The Hunger Games Catching Fire

ACTION/ADVENTURE

Girl Still On Fire

8.75 out of 10 | Movie and DVD

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Rated: PG-13  For intense sequences of violence and action, some frightening images, thematic elements, a suggestive situation and language
Release Date: November 22, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 26 minutes

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Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt, based on the novel 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Jack Quaid, Taylor St. Clair, Woody Harrelson, Josh Hutcherson, Willow Shields, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Lynn Cohen, Jena Malone

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SYNOPSIS:  Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.

REVIEW: Francis Lawrence, director of I Am Legend and the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay films, takes over the reins from Gary Ross and brings Katniss and Peeta back to the games. Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) and Michael Arndt (Oblivion) adapt the second book from Suzanne  Collins in the hopes that the tributes from District 12 can survive.

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, X-Men: First Class) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, Epic) have returned to Panem's District 12 as victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Living in the Victors Village, the best homes in the desolate community, Katniss still desires to leave with Gale (Liam Hemsworth, The Expendables 2) into the forest and away from the rule and oppression of President Snow and the Capitol. Sensing an uprising in the Districts, President Snow (Donald Sutherland) urges Katniss to portray the 'in love' winner with Peeta to quell the ideas of rebellion. When their victors tour results in squabbling crowds and unrest, Snow changes the rules of the game by announcing that the 75th Hunger Games, the 3rd Quarter Quell, will reap its tributes from the past winners of the event. Peeta and Katniss are forced back into the fray as the games commence, banding together with some if the other tributes in order to stay alive and to remember who the real enemy is.

Jennifer Lawrence returns as the reluctant heroine Katniss in the second of the Hunger Games series. No longer novices from the first film, Katniss and Hutcherson's Peeta better understand the political machine behind the oppression and fear of the Capitol and the presidency. Katniss sees graffiti of her signature mockingjay everywhere she goes, signifying a change in attitude of the populace against the government. Winning the 74th Hunger Games in front of the entire world with the virtue of love and sacrifice has sparked a faint, but strengthening, life of hope throughout the Districts.

A darker and more stark entry, Catching Fire starts by reintroducing Katniss and Peeta in the aftermath of winning the Hunger Games. Winners of the games and living a slightly better life than their District 12 neighbors, the pair suffers a strained relationship as each tries to rationalize their true feelings. Katniss still loves Gale, Peeta pines for Katniss, and President Snow desires the continued success of his rule in the Capitol and over the Districts. More entrenched with politics and subterfuge, Katniss and the others have to deal with more painful emotions and the realization that they are again forced to fight against an almost infallible opponent.

Jennifer Lawrence has an even more raw edge in her second outing as Katniss. Josh Hutcherson, as Peeta, shows that he is not just that defenseless young man from the 74th games, growing into his role as a leader and defender of District 12 and Katniss. Under-appreciated Woody Harrelson shines as Haymitch, the tortured former winner of the Games. He straddles the line between gifted diplomat and ragged alcoholic. Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, is softer and more humanized, showing that living in the shine and decadence of the Capitol does not necessarily mean that she has no heart. Philip Seymour Hoffman steps in as the new games master Plutarch Heavensbee. Sutherland and Tucci are phenomenal in their returning roles.

From a fairly faithful adaptation of the book, to superb performances by a stellar cast, to a story that seems to start off as a retread but ends up with intrigue, action, pain and suspense, Catching Fire takes The Hunger Games to the next level. Katniss may be the Girl on Fire, but she may set all of Panem ablaze.

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Ender's Game

ACTION, ADVENTURE

Theoretical Warfare

7.75 out of 10 | Movie or DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Thematic material, some violence and sci-fi action
Release Date: November 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes

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Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: Gavin Hood, based on the novel by Orson Scott Card
Cast: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Aramis Knight, Moises Arias

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SYNOPSIS: The International Military seek out a leader who can save the human race from an alien attack. Ender Wiggin, a brilliant young mind, is recruited and trained to lead his fellow soldiers into a battle that will determine the future of Earth.

