Casino Royale

Posted on November 14, 2006 at 3:47 pm

B
Lowest Recommended Age: Middle School
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity.
Profanity: Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking
Violence/ Scariness: Intense peril and violence including torture and assassination
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to Theaters: 2006
Date Released to DVD: 2007
Amazon.com ASIN: B001DSNF8C

They got a lot right with this new rebooted Bond, but — let me get this straight — when Bond and the Bad Guy have their big confrontation, it’s…a poker game?


First things first. Daniel Craig is a great Bond, with Steve McQueen-style cool and jungle cat grace. He runs like an Olympic athlete and looks great in — and out of — a dinner jacket that is, in the words of Dorothy L. Sayers, “tailored to the swooning point.” It’s a great idea to re-introduce us to the Bond character at the beginning of his career. When he rises from the water in a wry homage to both Bond’s first film, Dr. No, and to images of the Birth of Venus, he is almost impossibly golden.

He is also impetuous and a little messy. He makes mistakes. His first kill (we learn it takes two for that 00 designation) is far from elegant. It’s downright grubby. It is fascinating to get to see Bond learn from his mistakes. As we get to know him, he is getting to know himself. That run of his is not just athletics; it is acting. It is full-on, the only time he lets himself be wholeheartedly committed to anything. We see how he analyzes people and situations, still a little show-offy because he is still a little insecure. He is even, for a brief moment, vulnerable, and we get to see why he won’t be any more. Origin stories often get heavy-handed with portentous foreshadowing as Our Hero meets up for the first time with characters and objects that we know will be important to him. But this film has a light touch when we see Bond meet his Aston-Martin and find that he hasn’t learned the difference yet between shaken and stirred.


Bond feels younger, fresher, brasher, and much of the film does, too, not weighed down with the intrusive product placement that at times made the recent films feel like infomercials (though the director noted in an interview that “Every terrorist and every person in the world has a Sony Erikson phone. If you look in the car park, there are a lot of Fords.” They’ve dispensed with one of the highlights of the Bond franchise, though, the gadget overview with Q, always a delicious way to set the stage for the rest of the movie as each of them gets used. In a world of text messaging and Google, the real-life toys pretty much do everything you need. Okay, that in-car defibrillator comes in handy, but Q could probably pick up one of those at The Sharper Image. And then there are the guns, of course. Lots and lots and lots of guns.


Plot? Who cares? There are only three things we want to know about a Bond film. Who’s the bad guy? And who’s the girl? And how’s the action — especially, how much stuff gets blown up?


Two out of three. The girl is Eva Green. She, too, looks beautiful in evening wear, and she is just about believable as a brainy banker who doesn’t think much of Bond until…she does. She has a lot of warmth and sizzle. The action, aside from the dull patch during the poker game, is very fine, especially an early-on chase and fight scene around and in and on top of a skyscraper construction site. Lots of shooting and lots of explosions. The bad guy is not creepy or menacing enough to be interesting and the object of all the attention — some terrorist money — is not as interesting as a secret weapon or formula or combination to a master safe. And that poker game, with helpful commentary by Giancarlo Giannini as though he’s reporting for ESPN slows things down until they are almost inert.


Parents should know that this film includes extensive action-style violence. Many characters are shot and injured or killed. There is an intense torture scene, other references to torture, and a suggested suicide. Characters drink alcohol and use some strong language. There are sexual references and some non-explicit sexual situations with some brief nudity.


Families who see this movie should talk about the different takes on Bond and the bad guys over the years.


Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy the other Bond films, especially those starring Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan. They might like to take a look at the very silly but fun previous version of Casino Royale, with a variety of James Bonds, including David Niven and, believe it or not, Woody Allen. And they will enjoy Daniel Craig’s stylish gangster film, Layer Cake (mature material).

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Action/Adventure Movies -- format Thriller

Happy Feet

Posted on November 12, 2006 at 4:40 pm

A-
Lowest Recommended Age: 4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for some mild peril and rude humor.
Profanity: Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Characters in peril, scary, toothy monster-looking seal
Diversity Issues: A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters: 2006
Date Released to DVD: 2007
Amazon.com ASIN: B000MV9026

It’s official. The cutest thing on the planet is penguins singing “Boogie Wonderland.” Especially if one of them is tap-dancing. This movie is a straight shot of sunshine. I defy anyone to watch it without smiling. Just as important, I defy anyone to watch it without thinking. This is a PG computer-animated film that raises issues from fundamentalism to the environment to bigotry in a manner that is accessible without being heavy-handed, condescending, or overly simplistic.


It begins like a sequel to March of the Penguins. As just about everyone on the planet knows now, the daddy penguins balance the eggs on their feet and huddle together for warmth while the mommies go on a long march to the water to get food to bring back for the new baby chicks. In real life, penguins recognize each other through the unique song each one sings. In this movie, those songs include memorable numbers from the Beach Boys, Freddy Mercury, Prince, and, of course, Elvis.


