Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Posted on August 4, 2011 at 6:53 pm

By the time they got to the line, “Take your stinking paws off me, you damned, dirty ape!” I couldn’t help thinking, “Take your stinking paws off the franchise, Hollywood!” Do we really need another apes movie?

We do have one, though, and it’s good. We can skip over the way it departs from the explanation in the original films that humans (spoiler alert!) wipe ourselves out with nuclear war. The explanation in this prequel is better, more chilling, more visceral. James Franco plays Will, a dedicated pharmaceutical company medical researcher desperate to find a treatment for the Alzheimer’s that is stealing his father (John Lithgow) from him. The tests on a chimp are promising, but when a demonstration before the company’s board goes horribly wrong, the program is shut down and the chimps are killed. It turns out the test chimp was pregnant and gave birth to a baby before she was destroyed. Will brings the baby home to his father. They name him Caesar.

He meets or exceeds human development for the first few years. The changes caused in his mother by the experimental drug were passed on to him. But as happened in the real-life story of the chimp raised in a human home portrayed in the documentary, “Project Nim,” when he becomes strong and the hormones of puberty kick in, he can no longer live with Will. He is taken to a facility where the animals are abused by the staff (including Tom Felton, “Harry Potter’s” Draco Malfoy).

Will tries desperately to get Caesar back, as he works on an even more powerful drug to improve memory and cognitive ability. But the drug has some devastating consequences as well, and the movie’s niftiest twist is the way the two elements of elevating the apes and bringing down the humans are tied together.

After more than two months of superheroes and giant robots, it is nice to have a science fiction/fantasy film that thinks it’s a drama. Light on bombast and unexpectedly tender-spirited, the story is grounded in Will’s wanting to hold on to his father, a passion born of love and devotion that recklessly spills over into hubris. Greed, ignorance, and cruelty of others ignites the conflict. We see how increasing intellectual development affects strategy and decision-making, including deciding when it is time to break the rules. And we are reminded of how ruthless the process of the survival instinct in evolution can be, especially when humans are no longer the fittest.

There are some nice touches for fans of the series. A chimp plays with a Statue of Liberty and Charlton Heston, star of the original movie, appears on a television. We see the origin of the insignia that becomes meaningful to the ape-run society. But the deeper connection is to more, well, primal themes of freedom and justice. I kept thinking of the storming of the Bastille.

Andy Serkis, who did the motion capture body movements for Golum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, provides the acting inside the CGI. Serkis gives a performance that brings Caesar’s expressive face and eyes to life. Even the whiz kids at WETA special effects still haven’t licked the gravity problem, though. The computer animated apes never quite feel as weighty as they should. But there are some stunning images as they swing through the trees and crash through windows. And when Caesar stands erect and looks Will directly in the eyes we may find ourselves wondering whose side we are on.

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Winnie the Pooh

Posted on July 14, 2011 at 6:36 pm

Disney’s latest film lovingly captures the magic of A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh stories and poems, which have been enchanting children and their parents for 85 years. They were a sort of earlier “Toy Story,” with the adventures of Christopher Robin’s stuffed tiger, kangaroo, donkey, and most of all his bear of very little brain, sometimes known as Edward Bear but known to his friends as Pooh. Milne’s simple prose was a peek into the world of a child’s imagination, including play but also including fear and anxiety and reassurance and friendship. Children enjoyed the fanciful tales but what resonates so compellingly to audiences of all ages is the narrator’s voice, gentle, understanding, and with great affection and acceptance for all of its characters.

All of this is beautifully brought to life in this brief 68-minute film that is one of the rare movies genuinely suitable for the whole family. It combines two of the books’ best stories. Eeyore loses his tail. A misunderstanding has the friends worried that Christoper Robin has been kidnapped by a terrible monster called the Backson. In both, the friends work together

The reason that is reassuring on such a deep level is that each of the characters is an aspect of each of us and each of their struggles and mistakes feels very true to us. Eeyore is the pessimistic and insecure voice that represents our worries and Tigger is us at our most ebullient and confident. Piglet is anxious and fearful. Kanga is the loving parent who represents the superego. And Pooh is that most elemental of ids, wanting to do the right thing and be a good friend but always led by his tummy’s love for honey. Their minor struggles are endearing and their support for one another — like the song they sing when it appears one of them has found a tail for Eeyore and won the prize — is heartwarming.