REVIEW: Gavin Hood, director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, returns to the big screen after a short stint working for the small screen. Adapting the work of Orson Scott Card, Hood brings Ender Wiggins to screen at the perfect time.

50 years after an alien invasion by the Formic, Earth's military dedicates itself to enhancing its strategic preparedness to combat future extra-terrestrial threats. The International Military focuses on recruiting brilliant young boys and girls to train in the arts of war. Third child Ender Wiggins (Asa Butterfield, Hugo) follows in the footsteps of his older sister Valentine (Abigail Breslin, The Call) and his older brother Peter (Jimmy Pinchak, Let Me In). Competing to get into Battle School, Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford, 42) takes interest in Ender and pushes the young boy as far past his limits as he can. When Ender excels at all his schoolwork and tactical training, Graff promotes Ender to the orbiting space station for Battle School. Disliked, mistrusted or envied by the other 'Launchees', Ender must do everything he can to win over his fellow cadets. Rising up the ranks, Ender eventually finds himself face-to-face with endless simulation battles between the International Military and the planetary defenses of the Formic homeworld. Will Ender and his misfit squadron beat the Formic in a final simulation in order to graduate? And will they eventually be ready to face the true threat?

Based on the worldwide sci-fi bestseller novel 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card, this adaptation remains as faithful as possible to the original story. Reading the novel as an adult, I have a greater appreciation for the story Card was telling. Not just a story of kids battling each other for supremacy in a academic school system – a la the Harry Potter franchise. Sure, the fate of the world between wizards and Muggles was threatened by Voldemort, but Ender's included the added components of having to save an entire planet from annihilation.

A sci-fi classic by Orson Scott card, 'Ender's Game' is the most accessible of the Enders stories for reading. As a series goes on, it gets more philosophical and deep. Cards later works, including 'Speaker for the Dead', 'Xenocide', and 'Children of the Mind', start to rival Frank Herbert's 'Dune' in terms of religion, philosophy, and exploration of xenomorphic entities. At the center of all the stories in the series, Ender struggles with is own nature, the solitary life he is forced to lead, and the choices he must make.

Ender's Game boasts a fine cast including Harrison Ford as Graff, Viola Davis (The Help) as Major Gwen Anderson, and Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3) as Mazor Rackham. On the younger side Abigail Breslin plays Valentine, Moises Arias (The Kings of Summer) plays Bonzo Madrid, and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) plays Petra. But the jewel of the crown in casting is that of Ender, played by Asa Butterfield. He is not the normal the muscular and chiseled adolescent protagonist. His portrayal is wide-eyed with innocence, all the while struggling with his dual nature of violence and empathy.

On the strategic and tactical side Ender's Game uses wonderful CGI and wire work to bring to life scenes most integral to the story. From the zero gravity Arena at Battle School, to the mountain lake and skiff on Earth, to the captured forward Formic outpost that the International Military uses as a base of operations to plan assaults on the Formic homeworld. Ender's Game is a mirror of the book. The final simulated battle between the International Military and the Formic armada is rendered in beautiful detail with military precision. It is a sight to be seen, especially in IMAX.

Fans of Orson Scott Card's original and revised work should be thrilled at the adaptation to the silver screen. Now is the time when movie magic FX can tell this tale in grand style. For those who have not read the book, they will find enjoyment in every surprising twist or turn. Ender's Game is a superb sci-fi daylight, grounded in the mind of a young man on the precipice of greatness.

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Last Vegas

COMEDY

It's Going to Be Legend... Where are we?

7.5 out of 10 | Rental

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Rated: PG-13 Sexual content and language
Release Date: November 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 45 minutes

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Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writers: Dan Fogelman
Cast: Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Mary Steenburgen, Jerry Ferrara, Romany Malco, Michael Ealy, Roger Bart

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SYNOPSIS: Three sixty-something friends take a break from their day-to-day lives to throw a bachelor party in Las Vegas for their last remaining single pal.

