Arthur Christmas

Arthur Christmas. What is it? Who is it? Why is it?

To answer these questions, it happens to be one of the best animated films this year. To further elaborate, please read on.

The titular Arthur (James McAvoy) is the well-meaning clumsy younger son of Santa Claus (Jim Broadbent). While Santa delivers gifts in his spaceship "sleigh", Arthur answers letters from kids in the mail room. He loves his job, though, knowing that he's making many kids happy.

Meanwhile, thanks to a screw-up, a lone bicycle is misplaced and left undelivered. One English girl's Christmas won't be so merry in the morning. Arthur's brother Steve (Hugh Laurie) doesn't mind this, considering it's just one out of billions. Leave it to Arthur and his grandpa, Grandsanta (Bill Nighy) to take the old Santa sleigh and eight reindeer for a last minute mail delivery. But they should've gotten a map first.

It's a 3D computerized creation of Aardman Animations, known better for its clay animation efforts such as Wallace and Gromit. Free from the plasticine, the animators have much more liberty with their visuals here. Such visual highlights include the giant Santa ship, the flying reindeer and Santa's mission control. It's certain to amaze in 3D or flatscreen, that's for sure.

What's also amazing is the writing. Written by director Sarah Smith and Peter Baynham, the film has plenty of amusing gags and twists. Its characters are all incredibly likeable thanks to its emotional honesty and resonance. It somewhat drags a bit at times, but the overall sleigh ride is fun.

This is one animated film worth waiting for through out the year. It'll certainly make up for any disappointments along the way. Since it won't come out on DVD until this time next year, make sure to see it soon.

Green With Envy

Now for the latest romantic comedy.

Gary (Jason Segal) who lives with his brother Walter (Peter Linz) loves Mary (Amy Adams). They head to Los Angeles for a little sight-seeing. Mary wants Gary to be more than friends with her. Gary doesn't have a clue about it until it's too late. Only Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their friends can help them out.

Wait, are there Muppets in this movie?

Yes, because it's called The Muppets.

It's not just a romantic comedy. It's a comedy that involves evil mogul Tex Richman's (Chris Cooper) scheme for the oil under the Muppet Studios. Yes, Oil. And only if the Muppets raise $10 million can they convince Richman to leave the studios alone. To do so, they have to get the Muppets back together again for a live show. Good luck with that Kermit!

It's a delightfully silly family film from the creators (co-writers Segal and Nicholas Stoller) of the family unfriendly Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The human actors, even Cooper, add to the fun by having fun with their characters. A few musical numbers and celebrity cameos are sure to amuse as well. It's in flatscreen only, but its damage to the fourth wall will already be felt.

Preceded by a new short staring the Toy Story cast, The Muppets takes the old and makes it fun again. Its only flaw is that it's perhaps too lighthearted at times. But then again, it's so hard to hate this film. So don't hesitate if you want to meet The Muppets because they're waiting.

Hugo

Should you go to Hugo? Why should you go to Hugo? Isn't it kind of early for me to be asking this? The answer to all three questions is yes.

For Martin Scorcese's first truly family friendly film, he and writer John Logan (The Aviator) have turned their attention to Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. It's in 3D, yes, but those who choose the optional flatscreen will still be amazed.

The titular Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives in the Paris Montparnasse station in the 1930's. He's supposed to be minding the clocks with his uncle (Ray Winstone), but with his uncle gone, Hugo has to mind himself as well. Hugo's father (Jude Law) was trying to fix an automaton when he died; Hugo's goal is to finish it.

One day, Hugo meets Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), his first real friend. They then have an adventure as they set out to uncover the automaton's secret. Perhaps her godfather George (Ben Kingsley) has something to do with it.

Its greatest accomplishment is recreating Paris from 80 years ago. A combination of Dante Feretti's sets, Sandy Powell's costumes and the cinematography of Robert Richardson, old time Paris is a visual treat. One can't help but be amazed.

It helps knowing that the audience has capable actors as their guide. All of them give incredible performances that turn the story into a compelling history tour. Many revelations, including George's true identity, are all the more astonishing as a result.

It's one of the best films...actually, I'll say it's the best film I've seen this year. You won't be disappointed by going to Hugo, so see it while it's in theaters.

Happy Feet Two

We had a Cars sequel this year and now is the sequel to the film that beat back that film for the Oscar. It is Happy Feet I'm talking about, its sequel being Happy Feet Two.

Mumble the dancing penguin (Elijah Wood) and his mate Gloria (Pink, replacing the late Brittney Murphy) have a son named Erik (Ava Acres). Erik, like Mumble in the first film, has a lot of self-doubt. So dear old dad sets forth to make sure Erik stands strong.

But wait? Who should come along? Why, it's the plot!

Their Penguin Colony is sealed off by some errant icebergs. Only Mumble and Erik can get their fellow ice dwellers to join forces and dig the penguins free. Meanwhile, two Krill named Will and Bill (Brad Pitt and Matt Damon) decide to have their own misadventures while the Penguins do their thing.

Available as both a flatscreen and a 3D attraction, this sequel is once again supervised by director George Miller. Miller definitely made this with 3D in mind. The dancing penguins, swimming krill and some drifting snow provide some of the most visual of the visual highlights. For flatscreen goers, this translates into a nifty picture nevertheless.

But what about the plot? The initial story involving Erik is quite under-emphasized. It does start off good in the beginning, but several subplots later, it's just there. Among the subplots, we do have the Krill, who could've easily been the stars of their own film. At least the subplot with Sven (Hank Azaria), the "flying penguin," went somewhere good.

