Oceans - 2 1/2 smiles

Although the cinematography in “Oceans” is compelling, the script is insipid and the movie’s biggest weakness. One of the things I really liked about Disney’s older nature documentaries (e.g., True Adventures and those on the Disney TV show) is the compelling stories they told and their strong point of view. “Oceans,” directed by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, is more travelogue with interesting pictures. Issues that should cause worry are danced around. For example, in the second half of the film we see a shopping cart at the bottom of the ocean along with floating debris. Later we see an underweight polar bear trotting on the Arctic ice. However, more time passes before there’s a mention of the fact that the ice floe is melting, followed by brief concern about how the animals will survive. Narrator Pierce Brosnan observes: “Human indifference is the ocean’s greatest threat.” But that comment is just dropped in with little follow up. Oil drilling? Global warming? Is there anything we can do to protect the eroding oceans and their vanishing species? “The Cove” with its definite point of view makes for an emotionally moving documentary. “Oceans” goes in the opposite direction, juxtaposing powerful visuals with bland commentary. So if you’re going to see “Oceans,” you’ll enjoy seeing dolphins, sharks, and whales feeding on sardines while up above birds dive into the frenzy. But you really don’t need to listen to the narration because you won’t hear anything memorable.

With a G rating, there will be a lot of young children in the audience. And while many of the scenes are appropriate for the very young, there are some that aren’t. A large nest of baby sea turtles hatches and the newborns push their way into the world. They’re adorable, scrambling across the sand to the water. Unfortunately this happens during the bright light of day and without warning, a flock of birds drops from overhead, gulping down all but one tiny turtle. 4/21/10

The Secret in Their Eyes - 3 1/2 smiles

The Academy got it right when they awarded “The Secret in Their Eyes” the Oscar for best foreign language film. This is an intelligent, multi-layered movie, dealing with several different elements and themes. There’s a violent crime story, at least two different love stories, and a story about corruption in the Argentine justice system. There are themes of love, revenge, passion, guilt and redemption. Writer-director Juan Jose Campanella has created a completely engrossing film although I’d recommend you see it more than once: first to read the subtitles and get the gist of the story; the second time to appreciate Campanella’s artful storytelling and the nuanced performances by the cast.

A retired criminal investigator, Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin), has decided to write a book about a case that has haunted him. He visits a judge, Irene Hastings (Soledad Villamil), his former supervisor and the woman he’s loved for more than 25 years. (Because of their class differences – she comes from a wealthy family and graduated from Cornell while he’s poor and street-wise – he never followed through with his feelings.) Benjamin asks Irene for the case file on the rape and murder of a 23-year-old newlywed schoolteacher. This starts an absorbing back and forth journey through time between Buenos Aires in 1974 and 2000, filled with interesting characters that include Sandoval (Guillermo Francella), Benjamin’s alcoholic assistant in the investigation; Morales (Pablo Rago), the husband of the murdered woman who remains obsessed with her death; and the sinister Gomez (Javier Godino), who has always been Benjamin’s key suspect. “The Secret in Their Eyes” is definitely worth seeing, even if you have to travel beyond your neighborhood theater. Subtitles. 4/23/10

Paper Man - 1 1/2 smiles

Quirky used to mean interesting, funny, even sweet; now quirky means piling oddity upon oddity. And, unfortunately, “Paper Man,” starring Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone, is a movie so full of quirks that everything sinks. First you have Richard Dunn (Daniels), a writer with an imaginary friend who takes the form of a peroxide-blond superhero, Captain Excellent (Ryan Reynolds). Because Richard has writer’s block as he tries to write his next novel about an extinct chicken, his wife Claire (Lisa Kudrow), a successful New York surgeon, has moved him to a run-down beach house in Montauk, Long Island. Richard strikes up a friendship with Abby (Stone), a teen who’s coping with the tragic loss of her twin and also has an imaginary friend (Kieran Culkin). Quirk: Richard builds a couch using his unsold first novels. Quirk: Richard takes up origami. Quirk: Richard is charmed when Abby makes soup for him. Quirk: Abby seems to be one of the few people to read Richard’s first book. Etc., etc., etc.