REVIEW: National Treasure franchise director Jon Turteltaub ditches his favorite actor Nicolas Cage for some more mature A-listers. Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love.) takes a stab at writing a story centered in Las Vegas that doesn't involve losing time and memory.

Billy (Michael Douglas, Haywire), Paddy (Robert De Niro, The Family), Sam (Kevin Kline, The Conspirator) and Archie (Morgan Freeman, Now You See Me) are lifelong friends who grew up on the streets of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, USA, inseparable and thick as thieves. 58 years later, Billy unexpectedly proposes to his 32-year-old girlfriend at his mentors funeral. Deciding on a Las Vegas wedding, Billy calls his best friends to join him. Archie must lie to his son as to his whereabouts. Sam is given a hall pass from his wife in an effort to bring some life back into their marriage. Paddy goes with his friends, reluctant to leave his empty widowers house and reluctant to let go of the beef he has with Billy. Gambling, dancing, drinking, hot girls, and a lounge singer named Diane (Mary Steenburgen, The Help) make the trip fun... and complicated.

This is not the old man version of The Hangover, even though the location is the same. They do call Las Vegas 'Sin City', and it is appropriate for older men to reflect on the regrets in the sense of their past. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… But can these older gentlemen learn new lessons from their life experiences to make it worthwhile? Morgan's Archie wants to be the man he once was before the stroke made everyone in his life think he was incapable of doing anything at all. Kline's Sam has lived in a marriage with a wife he loves and is comfortable with, but has lost his passion for life. De Niro's Patty sits in his bathrobe and accepts soup from the neighbor girl like a charity case. And Douglas' Billy lives in extravagant life with a young girlfriend, all in an effort to stave away old age.

Filled with geriatric jokes and based on a formulaic plotline, this Vegas tale does manage to amuse throughout. Billy's relationship with his soon-to-be wife is instantly called into question when he swoons over the lounge singer Diane when the quartet arrive at Binion's Casino. From that point forward you know that the wedding probably will be called off at some point. Will Sam find his mojo with some young hottie that will strengthen his marriage? That I will not reveal. And will De Niro's Paddy bury the hatchet with Billy or will he bury the hatchet in him for what he's done to him and his late wife Sophie.?

Do these men still have it? Every one of these actors is a superstar A-Lister. From The Godfather to Basic Instinct to Glory to Dave, these guys still got it. They may be slowing down a few steps but they can still spin a good yarn that entertains both young and old. They poke fun at themselves and each other when it comes to their age, making the film funny for us. Nobody want to see old dudes getting it on with young women but these guys clean up nice and keep everything is PG as possible.

Coupled with Jerry Ferrara and Romany Malco to give Las Vegas a little younger edge, its still Douglas, De Niro, Freeman and Kline who make sure to have the times of their lives. Getting old is not a laughing matter, but they make us want to see what it may be all about.

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Fast and Furious 6

ACTION/ADVENTURE

Full Throttle

8.5 out of 10 | MOVIE, DVD

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Rated: PG-13  Intense sequences of violence, intense sequences of action, language, mayhem throughout and some sexuality
Release Date: May 24, 2013
Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes

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Director: Justin Lin
Writers: Chris Morgan, based on the characters by Gary Scott Thompson
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Luke Evans, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Elsa Pataky, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges

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SYNOPSIS:  Agent Luke Hobbs enlists Dominic Toretto and his team to bring down former Special Ops soldier Owen Shaw, leader of a unit specializing in vehicular warfare.