If there was some more cohesion, this'd be worthy of taking another Oscar. It's still memorable in its own right, but not as good as the first.

At least in either format, you'll get an amusing Sylvester and Tweety cartoon starring the late Mel Blanc. That was truly the best part of the movie.

J. Edgar

He was the first director of the FBI. He was the face of law enforcement for most of the 20th century. He had a bit of stuff on the side.

That was J. Edgar Hoover, and this is his movie, which is called J. Edgar.

In the latest Clint Eastwood picture, Leonardo DiCaprio is the famed lawman. On one hand, we see Hoover rise up from a lowly agent to the head of a gradually powerful organization. On another, old Hoover reflects on his life and sees history unfold in the sixties. In between, we see him relate to his secretary Helen Gandy (Naomi Watts) and Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer), his number two man both professionally and personally.

Yes, J. Edgar Hoover kept secrets on everybody, yet had secrets of his own.

Clint and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) have created an interesting, yet flawed story. Its most interesting aspect was how it showed Hoover's early history unfold. Yet, it leaps through time somewhat too quickly in both directions. And then there's the ending, or the few non-endings before the real thing. Still, seeing the history on screen makes both of those flaws seem minor.

The film's makeup effects are incredible due to how they render DiCaprio, Watts and especially Hammer unrecognizable. Also on the crew is cinematographer Tom Stern, who makes the film appropriately grey. Along with James Murakami's production design, these elements should get awards attention even if the top people don't.

As the lawman, DiCaprio perfectly plays Hoover as a well-intentioned, and sometimes petty extremist. His fellow leads also stand out especially when they're underneath the aforementioned aging makeup. Amongst the supporting cast, the best performance belongs to Judi Dench as Edgar's domineering mother.

It doesn't glamorize its subject; Tolson even calls out Hoover for doing that for himself in one scene. Naturally, it also doesn't villainize him. Whatever opinion you have of the man should be your own. That, I think, is the ultimate appeal of J. Edgar, a film we'll be hearing from for a few more months..

Immortals

As one may recall, my first film reviewed here was Clash of the Titans, a film that was all about the clashes and no Titans. This time, I'm reviewing Immortals, another 3D film about the clashes and this time, the Titans.

As John Hurt the narrator explains, the Titans were imprisoned in Mt. Tartarus after being defeated by the Olympian Gods. Years later, the evil King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) decides to conquer the world by siccing the Titans on the Gods. To free them, he has to get the Epirus Bow, a magic bow that fires light arrows that pack a wallop.

Unfortunately for him, he decides to kill the peasant Aethra (Anne Day-Jones) in front of her son, Theseus (Henry Cavill). Taken prisoner, Theseus decides to lead some fellow escapees to Tartarus to find the bow and to keep Hyperion and the Titans from taking over. Meanwhile, the Gods wonder if they should get involved.

Director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) certainly doesn't disappoint with the surreality. The sets, almost all of them real, are real marvels for this age. The costumes, by Oscar-winner Eiko Ishioka (Bram Stoker's Dracula), are reliably flashy. Meanwhile, the actual CGI stuff, such as teleportation effects and a tidal wive, are quite well-realized.

But it takes a special effort to figure out what's going on here. Some references to Ancient Greece are quite noticeable; other times, they're not because they were tossed in there. A few characters, such as some of the Gods, aren't distinguishable from one another for this reason. They're just there, and for some, I couldn't remember when they got there.

It kind of makes it hard to root for the good guys, doesn't it?

Maybe you can figure it out better than me. It's in 2D or 3D, but you'll have to act fast before it's drowned by the rest of the Holiday films coming this year.

Tower Heist

Once again, we have a film that explains itself with its title. It is called Tower Heist, which is the most fun I've had at seeing the news on screen.

Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the manager of a major Apartment Building where the corporate big wigs live. He has a nice relationship with one of his tenants, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), with whom he invested the staff's pension fund. That relationship turns justifiably sour when Shaw is busted for a Ponzi Scheme; amongst the lost funds are the pension fund.

Now under house arrest, Shaw won't tell Josh where the stolen funds are, so Josh decides to take them back. For the mission, Josh assembles some of the staff, a luckless ex-tenant named Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick) and even his street smart neighbor Slide (Eddie Murphy). They plan to strike during the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, but they have to work fast or else.

The swindler gets swindled. The one percent will wish they were with everyone else. Corporate thieves will meet the petty crooks. With director Brett Ratner's mix of action and comedy, these possibilities are fun to see on screen.

On the comedy side, Ben Stiller and his co-stars pull it off really well. It's so fun to see them play off each other, especially when it involves Murphy and Broderick's characters. Amongst the cast, Téa Leoni (as a sympathetic FBI Agent) and Gabourey Sidibe (as the maid turned safecracker) stand out perfectly. With this ensemble, the 99 percent has nothing to fear.

On the action side, there's plenty of that thanks to editor Mark Helfrich. His work here has given the action scenes a rapid pace that's perfectly exciting. Rather than swamp the actors, these scenes have allowed them more time to work together. Ultimately, what the editing's accomplished is that it's given the action scenes a tense unpredictability I've usually seen in action dramas.

In the end, Tower Heist is a great revenge fantasy for the swindled majority. If there was any holes in the plot, it surely drove through them because it was so fun. And that's what we need now. Oh yeah, and cheaper ticket prices.