SHERLOCK HOLMES: A Game of Shadows,WE BOUGHT A ZOO, plus Some Seasonal bon-bons

If you liked Robert Downey Jr. as SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)--here's more of the same. If you did not like the earlier version, then stay away from SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS because, you guessed it, it is more of the same. This new one I liked slightly better if only because the explosions and noise levels were (a bit) less, and there was actually some clever plotting this time around. I still prefer a more traditional Holmes, and even the modern Holmes mini-series on PBS is quite interesting without going so ballistic. Still, this one is diverting and lively, and sometimes that, with a bag of salty, buttery popcorn, it enough. GRADE---------B-

I wanted to admire what director Cameron Crowe was trying to do in the new film WE BOUGHT A ZOO which features the dependable Matt Damon and the adorable (my opinion) Scarlett Johannson, but he does it with soooooo many cliches and obvious songs on the nearly continuous soundtrack that I got quite annoyed by the end. Based on a true story, but transplanted from France to southern California (!), widowed Matt Damon uproots his two kids and moves them from city life to the distant country side where the closest store is a (big BIG obvious plug) Walmart. Oh yes, and did you figure out the house sits on the property of a large nearly neglected zoo! So the plot asks, rather dully, will the kids adapt to their new surroundings, will Matt fall in love with the zoo keeper, will the motley crew of zoo workers be able to open the zoo by summer to ward off impending bankruptcy, and will people come to see the zoo if it opens. The answer to all these probing questions is------SPOILER ALERT--------yes. GRADE-------C+

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DVD CHOICES

I hadn't seen DERSU UZALA (1975) since it first came out, and surprisingly I didn't remember a single scene from it. It is a subtle and engrossing tale of Uzala, a hunter of the Goldi tribe who meets and befriends a small group of Russian surveyors, and acts as their guide through the wilds of Siberia. The film creates an intimate portrayal of the friendship between two very diverse lifestyles, and in spite of a DVD which had large black borders on all sides reducing the image to half the size of my TV screen, I was enthralled.
DERSU UZALA (1975)------GRADE-------A-

While watching some extras on the DVD for MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947), I learned that the FOX executives had no faith in the success of MIRACLE, they had no idea how to promote it, and they opened it in June!!!! It became a big hit and played in theatres through Christmas that year. It is interesting that this "family" film deals with issues of drunkenness, cynicism, insanity, broken families, and other serious themes, which is similar to the grimness on displayed in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, also 1947, but LIFE didn't find any favor or popularity until it was revived several times in the 1970's. Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn plays a Macy's Santa who is put on trail to defend his sanity, because he claims to be the real Santa, and in spite of the serious themes, there a lot of memorable holiday scenes, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was filmed live, the amusing scenario which has competing retail store sending their clients to other stores if they don't carry what the customer wants, and the wonderful young Natalie Wood as the cynical girl who doesn't believe in Christmas. WONDERFUL LIFE and MIRACLE on 34TH ST provide a potent one two punch for holiday themed films.
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)-----GRADE-----B+(IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE-----A)

Another film released the following year called TENTH AVENUE ANGEL (1948), hoping to cash in on the cynical little girl theme, features Margaret O'Brien as an 8 year old girl living in the slums of NYC, who tries to keep her aunt (Angela Lansbury) and her ex-con boyfriend from drifting apart. The film lacks the gravitas of WONDERFUL LIFE and MIRACLE/34TH ST, but it has some charm and sweetness. There is a scene near the end featuring a cow.......that started my tear ducts to overflow. Sometimes all it takes is one special scene to really elevate a film.
10TH AVE ANGEL (1948)---------GRADE-------B-

It covers many seasons, but director Busby Berkeley's (rather restrained, for him) film FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942) is best known for the leading-man debut of Gene Kelly, and his lovely teaming with the terrific Judy Garland. This story of two young burlesque players trying to make the big time is an old chestnut, but it is watchable for the many duets between the two. There is a remarkable scene about two thirds through which features a young soldier leaving a nightclub and going off to war. It is the most moving moment in the film, in spite of the cliche---another scene that keeps this film from getting lost in a sea of modest musicals.
FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942)---------GRADE-----B-

There are at least five film versions of Victor Hugo's novel LES MISERABLES (1935) but this one struck me as being quite strong and faithful, if a bit rushed, in telling the story of petty thief Fredrick March who tries to put his life back together, but is hounded by the moralistic police inspector Charles Laughton for years. It made me want to see the musical LES MIZ again.
LES MISERABLES (1935)---------GRADE------B-

Wishing all my readers a happy CINEMATIC HOLIDAY. I hope to be writing again soon with reviews of WAR HORSE, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, GIRL/DRAGON TATTOO, TINTIN, SOLDIER TAILOR etc, THE ARTIST, and more.