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► THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
(PG) T he first of Steven Spielbergs
two holiday 2011 entries is already a
hit m Europe Merges Belgian globe
trotter. Tinlin, and Captain Haddock
are in search of sunken ship in this
MoCap'd CGI adventure. The teaming
of Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who
is producing (and has signed on to
direct a sequel), is nearly as exciting
os a script by Stephen Moffat ( Doctor
Who"). Edgar Wright and hot new
comer Joe Cornish, whose Attack the
Block was one of my tavorite surprises
of 2011
ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS:
CHIPWRECKED (G) Come on. Fox'
If you're going to keep releasing new
Chipmunks entries each holiday
season, the least you can do is make
a Christmas-themed movie featuring
the furry trio's classic holiday tunes
Instead. Alvin. Simon, Theodore, the
Chipettes and Dave (poor, paycheck
cashing Jason Lee) start out on a
cruise ship and wind up on a deserted
island Judging by the boffo box office
of the previous two features p! jS the
young audience's reaction to the new
pics trailer, Chipwrecked should pro
vide its studio with some holiday cheer.
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (PG) I'm a
sucker lor a good, creative, behind-the-
holiday-scenes sequence (Hop boasts
a good one), and Arthur Christmas
opens with a doozy But this charm
ing holiday surprise—coming from
Aardman Studios—keeps charming as
it delightfully recounts the Christmas
Eve adventure of Santas younger son.
After another successful, hi-tech run
masterminded like a military operation
by Santa's oldei son. Steve (v Hugh
Laurie) Arthur (v. James McAvoy)
discovers one little girl was missed. In
a last-minute effort to save Christmas
tor that little girl. Arthur his Grandsanta
(v. Bill Nighy) and elfin wrapping
specialist Bryony (v Ashley Jensen.
Ricky Gervais's ' Extras") fire up the old
sleigh, hitch up the eight famous rein
deer and attempt to fly to England Brits
just get Christmas, and the animation
gurus at Aardman. best known for
Wallace and Gromit have conjured up
a loveiy. happy holiday film
THE DARKEST HOUR (PG-13)
Aliens invade Moscow, and five
Americans (including Rachael Taylor,
the ever-inventive Emile Hirsch, Juno's
Olivia Thirlby and Max Minghella)
must fight to survive Wanted direc
tor Timur Bekmambetov is becoming
Russia's answer to that Gallic purveyor
of international sci-fi action. Luc
Besson. The flick is the sophomore
effort from Tulane alum Chris Gorak, an
art director who apprenticed under an
impressive resume of directors (David
Fincher, the Coen Brothers and Terry
Giiliam) Moscow's exotic environs
Strangely intrigue, despite the familiar
ity of the scenario
DOLPHIN TALE (PG) I am not a
sucker for sentimental animal mov
ies Were I then I am sure Dolphin
Tale would have fit the bill. A lonely
' ^-year-old, Sawyer (Nathan Gamble)
,;-$r:ues a dolphin (real tail-less dol-
Warier, as herself) caughl in a
•r: trap. With the help of j mar'lie vet
tij f ry G muck Jr). his daughter (Coz:
.ehisuorfti and a doctor who speciat-
. -s in prosthetics (Morgan Freeman)
Sawyer helps save the dolphin by
fashioning a fake appendage Money
woes, a hurricane and the fish's own
dislike of potential new tails confound
the boy's attempts.
EXTREMELY LOUD AND
INCREDIBLY CLOSE (PG-13) A
young boy ("Teen Jeopardy" champion
Thomas Horn in his acting debut)
named Oskar searches for the lock that
matches the mysterious key left behind
by his father (Tom Hanks), who died in
the World Trade Center on September
11 Academy Award winner Eric Roth
(Forrest Gump) adapts the Jonathan
S Foer novel for three-time Academy
Award nominated director Stephen
Daldry (Billy Elliot. The Hours and The
Reader); that's what we call a pedigreed
film.
FOOTLOOSE (PG-13) Let's go ahead
and dispel any thoughts that the Kevin
Bacon slarrer is somehow above being
remade Whal Hustle & Flow filmmaker
Craig Brewer has done in remaking the
seminal '80s flick is impressive Brewer
relocates the dance banning town of
Bomonl from Oklahoma to Georgia,
adding another film to Brewer's resume
of intriguing cinematic stories about
the New South Ren MacCormack
(Kenny Wormatd. looking like he
transferred from Rydell High) migrates
south to live with his aunt and uncle
(Kim Dickens and scene-stealing Ray
McKinnon, an Adel native and Oscar
winner). There he runs afoul of Rev.
