Life of Pi

Once thought to be unfilmmable by its readers, Yann Martel's epic novel Life of Pi is now director Ang Lee's epic 3D movie. It's one of the most colorful films of this year, or maybe of any other year.

Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan), born in India and living in Canada, gets a chance to tell his life story to an interviewer (Rafe Spall). As a young man (Suraj Sharma), Pi took up Christianity, Islam and Hinduism all at once. His family owned a zoo, which political circumstances forced to move to Canada. On the way there, natural circumstances sank the ship they were traveling on. Only Pi and a handful of animals make it out alive. In a short time, though, it's just Pi and Richard Parker, the Zoo's resident Bengal Tiger.

For 227 days, Pi has to tame Parker's savage instincts for the good of them both. To do that, Pi must keep his faith alive, just as much as he'd keep himself alive.

Its bright 3D cinematography by Claudio Miranda is what keeps the film alive. At times magnificent, and at other times frightening, its visuals are as vast as the ocean Pi finds himself in. Among its most incredible effects include a swarm of flying fish, a glowing whale, the shipwreck, and the lifeboat seemingly in the sky. Hopefully, we have either our Oscar winner for Visual Effects, or the close runner-up.

What makes the novel work on-screen are Pi and Parker. As Pi, Suraj Sharma is compelling as he faces the world around him. Parker, who is actually a mainly CGI creation, looks and acts likes a real, feeling big kitty. What makes their relationship work is that they bring out the best in each other. While Pi learns to remain strong, Parker has to humble himself, even somewhat, before his “guest.” As rendered by screenwriter David Magee, this shipwreck story makes great use of its two hour run-time.

Simply put, Life of Pi needs to be seen in a theater soon. Its epic scope justifies the continuing existence of the big screen in this day and age.

Rise of the Guardians

While Marvel Comics has The Avengers, Folklore now has The Guardians. It's a superteam first assembled by author William Joyce in the book series, The Guardians of Childhood. And now, they are here for their first film, the 3D animated Rise of the Guardians.

Bunnymund the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), Sandy the Sandman, Tooth the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and North, aka Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), are all real. Together, they are The Guardians, assembled by the Man in the Moon to preserve the happiness of all the kids in the world. Meanwhile, Jack Frost (Chris Pine) enjoys his snow life, but he doesn't enjoy the fact that no one can see him.

The Guardians are forced to recruit Jack when Pitch Black the Boogeyman (Jude Law) decides to bring misery to all the kids in the world. Since the Guardians are preserved by the happiness they preserve, this is a problem. Only Jack, who actually has had the time to interact with kids, unlike the others, has what they need to shine a light on Pitch Black.

Whether in 3D or on Flatscreen, this is one of the best looking animated films around. It has colorful scenery and an amazing display of animated superpowers. When combined with Alexandre Desplat's score, the results are just enchanting. It truly must be seen to be believed.

Its screenplay, by playwright David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), keeps it moving quite nicely in its 97 minute runtime. It may run too fast for some, but that's a story flaw I found barely noticeable. That's because its heroes, especially the mute Sandy, are all a fine ensemble of animated folks. Meanwhile, the Guardians' supporting creatures, whether they be Yeti or Elves, provide some well-needed comic relief.

Overall, Rise of the Guardians is an animated film that's enjoyable for both kids and believing adults. As Dreamworks's last animated film to be distributed by Paramount, it is also one of their greatest.

Jethro's Note: Stay tuned to March, when Dreamworks Animation switches over to Fox, for The Croods.

Lincoln

Last summer, the Great Emancipator became the Great Slayer in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Now, the 16th president is back on-screen in Steven Spielberg's long awaited Lincoln. Now with more history, and less vampires.

It's January 1865, and Honest Abe (Daniel Day-Lewis) is still President of a Nation at War with itself. It's not just the Civil War that's dividing the nation, but also the Thirteenth Amendment, the one that'll end slavery forever. His fellow Republicans want the War ended now, badly, and even they doubt the Amendment will help. Still, they are at least somewhat willing to vote on it, unlike the Democrats.

To get it passed, Lincoln has to get that minimum Democrat support. It's not easy, and the pressure is taking its toll on him. His allies include former Rivals Secretary of Defense William Seward (David Strathairn) and Abolitionist Rep. Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones). Not supporting Lincoln is Copperhead Congressman Fernando Wood (Lee Pace).

