I see dead people

Efron plays the title character, Charlie St. Cloud. He’s a smart, sensitive, fun-loving guy about to head off to Yale on a sailing scholarship. But his plans hit the skids, in a big way, when his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) is killed in a violent car crash, with Charlie at the wheel. Charlie is overcome by guilt and spends the next several years fulfilling a promise to play catch with his brother on a daily basis – even though his brother is dead. And instead of going off to college, Charlie works as a caretaker at the local cemetery. Generally a good place to keep tabs on dead people.

The first half of the movie centers on the bittersweet relationship between the brothers who are both struggling to ‘move on’. The second half is largely devoted to Charlie’s budding romance with a former high school sailing nemesis named Tess (Amanda Crew) who may or may not be dead too.

Efron does an admirable job with the movie, which falls under the ‘not great, but not a total waste of time’ category. The supporting cast is fine, though Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta have surprisingly small roles and consequently very little to showcase in the way of character development. Basinger plays the boys’ single mother, who moves away after the accident. And Liotta is a paramedic who believes that Charlie’s life was spared for a reason.

Zac Efron in Charlie St. Cloud is like Miley Cyrus in The Last Song – two actors on the cusp of adulthood taking on more mature roles in an effort to break out of their Disney shells – if only their fan base would let them. Tweens will want to see this movie even though it’s totally inappropriate. It is, after all, rated PG-13 for a reason. Charlie St. Cloud features some fairly brutal moments on land and at sea, not to mention adult themes about death, guilt, love and redemption. But Zac being Zac… good luck keeping the girls at bay. That hair! Those eyes! Oh my! Okay, I admit it. He is kinda cute. And when the camera zooms in on those Newman-esque baby blues, one thing becomes crystal clear: if his eyes don’t change color, Efron has a real future as a leading man in the chick flick universe.

Salt

The role of Salt was originally written for Tom Cruise but I don’t think the gender switch adds or detracts from the final product. They’ve both played this same type of slick, sharp, kick-ass character before – in this same type of big budget, stunt-driven, bullets-flyin’, bombs explodin’, reality-suspending cinematic joyride.

I’d love to be able to reveal more about the plot of Salt. But that’s impossible to do without giving too much away. Needless to say, the movie’s believability factor (or lack thereof) definitely benefits from the recent, real-life, Russian-U.S. spy swap. Otherwise, the whole Cold War-esque, happily-married spy-next-door thing might have seemed very passé. Maybe it’s time to dust off those Scarecrow and Mrs. King reruns after all (whatever happened to Bruce Boxleitner anyway?).

In many ways, watching Salt is like watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith without the Mr., so it’s devoid of the sexy and funny that made that Jolie-Pitt flick a breakout hit. But if you like movies in the vein of the Bourne, Mission Impossible, or Matrix franchises, then a dash of Salt will satisfy your appetite for relatively light summer fare (especially compared to Inception). And just as the good ol’ Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty had its sequel, my guess is that this SALT will trigger a SALT II too, eventually.

Relative unknown Joey King (yes, Joey is a girl) plays Ramona Quimby, a spirited young girl whose boundless energy and active imagination are alternately endearing and frustrating to those around her, especially big-sister Beezus (played by Disney Channel mainstay Selena Gomez).

When Ramona’s father (John Corbett in ultra-sensitive hunky-dad mode) gets laid off, Ramona cooks up scheme after scheme to help the family out. But as her efforts routinely backfire, even Ramona begins to question her propensity for marching to the beat of her own drum.

Ramona and Beezus is a light family drama that occasionally gets a bit sad. I even shed a few tears – though I attribute those to experiential relatability more than anything else. It’s hard not to relate to, recognize, or envy the various relationships touched upon in the movie: There’s Ramona’s relationship with her sister Beezus; her relationship with her parents (Corbett and Bridget Moynahan); her parents’ relationship with each other; her relationship with her school teacher (Sandra Oh); her relationship with her Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), and Bea’s relationship with a former high school sweetheart and neighbor, Hobart (Josh Duhamel). None cut too deep. But then again, this movie has a rather limited target demo consisting mostly of 8-12 year old girls. I took two smart and sassy 10-year-olds and they both seemed to enjoy it. Rumor has it that Miley “Hannah Montana” Cyrus was initially offered the role of big sister Beezus. All I can say is… well… thank goodness for small movie favors. I’m still processing The Last Song.

