Admission

Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:01 pm

Tina Fey and Paul Rudd seem perfect for each other. The characters they play in this movie are not as persuasive. Fey is so much better than the adorkable rom-com role assigned to her here and Rudd is capable of so much more than the earnest do-gooder relegated to him. But what really hurts this film is the senseless complications the characters have to try to navigate and the uncertain hold on developments that are are disorientingly off-key. You can see the studio’s lack of confidence in the movie in the bait-and-switch ad campaign. The commercials make it look like a standard romantic comedy (and it may have been re-edited to try to fit those rhythms), but the plot line about reuniting with a child put up for adoption feels awkward, cluttered, and intrusive.

Fey is Portia, a tightly-wrapped admissions officer at Princeton, always buried in orange file folders brimming with the hopes and dreams of 17-year-olds and their parents. They all have excellent grades, community service credentials, positions in student government, athletic achievements, and some sort of artistic streak. Portia knows how to maintain her composure even when confronted with prospects who are certain that asking just the right penetrating question of the student tour guide will somehow cause the (for the purposes of this film) toughest school in the country to get into to see them as the shining star of perfection their parents always told them they were. She is less composed when it comes to her own ambitions. The head of the office (Wallace Shawn) is retiring and Portia is competing with a colleague (“Lincoln’s” Gloria Reuben) who is much smoother at ingratiating herself at Portia’s expense.

Portia is constantly under assault from applicants, parents, and high school college counselors. Despite the avalanche of applications Princeton receives every year, she has to go out to high schools to encourage seniors to apply. Princeton is competitive, too. It wants to make sure that it gets to choose from the the most promising applicants. And it wants to keep its rejection ratio high so it will top the annual US News rankings. She gets a call from John Pressman (Rudd) the head of an alternative school. Like all the other high school administrators, he has a student he wants her to accept. Like many of them, he wants to make the case that the kid’s file does not reflect his true potential. But there is one more thing. John is sure, on the flimsiest of evidence, that an autodidactic polymath named Jeremiah (a likable Nat Wolff of “The Naked Brothers”) is the son Portia gave up for adoption. The one she never told anyone about. Jeremiah wants to go to Princeton and Portia’s vestigial maternal instinct jumps to life. All of a sudden, she finds herself on the other side of the admissions process.

And there’s a lot of other stuff happening with Portia’s professor boyfriend (Michael Sheen), her free-spirited mother (a mis-used Lily Tomlin), and John’s adopted son (Travaris Spears), and John’s parents. And most of these people at some point in the last third of the film do something so inexplicably inconsistent with what we know about them and what we want for them that it almost seems that we’ve wandered into a different movie.

It would be impossible for Fey and Rudd to be anything other than entertaining and highly watchable. But I hope their next time on screen does not test that proposition so insistently.

Parents should know that this movie includes references to infidelity and putting an out-of-wedlock infant up for adoption, drinking, and a non-explicit sexual situation.

Family discussion: How did Portia’s mother influence her ideas about parenting? How would you decide who to admit?

If you like this, try: “Clueless” and “Date Night”

Upside Down

Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:48 pm

Argentinean writer-director Juan Solanas has created a work of bracingly singular imagination that is sheer visual pleasure, with some mind-bending ideas and a deeply romantic sensibility.

We are told by Adam (Jim Sturgess) that throughout the universe, there is only one solar system with “dual gravity.” He lives in the “down” side of mirror-image parallel worlds. Interaction between the two worlds is strictly forbidden, with the exception of a tightly controlled transfer of energy by a vast, soulless, and predatory corporation. The laws of physics in this world also impose a barrier. Matter from one side quickly heats up and burns when it is placed in the other. People carry their gravitational pull with them, so that anyone who visits the other side will give themselves away by floating back toward their home turf.

Adam was orphaned following an industrial accident. His only family is his Aunt Becky, who sends him into the mountains to gather a very rare pink bee pollen that stands out in the wintry gray and blue of the bleached-out color scheme. On the highest peak, he glimpses a girl named Eden Moore (Kirsten Dunst) in the mountains of the up world. They are close enough to talk to each other. Within a few years, they are in love. He pulls her down on a rope and with her back up against a protruding crag to keep her from floating back up, they kiss.