Using Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln as the starting point, Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay. It's another fine example of turning history into suspense. Of course, we know that the amendment did pass and the war ended soon after. However, thanks to its climactic House Vote, we're left wondering “how did that ever get passed?”

As Lincoln, Day-Lewis charms the audience with his soft-spoken good nature. When it starts to crack under pressure, the results are intense. In the end, Day-Lewis keeps the audience empathizing with Lincoln. Meanwhile, the film's makeup team, who have rendered Day-Lewis into Lincoln's exact likeness, deserves as much Oscar buzz as the star himself.

Amongst the film's supporting cast, Jones and James Spader (as W.N. Bilbo) steal their scenes wonderfully. As Mary Lincoln, Sally Field is great as Lincoln's closest moral support, even if she herself badly needs it herself. On the crew, Spielberg's frequent collaborators, consisting of composer John Williams, editor Michael Kahn and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, contribute greatly to this historical tale's look and feel.

On-screen, its stars make Lincoln worth its two-and-a-half-hour run time. It is, overall, a more entertaining political drama than what we see on the evening news.  

The Master

The Master. It looks good. It's acted good. It's written good. But, it's also overwhelmingly hard to process; in fact, as I'm writing this, I'm still trying to process it. If you want to know what I understood, read on.

Just after World War II, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) lives an aimless life. He can't keep a job for very long and his relationships with fellow man are a mess. One night, he hitches a ride on a yacht owned by writer Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd is also the head of a religious movement called “The Cause.” Intrigued by The Cause, Freddie joins to help spread its word across the country.

For the rest of the movie, there's suspicions that Dodd's movement is nothing but a cult. Also, there's Quell being an angry man. And Dodd's wife, Peggy (Amy Adams), being serious in the background. All the while, we're wondering “what?”

Director/Writer Paul Thomas Anderson's film isn't that easy to take in. It's quite serious, can get weird at times and it is long. Its main characters, especially Quell, aren't that appealing. They may look appealing, but beneath it all, they are unpleasant. Still, they are convincingly performed as unpleasant people. But that's not the same as me wanting to be in the same room as them.

Alleviating the unpleasantness of the story's mood a bit is a few of its crew. Its cinematography, by Mihai Malaimare Jr., is the first film since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet to be shot on 70 MM film. Its colors and the depths of its outdoor scenery shots are amazing. Meanwhile, its production and costume design look authentically 1950's. Composer Johnny Greenwood, who also did Anderson's There Will Be Blood, gives the film a distinctive score.

Still, it actually does have a positive message: being one's own master. But still, there's the fact that we have to sit through two and a half hours of weirdness and seriousness. Anyone else who wishes to see this movie, please proceed with caution. Or, not at all.

Skyfall

And now, it's time to welcome Britain's best-known superspy, James Bond, back to theaters. Once again in the form of Daniel Craig, and supervised by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, Bond returns in his 23rd film, Skyfall.

This time, Bond dies.

Actually, no.

It opens with Bond in pursuit of an evil mercenary, who has with him the names of all of NATO's undercover operatives. They end up on top of a speeding train over a bridge. Fellow agent Eve (Naomie Harris) has the mercenary in her sights, but hits Bond by mistake, sending him to the river below.

Anyway, Bond enjoys his retirement by presumed death until the evil Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) bombs MI6. An MI6 agent until M (Judi Dench) left him for dead, Silva takes up cyber-terrorism to get his revenge. To stop him, Bond has to get back into shape and join with some new allies.

Off-screen, Bond has many new allies on the crew. One of them is Cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose imagery of the Scottish Highlands, Shanghai and more, is amazing. Another new ally is Mendes' constant composer, Thomas Newman, whose score is suitably exciting. Its sound design, co-supervised by constant Oscar-nominee Greg P. Russell, makes use of some incredible sound effects. And while he's not a new ally, having done Casino Royale, editor Stuart Baird constructs some amazing scenes of action and suspense.

While its 143 minutes do feel long, its three stars make up for it. In particular, Bardem as Silva is one of the creepiest film villains as of late. Either good makeup or good CGI (I couldn't tell) was used for one great scene concerning his physical condition. Although it is Bond's film, and nobody but Daniel Craig does it better here, it is also M's film as well. More-so than ever, Dench plays M as vulnerable beneath her snarky demeanor. By the end, the audience'll wonder not only if good wins, but if they'll be in one piece by the end.