Ultimately, Ramona and Beezus is just okay as a feature film. It’s more like a good TV movie with a really good cast and a really, really good message for girls (and boys) of all ages. When Beezus admonishes Ramona for always coloring outside the lines, Ramona sets her straight, saying (paraphrasing here) “Sometimes I like to color inside the lines. It just depends on the picture.” I like that answer.

If you like the work of writer/director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Memento), then it’s a no-brainer. Go see this movie. If you’re looking for easy, breezy escapist fare, then skip it.

Inception is basically about corporate espionage, with a sci-fi twist. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a genius in the art of so-called “extraction”. He knows how to infiltrate a person’s dreams in order to unlock (i.e. steal) secrets buried in their subconscious. It’s a lucrative skill that has cost him dearly in his personal life… a life that he wants to reclaim.

Cobb is offered a chance at redemption if he takes on one last job that requires a bit of reverse engineering. Rather than ‘extract’ information from an unsuspecting man’s subconscious, he must ‘plant’ an idea there. Inception.

What ensues is a mind-bending, complex, bizarre, sometimes even funny ensemble heist flick reminiscent of a dark and twisted Ocean’s Eleven. But in this case, the perfect crime involves a journey into virtual realities as opposed to casino vaults. And like George Clooney in Oceans, DiCaprio is quite captivating as the team leader in this cerebral caper.

Inception features a strong supporting cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, and Ellen Page as Ariadne (which I mention, only ‘cause I couldn’t figure out what the heck her name was supposed to be).

Page plays a “student architect” tasked with designing a dream within a dream within a dream that Cobb and his co-conspirators can infiltrate and manipulate. It all seems dangerous, but oddly doable – until Cobb’s own subconscious threatens to put his whole team, and their mission, in jeopardy.

Inception is certainly a smart and refreshingly unique alternative to the studios’ typical summer offerings. But it does take an inordinate amount of focus and concentration to follow, and it feels as long as it is (two and a half hours!). So if you’re susceptible to nodding off in the theater or need frequent bathroom breaks, you’d better wait for the DVD ‘cause you need to pay attention all the way through the very last frame. Sorry, no spoilers here!

The Karate Kid

The plot of The Karate Kid (2010) draws from the basic storylines of both The Karate Kid (1984) and its sequel, The Karate Kid, Part Two (1986) which took place primarily in Japan. For this reboot, Jaden Smith plays 12-year-old Dre Parker, a kid from Detroit who moves to China with his single mother (Taraji P. Henson) when her vague factory job is relocated for some vague reason.

On his first day in China, Dre falls for a pretty classmate but cultural differences get in the way of their budding friendship- as do a bunch of bullies who pummel Dre with some fairly intense kung fu body chops every chance they get. Fortunately, the maintenance guy at Dre’s apartment building is a closet kung-fu master, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who grudgingly agrees to take Dre on as a student. The heart of the movie is the bond they form as Mr. Han teaches Dre respect and honor (and kick-ass moves) in advance of a kung fu championship tournament where his opponents are taught to show “no mercy.” Boo, hiss!

If you’re a fan of the original, you’ll feel a sense of loss for iconic lines like “sweep the leg” and “wax on, wax off”. But let’s face it, the dialogue doesn’t make or break this type of movie. It’s all about the action, the sentimental Dre-Han bromance, and China’s cultural and scenic gems.

The movie gets off to a rather slow start and the two-and-a-half-hour running time is excessive. But kids in the theater generally seemed to enjoy themselves, though the violence was, at times, a bit much for the youngest among them. All in all, The Karate Kid reboot is a decent-enough flick. But I still like the original better. I’m allowed to wax nostalgic that way. Or is it, “wax on, wax off” nostalgic?