproving Tyler's otherworldly claims.

THE BOX
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Richard Kelly
Starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella
Warner-Rated PG-13-Horror-113 min
Norma and Arthur Lewis (Diaz and Marsden) are living beyond their means when a mysterious man (Langella) shows them a briefcase holding a million dollars. He promises the money is their's if they push the red button on a box he leaves in their care, but warns that along with making their fortune, pushing the button will bring death to someone from their small town. Feeling desperate, Norma succumbs to the Faustian bargain, but getting the money doesn't help the couple fight off the supernatural forces that begin closing in on them. A timeless concept gamely executed, it's too bad this horror missed out on Halloween.

CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Paul Weitz
Starring Chris Massoglia, John C Reilly, Josh Hutcherson, Ray Stevenson, Willem Dafoe, Ken Watanabe, Salma Hayek, Ray Stevenson, Patrick Fugit, Michael Cerveris
Universal-Rated PG-13-Horror-109 min
Teen boys Steve (Hutcherson) and Darren (Massoglia), attend a traveling freak show featuring vampires and werewolves. After gawking in admiration, the boys are turned into vampires and forced to choose which of two competing factions they will be a part of. One vampire group coexists peacefully with humans while the other group, calling themselves the vampaneze, is violent and dangerous. Adapted from the 12-book series by Darren Shan, the story centers around the boys' efforts to come of age even as vampires. Awash in blues and grays, the film's coveted PG-13 rating is designed to start a new supernatural franchise for teens. However, the adaptation is all set up and little pay off -- withholding the instant gratification sought by the younger set.

ASTRO BOY
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by David Bowers
Voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Samuel L. Jackson
Summit Entertainment-Rated PG-Animated-94 min
Following the tragic loss of his only son, scientist Dr. Tenma (Cage) creates weaponized robot tyke Astro as a replacement, before realizing that a robot is no substitute for a real boy. Abandoned in Metro City, a futuristic metropolis run by cyborgs programmed to serve human interests, Astro keeps company with a band of orphans that scavenge scrap metal for a living. Astro and his new friends are soon drawn into a battle with supervillain President Stone (Sutherland) and his robot minions. The film, which receives points for streamlined storytelling and action even adults can follow, is a hybrid of Asian anime and contemporary American computer animation that has a pleasant, uncluttered style.

Movie Review 10-31-09

Audiences Needn't Abide This Drivel
By Lisa Miller

LAW ABIDING CITIZEN (2009)
*1/2
Directed by F. Gary Gray
Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney, Viola Davis, Regina Hall, Michael Irby
Overture Films-Rated R-Thriller-108 min
The preposterous movie, "Law Abiding Citizen," bills itself as a thriller, a category it qualifies for if you count sadistic murders as thrilling. Serving as a motive for these killings is an imperfect judicial system that happens to have disappointed the wrong guy.
Gerard Butler, an actor blessed with the physique of an ox and face of a chipmunk, portrays Clyde Shelton, a man seemingly broken after watching a pair of home invaders rape and kill his wife and young daughter. Against Shelton's wishes and in an effort to maintain his 96% conviction rate, Assistant District Attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) makes a deal giving one perpetrator a short prison sentence in exchange for testifying against the other perpetrator.
Rice, smug in the belief he has satisfied his oath of office while simultaneously serving his own interest, doesn't know that Shelton possesses the rage, skills and long fuse necessary to punish Rice and everyone else connected with the deal.
Fast forward 10 years to the botched execution of the killer sent to death row by Rice's deal. The ADA is annoyed that someone has circumvented the system. Since Shelton is the prime suspect, Rice's assistant Sarah (Leslie Bibb) is looking into Shelton's background when the second killer, freed by Rice's deal, is found horrifically murdered in a warehouse owned by Shelton.
Though Shelton sets up and carries out this killing in person and onscreen, we learn that he is a wealthy government contractor who has made his money by designing devices to carry out assassinations from a afar. This becomes an important plot point when Shelton, arrested and incarcerated, continues his killing spree from behind bars. Shelton promises Rice that his retribution against what he believes is corrupt deal-making, is "gonna be Biblical." In carrying out the threat, the film leaves no one alive that we care about. Whether or not Rice learns the lesson Shelton intends to teach him, both the legal system and the world would be better places without either of these men mucking around in them, and the movies would better off without pointless revenge fantasies that make little effort to entertain us.