Norma Jean (voice of Nicole Kidman) sings Prince’s “Kiss.” Memphis (voice of Hugh Jackman) sings Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel.” Their eyes meet, their songs entwine, and soon Memphis is shielding the egg from the icy wind. But it rolls away from him and bumps.


Perhaps that is why, when Mumble is born, he is different right from the beginning. He has blue eyes, for one thing. He can’t sing. And he never loses his baby fluff. But he can dance. Boy, can he dance (voice of Elijah Wood, dancing by tap superstar Savion Glover).

Mumbles’ mother is sympathetic and his friend Gloria (voice of Brittany Murphy) is supportive, but his father wants him to conform. The other penguins cast him adrift. He meets up with another breed, Adelies, penguins who are warm and friendly and a little rambunctious. They have a seer named Lovelace (voice of Robin Williams) who wears a necklace made from a plastic six-pack ring.


Mumble returns, but he is rejected by the elders, who blame his non-conformity for the disappearance of the fish they need for food. Mumble finds Lovelace being strangled by the six-pack ring. He believes if he can get Lovelace to the place the ring came from, he can find out what happened to the fish and maybe appeal to the better nature of the “aliens” he thinks must be responsible, maybe he can help to get the fish back and save his community.


The animation is brilliant, making full use of the technology for wild swirls down icecaps and through water. The textures are almost tactile and the scope and perspective are stunning, creating a fully-realized environment that feels perfectly authentic from every angle. Penguins move like loaves of bread with feet, but the animators make them thrillingly distinctive and expressive, and the musical numbers are pure pleasure. In a wise move that adds to its sense of vitality, the animators seamlessly integrate real-life footage for the brief appearances of humans in the film.


But what makes the movie memorable is its story, which has real substance beyond the simple formula of “hero is different/hero is outcast/hero goes on journey/hero saves the day.” It manages to touch on the impact of humans on the environment, the inclination of creatures of all kinds to fear and distrust anything new or different — and to blame it for anything that goes wrong, the importance of having a dream to aspire to and a challenge to struggle against, and the role that songs of all kinds play in our lives and connections. Like a great tune, this movie will resonate within those of all ages as they find their own heartsongs.

Parents should know that there are some moments that may be too intense for younger children, including a predator with a lot of teeth. There are some scary surprises and some moments of peril, including some chases and a hit in the crotch. There is brief potty humor with a little schoolyard language. The issue of environmental degredation and the impact of development on the natural world is raised in a gentle (if simplistic) and positive way.


Families who see this movie should talk about times they felt different or reached out to someone who was different. Families should talk about the people they look up to most to think about how each of them at some time or other felt like an outcast for being different. They should talk about what, if they were penguins, their song would be and why. What, for humans, is the equivalent? What does it mean to appeal to someone’s better nature? They should talk about the importance of asking questions and insisting on answers, and about the risk of blaming innocent people when things go wrong. Why were the penguins in the zoo so dazed when they had everything they needed?

Families should also learn about emperor penguins and about efforts to protect the environment of Antarctica.


Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy March of the Penguins and some of the classic stories about characters whose differences turned out to be good ones: Ferdinand the Bull to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and The Ugly Duckling. Every family should see Finding Nemo, which has an understated but very sensitive treatment of the “lucky fin” that makes Nemo different. Believe it or not, Cary Grant once starred in a movie about a boy who had a dancing caterpillar named Curly, Once Upon a Time. And the original spectacular combination of pop music, animation, and witty and exciting story is the glorious Yellow Submarine.

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Action/Adventure Animation Comedy Family Issues Movies -- format Musical

Flushed Away

Posted on October 29, 2006 at 12:13 pm

A-
Lowest Recommended Age: Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for crude humor and some language.
Profanity: Some crude schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Peril and some scary moments and chase scenes, no one hurt
Diversity Issues: A theme of the movie, strong, brave, female character, some mild ethnic humor
Date Released to Theaters: 2006
Date Released to DVD: 2007
Amazon.com ASIN: B000M343BC

Aardman has applied the sweetly demented sensibility of the “Wallace and Gromit” claymation films to their first CGI film and it is an irresistible treasure. It has their trademark intricacy of design, thrilling, hair’s-breadth-timing of action sequences, mastery of physical properties and spaces, delightful characters, and fresh and funny moments from the most sophisticated (a cockroach reading Kafka) to the least (a floating brown blob in the sewer turns out, whew, to be a candy bar), to those that transcend all categories (singing slugs, trust me on this one). There are movie references from Lady and the Tramp to Terminator 2 and a merry family meal that could have been thought up by Dickens. And of course everything revolves around the World Cup.