With an exciting and humorous screenplay, co-written by John Logan, Skyfall makes up for the confusing Quantum of Solace. I don't know about it being the best Bond film, but it's still an awesome film overall. It's certainly for all eyes only.

Flight

Twelve years since he directed Cast Away, director Robert Zemeckis is back in live-action with Flight. It maybe an Oscar contender soon, but it'll certainly never be an in-flight movie.

“Whip” Whitaker (Denzel Washington) is a drunk, coke addict and an airline pilot. Not a very appealing combination, is it? But a mechanical failure, such as the one that strikes Whip's latest flight, isn't appealing either. Through some fancy maneuvering, Whip gets the plane to crash land and save almost all on-board.

Upon waking up from a coma, Whip is hailed as a hero by the press. But that'll end once they realize that Whip flew the plane high and drunk. His lawyer, Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) and Union representative Charlie (Bruce Greenwood), are ready to protect his clean image. Even then, that won't clean Whip's conscience, which is what he has to do himself.

As Whip, Denzel Washington's performance is what the film's all about. He's a fallen hero, one who's actually already fallen before becoming a hero. All it takes is the crash for him to see how mighty he's fallen; after that, he's lost. Washington never makes the audience lose sympathy for Whip, even when Whip lashes out at loved ones. For that reason, we the audience want to see Whip turn his life around and keep flying, so to speak.

Amongst the supporting cast, the best work came from John Goodman, as Whip's supplier, Harling, and Kelly Reilly, as Whip's love interest, Nicole. Goodman, in particular, continues to be a reliably hilarious character actor. Reilly's compelling performance, meanwhile, should give Oscar voters another option to consider this year.

And yes, there is the plane crash that starts the film. With some great editing and visual effects, the crash is one of the scariest ones on screen. It certainly doesn't help anyone's fear of flying, especially my own, to see the turbulence take its toll on the plane and its inhabitants.

Even when it does lag on towards its 139 minute runtime, Flight keeps things going thanks to its star. Unless you have a flight in the near future, then this character study is worth checking into.

Wreck-It Ralph

My last reviewed film, Cloud Atlas, had many things. A straightforward plot was not one of them. But my latest reviewed film, Wreck-It Ralph, is an ode to a medium known for straightforward plots: video games.

Each time someone plays the Arcade Classic Fix-It Felix Jr., Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) smashes up the Niceland appartments. Then, the titular character (Jack McBryer) fixes it up. The good guys celebrate by giving Felix a Medal and Ralph a flight off the roof.

After thrity years, Ralph finally has enough. Ralph decides to leave his own game and head for the new Shooter Game Hero's Duty. Once he defeats the game's mutant Cy-Bugs, he'll finally have a medal of his own. But by accident, Ralph gets tossed into the Candyland racing game Sugar Rush. There, he loses the medal to the game's glitch outcast, Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman). To get it back, Ralph has to help her win a race that'll get her into the game's lineup.

Unfortunately, Ralph's game-jumping threatens to put Fix-It Felix Jr. out of business. Not only that, but a Cy-Bug's followed Ralph into Sugar Rush. Once it multiplies, the end of the Arcade World is sure to follow. To save the games, Felix tags along with Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch) of Hero's Duty to enter Sugar Rush.

Rich Moore, known for his work on The Simpsons and Futurama, makes his feature debut here. It's a film that has plenty of references to, and cameos from, various real life games. Rather than swamp the film in in-jokes, the screenplay focuses directly on its own original characters. Whether alone or together, its main characters are all likable individuals. Even King Candy (Alan Tudyk) of Sugar Rush is quite likable until his rotten secret is revealed. Overall, it's actually less about video games and more about folks who are video game characters.

As a 3D Movie, Wreck-It Ralph has plenty of visual spectacle. It's most obvious in the delicious game world of Sugar Rush, complete with baked goods as race cars. All the other game worlds, whether its the film's original works or the actual titles, are rendered wonderfully in their own art styles. Seeing what those game worlds looked like behind the screen was also fun to see.

Whether you're a gamer or not, Wreck-It Ralph is lots of fun in either 3D or Flatscreen. Either way, you'll get an amazing short film, Paperman, to start the "game" with.