Alice in Wonderland – - -
Tim Burton takes a creative leap in this film adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic by fusing it with Jabberwocky, and forcing Alice into the role of a latter-day Joan of Arc. Violence and death are just the beginning of the creative remake as Burton gives the film an adult sensibility that doesn’t quite work. Johnny Depp is wonderful as the mad Hatter, as is the rest of the cast, but this optically entertaining film is emotionally and spiritually anemic. at times, it’s just downright depressing.
James Cameron steps up to the plate for the first time since Titanic with this wholesale reimagining of the American western. This time, we’re rooting for injured marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a gunslinger who lost the use of his real legs, but gets a chance at virtual mobility via an avatar — an alien “puppet” he controls through a computer. The avatar is supposed to help a human colonizing force take control of the alien population, but when Sully falls for a hot, blue female, his loyalty to his own species is compromised.
Brooklyn’s Finest – - ½
Antoine Fuqua’s three-part cop drama stars Richard Gere, Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke as policemen with various types of problems — alcoholism, undercover fatigue, a pressing need for cash — heading toward a climactic confrontation. Gritty and well made, it’s nonetheless filled with cop-drama cliches, and its ugly world drags you down.
Cop out – -
A lame buddy comedy with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as mismatched policemen on the trail of a stolen baseball card. They have no chemistry, the jokes are vulgar rather than funny, and director Kevin Smith seems lost in the complications of a studio genre film.
A sort of zombie movie with a message. The government has spilled some biological weapons into the water supply, turning a town’s residents into drooling killers. A small band tries to escape both the crazies and the soldiers who are trying to eliminate them. It’s frightening, but the mood is mostly existential impotence.
Jeff Bridges turns in a memorable, and Oscar-worthy, performance in the form of a beat-up, beaten-down country singer by the name of Bad Blake. Blake has seen the bottom of one too many bottles of scotch, but when he gets a big break, he’s cluttered by jealousy. only the love of a good woman (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is enough to make him change his ways. The plot is all formula, but Bridges’ performance of the broken man is so detailed and tragic, we can’t help but watch the downward spiral.
A semi-sweet tear-jerker that combines a love story — Channing Tatum is a soldier on leave and Amanda Seyfried is the girl he must leave behind — a father-son melodrama and a surprise third-act tragedy. Director Lasse Hallstrom keeps things under some kind of control, but this drama, told in love letters and montages, never finds the courage of its heartbreak.
Edge of Darkness – -
Mel Gibson returns to the screen as a cop whose daughter is murdered. His investigation takes him into the upper reaches of government and business conspiracy, a complexity that’s mixed with lots of gunplay. But there’s a sense of sadness in the film, as well: The old mad Mel has become a more melancholy figure.