Shaw Moore (Dermis Quaid). who
instituted the dancing ban after his
son died in a car accident, and woos
Moore's beautiful, troubled daughter.
Ariel (Julianne Hough, “Dancing with
the Stars") Brewer s movie has a nice
rhythm and does tire South more
justice than any other major Hollywood
release.
THE HELP (PG-13) Every black ser
vant is a saint, every white employer
a demon College-educated Eugenia
‘ Skeeter Phelan (the extremely likable
Emma Stone!) comes home to Jackson
to save its minority population through
bestselling pop liction. She collects the
stories of long-serving maids Aibileen
(Viola Davis). Minny (Octavia Spencer;
and more into an illegal (in 1960s
Mississippi) tome that scandalizes the
gentry.
HUGO (PG) Oh, to be an orphan liv
ing in an early-20th-century clock!
Despite its near perfection, this 3D
family film—Martin Scorsese's first-
may be the loveliest wide release to
struggle to find its audience this year
Yet it's no wonder Scorsese, himself
a film historian as well as a film lover,
decided lo adapt Brian Selznicks The
Invention of Hugo Cabret. whose
central mystery revolves around an
early cinematic master Parisian orphan
Hugo (Asa Butterfield), who lives
inside the clocktnwer of the train sta
tion seeks the answer to a mysterious
automaton, tell unsolved by his late
father and clockmaker (Jude Law), with
the help of a toymaker named Georges
(Ben Kingsley) and his charge. Isabelle
(Chloe Grace Moretz) Knowledgeable
cinephiles will be enthralled by
Selzmcks story, wonderful, adapted
ay Oscar-nominated scribe Johr
Logan which * reluse to spoil, and
enchanted by the legendary lilmmaxer's
gorgeous imagery, which conjures
memories ot Amelie. Sadly, the family
audiences that ensured the existence
of a third Alvin and the Chipmunks will
not be Hocking to this thoughtful, liter
ary two-plus-hour masterpiece, easily
one of this cinema great's best pictures
IN TIME (PG-13) Gattaca writer-
director Andrew Niccol tweaks the
sci-fi genre again with this take on
Logan's Run. In a future world, every
one is genetically engineered fo stop
aging at 25. To ward oft oveicrowding,
people are also designed to only live to
26. In this ageless new sociely. a man
accused of murder (Justin Timberlake)
goes on the lam with a pretty hostage
(Amanda Seyfried. Mamma Mia!)
With Olivia Wilde. Alex Pettyfer. Cillian
Murphy, Johnny Galecki and Vincenl
Kartheiser (“Mad Men").
JACK AND JILL (PG) Adam Sandier
must have thought the fake movies
from Funny People had real potential to
have signed on for this pitiful comedy
where he plays both Jack Sadelstein
and his twin sisler, Jill. They key to the
entire one-joke movie is that Sandler
makes an ugly woman
MARGIN CALL (R) A thriller about
the financial crisis. Margin Call follows
some key players at an investment
banking firm during a 24-hour period
near the beginning of the financial
meltdown. Whoever J C. Chandor is,
the Golden Berlin Bear-nominated,
first-lime feature filmmaker corralled
a hell of a cast Kevin Spacey, Paul
Bettany, Jeremy Irons. Zachary Quinto,
Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi
Moore and Stanley Tucci all appear. But
can Chandor, who also wrote Ihe film,
make the most of this massive collec
tion ot talent?
MELANCHOLIA (R) Apparently.
Europe has forgiven renowned film
maker/provocateur Lars von Trier for
his lailed Nazi joke (one hopes), as his
masterful new film took top prize at the
European Film Awards It's the end of'
the world as the Dane knows it, and
Justine (Cannes Best Aclress Kirsten
Dunst in her bravest performance to
date), a sometimes blushing, mostly
depressed bride, is getting married
while a mysterious new planet threat
ens fo collide with Earth Starting with
the stunning, nearly 10-minute open
ing montage, von Trier has composed
an extravagant, mature meditation on
the apocalypse both personal and
planetary and it is beautiful to behold
Tne Danish firebrand loves putting his
female leads, boln actress and charac
rer through the paces and Meianchol.a
s no mlferent Fortunately. Antichrist
aciea like a colonic, cleansing von Trier
of his worst tendencies and allowing
him to produce a product of incompa
rable purity Visually the two pictures
are kin; thematically and emotionally,
they could not be any more distinct.
