Man on a Ledge

Sam Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, an ex-cop who’s sent to prison for stealing a giant diamond from a wealthy and shifty businessman (Ed Harris). When Nick is allowed to attend his father’s funeral, he pulls off a daring escape and plants himself on the ledge of a high-rise hotel in Manhattan and proclaims his innocence. A police psychologist who ‘lost’ her last jumper attempts to talk him down, as a whole other series of events unfolds in a building across the street.

That’s all you’ll get out of me plot-wise.

Man on a Ledge is reminiscent of the 1998 movie The Negotiator with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both involve dirty cops, conspiracies and who-can-you-trust conundrums. The acting in The Negotiator was more intense, but Man on a Ledge does manage to keep you on the edge of your seat, with the constant sensation that you might fall off. So if you have vertigo or a fear of heights, rent The Negotiator instead.

If you’re in the mood for a combination thriller, psychological drama and heist movie that doesn’t cut too deep, then take the leap and catch Man on a Ledge.

Joyful Noise

The two women rarely see eye-to-eye, and it gets even worse when G.G’s rebellious grandson Randy (Jeremy Jordan) comes to town and sets his romantic sights on Vi’s “good girl” daughter Olivia (Kiki Palmer).

Ultimately, everyone must work together to achieve harmony if they are to have a prayer of winning the prestigious Joyful Noise national church choir competition in Los Angeles. The whole town is counting on them. Can they do it?

If you have a little faith in Hollywood endings, you probably know the answer.

All the same elements are here that made the first one such a fun romp – the women (Noomi Rapace, Kelly Reilly, Rachel McAdams) who are lovely but peripheral, the Guy Ritchie-style fight scenes, the witty banter, the delightfully designed Victorian sets and clothes, and the most satisfying part of this franchise, the buddy relationship. Downey and Law really do have wonderful chemistry, which makes this kind of silly flick totally entertaining, even if it has a few scripting holes and you don’t ever get to know the girl that comes along for most of the ride. You don’t even notice that it clocks in at 129 minutes.

This time around the story centers on Professor Moriarty’s plan to start a World War and become a rich man by cornering the munitions market. He and Sherlock have a few scenes together where they play mind games with one another, and a few where they attempt to kill one another, and while the fate of the world lies in the balance, they even play a nice game of chess. And just to keep Holmes on his toes and out of his hair, Moriarty goes after Watson and his new bride, on the train to Brighton for their honeymoon, which of course brings Watson right back into the thick of the story, as the two of them race to stop the villainous Professor from destroying Western civilization.

This is the kind of movie where the story isn’t really all that important. It is all about Holmes and Watson having a ripping good time. As usual, the über-talented Downey goes all out, one minute fighting with a parkour-adept Cossack, the next showing up in another silly disguise (his urban camouflage is particularly fun), and later dancing with his perfectly sane sidekick Watson. It is this infectious sense of intelligent whimsy that will keep this series going. There are also some very funny scenes with Holmes’s brother Mycroft played by the hilarious Stephen Fry. [But if there was one thing I would ask of Guy Ritchie for the next one, could you please let Holmes shave? Downey is scruffy throughout and, as the minutes go by, more and more beaten and bruised. I'd just love to see that face in its beautiful, pure state for a scene or two before the brass knuckles come out.]

I’d recommend this one to anyone who liked the first Sherlock Holmes. It the same winning formula and I can see many more to come. It would be great for a date night movie, too. Cute guys for the chicks and lots of fight scenes for the roosters. Something for everyone.

Garry Marshall is brilliant. He made a mildly entertaining movie with an A-List cast and a name that virtually guarantees it a place in holiday rerun history. [New Year’s Eve] is like Crash-light. Really, really, really light. It follows a bunch of folks whose lives intersect in various ways as they [embrace, reject, and reflect on all that is New Year’s Eve as the ball is about to drop in New York City].

The cast is a virtual who’s who of stars from the big and small screen – including [Hillary Swank, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker, Josh Duhamel, rocker Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry, Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeifer], Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Hector Elizondo… Need I go on?

There’s no real way to review the storyline without giving too much away. All I can say is the movie is enjoyable enough, if not particularly deep. Director Garry Marshall knows how to deliver a solid mainstream chick flick. And as a fellow Northwestern alum, it’s always fun to spot his quick nod to our alma mater – in this case [if there was one, I somehow missed it!]. It’s also worth sticking around for the end credits. Among the outtakes – a fun, little salute to [Valentine’s Day].

Watching [New Year’s Eve] is like watching a special, star-studded edition of The Love Boat. If that floats your boat, then go and enjoy.

