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•THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN
(PG) Going in, ail I knew of Herge's
teenage/young-adult adventurer was
his hair and his dog. Thank you.
Steven Spielberg, producing partner
Peter Jackson and a grand writing team
ol "Doctor Who"'s Stephen Moffat.
Shaun ol the Deads Edgar Wright and
Attack the Blocks Joe Cornish for
introducing me to such an exciting
little junior Indiana Jones in your big-
screen, motion-capture holiday treat,
Tintin (Jamie Bell), his doy Snowy
and constantly tipsy Captain Haddock
(the Mozart of MoCap. Andy Serkis)
heaa off in search of the lost treasure
of Captain Haddock's ancestor, with
evil Mr Sakhanne (Daniel Craig) in
hot pursuit. Tintin is the kind of family
movie to have/borrow a kid for It's fun
for children and adults, like the family
affairs of Spielberg's 70s. '80s and
early-'90s heyday (with an Indy-like
soundtrack from the composer of
my childhood. Mr John Williams)
Considering Pixar gave us the merely
mortal Cars 2 this year, Tintin is far
and away my pick for Best Animated
Feature of the year, but only in its intri
cately impossible action does it seem
animated Tintin should rightfully be
hailed as the family film of the year
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 botfo box office
of the previous two features plus the
young audience's reaction to the new
pic s nailer. Chipwreckedshould pro
vide its studio with some holiday cheer
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS (PG)l m a
sucker for a good, creative, behind-the-
holiday-scenes sequence (Wop 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 older son, Steve (v Hugh
Laurie) Arthur (v James McAvoy)
discovers one little girl was missed In
a last-minute effort to save Christmas
for that little girl. Arthur, his Grandsanta
(v Bill Nighy) and elfin wrapping
specialist Bryony (v Ashley Jensen,
Ricky Gervais's Extras") tire 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 coniured up
a lovely, happy holiday film
CARNAGE (R) Roman Polanski directs
Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph
Waltz and John C Reilly in a family
dramedy I'm game Two sets of parents
(Foster and Reilly, Winslet and Waltz)
set up a friendly meeting to discuss
their sons' schoolyard tiff I can't wait to
see where that discussion goes wrong.
Polanski and playwright Yazmina
Reza update her one-act play, Godot
Carnage, whose popular Broadway
incarnation starred James Gandolfini,
Marcia Gay Harden, Jeff Daniels and
Hope Davis. Polanski's son, Elvis,
plays one of the boys.
COURAGEOUS (PG-13) First, the
nice things The technical skills
of director Alex Kendrick and the
folks (they are from Albany) behind
Sherwood Baptist's latest evangelical
epic have vastly improved since their
breakthrough hit, Facing the Giants
On a completely technical level, you'd
never know you were not watching a
Hollywood production about four law
enforcement officers forced to face
themselves as men and lathers after a
tragedy I've seen several Hollywood
hits that looked worse (direction,
cinematography, editing, etc ). Now the
bad The talent in front of the camera
still reeks of amateurism Awkward
reaction shots and line deliveries of
stilted homilies and forced proverbs
mar the professional Hollywood slick
production values
DIE HARD (R) 1988 Arguably the
greatest action movie and the greatest
Christmas movie rolled into one, Die
Hard provided the comparative logline
for a thousand spec scripts. "It's like
Die Hard in a ." John McClane
(Bruce Willis) fights baddies led by
Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber during the
company Christmas party at Nakatomi
Plaza. Director John McTiernan
established himself as an A-list action
helmer Hone of the sequels have been
able to recapture the magic of the origi
nal, though they keep trying (A Good
Day to Die Hard is slated for 2013).
DOLPHIN TALE (PG) I am not a
sucker for sentimental animal mov
ies Were I. then I am sure Dolphin
fete would have fit the bill A lonely
12-year-old. Sawyer (Nathan Gamble),
rescues a dolphin (real tail-less dol
phin. Winter, as herself) caught in a
crab trap. With the help ot a marine vet
(Harry Conmck Jr), his daughter (Cozi
Zuehlsdorff) and a doctor who special
izes in prosthetics (Morgan Freeman).