He might have doomed these two
sisters (Dunst and Antichrist's warrior
Charlotte Gainsbourg). but hopefully
their end marks a brilliant new cin
ematic beginning lor him.
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (PG-13) Owen
Wilson stars as the latest Woody
stand-in, Gil, a Hollywood hack trying
to finish a novel while on a business
trip to Paris with his fiancee's (Rachel
McAdams) family. On a magical
midnight walk. Gil runs into Scott
and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston
and Alison Pill), gets writing advice
trom Papa Hemingway (Corey Stoll)
and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and
falls tor Picasso's girlfriend, Adriana
(Marion Cotillard).
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST
PROTOCOL (PG-13) When the IMF
is implicated in the bombing of the
Kremlin, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and
his team must clear their name while
on Ihe run. Brad Bird, director of ani
mated standouts The Incredibles and
The Iron Giant, transitions to live action
with the fourth entry in Cruise's sur
prisingly still viable franchise. Several
of the action sequences were shot-for-
IMAX, so this flick might be the one to
see on the BIG big screen. With Paula
Patton, Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner,
Michael Nyqvisl, Josh "Sawyer"
Holloway and Tom Wilkinson.
THE MUPPETS (PG) You can tell
cowriter-star Jason Segel loves Ihe
Muppets. His reboot of Jim Henson's
lovable puppets is built with obvious
love and understanding of what made
their 1979 film debut so special. Gary
(Segel), his puppet brother. Walter,
and Gary's longtime girlfriend. Mary
(Amy Adams) travel to Los Angeles,
where they discover a plot to destroy
the Muppet Theater by oil tycoon Tex
Richman (Oscar winner Chris Cooper).
Together they help Kermit reunite the
old gang—Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Gonzo,
et at.—to put on a telethon in order to
raise the money needed to buy back
the property Self-referential with a joke
.alio that favors adults two-to-one (a
Muppet staple), some terrific songs by
one half of Flight of Ihe Conchords and
a bevy of celebrity cameos, this film
revives the Muppets as you remember
them.
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (R)
Michelle Williams sta's as the legend
ary blonde bombshell in this drama
tization of Marilyn and Sn Laurence
Oliviers tense relationship while
tilming The Prince and the Showgir!
The film is based on the accounts
of Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne),
who was employed by Olivier at the
time. The rest of the cast sounds fun;
Julia Ormond plays Vivien Leigh and
Kenneth Branagh is Olivier However,
director Simon Curtis has done most of
his work on the small screen.
NEW YEAR’S EVE (PG-13) Almost
every actor you could possibly recog
nize appears in the second, two-hour
holiday party thrown by director Garry
Marshall. (Scratch that. No Julia.) At
least Valentine's Day had a semblance
to what normal people might expect on
Feb. 14. The folks preparing to ring in
2012 (dating it could sorely limit this
flick's already weak repeat watchability)
aren t doing a single thing you or I
do, unless you cater swank New York
parties while arguing with your music
superstar boyfriend (naturally played
by Jon Bon Jovi). This movie feels
crafted by the celebrity-worshipping
cult of E!
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (R) I
cannot think of another horror franchise
as chronologically interesting. Oren
Peli's scary 2007 blockbuster occurred
last, ending without the typical survi
vor. Then, rather than have demonic
Katie terrorize some unsuspecting
family, the series’ creative minds chose
to go backwards. Consider PA3 the
origin story, revealing the footage, shot
in 1988 by their mother's boyfriend.
Dennis, that explains why sisters Katie
and Kristy continue to be haunted.
Catfish filmmakers Henry Joost and
Ariel Schulman, working from a script
by Paranormal Activity 2's Christopher
Landon, up the action ante. Just plain
more happens in PA3. without chang
ing the series' less-is-more-scary
attitude. If the first and second movies
scared you. the third will. too.
•SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME
OF SHADOWS (PG-13) Much like its
2009 predecessor, Sherlock Holmes: A
Game of Shadows is a perfectly forget
table crowdpleaser. Robert Downey, Jr
revisits his hyper-bordering-on-manic,
streetfighting master sleuth, this time
tasked with defeating his literary arch-
nemesis, Professor James Moriarty
(the appropriate Jared Harris of AMC's
"Mad Men"). Assisted as always by Dr.