REVIEW: Justin Lin has been integral with the further development of the Vin Diesel and Paul Walker franchise. He has been with the film series since Tokyo Drift, and with help from writer Chris Morgan, has revitalized the fast car-centric series into a fun, highly anticipated summer series.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel, Riddick) is living a life of leisure with his pal Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker, Takers) after their successful $100,000,000 heist. Mia (Jordana Brewster, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) and Brian have just had a baby. Roman (Tyrese Gibson, Transformers: Dark of the Moon) is jet-setting with lovely ladies, a Learjet, and vouchers to Monaco casinos. Tej Parker (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, New Year's Eve) is playing with his gadgets and enjoyed his money down in Rio. Han (Sung Kang, Bullet to the Head) and Gisele (Gal Gadot, Knight and Day) are evading the law in the Pacific Rim. And Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, Snitch) is dealing with a new international threat in the form of a new crew of car driving criminals. Tracking a man named Owen Shaw (Luke Evans, The Raven) across four continents, Hobbs is no closer to apprehending him or his criminal ring. When Shaw slips through his fingers again, Hobbs hunts down Dom and offers him and his crew a deal of full pardons if they joined forces with him and help track down Shaw. Only when Dominic sees a photo of a much alive Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez, Resident Evil: Retribution) does he think to take the job. Shaw seems to be always one step ahead in his pursuit to steal components from military convoys and installations. Shaw is all about precision and Dominic is all about family. The question is which code of conduct will prevail in the end?

The sixth in a series that started on as just drag racing thieves and cops against criminals has turned into a powerhouse franchise. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker lead a returning cast that fans have grown to love and root for. And with the success of Fast Five and the certain success of Fast and Furious 6, Universal has already greenlit the seventh entry into the film series. Director Lin and writer Morgan, both with the franchise for the majority of the films, know what the fans want and know how to keep pushing the characters further and introducing new situations for the crew to get themselves into and out of.

With Diesel back in the driver seat, he leads his crew of misfits against an international threat that may be more than they can handle. They're not going against the cops, the feds, or drug dealers this time. Shaw is a consummate professional with a leash around federal agencies and the best criminals and vehicles money can buy. Dominic, Brian, and the crew may have an edge against everyone they dealt with in the past, but this time they seem to be outmatched at every turn.

All the actors have a great shorthand with their characters and with their interaction with other characters in the film. They seem to slip right back into the skin and the cars that the character love so much. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson returns as Hobbs, the federal agent in hot pursuit of Dominic and Brian in Fast Five. The last thing he wants to do is get in bed with Toretto, but Shaw's exploits have left Hobbs no choice. Evans' portrayal of Shaw is cold and calculating - like a precision timepiece or finely tuned engine. He brings a cool and calculating savvy as the villain, better then the druglords and lowlifes that have come before him. 

If you are going to see a fast and furious film you have an expectation of fast cars, hot women, and a little campiness. Fans of the franchise will not be disappointed. Coming in at 130 minutes, Fast Six spends most of its time burning rubber on the streets of exotic locations and setting up the crew to try and take down their most competent and evil nemesis yet. The drag races and car chases are supercharged, the close combat amped up, and Dom's crew's uphill battle against the antagonist an unsure assurance of victory.

Because there's so much action and speed some of the more tranquil moments seem slow in comparison. That's not to say that those moments are bad, only that they seem somewhat out of place after chase scenes in fights that seem to last for 20 minutes. Some the dialogue is silly and campy but it's what we've come to expect from this cast of characters. 

Filled with the adrenaline-fueled chases and sequences that franchise fans will love, and bringing back most of the characters we've come to love, Fast and Furious 6 will be a supercharged good time.

Just like the Fast Five epilogue showing Hobbs staring at a grainy photo of Lettie being alive, be sure to stay for the first part of the credits at the end of the film for a sneak peek of what's in store in Fast and Furious 7.

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Dredd 3D

Judgement is Served

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 buckets | Matinee and DVD

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Rated: R Language, some sexual content, strong bloody violence and drug use

Release Date: September 21, 2012

Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes

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Director: Pete Travis
Writers: Alex Garland, based on characters created by Carlos Ezquerra and John Wagner
Cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Warrick Grier, Wood Harris, Domhnall Gleeson, Langley Kirkwood, Edwin Perry, Karl Thaning, Michele Levin

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SYNOPSIS: In an future where the planet is an irradiated wasteland, the remaining population lives in Mega Cities policed by men and women who act as judge, jury, and executioner.

