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.

Based on a book and a stage play and a real life story, the film tells the tale of a young Russian woman named Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) who arrives kicking and screaming at the Swiss hospital where Dr. Jung practices in 1904. She is in desperate need of help for a whole slew of severe neuroses. His treatment is the new “talking cure,” and it turns out she is no mere hysteric, but a very intelligent girl who hopes to become a doctor and is very curious about these new techniques in the emerging field of psychoanalysis. After Jung treats and cures her, she heads to the university and an intellectual relationship blossoms, but then sparked by their discussions of Freud’s ideas about sexual repression, it turns into a passionate affair. It is doomed, of course, to fail. He is married with a rich wife and several children, and she is a former patient and a Jew.

And while this relationship is evolving, Jung is developing his most important relationship. As his treatment of Sabina moves forward, he corresponds and debates with his dear friend and mentor in Vienna, the great psychologist Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). He is at first sure that Freud is wrong about every neurosis having a sexual cause. But as he gets to know Sabina he learns that she was not simply abused, but she became aroused by the humiliation. And as the relationship between the two pioneers of modern psychoanalysis develops, a rivalry emerges. Early on Jung refers to Freud as his “father figure.” Freud’s theories were revolutionary and he was happy to have younger doctors taking up his cause, but when Jung begins to assert his own ideas, Freud is at first disparaging, and ultimately unable to sustain the friendship, resulting in a break-up that deeply wounds both men.

David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers, The Fly, Crash) is not known for making restrained movies, but A Dangerous Method possesses a subdued, intelligent elegance. Except for Keira Knightley’s early grotesque histrionics, and a bit of naughty spanking, the film is mostly fascinating conversation and beautiful locations. The performances are all stellar, including a few manic scenes with Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) playing a patient who believes that sexual repression is the greatest sin. With A History of Violence and Eastern Promises, and now this beautifully subtle piece of film making, I think Cronenberg has moved into his intelligent adult period, and I cannot wait for his next one.

[I think we can all be grateful for scheduling conflicts. Christoph Waltz was initially cast as Sigmund Freud, but was replaced by Viggo Mortensen. Christian Bale had been in talks to play Carl Jung, and the role of Sabina Spielrein in the screenplay was written for Julia Roberts.]

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…

The couple is Jacob (Yelchin) and Anna (Jones). They meet at a university in California where she is studying English and he is learning furniture design. She leaves a vaguely stalkerish note on his car and they meet for coffee. They bond over Paul Simon’s Graceland album (seems an odd choice, but okay) and quickly become a couple. The connection between them is powerful. Then senior year is almost up and they wonder “What are we going to do after we graduate?” What she should do is go back to England where she’s from so that she doesn’t overstay her student visa. But, matters of the heart trump legal matters for her and she stays. Too bad love doesn’t actually conquer all – especially immigration law. When she takes a quick trip back to the UK and then tries to return to the U.S. and Jacob, Anna isn’t allowed back into the country. This is when things get difficult.

She can’t resolve her immigration issues and he can’t/won’t give up his furniture business to move to England. So what are they to do? They text, he visits, they both fall into other more convenient relationships. He with a California blonde played by Jennifer Lawrence (who will most likely become a household name come March when The Hunger Games hit theaters). She with a yuppie Brit named Simon. As the months and years go by, Anna and Jacob drift apart and back together trying to figure out if they can overcome all the obstacles and whether this thing they have is really worth the effort.

It’s a fine little love story, well acted and directed. But like I said I just didn’t care about the couple. In fact, they kind of annoyed me. Her heartfelt poetry… His block-like furniture… Graceland? Really? One thing I did admire was Anna’s penchant for single malt whisky. I left the theater wanting a scotch. And one of the reasons I didn’t want to leave early to get one was the movie only runs 90 minutes. I can put up with anything for 90 minutes. I suspect if you consider yourself a romantic, you may enjoy this one more than I did. So don’t let me put you off it completely. I’d say get it on pay-per-view or Netflix when it’s available and you’re in the mood for some sappy romance, and pour yourself a scotch.

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.

I won’t bother delving too much into the plot, because it will just propel the non-Twihards among you to wonder how and why the “young adult” novels by Stephenie Meyer grew to such Potter-esque proportions. It is what it is, people.

Breaking Dawn picks up where Eclipse left off. Eighteen-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her immortal boyfriend, the intense but charming vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) tie the knot. Bella gets pregnant on their honeymoon and the ‘baby’ grows at an accelerated pace, feeding off the ever-weakening Bella, and triggering a potential war between the vampire clan and the local werewolves whose pack includes Bella’s best friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Jacob remains ever-protective of Bella despite his hate for all things vampire. I know – it’s absurd. But every time Jacob rips off his shirt and leaps into werewolf mode, you can almost forgive the cheesy, stilted, so-bad-it’s-funny acting that often fills the screen.

This particular movie is simply a means to an end – the end being Bella’s transition to life as a vampire. For the rest of the story, you’ll have to wait for Breaking Dawn – Part Two, hitting theaters just in time for Thanksgiving 2012. Twihards, save the date. As for the rest of ya – don’t be hatin’ or criticizin’ or mockin’ (too much). Just skip it and move on, knowing it’ll all be over soon.