But they are tracked down and she is badly hurt trying to escape. Ten years later, Adam learns that Eden has survived the accident and works for the corporation. He has to find her again. But it turns out the totalitarian regime and gravitational barriers are not their biggest obstacles.

Solanas has created two worlds of vast and stunningly intricate detail. Identical desks extend endlessly across both floor and ceiling in cavernous offices. Eden likes to drink upside-down cocktails, blue liquid served in a stem-up glass and slurped from below. And the consequences of reverse gravity are imaginatively (if not always consistently) explored. Adam remembers to use hairspray to help him pass as a top world resident, to make sure that his hair won’t hang the wrong way (up instead of down) when he goes to see Eden. But when he hides out in the men’s room, he does not think about the fact that his pee will hit the ceiling, not the urinal. His early experiments to help him pass for an “up” have a limited time span that adds a Cinderella quality to the story.

Timothy Spall provides zesty comic relief as Adam’s “up” world colleague and Dunst and Sturgess have a swoon-worthy chemistry that makes the story feel, well, grounded. The daring originality of Solanas’ vision more than makes up for some narrative lags and makes this one of the most promising debuts in recent memory.

Parents should know that this film includes peril, chases, and some violence, including shooting, with some characters injured. There is a fire and there are references to sad deaths and a brief image of hanging. A character smokes cigars and some drink cocktails and there is brief potty humor.

Family discussion: What kind of government is in place in this movie? Why is there income disparity between the two worlds?

If you like this, try: “Looper” and “Solaris”

New on Blu-Ray: Laura

Posted on March 2, 2013 at 8:00 am

The classic noir mystery/romance Laura is just out on Blu-Ray, and it is magnificent. It has one of the all-time great movie twists, so I won’t give much away except to say that it stars the exquisitely beautiful Gene Tierney, along with Dana Andrews as a cop investigating a murder and Clifton Webb as the acerbic writer who was a friend of the victim. It also has one of the most famous scores of all time. Highly recommended!

Related Tags:

Classic Crime Drama Mystery Romance

20 Film Collection from Warner Brothers: Musicals

Posted on February 25, 2013 at 8:00 am

A+

Lowest Recommended Age:	All Ages
MPAA Rating:	Varied
Profanity:	Varied
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Varied
Violence/ Scariness:	Varied
Diversity Issues:	Varied
Date Released to DVD:	February 25, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B009Z59782

Warner Brothers has issued a spectacular collection of musical films, from the ground-breaking “The Jazz Singer” to classics like “Cabaret,” “Signin’ in the Rain,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” and “The Music Man.” This is a treasure that should be in every family DVD library, and every school and community library as well. It includes:

The Jazz Singer ( 1927) Al Jolson plays the son of a cantor who wants to sing popular music in this groundbreaking film that was the first live-action film with a synchronized soundtrack. (Remade twice, with Danny Thomas and Neil Diamond)

Broadway Melody of 1929 Winner of the second Best Picture Oscar, this early talkie includes “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “You Were Meant for Me.”

42nd Street (1933) “You’re going out there a chorus girl, but you’re coming back a STAR!” This classic pre-code backstage musical features the title tune and “Shuffle Off to Buffalo.”

The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Another Best Picture winner (and Best Actress for Luise Rainer), this story of impressario Florenz Zeigfeld has rare filmed performances by Fanny Brice (the singer Barbra Streisand played in “Funny Girl”).

The Wizard Of Oz (1939) One of the most beloved films of all time, this enduring classic has Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” and following the yellow brick road to see the wizard.

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) James Cagney plays the bantam-like singer/dancer/performer George M. Cohan in this biopic of the superstar who wrote classics like “For it was Mary” and “Give My Regards to Broadway.”

An American in Paris ( 1951) Gene Kelly. George Gershwin. Vincente Minnelli. Glorious.

Show Boat (1951) This second version of the Jerome Kern musical based on the Edna Ferber story stars Ava Gardner, Marge and Gower Champion, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson, with classic songs like “Old Man River” (sung by Wiliam Warfield in the part played by Paul Robeson in the original), “Life Upon the Wicked Stage,” and “Only Make Believe.”

Singin’ In The Rain (1952) This may just be the perfect movie as comedy, romance, satire, and musical. Gene Kelly is the silent movie star who has to adjust to the talkie era. In addition to the rapturous title number, the movie features Donald O’Connor’s classic “Make ‘Em Laugh.”