John Watson (Jude Law, again a game
companion to Downey). Holmes is also
joined by his brother, Mycroft (Stephen
Fry), Watson’s new wife (Kelly Reilly)
and a gypsy fortune teller (Noomi
Rapace, best known as the original
Lisbeth Salander). Director Guy
Ritchie coats everything in his usual
super-stylish action sheen, lending
the movie a surfeit of style, minus that
pesky substance that might give the
flick the little literary weight that could
make this a classic reimagining of Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous
creation. No ticket buyers should leave
disappointed, unless they expect an
entertainment satiation more enduring
than the original.
THE SITTER (R) This surprisingly
semi-sweet comic confection from
director David Gordon Green in his
cinematic equivalent to a rubber match
(he won big with Pineapple Express;
he got blown cut by the disappoint
ing Your Highness: The Sitter is the
deciding third comedy neete a better
trail? Jonah Hiil's-Noan Griffith is a
lot nirer of a dude than he or the trailer
let uii, and that liability saves Ihe
movie from descending into the Danny
This is a newspaper. They use them for packing material.
McBriuv, i(jii U1 otll
loathing and asshole-ishness. Tasked
with babysitting three miserable kids—
anxiety-ridden Slater (Max Records ot
Where the Wild Things Are), makeup-
drenched. celeb-worshipper Blithe
(Landry Bender) and Salvadoran foster
kid Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez)—this
irresponsible slacker goes on a big city
adventure just to get laid Hill, the kids
and the rock-solid Sam Rockwell, keep
the concept and gags, most of which
expired in 1990. fresh for the flick's 80
brief minutes, while the quirky refer
ences (Gymkata. Alyssa Milano's work
out video, etc.) and sweet electronic
score evoke the '80s action vibe ot the
movies Green, Hill, me and the rest of
The Sitter's target audience grew up
on. Still, Green needs lo make another
critical darling before he blows through
his entire stash ot goodwill.
THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING
DAWN-PART 1 (PG-13) Stephenie
Meyer's extremely popular teen-vamp-
romance took a surreal turn in the
fourth book. Bella (Kristen Stewart)
and Edward (Robert Pattinson) finally
marry. On the honeymoon, Bella
becomes pregnant with a thing that
should not be. Now the Cullens are
caught between the Quileute wolves
and the ancient Volturi, both of whom
are threatened by this unknown new
adversary.
WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) This
movie just generates some odd feel
ings. A movie directed by Cameron
Crowe and starring Matt Damon,
Scarlett Johansson and Thomas Haden
Church sounds like a serious win
ner, but then there’s the title. A dad
(Damon) moves his family to Southern
California to renovate a struggling zoo.
The Devil Wears Prada scripter Aline
Brosh McKenna and Crowe relocate
Benjamin Mee’s memoir from England
to SoCal. Some say a similar move
didn't affect High Fidelity; I'm not one
of those folks.
•YOUNG ADULT (R) I know it's a
bit de rigueur to dislike Diablo Cody
(Juno), but her latest collaboration with
Jason Reitman, one of the best new
comic directors of the past decade,
should win back some of the Academy-
Award-winning scribe's fickle fans. As
the ghost writer of a popular Sweet
Valley High ripoff, high school hottie
Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) escaped
her tiny hometown of big-box stores
and chain restaurants to live a chic
life in Ihe "Mini-apple," i.e., watching
loads of E! and guzzling Diet Coke
straight trom the two-liter after a hard
night's drinking Now she returns to her
old kingdom to gel her former beau,
Buddy Slade (Patrick Wilson), back,
despite his happy marriage and new
born daughter. Fortunately, she runs
into Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt), a
former classmate crippled by a vicious
beating, who applies his wicked humor
and insight to Mavis' desperate plan.
Young Adult may not be as perfectly
balanced a comic drama as Reitman's
last two Oscar nominees, but it is as
well-cast. Theron and Oswalt own the
film and deserve the nominations they
will not receive; if Hollywood were a
perfect place, this role would finally
catapult Oswalt onto the A-list.
YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE (NR)
2010. When Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe (Alexander Fehling) falters in
the legal path chosen for him by his
father, the aspiring poet is relegated to
a small German town where he falls for
Lotte (Miriam Stein), who, as always,
is promised to another man Winner of
the German Film Awards Prize in Gold
for Best Makeup, Young Goethe was
also up for their Most Outstanding Film
prize, the tilm was also nominated tor
the Palm Springs Internationa! Film
Festival's Audience Award for Best
Narrative Feature.
Drew Wheeler
8
FLAGPOLE.COM-DECEMBER 21. 2011
