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Escape the cold weather in the multiplex
From ‘Dreamgirls’ to ‘Eragon,’ winter films will warm your holiday season
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More Oscar bait From Will Smith to Peter O'Toole, this winter's movies are packed with fantastic performances. |
Baby, it’s cold outside, which means it’s the perfect time to duck into your favorite movie theater and settle in for two hours of quality entertainment. Luckily, the months of November and December are much safer bets than, say, January for doing just that. Good luck finding a quality film in February.
The studios also want to get that Oscar bait out there before the end of the year so it qualifies for the Academy Awards, which means we have Oscar favorites like “Dreamgirls” and “The Good German,” plus great performances, such as Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal,” Peter O’Toole in “Venus” and Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
But it’s not all about Oscars, there are also some great winter stocking stuffers here. Imaginative new films like “Eragon,” “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “Perfume – the Story of a Murder” are just dying to fill that “Lord of the Rings” fantasy-film gap. So even if the title seems unfamiliar, give some of these lesser lights a chance, you’ll never know what you’ll find when the lights go down.
“Casino Royale”
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino
Director: Martin Campbell
Story: This new film tells the story of how Bond (Craig) first obtained his 007 status. Mikkelson plays bad guy Le Chiffre, banker to terrorists around the world. Green is Vesper Lynd, a treasury official who’s been assigned to keep an eye on the money Bond is using as bait. Sparks fly between them. Dench reprises her role as M.
Buzz: There hasn’t been this much pressure on an actor taking on a well-known character since people were sure that Michael Keaton wouldn’t make a good Batman. Keaton proved them wrong, but will Craig? This franchise was in desperate need of a makeover, and those who think Craig seems too gritty must not be fans of Sean Connery’s version. Those who think he’s not good-looking enough must not be fans of Steve McQueen. C’mon, people! Realistically, though, the Broccoli family, who produce the flicks, aren’t likely to let any one director or actor make major changes to the franchise, which is why most good directors steer clear of Bond. Director Campbell has already announced that he will not be helming the next sequel, but Craig will play 007 again. For those who still doubt Craig, “Layer Cake” is a must rental.
Web site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/site/
“Happy Feet”
Starring: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Anthony LaPaglia, Magda Szubanski, Steve Irwin
Director: George Miller
Story: Wood provides the voice of a baby Emperor penguin who just doesn’t fit in. While all the other penguins have a “heartsong” to sing, he expresses himself though tap dancing. His mom (voiced by Kidman) thinks his little steps are cute, but dad (Jackman) knows he’ll never find a mate without a song. Ultimately, the leader of Emperor land (Weaving) casts him out of the community, but he finds some Adele penguins led by Ramon (Williams) who admire his smooth dance moves. Williams also provides the voice of Rockhopper penguin Lovelace, the guru who has answers for all of life’s questions.
Buzz: It will be interesting to see if animated penguins prove to be as popular as the real birds were in “March of the Penguins.” All signs point to yes. Director Miller is the man who wrote both “Babe” films and directed the superior second film, “Babe: Pig in the City,” which also means these birds could be dancing their way to box-office gold.
Web site: http://www2.warnerbros.com/happyfeet/
“Bobby”
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, William H. Macy, Helen Hunt, Christian Slater, Heather Graham, Laurence Fishburne, Freddy Rodriguez, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen, Brian Geraghty, Shia Lebeouf
Director: Emilio Estevez
Story: Where were you when Bobby Kennedy was shot? Director Emilio Estevez follows a multitude of characters who stayed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles when Kennedy was gunned down there by Sirhan Sirhan. These include hotel employees like retired doorman John Casey (Hopkins), the hotel manager (Macy), a bigoted kitchen boss (Slater); and hotel guests, including has-been singer Virginia Fallon (Moore), a young bride-to-be and her would-be husband (Lohan and Wood); and campaign volunteers (Geraghty and Lebeouf).
Buzz: In an Esquire article from earlier this year, an unnamed crew member joking referred to this film as “Love Boat '68.” Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells described it this way, “Much of ‘Bobby’ is treacly and mediocre and some of it might make you shudder, but it's not altogether grotesque.” Faint praise indeed. The Hollywood Reporter’s Ray Bennett disagreed though, calling the film, “a sentimental love letter from writer-director Emilio Estevez to his hometown and the slain politician.” Estevez (“Men at Work,” “Rated X”) has yet to prove himself as a director; he takes a big chance with this splashy all-star cast. Expect critics to come out with pistols blazing for this former “Young Gun.”
