Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant - 2 smiles

The first 30 minutes of “Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant,” based on the best-selling young adult novels by Darren Shan, has a light tone and a sense of playfulness. If the film had stayed there, it would have been more enjoyable. Unfortunately, most of the film rehashes the been-there-seen-that battle of the vampires and “The Vampire’s Assistant” offers nothing new. Darren (Chris Massolgia) and his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) are high school misfits. While playing hooky one day, they see a flyer for a freak show and decide to check it out. In an old dilapidated theater, they are entertained by various freaks such as a wolfman, a woman (Jane Krakowski) whose limbs grow back if they’re cut off, the bearded lady (Salma Hayek), a giant, Mr. Tall (Ken Watanabe) and Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), a vampire who owns a multi-colored spider named Octa. The spider-obsessed Darren steals Octa, which bites Steve and puts him in a coma. To get the antidote, Darren agrees to become a half-vampire and serve as Crepsley’s assistant. Steve, however, who has long dreamed of becoming a vampire and now hates Darren, joins the group of ‘bad’ vampires.

All of the characters are introduced quickly without much development. Because the movie is based on a series of books, I assume that director/co-writer Paul Weitz plans more development in future episodes. But that doesn’t help this one. And the central actor, Chris Massolgia, is not strong enough to keep the audience engaged. Oh, John C. Reilly is good as Crepsley, but that’s not enough. Perhaps if we had a stronger story, “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” might have been more compelling. Maybe that’s what happens in chapter 2, but we’ll probably never know. 10/23/09

Amelia - 1 1/2 smiles

I was hoping that “Amelia” would soar. Unfortunately, it’s too leaden to get off the ground. This totally by-the-numbers bio-pic is bland, lacking any passion and insight. And although star Hilary Swank does resemble Earhart, hers is not an Oscar-worthy performance. The film opens in June 1937, with Earhart already on her way around the world. The bulk of the story is told in flashbacks, but this approach is sometimes awkward and often confusing, adding nothing to Amelia’s story. We meet Amelia before she is famous, when she is selected by publisher George Putnam (Richard Gere), who would later become her husband, to be a passenger on a transatlantic flight piloted by a seasoned veteran. This catapults Amelia into the spotlight and she uses her fame to feed her desire to fly. She becomes an influential role model for girls, befriends Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones), and has an affair with Gene (father of Gore) Vidal (Ewan McGregor) before reconciling with Putnam and planning her greatest challenge.

According to screenwriters Ron Bass and Anne Hamilton Phelan, the story is reasonably faithful to historical record: she was a spokeswoman for Lucky Strike cigarettes (even though she didn’t smoke). She promoted Amelia Earhart luggage and her own clothing line and frequently made the rounds as a paid speaker. Their Amelia is fearless, an independent spirit driven to fly, a heroic figure devoted to feminist causes. However, the Amelia in the movie tends to come across as reckless, self-centered and obsessed. Swank gives a credible performance although there is no chemistry between her and Gere’s character. And we know how it ends. Interestingly, Amelia’s continuing fame has more to do with the mystery of her disappearance than with her life’s accomplishments, but this movie isn’t into speculation. And that’s probably why “Amelia” just doesn’t take flight. 10/24/09

An Education - 4 smiles

“An Education,” perceptively directed by Lone Sherfig with outstanding performances by Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard, is clearly one of the best films this year. Jenny, a precocious 16-year-old high schooler cocooned in a claustrophobic world of school and home, is aching to feel everything the world has to offer. Her encounters with the much older David (Sarsgaard) provide her with experiences not contained in a typical syllabus. David proves to be a grifter so charming and so good at conning people that even Jenny’s parents (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour) encourage their relationship.

Director Sherfig hits the right tone in Nick Hornby’s script – she keeps everything light. But at the core of the story is the fundamental dilemma, life vs. education. And in the early 1960s, the time period for “An Education,” there weren’t many doors open to women. Certainly learning about life with David makes more sense to Jenny than being bored and studying Latin. Mulligan brings intelligence and strength to her role, transforming Jenny from gawky girl to sophisticated woman. She lights up the screen with a charisma reminiscent of a young Audrey Hepburn. Sarsgaard is a perfect David, creating a man who is both fascinating and slimy and certainly less emotionally mature than Jenny. The excellent supporting cast also includes Olivia Williams and Emma Thompson as strong-willed educators with opposite responses to Jenny’s situation. See “An Education” for Carey Mulligan’s performance. She’s the heart and soul of the movie. You won’t be disappointed. 10/16/09

About "An Education"

Newcomer Carey Mulligan is gaining a lot of Oscar buzz for her portrayal of Jenny, a high school senior who learns about life and love in “An Education.” Mulligan’s enchanting performance is reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn in “A Breakfast at Tiffany's” as her Jenny blossoms on screen and she transforms herself from an actor into a star. Behind the scenes, Nick Hornby’s understanding script and director Lone Scherfig’s gentle guidance bring this story, based on an eight-page memoir, to life and is really worth seeing. Lynn Barber, who published her brief memoir in a magazine, has said that her experiences with David, the older man who provides Jenny’s ‘education,’ made her a better journalist because she learned not to take things at face value. Mulligan’s next major role will be as Gordon Gekko’s daughter in the upcoming “Wall Street” sequel, which will be released next year.

