Top of the list for films seen in theatres this past 2 weeks start off with a repeat viewing of THE HOBBIT, first seen last December, but still as entertaining and enthralling as ever. My only complaint is the segment near the end inside the mountain where the hideous goblins live--there is so much running around (in fact, this is the third time that Gandolf the wizard has yelled to the dwarfs---"RUN!), swinging from rickety bridge to rickety bridge, and surviving the most deadly of falls of what seems like thousands of feet down rocky cliffs, that it feels more like a video game than a serious battle. I do enjoy that first meeting with Gollum where he plays cat and mouse games with Bilbo on the lake, which is inter cut with all that running around, but still, enough running around please. But a cinematic pleasure is not to be taken lightly, and the fantasy world created by Peter Jackson and company is still one of the great pleasures from last year. GRADE-------A-
Viewed last September at Vancouver International Film Festival, comes a small film with some hypnotic powers called LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE, a new film by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostaini, filmed in Tokyo. A student who prostitutes herself at night is sent to an academic elderly client out in the suburbs who seems more interested in feeding her and playing house, and she finds herself strangely drawn to him, rather than her immature boy friend who seems to have violent reactions to her seeming disinterest in him. Not a lot happens, but the tension is sustained and you feel the coming together of two diverse souls as a very positive thing. GRADE-------B+
You might think the main reason for seeing THE QUARTET is that the great Maggie Smith (PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE) is featured as "the DIVA" and gets her share of witty lines, as in her superb role in TV's DOWNTON ABBEY, so it is a lovely surprise to find that, yes, indeed she gets some great lines, but the three other actors who are part of THE QUARTET are equally delightful. Pauline Collins (best known for her stage and film performance as SHIRLEY VALENTINE), Billy Connolly (best known for MRS BROWN) and Tom Courtney (with a career stretching back to DR ZHIVAGO and beyond) are all working on all cylinders. Even though the plot is rather slim and leisurely predictable, it is an extreme pleasure watching these great actors go through their paces. Another wonderful reason for seeing this film---it's set in a retirement home for aging musicians, and most of the bit parts are played by actual music greats from the past. GRADE---B
Seen at last years SIFF, the Gothic film THE MONK is set in Madrid during the 17th century. A highly religious and popular monk has his spirituality tested by the arrival of a strange younger monk wearing a mask. Soon he finds that the devil is his real challenge. This is a superior melodrama based on a novel, and featuring good production values. I found it luridly fascinating. GRADE------B
Directed by Niels Arden Oplev of the Swedish THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, and starring Noomi Rapace (from that same film) the new want-to-be noir crime thriller DEAD MAN DOWN has some interesting, watchable scenes and the actors are compelling in sort of an over wrought manner, but the plot is convoluted and contains some big contrivances that don't make much sense. Dominic Cooper, Isabelle Hubert, Terrance Howard and Colin Farrell all make a good impression, and it's not a dull film--it just doesn't all come together like it should, plus it opens and closes with a couple of outrageously violent and bloody scenes that stretch credibility. GRADE-----C+
In the mid 1960's, a rogue atomic submarine is missing from the Russian arsenal and a power struggle ensues on board that might set off a nuclear war with the United States. The new film PHANTOM has all the right set up, and the cast (headed by Ed Harris, David Duchovney and William Fitchner) are up for the task. Unfortunately, the script feels leaden and familiar (think K-19, HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, BEDFORD INCIDENT, RUN SILENT RUN DEEP and dozens of other better films), the direction is just adequate and the entire film reeks of mediocrity. It is incredibly AVERAGE. GRADE------C
The following films were viewed on DVD during the last two weeks.
Set in a small, picturesque Peruvian fishing village, this dramatic, forbidden love/ghost story called UNDERTOW (2010) is handled with realism and an unbiased approach. The actors are beautiful and subtle, the setting and photography are stunning, and the film builds into a powerful and emotional ending. It works as an excellent cross between GHOST and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. GRADE---------A-
We usually watch this film THE REF (1994) during the Christmas season as an antidote to the saccharine films that usually appear, but it is a riot at any time of the year. Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis play a long suffering married couple who can't stop bickering, even when they are "kidnapped" by a vulgar local thief (Denis Leary) on Christmas Eve just before the acerbic mother-in-law (Glyns Johns)is showing up for dinner with her disfuncional family. The script is witty and nasty, and I enjoy this hilarious film every time I watch it. GRADE-------A-
An enjoyable if fantastic Studio Ghibli animated film SPIRITED AWAY (2001) has a young girl loosing her parents (they are turned into pigs after eating too much pork!) and being sent to a fantasy world where she is forced to work in a bathhouse which services some very bizarre ghosts and spirits. The film is a trip without the drugs, yet has such creative creatures and a persuasive sense of innocence that it casts a strong and satisfying spell. It is reminiscent of a very dark and perverse ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but totally unique in and of itself. GRADE-------A-
Based on the popular stage play of the 1940's, David Lean's film by writer Noel Coward called BLITHE SPIRIT (1945) is witty and amusing even by today's standards. Dashing Rex Harrison plays the newly remarried husband who inadvertently conjures up his dead ex-wife's ghost during a seance held by a would be mystic played with her usual aplomb and wit by Margaret Rutherford. He is the only one who can see the ghost, so there are a lot of misunderstandings between his new wife and his ghost ex-wife. The dialogue is quite bemusing at times, and always quite clever. The ending surprised me, in spite of the fact I'd seen this film several years ago. GRADE------B+
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