Roddy St. James (voice of Hugh Jackman) is a pampered pet rat who lives in the posh Kensington Gardens section of London. He has everything, thanks to his doting owners. When they go out of town, he enjoys himself, racing around in his little red convertible, playing volleyball with the fashion dolls and action figures, trying out his various outfits, from the tux with the gold cufflinks to the cruise wear and the spangly late-Elvis jumpsuit.


But then a sewer rat named Syd shoots up out of the sink and starts to mess up everything — literally and metaphorically. Roddy tries to lure him into a “jacuzzi” (the toilet), but ends up getting flushed away himself, and ends up in a swarming metropolis in the swere system underneath London.


It says a great deal about the story and characters that they are able to hold the audience’s attention because the “city” is the most endlessly beguiling and clever since the metropolises of Monsters Inc. and Robots. Every detail of every street corner is made-for-the-DVD-pause-button meticulous, imaginative, and witty.

But Roddy is too determined to get back home to pay much attention, so soon he is caught between Rita (voice of Kate Winslet), the sea captain (think Han Solo in trousers made from the Union Jack) and kingpin Toad (Ian McKellan), whose neck bulges out with emotion at awkward moments.


Toad, of course, has henchmen, the dim little guy and the dimmer big guy. And then he brings in reinforcements, his French cousin (of course), Le Frog (voice of Jean Reno). He has his own back-ups, the kind of frogs who break for five-hour dinners, whose battle cry is “We surrender!” and who include, of course, a mime.


The characters are wonderfully appealing and the story is exciting, warm-hearted, and inspiring. The unabashed British perspective (with some tweaks of the Americans as well as the French) enhances its fresh perspective. And those slugs sure can sing.

Parents should know that there are some scenes of peril and confrontation that may be too intense for younger children, even though no one gets hurt. Parents of younger children will want to remind them not to flush things down the toilet. The movie includes some brief crude jokes (nutcracker as a threatened torture device, brief bare tush) and, of course, some potty humor. There is also some mild British-centric ethnic humor, with gentle ribbing of the French and Americans. Roddy does not seem to care much about the rights or feelings of the family that cares for him. A strength of the movie is the strong, brave, female character.


Families who see this movie should talk about what Rita had that that Roddy admired and envied. Why?


Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures. Aardman’s website has ecards and a showreel featuring their delightful commercials.

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Action/Adventure Comedy Family Issues Movies -- format

Flags of Our Fathers

Posted on October 18, 2006 at 12:22 pm

Clint Eastwood’s first of two films about the WWII battle at Iwo Jima is sincere, competent, and respectful. He powerfully conveys the madness and brutality of battle and the conflicting feelings of thosw who fight — dedication, loyalty, patriotism, fear, courage, compassion, callousness, sacrifice, self-preservation. If these issues are not as well-presented as in other films, especially co-producer Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan,” they are still important, meaningful, and moving.
The story shifts back and forth in time between the experiences of the men credited with raising the flag in the iconic photo, who were used to inspire support and raise money for the war effort. We see explosions overhead. Sometimes they are gunfire; sometimes they are fireworks. The three men are sometimes not sure themselves what they are doing or why they are doing it. But their orders are to raise that flag again and again, even if it’s at halftime on a football field. Suddenly, the New York Yankees are applauding for them. A replica of the men raising the flag in white chocolate has bright red strawberry sauce poured over it, creating an image that is anything but delicious.
The men were John “Doc” Bradley, a Naval Corpsman (Ryan Phillippe) and two Marines, Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes, Jr., a Pima Indian (Adam Beach). They happened to be the ones who raised the flag the second time (when the cameras were rolling). Americans at home, sick of the war loved the triumphant picture, and loved saluting real heroes. But the men did not feel like heroes. They felt guilty staying in luxury hotels and being the center of attention. The picture was not true. One of the Marines was mis-identified, which made them feel even more hypocritical and guilty, especially Hayes, who begins to crumble with survivor guilt as he remembers those who died and what he did to stay alive. But they knew that without their help, the government would not be able to raise the money it needed to support the war effort. Meanwhile, back at tiny 5-mile-long, 2.5 mile wide Iwo Jima, the battle continued for more than a month, with 6891 Americans killed.
“When the legend becomes the truth, print the legend,” says The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. “We like nice and simple, good and evil, heroes and villains,” says this film’s narrator.
War stories always reflect the times of their telling as much as they reflect the times they depict. Compare two films not just about the same battle but with the same script, the jingoistic WWII-era “Henry V” with Laurence Olivier and the peacetime version with Kenneth Branaugh. World War II was the first major conflict to be depicted on film as it was going on. The movies of the early 1940’s were as much propoganda as drama. After the war ended, there were more complex, even cynical stories, some written by men who were there, not just about heroism but about issues that spoke to the struggles of the post-war years (The Caine Mutiny, Stalag 17, Crossfire). A movie about the Korean War (M*A*S*H) reflected the concerns about the then-current Viet Nam war.
This film, or, perhaps we should say, this first half (Eastwood is working on a second film telling the story from the Japanese point of view) raises very contemporary issues about illusion and reality, about what we expect in and from heroes, about how wars are always about politicians sending young men (and now women) to be killed. Yet it fails to meet its own standards, killing off all of the characters who are pure of heart and leaving only the complicated and flawed ones alive. It keeps us curiously remote from its characters, the images more powerful than the story in an unintentionally ironic case of form over content.