Saw VI (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Kevin Greutert
Starring Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Mark Rolston
Lionsgate-Rated R-Horror-90 min
Kevin Greutert, editor of the "Saw" films, ascends to the director's chair for this sixth installment. A rumor leaked by Lionsgate, has Cary Elwes returning to the franchise as the memorable character forced to saw off his own foot in the first film -- now seeking good old fashioned revenge. As before, diabolical puzzles compel the unwitting to either kill their companions, or harm themselves in order to escape Jigsaw's (Bell) diabolical death machines. Whether detective Hoffman (Mandylor) is or isn't responsible for Jigsaw's continuing murderous mayhem, the "Saw" films remain enviable profit generators for Lionsgate.

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Paul Weitz
Starring Chris Massoglia, John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek, Josh Hutcherson, Ray Stevenson, Willem Dafoe
Universal Pictures-Rated PG-13-Horror-108 min
Teen boys Steve (Hutcherson) and Darren (Massoglia), attend a traveling freak show featuring vampires and werewolves. After gawking in admiration, the boys are turned into vampires and forced to choose which of two competing factions they will be part of. One vampire group coexists peacefully with humans while the other group, calling themselves the vampaneze, is violent and dangerous. Adapted from the 12-book series by Darren Shan, the story centers around the boys' efforts to come of age even as vampires. Awash in blues and grays, the film's coveted PG-13 rating is designed to start a new supernatural franchise for teens. However, the adaptation is all set up and little pay off -- withholding the instant gratification sought by the younger set.

Astro Boy (2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by David Bowers
Voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Samuel L. Jackson
Summit Entertainment-Rated PG-Animated-94 min
Following the tragic loss of his only son, scientist Dr. Tenma (Cage) creates weaponized robot tyke Astro as a replacement, before realizing that a robot is no substitute for a real boy. Abandoned in Metro City, a futuristic metropolis run by cyborgs programmed to serve human interests, Astro keeps company with a band of orphans that scavenge scrap metal for a living. Astro and his new friends are soon drawn into a battle with supervillain President Stone (Sutherland) and his robot minions. The film, which receives points for streamlined storytelling and action even adults can follow, is a hybrid of Asian anime and contemporary American computer animation that has a pleasant, uncluttered style.

The Stepfather (2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Nelson McCormick
Starring Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley, Amber Heard, Jon Tenney, Sherry Stringfield, Paige Turco
Screen Gems-Rated PG-13-Horror-101 min
When Michael (Badgley) returns home from military school, he finds his newly divorced mother (Ward) living with David (Walsh), a handsome, but inappropriately behaving suitor. David's ambiguous stories motivate Michael to investigate David's past, turning up evidence that his mother's boyfriend could be a killer. If you want to be surprised then don't watch the trailer and by all means avoid the 1987 original. What we do know is that Sela Ward's characters come across as sharp and capable, so for David's sake, he'd better not be lying.

Where The Wild Things Are (2009)
* * *(Grade B)
Directed by Spike Jonze
Starring Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Berry Jr., Paul Dano, Tom Noonan
Voiced by Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini, Forest Whitaker
Warner-Rated PG-Fantasy-93 min
Max (Records), a lonely little boy, behaves mischievously and is sent to bed without dinner by his overtaxed single mother (Keener). In the privacy of his room Max magically sails away to a land filled with monstrous wild things. These strange creatures play and fight like children, but their large size means they can be extremely destructive. Using his own wild and wooly imagination, director Spike Jonze stretches Maurice Sendak's 20-page, 10-sentence children's book into a 90-minute film. Though thinly plotted, the film adaptation is both frightening and mesmerizing.

Couples Retreat (2009)
* (Grade D)
Directed by Peter Billingsley
Starring Vince Vaughn, Malin Akerman, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Peter Serafinowicz, Jean Reno, Kali Hawk, Carlos Ponce
Universal-Rated PG-13-Comedy-107 min
Three happily married couples support their divorce-bound friends, Jason (Bateman) and Cynthia (Bell), by joining them for a couples-only retreat on a tropical island. Once there, all couples are forced into invasive therapy that quickly lands even each coupling on the rocks. While some of the men plot to visit a "singles only" resort, the women find at least one man to ogle. Enough pain -- if it were deftly handled -- to fuel 10 comedies -- but there's so little love between these couples that you won't notice when it's gone or magically reappears.