There is some charming music from M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel and an adorable “who’s on first”-style wordplay mix-up. John Cleese provides the narration, Spongebob’s Tom Kinney is the voice of the Owl, and Jim Cummings takes over for both Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell as Pooh and Tigger. It is a pleasure to spend time in the 100 acre woods with these old friends and share their adventures, a welcome reminder that while we must leave childhood, we can come back soon.

Armistead Maupin used this lovely passage for the title of one of his Tales of the City books.

“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. “Pooh,” he whispered.

“Yes, Piglet?”

“Nothing,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s paw, “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

Parents should know that this film includes some very mild peril (mostly imagined by the characters).

Family discussion: How did the animals help and support each other? When did you think something was scary only to find out it was just your imagination? Why does everything look like honey to Pooh?

If you like this, try: the books by A.A. Milne

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Posted on July 14, 2011 at 8:00 am

Before I tell you about this film and about how much I liked it, I want to say thank you to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers for the care and devotion they gave to this extraordinary story. On the page and on the screen, this tale of The Boy Who Lived, from sleeping in a closet under the stairs and his first days at Hogwarts to the final confrontation with He Who Must Not Be Named (or perhaps He Who Must Be Named to be Confronted), it has been genuinely thrilling, deeply moving, and thoroughly satisfying.

There has never been and may never be again a story so electrifying over so many pages that has been so devotedly and expertly translated to the screen, with, remarkably, the same cast throughout (with the exception of the original Dumbledore, the late Richard Harris) to preserve our sense of seamless immersion in its world. Those of us lucky enough to start at the beginning and follow from the publication of the first book in 1998 (1997 in the UK) can measure our own passage of time against the characters’ as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the rest grew up with never a false step or disappointment to speak of. The world of Harry Potter puts its surprises in a world that is completely believable because it is so thoroughly imagined. Perhaps the movies’ greatest achievement is in matching the visual detail to not just the descriptions in the books but to the narrative richness of a fully-realized world. Even the 3D glasses are Harry-fied.

And now, eight movies later, it takes us back to where it all began. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is The Boy Who Lived. He was just a baby when his parents were killed protecting him from the Dark Lord known as Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) to those brave enough to whisper his name. Most just call him He Who Must Not Be Named or try not to mention him at all. For seven movies, Voldemort has been getting stronger as Harry has been getting older. Now it is time for them to face each other.

The parallels between them are strong. They both have the rare gift of parseltongue, the ability to understand the language of snakes. The wand that chose Harry was the twin of the one used by Voldemort. In this last chapter, Harry finds out that they share more than he knew and that defeating Voldemort will require him to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

As we learned in the last chapter, in a sense Voldemort has to be killed seven times. To make himself immortal, he has taken pieces of his soul and placed them in seven different objects, each well hidden and well protected. As this film begins, Harry, Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rupert Grint) have made some progress but the most difficult are still ahead. The separation of the soul itself is, for want of a better word, de-humanizing, and as a result of this dis-intigration Voldemort is disfigured inside and out, adding to his ruthlessness and power.

Part of the wonder of the books is the way small details that seemed merely deliciously atmospheric in earlier chapters turn out to be essential foundation for what comes now. We learned early in book one that the most impenetrable place on earth was the Gringott’s bank, run by goblins (those of a certain age might remember Jack Benny’s bank which was similarly, if more humorously, secure). Well, now our heroes have to break into the bank’s vaults and how will they do it?

The use of polyjuice potion is another reference to the first book, then an impetuous adventure, now deadly serious. Helena Bonham-Carter’s palpable pleasure in playing the deranged and evil Bellatrix Lestrange (Rowling has a Dickensian way with names) in the previous films benefits from too many years confined (literally) to corseted tea party roles. It is Bellatrix’s vault they must enter, and so here, Bonham-Carter has to turn herself inside out, playing Hermione disguised as Bellatrix. The balance of tension and comedy is exquisitely nerve-wracking.

Again and again, Rowling brings the story back to its origins and so after a movie away from school we return to Hogwarts, where the great battle begins. The more we remember of what we have seen so far, the deeper our understanding, whether it is the satisfaction of seeing something come together we have waited for or the surprise of seeing someone exceed our expectations by being more than we or even they thought possible. Everyone grows up, and we grow along with them.

Director David Yates moves the story smoothly into 3D, though you won’t miss much if you stick with the 2D version. The battle scenes are well staged and the pacing is excellent. If the final chapter got an unexpected and distracting laugh from the audience, it is a small problem in light of the grand sweep of a thoroughly enthralling epic, seamlessly organic, exciting, romantic, funny, and smart, one of the great cinematic achievements of the studio system. Well done, Harry, and a thousand points to Gryffindor.