There ya have it. A re-purposed review that matches a re-purposed premise that – if it does well enough at the box office – will surely spark yet another entry into the star-studded holiday “franchise”. Place your bets now for Christmas Day, Hanukkah Nights, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Columbus Day…

I have my favorite movie of the year now, and I expect that The Artist will be at the top of a lot of other reviewers’ lists, too. I’ve been told I gush about it. And I do not gush often. Considering that it is in black & white and is a silent film, you might wonder why.

I will admit to being a lover of older movies, particularly those from the 30s. And so, obviously, is the writer/director of The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius. In the same way Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is a love letter to Paris, The Artist is an adoring ode to classic Hollywood. It is brimming with visual references to the great movies and movie stars from the early days of cinema, and the gloriously shot black & white imagery harkens back to an era when movie sets were works of art. Being a silent film, the soundtrack is in itself a character and I cannot imagine a better choice of period music along with several bits of whimsy. There is even a little dog with a big personality that would make Asta green with envy.

But what makes this movie really shine is the performance of the artist himself, Jean Dujardin, playing the central character George Valentin. You cannot help but absolutely love this man. What a face! Valentin is a huge silent film star as the movie begins. But it is 1927 and the talkie has come to town, and he is trying desperately to remain on top, while refusing to bow to the new technology.

Enter Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a pretty young starlet on the rise, and you have the makings of a wonderful, sweet, sad, funny, surprising, and unbelievably affecting story. Yes, even without (or maybe because of the lack of) dialogue, you are captivated from beginning to end.

I remember in film school they taught us that the essence of filmmaking is telling a story in pictures. And boy, has Michel Hazanavicius done it here! It is really hard to describe, but you must go and see for yourself. Dujardin won the Best Actor prize at Cannes, and the film got a 20-minute standing ovation. I am not surprised in the least. I saw it at a festival and it is opening in limited release later this month. It is a French film, shot in Hollywood, so I have no idea if it will be eligible for The Oscar or has to make do winning the Best Foreign language category, but The Artist will undoubtedly be one of the films everyone is talking about. Genius!

Also starring John Goodman, James Cromwell, Malcolm McDowell, Penelope Ann Miller and a slew of other great modern Hollywood stars.

Sometimes you just need to see a movie that is not all flashy and star-filled. There is a strange joy in watching actors you’ve never seen before since you bring no expectations to their performances. The Lie is one of those little indie treats. It is based on a short story by T. Coraghessan Boyle about a 30-something guy who wakes up to his going nowhere life and concocts a lie to get out of work, which then spirals out of control.

Joshua Leonard whose big acting break came in 1999 with Blair Witch Project directs and stars in the film. (He shares a writing credit as well.) He plays Lonnie. Lonnie wanted to be a musician back when he was in college and still dreams of getting together a band with his buddy, only now he has a wife, Clover (Jess Weixler), in law school, and a cute little kid, and he’s stuck in a soul sucking job that he can’t leave because he needs to be “responsible.” The catalyst for his rebellion is when his idealist wife informs him that she has been offered a job with a pharmaceutical company. Lonnie’s job is drudgery and his boss a screamer, and he arrives at work one day and just decides he can’t go in, so he makes up an excuse, a little white lie. Then the next day he makes another and before you know it he has been gone for a week and as his boss threatens him, Lonnie throws out the biggest lie of all, one that he can’t take back and one that has severe repercussions.

The Lie is very well acted and apparently much of the dialogue is improvised. Fortunately, the chemistry between Lonnie and Clover is really good, so you enjoy the give and take of this young couple trying to decide what life is supposed to be about and whether they are selling out their former dreams. It is by turns both sweet and funny. And the kid is very cute. It is not a deep story, but it is one that many of us can relate to. Are we living the lives we dreamt of in our youth? The Lie is in theaters now, but it will also make a very good rental/stream when it comes out in a few months. It is one of the nicer little films I’ve seen in a while.

It’s about the “haves” and “have-nots” in a future world where time is – literally – money. Everything is bought and sold in units of time: minutes, hours, days, months, years. So a cup of Joe might cost ya four minutes… a nice car could set you back a few years… and there’s a “99 seconds only” store on the corner. Get it?

Oh, here’s the big catch: Everyone is genetically engineered to stop aging at 25. Then a clock embedded in their forearm starts ticking down. If it zeroes out, they drop dead. So folks need to make more “time” to survive.

Justin Timberlake stars as Will Salas, an inherently good guy who lives “day to day” in the equivalent of a futuristic ghetto. When he suddenly comes into a whole lot of time, he also becomes a wanted fugitive. Though on the run, Will is determined to challenge a system that basically decrees, “For a few to be immortal, many must die”. In other words, the “one percent” is golden. The other 99 have a rough go of it. Sound familiar?