Where the Wild Things Are - 2 smiles

The reason Maurice Sendak’s picture book, Where the Wild Things Are, has remained so popular is there are different ways to interpret what the 10-sentence story means. However, director Spike Jonze, in co-writing the script with Dave Eggers, had to enhance the plot and therein lies the problem. All of the subtlety and imagination is gone. Because the bulk of the movie is spent with the creatures, Jonze and Eggers give them specific characteristics, which appear to be aspects of Max’s personality. So Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini), the giant monster who likes to destroy things, represents Max’s anger. KW (Lauren Ambrose) embodies the love Max is capable of giving and the large goat Alexander (Paul Dano), who complains that no one listens to him, signifies Max’s fragile self-esteem. There’s also Judith (Catherine O’Hara), who undermines Max’s authority with her sarcasm. The other Wild Things must correspond to something in Max, but I’m not sure what. And what’s with the two owls that KW likes so much? Finally, there’s only one way to interpret the significance of what happens to Max: When he finds himself in the role of a grown-up dealing with a group of angry and unruly children, Max gains insight into his own behavior. Nonetheless, it becomes tedious watching so much quarreling going on.

The creatures, a combination of the Jim Henson Creature Shop and computer-generated facial features, look great. And the world Jonze creates is reminiscent of Sendak’s work. Max Records, who plays Max, has an incredibly expressive face, a necessary ingredient in playing this angry nine-year-old. Catherine Keener plays his mother and Mark Ruffalo has a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-him cameo. However, this is not a whimsical story and young children will find it hard to follow. At least read the book to them before going to see “Where the Wild Things Are.” Hopefully, you won’t be bored. 10/18/09

About "The Damed United"

I saw "The Damned United" recently and listened to a Q & A with its star, Michael Sheen ("The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon"). The screenplay for "The Damned United," an adaptation of a novel about Brian Clough, one of England's most successful soccer (football) managers, is by Peter Morgan, who also wrote "The Queen" and "Frost/Nixon." Sheen explained how he and Morgan collaborated on the 'United' script while Sheen was working on "Frost/Nixon." Because both men had read the novel, which focuses more on Clough's failures, their back-and-forth dialogues provided the revisions for the script.

This movie is not really about soccer, but about the Shakespearean themes of pride and ambition, about Clough's character flaws that prove almost career ending. Clough is both hero and villain in this intriguing movie and Clough's friend and assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall) brings out the best in him while Don Revie (Colm Meaney), the celebrated coach of the #1 team in England, Leeds United, brings out the worst. Clough was a controversial figure in the British press, opinionated and arrogant, but his behavior hides his pain at not being able to play soccer because of an injury. Sheen can be seen as the White Rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" and as a character in the computer in a remake of "Tron."

Coco Before Chanel - 2 smiles

“Coco Before Chanel,” starring Audrey Tautou, is visually attractive and mildly diverting. But because director Anne Fontaine focuses more on Coco’s early years and presents Coco as a demanding narcissist, it’s hard to really get involved in Coco’s life. After a brief introduction showing a young Coco and her sister being abandoned at an orphanage by their father, we shift quickly to a twenty-something Coco (Tautou) and Adrienne (Marie Gillain) singing for their supper in a cabaret. There she meets Etienne (Benoit Poelvoorde), a wealthy aristocrat, her on-again/off-again lover. Coco moves in with Etienne, benefiting from his generosity and resentful of his demands. Here she learns how to ride horses, makes hats for his friends and falls in love with his British financial adviser, Arthur Capel (Alessandro Nivola)

Although Tautou looks charming in Coco’s boyish outfits, her Coco is aloof and often unapproachable, making it difficult to have any empathy for her character. The sparkle in Tautou’s eyes, which is her most engaging quality, is nowhere in evidence. “Coco Before Chanel” may provide a back-story for the woman who had such a huge impact on the 20^th century fashion industry, but it gives no insights into how she developed from a seamstress at the orphanage to the legend she has become in the final scene. Subtitles. 10/1/09

The Invention of Lying - 1 1/2 smiles

“The Invention of Lying,” written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson, has an interesting premise and the ever-beautiful and engaging Jennifer Garner, but it seems more like an overly long comedy sketch rather than a cohesive movie. The setting is an alternate universe where people can only tell the truth, even if it means blurting out, ‘I loathed almost every minute that I worked for you.’ Most of the funny moments center around how much of a loser Mark Bellison (Gervais) is, but that’s humorous for about 10 minutes. Then it’s tiresome. When Bellison comforts his dying mother (Fionnula Flanagan) with tales of a glowing afterlife, complete with mansions for everyone, everyone believes him and asks for more. That’s when “The Invention of Lying” shifts into another gear with Bellison finding fame and fortune as a Moses figure, as the only one who talks to the man in the sky.