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Gidget (3-Pack)

Posted on July 5, 2011 at 8:00 am

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Not rated
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Some drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Mild peril
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	1959
Date Released to DVD:	July 5, 2011
Amazon.com ASIN:	B000286S2E

A new DVD 3-pack of all three “Gidget” movies comes out today, and they’re worth another look, especially the 1959 original with Sandra Dee and James Darren. Dee plays Francie, a sheltered and somewhat naive girl who thinks that it is still to make a fuss over boys. But she is very interested in this new all-male activity on the beach called surfing and the cusp-of-the-60’s pre-counter culture guys who are devoted to it. Their leader is played by Cliff Robertson as a pilot who is taking a break from real life to live on the beach (literally). They take her on as something of a mascot, calling her Gidget (girl plus midget), and everybody has some growing up to do. It’s probably not as sugary as you recall and it holds up pretty well. The story, by the way, was inspired by the daughter of the author, Frederick Kohner. You can see the real-life Gidget, still surfing, in the wonderful documentary, Step Into Liquid.

In the first sequel, “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” Deborah Walley takes over for Dee and Darren returns. A romantic misunderstanding arises when a mean girl spreads a rumor that Gidget and her boyfriend have gone what in those days was called “all the way.” Everything is straightened out and Gidget’s good girl reputation is protected. Watch for a very cute dance number with Broadway hoofer Michael Callan, the original Riff in the stage production of “West Side Story.”

The third episode is the weakest, with Cindy Carol as Gidget and a silly jealousy story, but the wonderful Jessie Royce Landis is a treat as something of a drowsy chaperone. I still think of this movie whenever I hear the names Paolo and Francesca.

And don’t forget the Gidget television series, starring Sally Field, which included a guest-star appearance from her fellow future Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Posted on June 28, 2011 at 10:19 pm

I feel like Goldilocks. It’s not as good as the first one, but it’s not as awful as the second one. So, if that doesn’t make it just right, at least it makes it better than the second one and with some summer movie chases, fights, and explosions that make it popcorn-worthy.

It begins with a prologue that cheekily re-imagines the space race of the 1960’s as a secret mission to learn more about a mysterious rocket that crashed on the dark side of the moon in the late 1950’s. Archival footage of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, and newsman Walter Cronkite is used to make it appear that in the brief moments our first moon landing was not visible from earth, the astronauts were exploring a cavernous machine. Even the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident is tied into cold war-ear secrets about what was found on the moon.

Then, we are in present day where Sam (Shia LeBeouf) returns as Sam Witwicky. Still in high school in the first movie, he is now out of college and looking for a job in Washington D.C. It’s tough these days, especially when you’re not allowed to put “saved the world — twice” on your resume for reasons of national security. Sam also has a new girlfriend named Carly (model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley). The departure of Megan Fox is explained in a few short lines. No one seems to miss her.

Sam meets Carly’s boss Dylan (Patrick Dempsey), a fabulously wealthy but very arrogant businessman (think Dr. McSleazy) and tries not to be jealous, even after Dylan gives Carly a $200,000 Mercedes. But, you know, blah blah and the bad robot decepticons are back, blah blah the head of National Security (Frances McDormand) tries to keep Sam away from his friends the autobots, and blah blah all something will do something if Sam doesn’t get that tractor beam out of commission, I mean knock out that pillar that has “the ability to reshape the universe” and build a bridge to another world (didn’t we just see that in “Thor?).

And then the humans fight each other and the robots and the robots fight each other and the humans. In 3D. Various characters turn out to be not what we thought. There are surprise guest cameos. And at two and a half hours it goes on much too long (believe me, they could have lost an hour and had a nice, brisk evening at the movies). McDormand, Ken Jeong (stuck with an embarrassing attempt at homophobic humor, literally with his pants down), and John Malcovich are completely wasted. Huntington-Whiteley is better at posing than acting — but she’s got legs and knows how to use them. And we once again do not get enough of John Duhamel. John Turturro wore out his welcome well before the first one ended but Alan Tudyk makes the role of his aide into something enjoyably off-kilter. It’s too loud, it’s too long, some of the battles are hard to follow, the action is entertaining and so is the but relief that it isn’t as awful as the last one.

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