REVIEW: Pete Travis, director of Endgame and Vantage Point, takes the law into his own hands to direct his own version of the American law enforcement officer from the British science fiction anthology magazine 2000 AD. Based on the creation of writer John Wagner and artisit Carlos Ezquerra in 1977, and written by Alex Garland (28 Weeks Later, Sunshine), Travis brings his own sense of judgement to the character of ultra-violent lawman Judge Joseph Dredd. 

In an irradiated wasteland that was once the United States of America, the US population of 800 million people live in a walled in Mega City One that is a walled-in concrete and steel city landscape stretching from Boston to Washington, D.C.. The crime rate is high and the existence is more of survival than prosperity. In order to quell the raging disobedience of the populace, the Hall of Justice was formed by the Justice Department with law enforcement officers named Judges. These Judges act as judge, jury, and executioners with the authority to arrest, sentence, and execute criminals on the spot, if warranted. Joseph Dredd (Karl Urban, Red) is one such judge. After taking down a trio of drugged and homicidal criminals, Dredd is ordered by the Chief Judge (Rakie Ayola, Sahara) to take out a 'special' rookie Anderson (Olivia Thirlby, The Darkest Hour) on shift for pass/fail assessment. When a triple homicide is called into Control, Dredd and Anderson go to the Peach Tree section high-rise to investigate. When the bodies lead to a drug-dealing den for the new potent Slo-Mo and to murder suspect Kay (Wood Harris, Just Another Day), prostitute turned druglord Ma Ma (Lena Headey, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles) locks down the Peach Trees structure to flush out and kill the Judges.

Dredd 3D marks a turning point for the popular Judge. In 1995, Sylvester Stallone took on Judge Dredd in a loose adaptation of a storyline involving his brother/clone Judge Rico. Throughout, Stallone's Dredd takes off the helmet on many occasions and finds himself in a relationship to a female Judge, both decisions contrary to the spirit of the character and the comic series. Although Stallone's jawline would have worked well under the helmet, Judge Dredd is considered a domestic theatrical flop. Now, Pete Travis goes back to the basics and keeps with the laws of the series. Karl Urban's Dredd never removes his helmet. In fact, none of the Judges remove their helmets in the story, except rookie Anderson (who has a good reason to skip the headgear). Also true to the graphic series, Dredd is a no-nonsense dispenser of justice with his gun as a the final word in criminal judgement.

Continually compared to The Raid: Redemption, Dredd 3D encompasses some of the same plot points, and I cannot in good conscience not discuss the differences and similarities between the two films. The Raid: Redemption and Dredd 3D both have a violent druglord holed up at the top of a massive highrise with innocent bystanders cowering away from the hail of bullets and armed thugs tasked with eliminating the external threat of the law. The violent action is severe in both films, but where Iko Uwais's Rama relies on brutal hand-to-hand martial arts skills when his guns are not enough, Urban's Dredd is a brawler with a cool DNA-activated weapon system with a variety of special rounds ranging from incendiaries to armor piercing shells. The Raid: Redemption has an entire SWAT team assaulting a modern day high-rise. Dredd 3D has only a lone veteran Judge with a first-day rookie tagging along for her training assessment. Both films are incredible finished feats of violent cinema, one for the modern day and one for the wastelands of the future.

True to its comics roots, Dredd 3D embodies the authoritarian, ultra-violent law-enforcement of the not so distant future. Dredd is all business, from his dispensement of judgement to his assessment of his Judge trainee Anderson. His responses and queries are quick and decisive, based on a long career in law enforcement filled with violence and death. When Urban's Dredd utters the famous line, "I am the Law," you realize that this version is what the film should have been from the jump. There is nothing cute or comical about Travis' version, with no sidekick comic relief needed to bolster the story. Utterly violent, bloody, and grim, Judge Dredd is now the gritty broiling hero (not anti-hero, because he is the law!) that everyone in the UK knew him to be from the comics put into print since 1977.