For the two-and-a-half minute version of the entire movie, watch the official trailer:

The trailer promised a light-hearted chick flick. But it took less than ten minutes for most everyone at the relatively small press screening  to realize that we’d all been hoodwinked. As a romantic comedy, it was neither romantic nor funny.

Here’s the gist: Anna Faris plays Ally Darling, a promiscuous twenty-something who freaks out after reading a magazine article that claims anyone who’s had more than 20 relationships has missed their chance at true love. Ally hires her (even more) promiscuous neighbor, Colin (Chris Evans), to track down her 20 ex-boyfriends and one-night stands so she can revisit their romantic potential.

I wish I could say “spoiler alert” before letting you know that Ally and Colin fall for each other, but you’ll see it coming from a mile away. The script is so predictable – and bad – that it’s almost funny.

Bottom line: the only number you should concern yourself with in relation to this movie is 106… as in 106 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back.

I went into the movie armed with Kleenex and sunglasses and expecting a coming-of-age Terms of Endearment. But it just didn’t move me, despite its heartbreaking premise.

The film stars Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper as Annabelle and Enoch, kindred spirits who meet at a funeral that Enoch has crashed. Annabelle helps the recently-orphaned Enoch reconnect with life even as she faces imminent death from brain cancer. The film has some sweet moments and some strange ones too. For instance, Enoch’s best friend is the ghost of a Kamikaze fighter pilot named Hiroshi (Ryo Kase). Still not sure what that’s all about.

Anyway, it’s possible that Restless is one of those indie films that works on some deeper and more profound level than my brain was willing to process… kinda like The Tree of Life (except, thankfully, Restless does have a story with an obvious beginning, middle and end). But as cancer movies go, I suggest you take a pass on this one and wait a week for 50/50, a poignant movie about cancer that will make you cry, and laugh a lot too.

The film’s chick-flicky trailer sucked me in – and perhaps set my expectations too high – with its attractive stars (Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess), melodramatic encounters, sweeping vistas of London and Paris, and lines like, “Dexter… I love you. But I don’t like you anymore.” Total chick flick, right?

So what’s wrong with it? I’m not sure I can put my finger on it. Maybe Anne Hathaway is just too attractive even when she’s trying not to be. Maybe I just couldn’t buy her British accent. Maybe I’m a sucker for a Hollywood happy ending and this one delivers more of a sucker punch. Don’t worry – that’s not really a spoiler – especially considering the foreshadowing in the first thirty seconds of the film, and the fact that it’s based on a best-selling novel (by David Nicholls, who also wrote the screenplay).

On the plus side, I do have a new crush on British actor Jim Sturgess. I suspect he’s one break-out role away from actual name (and face) recognition.

The gist of the story is this: Emma (Hathaway) is a working-class girl with idealistic dreams and ambitions. Dexter (Sturgess) is a wealthy charmer who thrives on self-indulgence. The two form an unlikely bond of friendship (and possibly more) after spending a single day together after their college graduation in July of 1988. The film dips into their lives on that same date over the course of the next 20 years, providing a glimpse of their highs and lows, personally and professionally, together and apart.

The premise is promising, but it’s never a good sign when you’re asking yourself mid-movie, “what year does this end?” 1988… 1989… 1990… 1991… 1992… keep counting til you hit 2008 and you’ll understand why I started getting bored with that narrative device, probably somewhere around 1995.

For a better, more entertaining chick flick option, consider Friends with Benefits instead. Or, at the very least, save One Day for a discount matinee. You’ll thank me one day.

Friends with Benefits

Fortunately for chick flick fanatics, the two romcoms are different enough to overcome the inevitable comparisons. Personally, I think I like Friends with Benefits slightly more, for two reasons: Justin. Timberlake. The guy just continues to impress on so many levels – acting, singing, dancing, comedy. It almost seems unfair.

Timberlake plays Dylan, a cute graphic designer wunderkind from L.A. who is wooed to NYC by a cute headhunter named Jamie (Kunis), who wants him to take a high-profile job with GQ. The two quickly bond over former relationship woes and a genuine friendship develops – with benefits that inevitably lead to complications. Timberlake and Kunis are two disgustingly attractive individuals, but I’ll let that slide since the two do share some decent on-screen chemistry and their banter is generally entertaining.

Friends with Benefits is a traditional Hollywood romantic comedy that likes to make fun of the traditional Hollywood romantic comedy. It simultaneously disparages and embraces all the sap and miscues that make the genre what it is. The movie is appropriately rated ‘R’ because there’s a lot of sex in it – but there’s not much nudity (heck, it’s downright tame compared to Kunis’ fantasy sex scene with none other than Natalie Portman in Black Swan). And it’s not a raunchy comedy. It’s more of a dramedy, thanks to a moving sub-plot involving Dylan’s family (including Jenna Elfman as his single-mom sister and Richard Jenkins as his Alzheimer’s-stricken dad).

Like No Strings Attached, you can pretty much figure out how the movie’s gonna end. It may be a tad racy, but it’s not at all edgy, and it ties up neatly in a bow – in true Hollywood romantic comedy fashion. It’s kind of a shame that Hollywood has to keep making movies that reinforce the notion that a girl-boy friendship without intimacy is a farce and that intimacy can ruin an otherwise good relationship. But that’s way too serious a debate for summer. So go – enjoy. Friends with Benefits is a solid chick flick (for adults).