Web site: http://www.bobby-the-movie.com/
“For Your Consideration”
Starring: Bob Balaban, Ed Begley, Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Larry Miller, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, Fred Willard
Director: Christopher Guest
Story: Christopher Guest and his improvising bunch are back with this story about a small film, “Home for Purim,” that starts to generate Oscar buzz, driving the whole gang absolutely bonkers. Guest plays the director; Lynch and Willard host an “Access Hollywood”-type TV show; Gervais (new to Guest’s gang) and Miller play studio heads who just wants a few changes; Shearer, Posey and O’Hara play three of the film’s unlikely stars.
Buzz: Guest and company have made some of the most intelligent comedies of the past few years (“Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind”). The magic of the films is that they are primarily improvised — there’s no real script, per se. Guest and Levy create characters and make up situations, but then the actors take over. After seeing the film at the Toronto Film Festival, Salon’s Stephanie Zacharek wrote, “while it's crisply made and highly entertaining, it doesn't have those extra layers of character depth that ‘Best in Show’ and — the ensemble's masterpiece — ‘A Mighty Wind’ did.”
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/for_your_consideration
“Fast Food Nation”
Starring: Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, Luis Guzman, Ethan Hawke, Ashley Johnson, Greg Kinnear, Kris Kristofferson, Paul Dano, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Ana Claudia Talancon, Wilmer Valderrama, Bruce Willis, Lou Taylor Pucci
Director: Richard Linklater
Story: Inspired by Eric Schlosser’s non-fiction book about the dark side of the fast-food industry, this fictional thriller follows a marketing executive (Kinnear) from Mickey’s Burgers as he tries to figure out how contaminated meat is getting into the company’s burgers. You’ll also meet high schoolers (Dano, Johnson) who work at a local chain; illegal immigrants (Valderrama, Moreno, Talacon) who work at one of Mickey’s plants; a rancher (Kristofferson); a meat buyer (Willis); and a poltical activist (Pucci).
Buzz: When it screened at Cannes, critical response was mixed. Critic Emanuel Levy wrote, “Deviating from his more personal and original mode of filmmaking, Linklater has made a plot-driven film in which all the characters — white, Latinos and Mexican — are one-dimensional.” On the other hand, Manohla Dargis of the New York Times wrote, “The most essential political film from an American director since Michael Moore's ‘Fahrenheit 9/11.’” Even when he doesn’t totally succeed (“A Scanner Darkly”), Linklater is always an ambitious filmmaker.
Web site: http://www.fastfoodnation-movie.com/
“Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny”
Starring: Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Will Ferrell, David Koechner, Jason Reed, Ronnnie James Dio
Director: Liam Lynch
Story: Find out how Tenacious D became “the greatest band in the world.” An acoustic rock duo (Gass and Black) goes in search of a guitar pick with magical rock 'n' roll powers that will transform them into the ultimate metal gods.
Buzz: The never-shy Black told Premiere magazine, “It’ll be the first [real] laugh that anybody has. We could charge more for this movie.” Black has triumphed before in the rock-film arena with “School of Rock,” but this is his first screenwriting foray (along with Gass). This looks like yet another one of those films about men in states of arrested development (see: every Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell film). Director Lynch’s only other big-screen film was Sarah Silverman’s “Jesus is Magic.” There may be laughs here, but this looks more like a SNL skit than a big-screen movie.
Web site: http://www.tenaciousdmovie.com/
“Candy”
Starring: Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Noni Hazlehurst, Tony Martin
Director: Neil Armfield
Story: In a film based on the novel by Luke Davies, Ledger stars as a bohemian poet who falls in love with an art student (Cornish) from a middle-class family. In order to get closer to Ledger, Cornish stars shooting heroin — and they become hooked on drugs as much as on each other.
Buzz: Reel Film reviews wrote, “Though ‘Candy’ starts out as a typically oppressive flick about junkies, the film ultimately establishes itself as a surprisingly engaging and emotionally wrenching piece of work.” Cornish is probably best known as the alleged "other women" in the Reese Witherspoon-Ryan Phillippe breakup. Armfield is best known for directing opera and theater in Australia.
Web site: http://www.dendyfilms.com.au/candy
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