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.

As the War breaks out, Albert’s father is forced by circumstances beyond his control to sell Joey to a cavalry officer to use in battle, and from there the horse goes through a series of owners, across battles, from the British to the German side and back again with a sojourn in a little girl’s care. Where we have seen a war through the eyes of many human’s over the years, here it is seen through an equine lens. The film is rated PG-13 for its realistic depiction of the war, and it is horrific. I am sure that many people have no idea how brutal the First World War actually was. And there is something of the same feeling in many of the scenes as in Saving Private Ryan, that brothers in arms camaraderie kind of thing– total carnage beautifully captured by cinematographic genius Janusz Kaminski.

Everywhere the horse goes, he finds a person who recognizes his greatness. There are lots of those triumph of the spirit moments. Joey is the fastest, the most beautiful, smartest, loyalest, etc. And he makes an equine friend early on in the war that stays with him through his many tribulations. Then mid-way through, Albert joins the army and you just know that he and Joey will end up somehow coming together one way or another, because it is a Spielberg film after all, and there just has to be a happy ending.

War Horse is designed to be a total crowd-pleasing, tear-jerker movie — good for the family (not the little ones) or a date — though I didn’t cry as much as I expected. Spielberg can be a little too sappy at times for my taste (especially that ending Steven!) Unfortunately, most of the characters are not all that well-drawn, and the horse, which should have a big personality, really doesn’t. He is just beautiful and brave. And it is a bit long (146 min). Ultimately, it is a throwback to the good old fashioned Disney family film with fairly generic salt of the earth characters. It does have a decent though mostly low-key cast including Emily Watson (Breaking the Waves), David Thewlis (Naked), Niels Arestrup (A Prophet), and Tom Hiddleston (Midnight in Paris). Bonus: My nephew tells me the lead actor who plays Albert (Jeremy Irvine) looks just like a young Tom Brady (as if I knew who that was.)

Damon plays Benjamin Mee, a young widower struggling to raise his two kids, Dylan, 14, and Rosie, 7, in the months following his wife’s death. Desperate for a change of scenery and a fresh start, Mee moves the family out of the city and into a fixer-upper in the country that happens to be situated in the middle of a zoo that also needs some major fixer-uppin’.

The zoo has a small but dedicated group of caretakers led by Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johannson). Mee represents their last great hope for restoring the zoo to its original grandeur– or at least bringing it up to code and avoiding closure by an evil (and somewhat cartoonish) state inspector.

Of course, there are many challenges along the way. Mee is still grappling with grief. His teenage son (Colin Ford) is full of angst and anger and oblivious to the doe-eyed advances of Kelly’s niece Lily (Elle Fanning). Mee’s brother Duncan (played with his usual crass wit by Thomas Hayden Church) wants him to cut and run, i.e. “lose the zoo – but keep Kelly”. Time and money are running out. You get the picture.

And then there are the animals – a menagerie that includes a roaming bear, a monkey, an elephant, some snakes, birds, and an aging tiger that has some valuable lessons to impart in his waning days. You can’t help but root for the whole lot of ‘em, even the snakes. And, you can’t help but smile every time young Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) declares “We bought a zoo!!!!” She amps up the movie’s cuteness factor whenever she appears on screen.

Ultimately, as I alluded to before, it is Damon that saves the zoo and the movie. He manages to be adorable and accessible in dare I say, a Clooney-esque sort of way. His portrayal of a journalist-turned-zookeeper is honest and authentic and does great service to a story that is actually based on real-life events. You may even be inspired to quit your day job and go in search of a zoo that needs fixin’. Or at least get a dog.

From a purely visual standpoint, The Adventures of Tintin is rather stunning with its use of motion-capture technology. But the story itself falls a bit flat, even at the direction of the almighty Steven Spielberg.

Here’s the gist: Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell) buys a model ship at an outdoor marketplace, only to discover that a nefarious dude named Red Rackham (Daniel Craig) wants the ship so badly that he’s willing to kill for it. Turns out the ship, called The Unicorn, is one of a series of three model ships that together will unlock the ancient secret to a hidden treasure. Rather than relinquish the ship, Tintin (who can’t resist the urge to follow a good story) embarks on a dangerous journey on the high seas, where he ends up joining forces with a drunken Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis). Haddock holds the key to the entire mystery if he can sober up long enough to figure it out.

