Possibly the most beautiful looking piece of cinema you will see this year is Ang Lee's new film LIFE OF PI, based on a novel about a young boy named PI who grows up searching for his spirituality, losing his family during an amazingly intense tragedy at sea, and finding some peace through his intense experience alone with a Bengal tiger while lost in the ocean. Whether or not he wins a second Oscar for this film (his first win was for the heartbreaking BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 2007), this film is a visual feast of color, images, sights, thoughtful special effects and amazing action. He conquers the BIG THREE issues that most directors always want to avoid----handling child actors, dealing with animals, and filming on water. It's a most impressive job. The long center of the film, mostly on the water, is stunningly lucid and exciting. (I don't really like the 3-D experience--it hurts my eyes, so I saw this in regular 2-D, but I can't wait to try the 3-D version.) Where the film dims a bit is the bookended set up and conclusion which shows the adult Pi telling his life story to a reporter--it isn't bad, just seems rather ordinary when compared to the other 90% of the film. Still, it isn't every film that attempts to capture spiritual growth in a young boy, AND features the most amazing scenes of being lost at sea ever filmed. For the mature film-goer it's intelligent and moving. For the novice, it's still a great thrill. GRADE------A
Speaking of incredibly beautiful cinematography and images, the documentary CHASING ICE has the thrills to match. Taking it's theme from Al Gore's ground breaking film AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (2006) which warns of the dangers of global warming, CHASING ICE focuses mostly on ice bergs and ice covered continents, following a group of researchers as they specifically and photographically chart the quickly disappearing ice and speculate on the dangers to the environment. How any one can watch this amazing film and still doubt that global warming is a SERIOUS threat to mankind is truly living in their own demented world. GRADE-------A
Unique, quirky, edgy, and funny, the oddly entertaining SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is a well acted family drama which features Bradley Cooper as a recently released mental patient who was jailed for seriously assaulting his wife's lover. He hooks up with a family friend's widowed daughter who has her own issues, and the film slowly shows us how adjustments to relationships are necessary to achieve true friendship and love and respect. His father, strongly portrayed by Robert deNiro, has also had problems with violence (he's permanently banned from the Philadelphia Eagle's stadium for beating up fellow fans), and the family is living on the brink of bankruptcy. The real surprise here is Jennifer Lawrence as his odd new girlfriend---she's had a big year since WINTER BONES (2010) made her a name and THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) made her a star. I never knew just where this film was heading, and it cannot be pigeon holed, but I enjoyed the ride. GRADE------A-
Attention all Gleeks! You know who you are. (I'm one of you, too.) The new film comedy PITCH PERFECT which opened in early October and has been playing ever since with lovely legs (cinematic slang for longevity) is a lot of fun, and plays alot like TV's GLEE---except it takes place in college. It has a lot of characters, music, gags, and laughs, and on the sleeve dramatics, and while it suffers a bit by being compared to GLEE--it is still a funny, fun popcorn movie. I especially enjoyed the double entrende banter between the hilarious Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins as the moderators of the glee competitions. GRADE--------B
A modest but engrossing French thriller, THE BIG PICTURE starts out with a familiar set-up, as a family man discovers that his bored wife is having an affair with a handsome neighbor. A tragic accident changes his life soon after, and he sets out to "start over" with mixed results. The film is a "slow burner" but well acted. It features Romain Duris, Niels Arestrup and Cathrine Deneuve. GRADE-------B
DVD MOVIE OPTIONS-------
I remember seeing THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE when it played in 1969 at the Guild 45 theatre in Seattle on a double bill with the excellent IF.......... I knew nothing of the film or it's star Maggie Smith, and it was playing 2nd. It was a question as to whether or not the 4 of us high school buddies would stick around for it. It turned out to be one of those jaw dropping experiences watching Miss Smith--she transfixed me like she did to her students. The film is smartly directed by Ronald Neame, who died in 2010 at age 99 after an illustrious career as cinematographer (including BLITHE SPIRIT 1945, THIS HAPPY BREED 1944, and IN WHICH WE SERVE 1942) and writer and director (including HOPSCOTCH 1980, POSEIDON ADVENTURE 1972, GAMBIT 1966, I COULD GO ON SINGING 1963 etc). But above all, it is Maggie Smith's pinnacle, and she's had quite a few. The script has some of the greatest zingers ever written, and Maggie Smith delivers them with her infamous pithy delivery. I know most of the dialogue by heart. Here are some of my favorite lines:
Jean Brodie: Sandy, please try to do as I say and not as I do. Remember, you are a child, Sandy, and far from your prime.
J B: For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.
J B: Safety does not come first. Goodness, truth and beauty come first.
J B: P-E-T-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. Petrification! I do not intend to devote my prime to petrification.
Teddy Lloyd: A man with a wife and six children plus a schoolgirl for a mistress can be called any number of rude names, but "coward" is not one of them.
J B: Six inches is perfectly adequate. More is vulgar!
Mary McGregor: I saw them kissing!----together!
J B: Little girls. I am in the business of putting old heads on young shoulders, and all my pupils are the creme de la creme. Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she is mine for life.
GRADE----------A
The French thriller classic DIABOLIQUE 1954 is in the Hitchcock vein, more suspense and less grotesque violence. It's a clever conceit, but if you've never seen it you will recognize the plot that has been rehashed in dozens of more recent suspense thrillers. A wife and her husband's mistress try to kill the brutal husband, but he may or may not be dead. GRADE------B+
It's not great Hitchcock, and I felt that Gregory Peck is misscast as a dynamo lawyer in London who falls in love with his client, a mysterious woman accused of murdering her husband. The PARADINE CASE (1947) is very talky, and the last half is all set in court. There are a number of interesting scenes, and Ethel Barrymore has a small but effective role as the mousy wife of the magistrate (Charles Laughton, at his hammy best). Even Hitchcock in the interview he did with Peter Bagdonovitch admits that the film has a lot of flaws and he didn't like the editing and story. GRADE--------B-
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