Richard whines and complains throughout the movie and Daniels is convincingly self-involved. However, this also prevents us from caring what happens to him. And there’s no humor in directors’ Michele and Kieran Mulroney’s script to off set all of the grimness although Ryan Reynolds does his best with the few bits he has. By the time the conclusion rolls around, revealing the lessons the characters learn, you’re just glad the movie is over. 4/25/10

The Joneses - 2 1/2 smiles

The first two-thirds of “The Joneses,” staring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, is a sharp satire about the compulsive materialism that is pervasive in American life. Writer/director Derrick Borte highlights society’s obsession with status while postulating the lengths some corporations will go to sell their products. And credit card debit is out of control because people can’t say no. At first glance, the Joneses are the perfect family: father Steve (Duchovny), mother Kate (Moore), son, Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) and daughter Jenn (Amber Heard). In reality, they’re not a family at all, but a team of marketers sent to a wealthy suburb to seduce their neighbors into buying more stuff. The Joneses, employed by an unnamed company, are part of a ‘stealth marketing campaign,’ supervised by KC (Lauren Hutton). The couple next door, Larry (Gary Cole) and Summer (Glenne Headly), strive to keep up with the Joneses, but because Larry doesn’t make enough to finance all of the purchases, he soon finds himself deep in debt.

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t address corporate responsibility. It’s too easy to say that the consumer bears all of the responsibility for over consumption. Of course, fiscal restraint is important, but when corporations use ‘stealth’ techniques to get people to buy, isn’t that similar to subliminal advertising? And isn’t that illegal? Nonetheless, despite a brilliant start, the last third loses its keen edge and turns into to melodrama, with Borte hitting you over the head with his message. You might feel dissatisfied by the time the end credits roll. I know I did. 4/18/10

Kick Ass - 3 smiles

“Kick Ass,” a slash-and-bash comedy, is irreverent, shocking, ultra-violent and wildly entertaining, but isn’t for everyone. Everything is over the top, from Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), a murderous 11-year old who swears while she slices and dices to teen Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic book geek who decides to don a suit and do heroic things. Things don’t go well for Dave his first time out and he’s seriously injured. Ever optimistic, Dave tries again with his efforts captured on video and posted on the web. Soon ‘Kick Ass’ is getting requests for help. Meanwhile, Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and his daughter, Hit Girl, are after the city’s main gangster (Mark Strong), who framed Big Daddy and sent him to prison. They know Kick Ass has his heart in the right place, but he’s a rank amateur when it comes to fighting villains.

Director Matthew Vaughn has created an absurdist tone similar to the one in “Zombieland,” relying on shock value, especially from Hit Girl. He gradually builds brutality and violence so when the big climactic fight scene occurs, you’re surprised, but not really. Cage’s Big Daddy is a bit crazy to turn his young daughter into a killing machine, but not crazy enough to make him unlikable. Aaron Johnson, a British TV actor, is effective as an ordinary teen who wants to make a difference. But Chloe Moritz is the one you’ll remember; she steals the show. “Kick Ass,” rated R for violence and profanity, dissects the superhero genre and creates a guilty pleasure. 4/16/10

The Perfect Game - 3 smiles

Everyone likes an underdog story and what could be more underdog than a team of young Mexican boys making an impossible run to the Little League World Series in 1957? Sure the dialogue is cheesy, some of the dramatic moments a little awkward and the plot predictable, but this heart-warming story is one you shouldn’t miss. Directed by William Dear (“Angels in the Outfield”), this film isn’t just about the boys’ journey, but also the one taken by their coach, César Faz (Clifton Collins Jr.). César, once an aspiring major-league player and now a clubhouse attendant for the St. Louis Cardinals, has returned to the steel-mill drudgery in Monterrey. There we meet an embittered family man (Carlos Gomez) who forbids his son Angel (Jake T. Austin of TV’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’) from playing baseball and the Dodgers-loving town priest (Cheech Marin). Soon Angel convinces César to teach the boys the fundamentals of the game. The Monterrey Industrials, as they were called, come to the United States with three-day visas, crossing the border on foot, expecting to play a single game in McAllen, Texas. You see, César expects them to lose because they’re 30 pounds lighter and six inches shorter, not to mention they’ve never played against another team. But the Monterrey Industrials win and they keep on winning. Then they play the only perfect game in Little League Series history, becoming the first non-American team to take the title. (They also win the championship in 1958.)