The movie, like the comics, is peppered with slapstick humor, social commentary, and quirky characters. In many ways, it feels like an animated version of Pirates of the Caribbean, with a couple of keystone cops thrown in (a pair of detectives named Thompson and Thomson, voiced by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg).

The Adventures of Tintin should appeal to nostalgic fans of the comic series and boys aged 8-12. Beyond that, it could be a tough sell. Then again, family movies are big this time of year, so perhaps Tintin will be able to capitalize on that.

The movie is rated PG for adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking. And while the motion-capture technology is awesome, the 3D doesn’t add much.

Hugo’s dad (Jude Law) was a great tinkerer and before he died he was working on restoring an automaton. It is the only possession Hugo takes with him when he is spirited away by his drunken uncle just moments after hearing about his father’s death. Uncle shows him his new digs within the walls of the station and his new duties taking care of the station clocks and then disappears. From his secret lair, Hugo surveys all the comings and goings, nicks a croissant here and a bottle of milk there, and is mostly able to go about his business. He also takes an item or two from the station’s toy shop, cogs and springs to help him fix the automaton because he thinks that his father has left him a message inside, if he can just get it started again. But Hugo’s quiet life changes one day when the toy shop owner Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley) catches him.

It is this relationship with the shop owner that is the heart of the movie. Hugo is forced to work off his debt fixing toys in the shop and forms a friendship with the shop owner’s goddaughter (Chloë Grace Moretz) He introduces her to the cinema and shows her his automaton, explaining that he needs a special heart-shaped key to start it. And lo! and behold, she has one around her neck! And when the automaton does come to life, it draws a picture that sends them on another quest, finally leading back to the toy shop owner. It turns out that he is a formerly famous silent film director whose fortunes turned during WWI and has now cut himself off from that part of his life. This thread of the story is based on real life silent era director Georges Méliès and is the perfect vehicle for Scorcese, an ardent proponent of film restoration and cinematic history. I won’t spoil it for people who have not read the book, but suffice to say, being a kids movie and all, everything works out.

Hugo is beautifully shot and it is a lot of fun to go behind the walls and see all those big cogs and springs. I am sure in 3D is it even more fun visually, but… The movie is long – 127 minutes, and it seems to have two separate stories. When it focuses on Ben Kingsley’s character, the silent film director, it comes alive, and I think this is what drew Scorsese to the material in the first place. But the kids’ story is kind of cold. Even Sacha Baron Cohen’s character feels subdued. I think it will appeal to people who love 3D and can let a movie get by with less when it is visually and technically outstanding, which it is. It will no doubt get some Oscar buzz, being Scorsese, and I think it should get a few for design and visuals, but in the end I am just not as thrilled as I wanted to be. The sense of wonder that great kids films usually engender just was not there. Having seen it in 2D, I think 3D is definitely the way to go.

It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights…

It’s been more than a decade since Kermit and the gang were together on the big screen and this movie’s plot is all about reuniting them. It begins with a trip to the now decrepit Muppet studios in Hollywood by the world’s biggest Muppets fan, Walter (a Muppet himself although he doesn’t realize it yet), and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams). While they’re there, Walter overhears a plot by nefarious oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to gain ownership of the place so he can tear it down and drill for oil.  Walter is devastated.

The only way to save the studio is for Kermit the Frog to come up with ten million dollars. Walter, Gary and Mary track him down at his run-down Bel Air mansion and convince him he’s got to try to do it. They set out to find the rest of the gang so they can stage a Muppet telethon to raise the money. The first stop is Reno, where Fozzie Bear is performing with a “tribute” act called “The Moopets.” They track down Gonzo, who’s now a plumbing magnate, and Animal, who’s in rehab for anger management. Then they tell us it’s ”time for a montage” as they pick up the rest of the cast – except for Miss Piggy. She proves a bit more difficult to convince. After all, she’s built a new life for herself as the plus-size editor of Vogue in Paris.

Then it’s a race against time to convince a network, any network, to air their telethon and find a celebrity host. Will they get the show together in time? Will they raise the money to save the studios? It’s a Muppet movie – what do you think? It’s all about the journey, not the destination with the Muppets. And there are classic Muppet elements all along the way: musical numbers – some that, admittedly, I thought dragged a bit – characters breaking the fourth wall – like that “time for a montage” reference – and celebrity cameos galore.

