Rick's Flicks Picks on AWN

In 2008, some critics hailed this WWII drama as one of the best films of the year, while others called it one of the worst. It's shocking material divided critics, many complaining the film is not for kids as advertised. While I found the film profound, I do agree that this is not a film for small or sensitive children. But for mature kids and adults alike, this story of a German boy befriending a Jewish boy is a moving experience.

The story unfolds through the eyes of Bruno (Asa Butterfield, SON OF RAMBOW), an eight-year-old German boy whose father Ralf (David Thewlis, HARRY POTTER) works as a soldier. We the audience can see he is an SS officer. He has told his family that they must move from the city to the country where he had been reassigned. Bruno and his older sister Gretel (Amber Beattie) are sad to leave their friends. Their mother Elsa (Vera Farmiga, UP IN THE AIR) assures them that they will make new friends. But their fears are justified when they arrive at their new home — a cold looking concrete box in the middle of nowhere.

This is a religious film. It tells the Virgin Mary sighting at Lourdes as truth. But it does present the other side, cynics, atheists and jealous believers come to question the validity of the miracle. Each of them, one by one, comes around to the side of the faithful. And yet it makes interesting arguments for and against. No matter what you believe it says some provocative things about faith.

Bernadette Soubirous (Jennifer Jones, LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING) was an asthmatic teenager, who knew little of Christianity, when she saw the "beautiful lady" at the city dump. Her mother Louise (Anne Revere, GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT) was angered with her daughter's childish daydreams when their family was under increasing financial problems. Town leaders, including Mayor Lacade (Aubrey Mather, HEAVEN CAN WAIT), Dr. Dozous (Lee J. Cobb, 12 ANGRY MEN) and Prosecutor Vital Dutour (Vincent Price, THE HOUSE OF WAX), worry that it will give the village a bad name. Sister Marie Therese Vauzous (Gladys Cooper, NOW, VOYAGER) thinks the girl is a blasphemer. But when the young girl makes a spring burst forth from the ground that seems to have healing qualities, the doubters start to come around.

Solo and William went goodbye and a soldier disarmed bombs to get a high. A serious man had some crappy luck and a white ribbon symbolized why people suck. Avatar symbolized a new cinematic boon while an old man, ranger scout, princess and frog were all in tune. We asked who's watching our heroes and a downsizing expert learned his life was a zero. In the end, Precious would inspire us, but for, Julia we're not ready to trust.

This past years seems like a year of extremes. Many of the premiere films of 2009 were under the radar of mainstream theaters. However, there were some phenomenal blockbusters as well. I don't want to yammer on here so lets get down to it. If you like you can check out the amended top 25s from 2007 and 2008. And like every year I like to give a nod to some of the films others have liked that I've missed. Possible additions to the top 25 at the end of next year could be — 12, 35 SHOTS OF RUM, AMREEKA, ANTICHRIST, ANVIL!: THE STORY OF ANVIL, BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, BEACHES OF AGNES, BIG FAN, BROKEN EMBRACES, BRONSON, COLLAPSE, CRAZY HEART, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE DAMNED UNITED, DEPARTURES, DISGRACE, EVERLASTING MOMENTS, THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, GOMMORAH, THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD, HUMPDAY, HUNGER, IL DIVO, IN THE LOOP, THE INVENTION OF LYING, JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY, KATYN, THE LAST STATION, LORNA'S SILENCE, LYMELIFE, ME AND ORSON WELLES, MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, THE MERRY GENTLEMAN, THE MESSENGER, MICHAEL JACKSON'S THIS IS IT, MOON, MUNYURANGABO, MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH, MY ONE AND ONLY, MY SISTER'S KEEPER, OF TIME AND THE CITY, O'HORTEN, ORPHAN, PARIS, PASSING STRANGE, POLICE OBJECTIVE, REVANCHE, THE SECRET OF GRAIN, THE SECRETS, SERAPHINE, A SINGLE MAN, SITA SINGS THE BLUES, SKIN, STILL WALKING, SUMMER HOURS, TOKYO SONATA, TULPAN, TRUCKER, (UNTITLED), WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?, and YOU: THE LIVING.

This is an actor's story. It contains juicy parts and this cast embraces them with passion. Marlon Brando's raw and honest performance came from another planet in 1951. Vivien Leigh's performance is grand and just shy of over-the-top, but it works perfectly for her character. Each character has their own agenda and their all moving in opposite directions until they finally collide and explode.

Blanche DuBois (Leigh, GONE WITH THE WIND) is an aging Southern belle who has secrets. She's losing her grip on reality, but puts up an illusion of a prim and proper lady. She goes to stay with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter, PLANET OF THE APES) in New Orleans taking the streetcar named Desire to Elysian Fields. The sexual electricity in the air shocks her. She's shocked even more so when she meets Stella's husband, Stanley Kowalski (Brando, THE GODFATHER). He is a brutish unsophisticated bully who oozes male sexuality. Stanley doesn't like Blanche from the start, but his shy, momma's boy friend Mitch (Karl Malden, ON THE WATERFRONT) takes a liking to the genteel woman instantly.