Sawyer helps save the dolphin by
fashioning a fake appendage \
FOOTLOOSE PG go ahead
and dispel any thoughts that the Kevin
Bacon starrer is somehow above being
remade What Hustle & f/mvfilmmaker
Craig Brewer has done in remaking the
seminal '80s flick is impressive Brewer
relocates the dance banning town of
Bomont from Oklahoma to Georgia
adding another film to Brewer's resume
ot intriguing cinematic stories about
the New South.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON
TATTOO (R) Stieg Larsson may have
created Lisbelh Salander, but David
Fincher and the bold Rooney Mara
have made her a big-screen icon. (No
offense to Noomi Rapace's Lisbeth.
but Mara's movie is loads better.)
Fincher dangerously retains Larsson's
wicked, violent, European sexuality for
Hollywood's adaptation of the first book
in the Millennium Trilogy Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) enlists
the help of the titular tattooed (and
multiply pierced) girl, a ward ot the
state who might be a psychopath but is
certainly a genius, to solve a decades
old murder Readers of the novel will
marvel at how smartly screenwriter
Steven Zaillian jettisons the novel's
clunky points to streamline the central
mystery (who killed Harriet Vanger?)
and posit a new one (who is Lisbeth
Salander?). Top-notch performances,
red slashes of humor and Fincher's
masterful control of style (the stunning
opening credits imply some twisted
mix of Bond and bondage) propel
the film with a badass energy, fed by
Academy Award winning composers,
Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose.
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 Stonet) comes home to Jackson
to save its minority population through
bestselling pop fiction She collects the
stories of long-serving maids Aibiieen
(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 dock 1
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 its no wonder Scorsese, himself
a film historian as well as a film lover,
decided to adapt Brian Selznick's The
Invention ot Hugo Cabret, whose
central mystery revolves around an
early cinematic master Parisian orphan
Hugo (Asa Butterfield), who lives
inside the clocktower ol the train sta
tion, seeks the answer to a mysterious
automaton, lett unsolved by his late
father and clockmaker (Jude Law), with
the help ot a loymaker named Georges
(Ben Kingsley) arid his charge. Isabelle
(Chloe Grace Moretz)
IN TIME (PG-13) G3
director Andrew Niccol tweaks the
sci-fi genre again with this take on
Logans Bun In a future world, every
one is genetically engineered to stop
aging at 25 To ward off overcrowding,
people are also designed to only live to
26 In this ageless new society, a man
accused ot murder (Justin Timberlake)
goes on the lam with a pretty hostage
(Amanda Seyfried, Mamma Mia!)
With Olivia Wilde. Alex Pettyfer. Cillian
Murphy. Jonnny Galecki and Vincent
Kartheiser (“Mad Men").
LIKE CRAZY (PG-13) The Sundance
Fiim Festival Grand Jury Prize winner
stars Felicity Jones (winner of mul
tiple Best Actress and Breakthrough
Performance prizes) and the impres
sive Anton Yelchin (last seen in
Fright Night) as two young lovers
separated by government regulations.
She's a British college student: he's
an American student. Their love is
deported after she overstays her visa
and is kicked out of the country. Writer-
director Drake Doremus may finally
have a minor hit with his fourth feature.
With Academy Award nominee Jennifer
Lawrence.
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-time feature filmmaker corralled a
hell of a cast.