For me, a Muppets fan from back in the day, it was just right and it plays well to the next generation too. My eight-year old movie companion says he loved it too because it was “funny and so cool.” He particularly enjoyed when Miss Piggy jumped on Kermit, and Fozzie’s fart shoes were “hilarious and so farty that they made me laugh like heck!” This movie’s a winner for all ages. Enjoy the show!

I’m not surprised. The dashing feline outlaw, voiced by Antonio Banderas, is irresistible. We first met Puss in the Shrek movies. But this is his story before he met the ogre and his donkey friend. We learn that Puss was raised in an orphanage in a western town called San Ricardo. But because of some youthful indiscretions, he became an outlaw there and had to flee. Now he has returned to redeem himself. To do that he decides to pull off one last caper and steal the goose that lays the golden eggs.

He reluctantly teams up with his old friend/nemesis Humpty “Alexander” Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and a rival cat burglar called “Kitty Softpaws” (Salma Hayek) to go after the goose. But to get to it, they to get past the evil “Jack and Jill,” delightfully voiced by Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris. Yes, there are all kinds of fairytale references in the movie, but what you won’t see are any Shrek characters popping up, and that is a good thing. Doing that would have been a distraction. This is Puss’s tale and it is a good one.

The swashbuckling cat can more than carry his own movie, and he’s got a cast of interesting supporting characters. Humpty Dumpty has some serious issues – you might say he’s got layers – oh wait wrong movie. And in Kitty Softpaws, Puss has met his sword-fighting, flamenco dancing match, and naturally, love interest. Then there’s the “Ohhh Cat” – a minor character but unforgettable.

This is just a fun movie. Like any good animated feature, there’s enough sly adult humor to keep mom and dad amused and a great story with lots of action to keep the little ones happy. If you haven’t seen it already, take the kids, or go alone – like I did – if you’re just looking for 90 minutes of feeling like a kid again.

Carla Gugino plays Cathy Rush, a young woman who takes on coaching duties at Immaculata College, a small, all-girls Catholic school outside Philadelphia. It’s 1971 – the first year that college women’s basketball teams will compete for a national championship. Immaculata doesn’t have money for uniforms or a team bus or even a new gym to practice in (the old one burned down). But Rush doesn’t let that – or the skeptics, including her husband, NBA referee Ed Rush (David Boreanaz) – diminish her spirit. She rallies her girls, challenges them on and off the court, and teaches them the value of teamwork. And wouldn’t you know it – the Mighty Macs of Immaculata become the Cinderella story of the college sports world, making it all the way to the finals. Do they win? What do you think? (you can’t really spoil an ending that’s in the history books – or Wikipedia).

The Mighty Macs is not the best in its genre. It aint no Rocky – not even close- and it tends to get ridiculously preachy and cliché-ridden. But overall, it’s hard not to cheer – along with the nuns – for The Mighty Macs, and for the movie’s groovy 1970s wardrobe. It’s not a must-see, but if you’re looking for a sweet and simple G-rated drama to take the girls to, this movie does help showcase how far they’ve come, and how far they can go.

It’s set in the near future when the sport of boxing no longer involves humans. Instead robots battle it out in the ring because apparently the sight of two humans pummeling each other didn’t involve enough carnage to satisfy bloodthirsty spectators (Commentary on where we’re headed as a society perhaps? Nah. That’s too deep for this movie.)

Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a down on his luck former boxer who is now a promoter in the world of robot boxing and is not doing well… at all. Just when it seems like things can’t get any worse, Charlie finds out the 11-year old son he hasn’t seen in, well, 11 years has lost his mom and now wants to get to know his father, who has zero paternal instincts. Cue the father-son conflict.

After Charlie loses yet another robot in yet another disastrous fight, his son Max finds an old “sparring bot” named Atom in a junkyard and cleans him up. Despite his dad’s initial hesitation, they start getting the bot fights – and they start winning. Cue the father-son bonding. Eventually they end up with a match fighting the undefeated robot champion, Zeus, who was designed by an evil looking Asian computer genius and paid for by an evil looking Russian heiress. Will the underdog Atom defeat the mighty Zeus? Will Charlie realize he loves his son and likes having him around? I won’t tell you – but this is a Hollywood studio movie, so you can probably guess how everything turns out. And again, I’m okay with that because this  is a sweet movie.

Real Steel is a great movie choice if you’re looking for something to see with the whole family in tow. And it will be perfect for ‘family movie night’ at home once it’s available “on demand” and on DVD.