How would you react if you came to realize that your life's work had done the world harm? That's how Richard O'Barry feels about his career training dolphins for the TV series FLIPPER. It was that series that started the boom in trained dolphin performances and "swimming with the dolphins" attractions. He believes that his actions have led to the current slaughter of dolphins in Japan.

Because of his guilt, O'Barry has become an activist and he has focused his attention of the Japanese fishing village of Taiji, where dolphin hunters bang on metal pipes in the water to disrupt the dolphins' sonar and enabling them to lure the water mammals into a secluded cove where they are slaughtered. One of the fishermen once said that if the world ever found out what we were doing, they'd make us stop. So that's what O'Barry and director Louie Psihoyos set out to do.

Michael Haneke makes non-traditional thrillers. He loves to play mental mind games with his audience. He doesn't always give clear answers in the end. He hints at resolutions without spelling things out. It makes his work haunting and memorable, because he engages the audience more and drives us to return to piece things together again and again. His films are for adults who love the challenge of making up their own minds about what a film means or exactly what has transpired. In the end, different audience members could have wildly different theories. That's what makes it so exciting.

Set in Northern Germany right before the start of World War I, the story takes place in a farming village. The town doctor (Rainer Bock, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) is badly injured when his horse trips over a hidden wire placed across the path into his property. The police come to investigate asking his daughter Anna (Roxane Duran) if she saw anything, but she saw nothing. She was looking after her younger brother Rudi (Miljan Chatelain). The midwife (Susanne Lothar, THE READER), who works with the doctor, and has helped out at his home since the death of his wife, saw nothing as well.

In discussing Terry Gilliam's DR. PARNASSUS, let's get its footnote in film history over with from the start. It was the film Heath Ledger was working on when he died. Gilliam reworked the script and brought in Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Collin Farrell to play versions of his character in dream sequences. It makes no difference why the choice was made, because it works so well. This is one of Gilliam's best films.

Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer, SYRIANA) has been in a wager war with Mr. Nick aka the Devil (Tom Waits, SHORT CUTS) for centuries. The mystic doctor was immortal until he gave up his immortality for love. But as deals with the Devil often go, there is always fine print. Now Dr. Parnassus must save five souls before his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole, ST. TRINIAN'S) turns sixteen or the beautiful girl will become property of the Dark Lord.

Office romances are always tricky affairs. That applies to them on screen as well. With the delightful (500) DAYS OF SUMMER now on DVD and Blu-ray, This Weekend's Film Festival looks at some great screen office romances. Some of the best romantic comedies involve love in the workplace such as classics like THE APARTMENT and HIS GIRL FRIDAY, as well as contemporary satires like BROADCAST NEWS. This lineup finds shop clerks bickering, sadomasochism, high-powered business partners and a rogue sports agent and the woman that completes him.

(500) DAYS OF SUMMER finds love at a greeting card company. Tom, played by the always wonderful Joseph Gordon-Levitt, went to school to be an architect, but has fallen into a comfortable rut penning prose for birthday greetings. Summer, played by the charming Zoey Deschanel, is hired and Tom is smitten from the start, but he's too shy to make a move. After a night of karaoke with co-workers, Summer flirts with Tom and their relationship begins. Even though Summer says she doesn't believe in love, Tom thinks she is his soul mate. The film knows how office romances work when one of the participants is shy. Tom tries not so subtly to draw Summer into conversations by trying to woo her by playing her favorite music at his desk. As I said in my original review, "It understands that there are two people in a relationship and that hope and love (or infatuation) can cloud the clear signs that what one person is feeling isn’t the same as the other. How love clicks is always a mystery. As we flip through the days, we see how Tom fell hard and how Summer was simply Summer."

Director Franklin J. Schaffner's PLANET OF THE APES is a classic example of how sci-fi can be used to tackle controversial issues indirectly. Michael Wilson and Rod Serling's adaptation of Pierre Boulle's novel has the thoughtful examination of human nature that Serling's previous work on TWILIGHT ZONE had. The story of an ape-ruled world where religious leaders control the thinking of their people is as provocative today as it was in the 1960s.

George Taylor (Charlton Heston, BEN-HUR) is an astronaut who signed up for the deep space mission to explore the outer reaches of space. He's a cynic who hopes there is something better than man out there in the universe. When he and his fellow space explorers stumble on a planet after years of traveling, the humans there can't speak. The world is ruled by talking apes. Taylor, having lost his ability to talk in his capture, is taken prisoner and studied by the inquisitive scientist Zira (Kim Hunter, THE SWIMMER). When Taylor tries to sign to her, she believes he is a special human that might confirm the theory of her boyfriend Cornelius (Roddy McDowall, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE) that apes descended from man. However, their religious leader Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans, ROSEMARY'S BABY) believes the theory is blasphemous and disregards Taylor — until Taylor speaks and sends shockwaves through their society.