MELANCHOLIA (R) Apparently,
Europe has forgiven renowned film
maker/provocateur Lars von Trier for
his failed 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 Actress Kirsten
Dunst in her bravest performance to
date), a sometimes blushing, mostly
depressed bride, is getting married
while a mysterious new planet threat
ens to 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
The Danish firebrand loves putting his
female leads, both actress and charac
ter. through the paces, and Melancholia
is no different Fortunately. Antichrist
acted 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
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (PG-13) Owen
Wilson stars as the latest Woody
stand-m. Gil. a Hollywood hack trying
to finish a novel while on a business
trip to Pans 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
from Papa Hemingway (Corey Stoll)
and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and
falls for Picasso's girlfriend, Adriana
(Marion Cotillard)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—GHOST
PROTOCOL (PG-13) Mission:
Impossible is that rare franchise that
has actually gotten better with each
new installment and in inverse propor
tion to its megastar's popularity. Tom
Cruise had few peers in 1996 when the
weak, original M:l opened: now he's
more often a punchline, albeit a badass
punchline who dues many of his own
death-defying stunts, like climbing the
outside of the world's tallest building
What sets the Mission: Impossible
franchise apart from any other exist
ing action series is its star-producers
knack for finding the best, new behind
the camera talent. First-time live-action
feature director Brad Bird is known to
be an animation auteur (The Iron Giant,
The Incredibles), and he apparently
doesn’t realize action of the live variety
has limitations Now he's the guy who
can still make a Tom Cruise stunt spec
tacular stand out like it's the late '90s.
MONEYBALL (PG-13) Based on
Michael Lewis' bestseller, director
Bennet Miller's follow-up to the Oscar
winning Capote actually makes base
ball statistics interesting. Oakland A's
General Manager Billy Beane (Brad
Pitt) attempts to build a championship
ballclub through On Base and Slugging
Percentage rather than traditional
scouting. Does it work? Anyone famil
iar with Major League Baseball already
knows the answer.
THE MUPPETS (PG) You can tell
cowriter-star Jason Segel loves the
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 al.—to put on a telethon in order to
raise the money needed to buy back
the property.
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (R)
Michelle Williams stars as the legend
ary blonde bombshell in this drama
tization of Marilyn and Sir Laurence
Olivier's tense relationship while
filming The Prince and the Showgirl.
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,
dnector Simon Curtis has done most of
his work oi. the small screen.
NEWLYWEDS (NR) So. Edward
Burns is still making movies, in case
you didn't know that (I wasn't sure).
Newlyweds Buzzy (Burns) and Katie
(Caitlin Fitzgerald) run into trouble
when a visit from his half-sister coin
cides with the news of her sister's mari
tal woes It will be interesting to see
it Burns can get back to his Brothers
McMullen origins on a rumored shoe
string budget ot $9,000
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).
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
19th Century Drive-Thru
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.
PUSS IN BOOTS (PG) Shreks fairy
tale may have moved on to happily
ever after, but Puss in Boots (v. Antonio
Banderas) is still itching for a fight. His
spinoff reveals the swordfighting antics
that led up to Puss meeting up with
Shrek and company.
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF
SHADOWS (PG-13) Much tike 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.
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 out by the disappointing
Your Highness, The Sitter is the decid
ing third comedy) needs a better trailer.
Jonah Hill’s Noah Griffith is a lot nicer
of a dude than he or the trailer let on,
and that likability saves the movie from
descending into the Danny McBride-
ian depths of comic self-loathing and
asshole-ishness.
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
< WAR HORSE (PG-13) Steven
Spielberg's second holiday 2011
entry is an adaptation of the Tony
Award-winning play, told through
life-size puppets, about a young man
named Albert's (Jeremy Irvine) journey
through World War I to find his beloved
horse. Joey, which was sold to the cav
alry. The script, credited to Academy
Award nominees Lee Hall and Richard
Curtis, one of my faves, might intrigue
me more than the presence of the erst
while Mr. Spielberg
WE BOUGHT A ZOO (PG) This movie
just generates some odd feelings A
movie directed by Cameron Crowe
and starring Matt Damon, Scarlett
Johansson and Thomas Haden Church
sounds like a serious winner, but then
there's the title A dad (Damon) moves
his family to Southern California to
renovate a struggling zoo.
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 Most Outstanding
Film prize and nominated for the Palm
Springs Film Festival's Audience Award
for Best Narrative Feature.
Drew Wheeler
6 FLAGPOLE.COM • DECEMBER 28. 2011 & JANUARY 4, 2012