The boys’ exploits as they journey to the final game is full of heart from their ecstatic rolling in the grass of their first ball field to their ignoring the unspoken color lines drawn in a local diner. There’s even a peripheral story of a Rosalind Russell-type girl reporter (Emilie de Ravin) dismissively assigned to follow the team across Texas and, then, to her editor’s embarrassment, all the way to Williamsport, Pa. Like other sports movies, “The Perfect Game” is about overcoming prejudice as well as adversity. Jingoism, racism and sexism are all acknowledged in ways that are fairly obvious but hardly out of place. What I want to know, though, is why I had never heard about this team and their exploits. This is a movie to see, even if you’re not a big baseball fan. 4/17/10

Date Night - 2 smiles

It’s hard not to be pleased when a movie proves to be better than you thought it would be. Based on the previews, I was expecting a lot of silliness. “Date Night’s” biggest problem is not the overabundance of slapstick but its script. A couple of thugs think Claire and Phil Foster have a flash drive that a local mobster wants. When they discover that the thugs are really cops, they decide to head out on their own, get the flash drive, give it to the mobster and resume their everyday lives. Please! Is this even remotely believable? And I won’t mention a car chase in downtown New York where no one is injured. Tina Fey and Steve Carell are among TV’s biggest comedy stars, but they can’t do much with a script that throws them into a routine mistaken identity situation, restricts their comedic impulses and calls for a lot of shooting and car chases.

“Date Night” is better than “Did You Hear About the Morgans?” and “Bounty Hunter,” but that’s not saying much. The best I can say about this romantic comedy (with some action thrown in) is that it’s sort of funny. Hold that. The best thing about this movie is a shirtless Mark Wahlberg. 4/11/10

The Warlords - 2 1/2 smiles

“The Warlords,” starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, has epic battle sequences and classic themes of loyalty, betrayal and ambition. That’s what works. What doesn’t work is a romance between Li and Wu Jing-Lei’s characters and the shifting focus from the smaller story of the three men to the larger elements of political maneuvering. In the 1860s, Taiping Rebellion forces are crushing the Chinese army. Pang (Jet Li), a general that lost his men to a betrayal, is humiliated by having to play dead on the battlefield to survive. He’s captured by Er-Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), leaders of a troop of thieves. Pang convinces them to join the Chinese military efforts, creating a powerful army of outlaws. The three are successful in battle after battle, with Pang looking to restore the honor he lost. As the years pass, Er-Hu and Wu Yang grow weary of fighting and Pang’s fierce determination that continually pushes them onward. Things are further complicated by Pang’s growing affection for Er-Hu’s mistress, Lian (Wu Jing-Lei).

The screenplay is credited to eight writers, which, perhaps, explains some of the choppiness in the narration. You see, we have multiple lead characters, a group of old men who continually pit one general against another, an empress hovering in the background, and lots of brutal skirmishes with sharp blades glinting and limbs flying. Towards the end, director Peter Ho-Sun Chan turns on the soap opera hysterics to illustrate acts of betrayal, with Lau and Kaneshiro doing their best to demonstrate their suffering. Jet Li is a little more restrained with a tear falling now and then. “The Warlords” is potent stuff, but only marginally successful in pulling you into the story of three blood brothers. Subtitles. 4/4/10

Clash of the Titans - 2 smiles

Let me make my feelings clear about movies that are shot in 2D and later converted to 3D to take advantage of a bigger box office: don’t reward sloppy work or greedy motives. Skip “Clash of the Titans” in 3D. You might also want to skip this movie altogether unless you’re feeling a little nostalgic. After all, the original 1981 “Clash of the Titans” was cheesy fun. The 2010 remake can be considered fun if you see it as an homage to the original, but if you’re looking for something different, you’ll be disappointed. The story is pretty much the same: The gods have become annoyed that men are failing to show them proper respect. So Hades (Ralph Fiennes) has issued an ultimatum to the citizens of Argos: sacrifice their princess, Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) or he’ll unleash the monstrous Kraken upon the land. Perseus (Sam Worthington), half god/half mortal, must find a way to destroy the Kraken and save Andromeda.

Many of the events from the original are in this version, including a battle against huge scorpions, a visit to three sisters who share a single eye, a campaign to claim Medusa’s head, and the way in which the Kraken is defeated. Even the mechanical owl Bubo makes a brief appearance. Sam Worthington seems to be the latest up and coming action star (“Terminator: Salvation” and “Avatar”), but he shows little acting range. To be fair, however, director Louis Leterrier is more interested in Worthington’s physique than his acting ability. Characterization is missing, but that’s because the focus is on action and special effects. There’s nothing wrong with the new “Clash of the Titans” that wasn’t wrong with the first one. 4/2/10