Karl Urban is the perfect Dredd, taking his imposing size, gravelly simmering voice and square shadowed jawline. Lena Headey, the scarred prostitute turned turf destroying drug kingpin Ma Ma, trades in her tough woman persona from The Sarah Conner Chronicles for a ruthless peddler of Slo-Mo and death. Olivia Thirlby, as a first-day Judge, goes from inexperienced novice to semi-hardened executioner all in the span of a single day's tour of duty. The rest of the cast is vast and unnamed, most taking a bullet from the barrel of someone's smoking barrel.

Dredd 3D is an ultra-violent actioner not for the timid or faint of heart. With a solid story, plenty of flying bullets, and bodies hitting the floor, this gritty and dark tale keeps with the source material. I believe Pete Travis and crew have done the character justice, but I will let you be the judge, jury, and executioner. 

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Silent House

Continuous Tension and Terror

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Rated: R Disturbing violent content and terror.
Release Date: March 9, 2012
Runtime: 1 hr 26 mins

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Director:  Chris Kentis, Laura Lau

Writers: Laura Lau, based on the film by Gustavo Hernández
Cast:  Elizabeth Olsen, Adam trese, Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julia Taylor Ross, Adam Barnett, Haley Murphy

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SYNOPSIS: While clearing out their belongings and making repairs at their lakeside retreat cottage, a father, his daughter, and her uncle encounter strange noises inside the boarded up house. Unable to make contact with anyone outside the house, things good from bad to worse as the noises become something more sinister.

REVIEW: Chris Kentis, writer and directer of Open Water, reteams with Open Water cinematographer and producer Laura Lau. Taking a screenplay from Lau based on the original film La casa muda (The Silent House) by Gustavo Hernández which, in turn, is based on a true event from 1940's Uruguay. Filmed as a single take camera shot for the entirety of the film, Silent House is a technical achievement worthy of discussion. The real question is whether the film holds up as a horror suspense thriller. 

Sarah (Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene) tries to help her father John (Adam Trese, 40 Days and 40 Nights) and uncle Peter (Eric Sheffer Stevens, Julie & Julia) by packing up boxes and filling garbage bags with their belongings from a lakeside retreat house that had fallen into disrepair  and endured acts of vandalism. With all of the windows boarded up with plywood and all but one entrance padlocked, the inside of the house is dim, dusty and victim to water damage and mold. When Peter leaves to go to town, Sarah is visited by a strange girl her own age, Sophia (Julia Taylor Ross, Rookie Blue) that she doesn't remember knowing. Later, she starts hearing creaks and banging from the second floor of the house, prompting her to persuade her father to reluctantly check out the upstairs rooms. When the noises quickly move from harmless house settling to a possible shadowy intruder with a perchance for a dangerous and violent game of cat and mouse, Sarah struggles against her fears and panic to protect her father and keep herself alive.

Starting as a shaky down-panning shot of Sarah sitting on a outcropping of rock in the lake, the cinematography follows Sarah as she walks back to the house and meets up with her father at the house's driveway. They move inside the house with the camera following close behind. After a couple brief stints of establishing dialogue between John, Sarah and Peter, the film quickly moves on to disturbing noises that set off a chain reaction of events that test Sarah's limits of inner strength and sense of survival. The difference between the camera work in Silent House and some of the other more recent popular horror suspense films like Paranormal Activity 3 and The Devil Inside is that the camera is not part of the story. Shot in the third person instead of the first person where the cameras and cameraman are actual characters in the film, Silent House uses the camera as a floating historian of the event as it follows Sarah through her eighty-five minute ordeal in high psychological terror. Expertly shot as a single take that has not a single edit (although there are two moments where edits could have occurred, including a harrowing attempt at escape through a padlocked cellar door and during a scary blackout with only a Polaroid camera flash for illumination), Silent House raises the tension levels quickly and keeps them elevated throughout the rest of the film.

Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley, stepped out from behind her famous and wealthy silbings' shadows with a notable performance as Martha in Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011 and continues with a gripping performance as Sarah in Silent House that establishes her as a young actress to keep an eye on. As the story unfolds, Olsen, in real time, embodies the terror and paranoia that accompanies a locked house with one or more menacing interlopers bent of mayhem and violence. The movie is essentially a one-woman show, with the camera following Sarah faithfully while losing sight of both Peter and John throughout the tale. The physical and emotional toll of the performance surely added to the grueling and edgy final result on screen.