Timberlake rocks this role, proving he can do much more than romantic comedy, SNL skits, singing and dancing (all of which he does remarkably well – it’s really not fair). He is at once sympathetic, empathetic, endearing, mysterious, serious, cocky, cute and charming – even when he’s taking a rich, rebellious and beautiful young woman (Amanda Seyfried) hostage at gunpoint.

Click here to watch the official trailer

It’s a little bizarre to watch a movie where everybody looks approximately the same age regardless of their relationship to one another (Olivia Wilde plays Timberlake’s mother. How creepy is that?). But you get used to it. The movie has some flaws. But overall, it’s a nice mix of drama, humor, action and eye candy, and it manages to tackle some heavy issues without being too heavy-handed. So for a PG-13 sci-fi twist on our own twisted reality, consider “Occupying Theaters” for In Time. For 110 minutes. Or 10 bucks.

Anyway, I went into the new Footloose with very low expectations, having been extremely disappointed – horrified even- by the 2009 reboot of Fame. But Footloose 2.0 didn’t suck. In fact, it was actually quite okay. It pays homage to the original (with Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer) while giving “today’s kids” a hipper, grittier, sexier take on the same basic story.

The movie features newcomer Kenny Wormald as Ren MacCormack, a sarcastic but soulful big city boy who moves to the small town of Bomont, where he hooks up with the preacher’s rebellious daughter Ariel (Dancing With the Stars pro Julianne Hough) and challenges the town’s ban on dancing in public.

Wormald and Hough are better dancers than they are actors, but they do a serviceable job with a mediocre script.  The movie takes a bit too long to find its rhythm – on and off the dance floor – but it’s fun when it’s grooving and it does end on a nice, albeit campy high note.  Is it as good as the original? Not even close. Would I rather Hollywood find new classics for a new generation rather than mess with another 1980s icon? Absolutely. Do I think that’s gonna happen? Sadly, no. In fact, a new Dirty Dancing is slated for release in 2013. Can Flashdance be far behind? Let’s hope not.

Moneyball

Pitt plays Billy Beane, a former player-turned-general manager of the Oakland A’s who must rebuild the team – on a shoestring budget – after its star players are poached by baseball’s wealthier franchises. Forced to think outside the box, Beane recruits a nerdy but numbers-savvy Yale grad, Peter Brand (Hill), to help him fill the roster. Brand makes his picks based on a sophisticated computer-generated analysis of attainable (i.e. cheap) players who know how to get on base. Everything else becomes secondary, or totally inconsequential.

The computer-model approach doesn’t exactly sit well with the team’s old-school scouts or its manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman). But they don’t have much choice but to go along – and bite their tongues when the strategy starts to work. Cue the montage/highlight reel as the A’s embark on an unprecedented 20-game win streak!

The premise would sound like a non-starter if not for the fact that it’s based on a true story, as told in the 2003 book, “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game” by Michael Lewis, the same guy who wrote “The Blind Side.”  Moneyball doesn’t have the same emotional pull as The Blind Side, but it does raise some interesting questions about salaries and statistics and what goes into building a championship team in the modern sports world. Who am I kidding? All I really cared about was the chemistry and clever banter between Pitt and Hill. Their relationship makes the movie– especially for the non-baseball aficionado. Pitt is ruggedly handsome (in a Robert “The Natural” Redford sort of way) and Hill is truly endearing as Beane’s unlikely sidekick. Let’s go A’s!

I Don’t Know How She Does It

Sarah Jessica Parker plays a disheveled Carrie Bradshaw, er, I mean, Kate Reddy – a wife, mother of two, and high-powered businesswoman who’s juggling and struggling to “have it all”. And for the most part, she does. Maybe that’s why the movie doesn’t work. Any hint of tension or conflict is resolved before the audience has a chance to feel much of anything for anybody.

The characters are all rather boring, and boxed in cliché. And while I have no doubt that working mothers will find plenty to relate to – and chuckle knowingly at – throughout the movie… I also have no doubt that some stay-at-home moms will take offense at its ‘one size fits all’ depiction of so-called “Momsters” – women who hang out at the gym all day while the kids are at school, unless, of course, there’s a bake sale!

The talents of Greg Kinnear (as Kate’s cute and supportive husband) and Pierce Brosnan (as Kate’s cute and ultimately supportive boss) are completely wasted here. Their roles bring new (de)meaning to the term “supporting characters”. Both guys could have phoned it in.

The main problem with I Don’t Know How She Does It (aside from its long and forgettable title) is that I do know how she does it. I may as well be watching my sister-in-law in action. I don’t need to see a fictionalized (and somewhat trivialized) version. After all, life is a series of trade-offs for all of us… single, married, working, unemployed, underemployed, with kids, without kids… the grass is always greener and all that.

I Don’t Know How She Does It is based on the best-selling book (with an even longer title) by Allison Pearson. I’m guessing the book was better. But I Don’t Know…