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) Seven rambunctious red-headed backwoods brothers named in alphabetical order (Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephram, Frank, and Gideon) are tamed by love in this rollicking musical with wildly athletic dance numbers choreographed by Michael Kidd.

A Star Is Born (1954) Judy Garland and James Mason star in the second (of three–so far) versions of the story of the fading star who marries a rising star. Garland sings “The Man That Got Away” and “Born in a Trunk” and introduces herself as “Mrs. Norman Maine!”

The Music Man (1962) Robert Preston re-creates his legendary stage performance as “Professor Harold Hill,” a con man who sells a small Iowa town on the idea of a boys’ band. He plans to skip town before they discover that he has no idea of how to teach kids to play instruments, but then he meets “Marian the Librarian” (an almost impossibly pretty Shirley Jones) and things get complicated. Songs include “Trouble,” “76 Trombones,” “Goodnight My Someone,” and “Til There Was You.” And a barbershop quartet singing “Lida Rose.”

Viva Las Vegas (1964) Elvis and Ann-Margret sing and dance. What else do you need to know?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFw5a5Bp_Pw

Camelot (1967) The grand Lerner and Lowe musical about King Arthur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot stars Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero. Songs include “The Lusty Month of May,” “If Ever I Should Leave You,” and the poignant title number.

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) This is the first and best version of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book about the poor boy who finds a golden ticket to visit the world’s most magnificently magical candy factory. Too bad for the naughty kids who are greedy and spoiled!

Cabaret (1972) The film, director Bob Fosse, and stars Joel Gray and Liza Minnelli won Oscars for this searing musical about pre-WWII Germany, brilliantly presented in an adult musical that deals with issues like the rise of the Nazi party, anti-Semitism, and “divine” decadence.

That’s Entertainment (1974) This delicious compilation includes highlights of dozens of classic and underrated musicals and led to two sequels.

Victor, Victoria (1983) James Garner, Robert Preston, and Julie Andrews star in a wildly funny musical about an impoverished singer whose career takes off when she pretends to be a man pretending to be a woman.

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986) Possibly the most improbable source for a musical was a cheap horror film about a carnivorous plant, shot over a weekend. But the cheeky score made it a theatrical hit and this movie version is a lot of fun.

Hairspray (1988) John Waters’ non-musical film about the controversy over integration on a teen dance show in 1960’s Baltimore inspired this musical remake with John Travolta as the mother of the adorable Tracy (Nikki Blonsky). Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, and Zac Efron co-star in this tuneful treat that includes “Good Morning Baltimore,” “Run and Tell That,” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat.”

Shanghai Calling

Posted on February 20, 2013 at 2:07 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some language including sexual references
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	None
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	February 20, 2013
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00BESHGAE

“Shanghai Calling” is a fish out of water story filled with charm.

Korean-American actor Daniel Henney plays Sam, a Chinese-American lawyer who is sent to China to work on a big project. He does not speak Chinese and he knows very little about his heritage. He has never been further out of New York City than 79th Street. But he is ambitious and confident and is sure that he can make turn the project around quickly and make a triumphant return home.

Of course, he is wrong about, well, everything.

“Happy Endings'” Eliza Coupe plays Amanda, Sam’s “relocation specialist,” an American single mother who is fluent in Chinese. Bill Paxton (“Big Love”) plays the head of the “Americaville” expatriate community, mostly made up of business people who have come to China to take advantage of the enormous economic opportunities. And Alan Ruck (Cameron from “Ferris Buehler”) is the client, a cell phone manufacturer who wants to lock in an exclusive deal with a quirky inventor. Sam also has an assistant named Fang Fang (Zhu Zhu of “Cloud Atlas”).

The skills that made Sam successful in New York just get him into deeper trouble in China. He unwisely ignores the advice from Amanda and Fang Fang, and ultimate discovers that his biggest failings come from his own unrecognized prejudices.

The laughter comes more from character than displacement mishaps. Coupe is lovely in a more natural, understated character than her hilarious Jane in “Happy Endings,” and Henney’s lanky appeal as he tries to cope with an avalanche of language and cultural challenges is a pleasure to watch. You will root for him to learn his lessons, save the day, and get the girl — and you will recognize and question your own assumptions and prejudices as well.

“Shanghai Calling” is in limited theatrical release, now available on Amazon instant video, on iTunes, and on demand.