Parents should know that this movie has extremely intense, brutal, and graphic battle violence, including torture. Many characters are killed and there are very graphic and disturbing injuries. A character apparently commits suicide. Characters use strong language, drink (one abuses alcohol) and smoke. A strength of the movie is its portrayal of the racism of the era and of some characters who are not bigoted.

Families who see this movie will want to learn more about the battle for Iwo Jima and the men in the famous photo. They should talk about who in the movie were the real heroes and why. Will we be making films about the War in Iraq 60 years from now? What will they say?
Families who enjoy this movie will also appreciate the many superb films about WWII and other famous soldiers and battles, including Saving Private Ryan (very intense violence), The Longest Day, To Hell and Back (with Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of the war, playing himself), and A Bridge Too Far. Movies that raise some of the issues posed by this film include The Americanization of Emily, The Caine Mutiny, The Right Stuff, and Gardens of Stone. John Wayne starred in Sands of Iwo Jima, with Hayes, Bradley, and Gagnon appearing as themselves, and Tony Curtis played Ira Hayes in The Outsider.

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Action/Adventure Drama Epic/Historical War

Flicka

Posted on October 15, 2006 at 12:29 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: 4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for some mild language.
Profanity: None
Alcohol/ Drugs: None
Violence/ Scariness: Peril, characters injured, horse attacked by mountain lion, graphic bruise, question of humane killing, tense emotional confrontations
Diversity Issues: None
Date Released to Theaters: 2006
Date Released to DVD: 2007
Amazon.com ASIN: B000LV63MW

“No one’s riding that loco thing!”


Well, of course as soon as we hear that line we know someone’s going to have to ride it. And in this very fine family film, the rider will be Katy (Alison Lohman), just home from boarding school to her family’s ranch “on the top of the world in the never-summer mountains of Wyoming.” That loco thing is a beautiful wild black mustang Katy has named Flicka (Swedish for pretty girl). To her father, Flicka is a bother, a danger, and a potential source of revenue. To Katy, Flicka is a part of her, something to love and care for, something to ride until she feels they are one animal, flying.


Katy’s father Rob (Tim McGraw) raises quarterhorses. Her mother Nell (Maria Bello) is the kind of woman who can read a fax while she’s whipping up wild gooseberry pancakes with creme fraiche, and who always has some warm, wise, and encouraging thing to say, like, “It’s easy to be a rancher with good luck” and “Anger is just fear on the way out.”


Rob does not like mustangs. He thinks of them as four-legged parasites who could damage the value of his herd if they begin to cross-breed. He orders Katy to stay away and not to try to ride Flicka. Rob is worried about whether he can keep the ranch going. He is so worried that he has not noticed what we figured out the moment we saw that Katy’s brother Howard (Ryan Kwanten) wears a baseball cap, not a cowboy hat — that he does not plan to stick around.


Rob sells Flicka to a rodeo. Katy’s only chance of getting her back is to win $8000 riding her in a wild horse race. And let’s not forget the mountain lion, sneaking off with Howard’s girlfriend to the swimming hole, some close calls for both human and equine characters, enough “that’s crazy!” “that’s insane!” comments to have a successful drinking game, and a lot of shots of blue skies and mountains.


Country star McGraw brings the same tenderness to the role that he does to his songs, and he and Bello have a nice, easy chemistry. The story has a nice, old-fashioned feel, sweetly sincere, and kids will respond to the way that Rob and Katy have to learn to appreciate how much they share and how much they have.

Parents should know that the movie has some scenes of peril and illness. Characters are injured and the issue of humane killing is raised. There are tense emotional confrontations. Married characters make a mild reference to sex and there is some teenage kissing.


Families who see this movie should talk about how parents respond when their children do — and do not — want the same careers they did. Kate’s parents both loved her — why did they feel differently about what was the right thing to do? Why was Flicka so important to Kate? What do you think about the comments Rob makes about kids in the mall?

Families who see this movie will also enjoy the original, My Friend Flicka, and some of the classic family movies about horses, especially The Black Stallion and National Velvet two of the best movies ever made on any subject and for any age group. They might like to read William Saroyan’s “The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse” and Marguerite Henry’s “Misty of Chincoteague.”

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Action/Adventure Drama Family Issues Movies -- format
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