Although more than a half of the movie satirizes religious belief, specifically Christianity, the problem is, nothing is funny. Yes, Bellison presents the revelations from the man in the sky on pizza boxes. Two pizza boxes, get it? Briefly amusing. Gervais the actor seems to be working overly hard to manufacture laughs that aren’t there. But Jennifer Garner as Anna, the woman Bellison loves, is charming and a pleasure to watch. If you get roped into seeing this movie, you might want to watch for cameos from Tina Fey, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Guest, Ed Norton and Jason Bateman. Otherwise, skip this one and catch it on cable. 10/3/09

Zombieland - 3 smiles

“Zombieland” is a fun romp, full of witty dialogue, distinctive characters and creative (but not necessarily credible) events. Suspend your disbelief and venture out on a journey of survival. The narrator is Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), a lanky, curly-haired young man, who shares his rules for survival, such as ‘Be wary of bathrooms.’ That’s where you can be taken unawares by zombies. On his way to his Ohio hometown, Columbus meets Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), a machismo redneck and Columbus’s polar opposite. If Columbus believes retreat is often the wisest choice, Tallahassee is a zombie’s worse nightmare. It’s hard enough for Columbus and Tallahassee to negotiate their own alliance, but when they meet Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin), things really become complicated. These savvy sisters are not above leaving the men without their car or weapons. Eventually, the four travel to Pacific Playland, a place rumored to be zombie-free, with a stopover in Beverly Hills and a very funny Bill Murray cameo.

Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick provide some genuinely humorous lines and situations like Columbus’s ongoing list of survival rules, the discussion Little Rock has with Tallahassee about Miley Cyrus and Tallahassee’s unending quest for Twinkies. Director Ruben Fleischer keeps the action moving at such a brisk pace that you really don’t have time to dwell on things that don’t work. Stone and Breslin are effective as the conniving sisters, but “Zombieland” belongs to its male leads. The contrast between Eisenberg’s dweeb and Harrelson’s cocky slayer makes for great chemistry. “Zombieland” does just about everything right. 10/5/09

Whip It - 2 1/2 smiles

If “Whip It,” directed by Drew Barrymore, succeeds, it’s because of its star, Ellen Page even though she looks younger than she did in “Juno.” If it doesn’t, it’s because the story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Page plays 17-year-old Bliss Cavendar, who’s trapped living in Bodeen, Texas and participating in an endless string of beauty pageants that her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) insists she enter. On a trip to Austin, Bliss discovers roller derby and she’s so excited by the sport that she attends the tryouts, lying about her age. Improbably, Bliss demonstrates uncanny speed and becomes the newest skater for the Hurl Scouts, joining Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), Smashley Simpson (Barrymore), Bloody Holly (Zoe Belle) and Rosa Sparks (Eve). Of course, Bliss’s addition to the team sparks the quality of their play, taking them from last to second and the showdown match comes on the same evening as a pageant Bliss promised her mother she would attend.

Screenwriter Sauna Cross has left out a sense of what would compel someone to strap on a pair of skates and roll around a track throwing punches, dodging kicks and risking serious physical injury. However, what is strong is the relationship between Page and Wiig, who becomes Bliss’s surrogate big sister and between Page and her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat). For her directing debut, Barrymore keeps things light and the roller derby scenes are convincing. “Whip It” is a typical coming-of-age story, but, if you’re willing to suspend your disbelief, it works. 10/2/09

A Serious Man - 2 smiles

The Coen Brothers’ movies tend to be either love ‘em or hate ‘em and “A Serious Man” is no exception. The depressing world of protagonist Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a Job-like character, is populated with such unpleasant people. Larry lives in a middle-class Jewish neighborhood in a suburb in the Midwest in the 1960s. And his troubles fall like rain: his wife plans to leave him for an odious man named Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed); someone has been writing anonymous letters to the tenure committee maligning him; a student has tried to bribe him for a better grade; his son, about to be Bar Mitzvahed, is more interested in pot and F Troop; his daughter spends all of her time in the bathroom washing her hair; and his unemployed brother (Richard Kind), who has a continually draining sebaceous cyst, is an albatross around his neck. All Larry wants to know is why he’s so sorely tried because he’s done his best to be a serious man and his visits to three rabbis provide no solace or insight.

From what I’ve read, the movie is strongly autobiographical; however, the Coens’ characters range from dislikable to despicable, with very little sympathy to redeem them. Even Larry seems to be a caricature rather than a real person. And if you don’t care what happens to the main character, then what? You leave the theater with a host of questions like why the Coens inserted the story about the dentist and the goy or what the preface, a Polish fable with Yiddish subtitles, means. At one point, Larry lectures his class about Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, stating, ‘…we can never know what’s going on.’ Is that the point? 10/4/09