With his latest, Mike Judge makes strides forward as a director, but steps backwards as a writer. In both OFFICE SPACE and IDIOCRACY, there was a rawness to the framing and the pacing, but the invention of the screenplay made up for it. In this comedy, Judge makes the material slick and flow easily, but has less original things to say and less thematic control.

Joel (Jason Bateman, JUNO) is the hard-working owner of an extract factory. General Mills is interested in buying his company and his partner Brian (J.K. Simmons, JUNO) is eager to never see the troublesome employees again. While business is booming, Joel's personal life is in a huge rut. If he doesn't get home by eight o'clock, his wife Suzie (Kristen Wiig, WHIP IT) put on the sweatpants and he gets nothing. His eye begins to wander when they hire a new temp, the gorgeous Cindy (Mila Kunis, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL). His drugged out friend Dean (Ben Affleck, MALLRATS) suggests Joel hire a gigolo to seduce his wife so that he'll have a free pass to sleep with Cindy. The problem is Cindy is a con artist who has shacked up with Joel's injured employee Step (Clifton Collins Jr., CAPOTE) in order to convince the worker to sue for millions.



Judge has a lot going on in this film. There's the factory politics. Mary (Beth Grant, DONNIE DARKO) constantly refuses to work when she thinks the Mexican workers aren't doing their share. Rory (T.J. Miller, CLOVERFIELD) is a metal head who screws up all the time. Step took pride in his work until the accident. Brian can't remember any of their names. Joel loves the extract business, but no one else cares about it like he does. This is where his problems with his wife come in. Then you have his relationship with Dean, who is the kind of friend that would be your enemy if he had any one else to confide in. Also in the mix is the neighbor Nathan (David Koechner, THANKS FOR SMOKING), one of those pushy neighbors that make you hide in your house.

If all these pieces seem like a lot to deal with in 92 minutes you'd be right. Events build on each other humorously. Brad the gigolo (Dustin Milligan, FINAL DESTINATION 3) and his interactions with Joel and Suzie are some of the high points. The drug interludes with Dean are the low points. The various pieces are weaved together smoothly, but in the end they don't amount to much. Joel and Suzie's relationship is too thinly developed to care about. The look at factory life is intriguing, but Joel's desire to sell right from the start doesn't really mesh with his "love" for the extract business. Nathan and Dean seem like sitcom observations rather than real characters. Dean especially seems like a plot device rather than Joel's true friend.

EXTRACT's title is fitting. Judge's observant eye extracts characters from real life. But sometimes parts get boiled down too much. If the sitcom antics are the artificial flavoring added, they overwhelm the recipe. Judge keeps adding ingredients and watered down characters, making the final product a bland stew. In one taste, some good ingredients stand out like Bateman. The next taste will be sour like many of the awkward plot resolutions. Like an extract, the film might taste like the real thing, but something about it tastes fake at the same time.

The first four months of the year use to be a typical wasteland for bad romantic comedies and cheap thrillers. Now summer-caliber event films are coming out as early as February. Big stars and big directors are involved. Of course hot indies will pop up from now till then, but these are the exciting releases on the board thus far.

15) How to Train Your Dragon (March 26)
Trailer
This one barely made beat out some flicks like HOT TUB TIME MACHINE and THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. The trailer was not that impressive. Based on Cressida Cowell's picture book, Hiccup is a young Viking who instead of slaying dragons, he learns to train them, which is an embarrassment to his clan. Let us hope for more KUNG FU PANDA and less MONSTERS VS. ALIENS.

James Cameron's career has been a lead up to making this film. Subjects he's touched on in previous films, such as the environment and corporate greed, come together in this visually arresting sci-fi event. Like STAR WARS did, he takes tried and true conventions of the genre and twists them into something exciting and new.

The world of Pandora is a kaleidoscope of glowing colors and vicious creatures, and its inhabitants are tall, sleek, sexy blue-skinned warriors called the Na'vi. The SecFor corporation has come to the world to mine valuable minerals, but it lies under Na'vi sacred grounds. Flesh and bone avatars of the aliens controlled by human scientists are used to negotiate with the Na'vi and learn the planet. When one of the scientists is killed, the corporation brings in his twin, paraplegic Jake Sully (Sam Worthington, TERMINATOR SALVATION) to operate his avatar to save on growing a new, very expensive, avatar. Head scientist Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, ALIENS) is furious about it because Jake isn't a scientist, but a marine grunt. Her complaints fall on deaf ears, however, as corporate hack Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN) is only interested in business, not science. This, however, encourages Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS) who sees Jake as a military spy.