For the true fans of the genre, Silent House is a cross between Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman's The Strangers and Cécile De France's French import High Tension. I certainly appreciated the technical efforts displayed in the film, as well as the finished product brought to full realization. Several well placed surprising moments made many in the audience scream outright, while others were mildly amused by the film and the outspoken fellow moviegoers. Silent House is worth a look if you are truly a completist for horror suspense movies.

Silent House is a claustrophobic, edge of your seat, cat and mouse, thrill ride full of good scary surprising scares, twists and creeps, corner stoned by a superior performance by Olsen. As Olsen's Sarah falls down the rabbit hole, we are swept along to watch her descent into possible madness and doom. Just be sure to remember your own way out of the house. 

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WORTH: Matinee or DVD (for the fans)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Pursuit of the Truth

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Rated: R Violence, Some Sexuality/Nudity and Language.
Release Date: December 9, 2011
Runtime: 2 hrs 7 min

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Director: Tomas Alfredson
Writers: Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan, novel by John le Carre
Cast: Gary Oldman, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy. Mark Strong, David Dencik, Kathy Burke

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SYNOPSIS: In 1973 and the battles of the Cold War, veteran spy George Smiley is summoned out of forced semi-retirement by the British Minister of Defense to uncover a mole high up in the MI6 ranks.

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REVIEW: Tomas Alfredson, best known in the states for the Norwegian vampire film Let the Right One In (the American version was Let Me In), takes on the John le Carre Cold War spy novel and the original 1979 Alec Guinness TV mini-series with a script from the late Bridget O'Connor (Mrs. Ratcliffe's Revolution) and Peter Straughan (The Debt, The Men Who Stare At Goats).

The head of MI6 Control (John Hurt, Immortals) brings in agent Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong, Green Lantern) for a covert assignment in Budapest to try and turn a Russian general who may have information on a mole in the upper ranks of the MI6 organization itself. When that assignment utterly fails, Control and espionage veteran spy George Smiley (Gary Oldman, The Dark Knight) are forced out of the agency, replaced by their younger subordinates. When more rumor comes to light about a mole in the organization, the Minister of Defense asks George to come out of forced semi-retirement to run a covert operation to discover the truth. Paired with young agent Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch, War Horse), Smiley sets out to methodically piece together all the information and proof he and his team can to ferret out the traitor.

From the opening sequence in Control's smoky dusty apartment flat where Control asks agent Jim Prideaux to venture to Budapest to turn a Russian general who may hold vital information as to a mole in MI6's Circus command, director Alfredson sets a mood, background and style akin to a film actually shot in the 70s. In the era of the Cold War, where every battle was covert and quiet, the film runs the same way. Slow and methodical, you will not see over the top stunts or shoot outs. Instead, you follow Oldman's George Smiley unravel clues that set him and his team on a path to exposing the truth. Using flashbacks, interrogations, and discussions, the story introduces clues and characters just when they are needed. The junior agent Ricki Tarr, played by Tom Hardy (Warrior), who tries to ensnare a Russian diplomat and instead tries to turn his wife Belinda (Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, One Day) isn't seen until well into the second act.

Clocking in at over 2 hours, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is long, but not long enough. The original adaption was a TV mini-series. This time, as a theatrical event, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy loses a little bit in the translation. The identity of a spy asset known only as Carla on a chess piece left by Control for Smiley to find is referenced in conversation between Smiley and Peter but seemed to be lost on some moviegoers afterward. The plot is streamlined and straightforward for the attentive, but may seem convoluted for those expecting everything to be utterly explained to them at the end.

Gary Oldman is superb as the senior agent George Smiley. Rarely speaking until necessary, Oldman brings a quiet knowledge and expertise to the character. The rest of the cast is as high of caliber as Oldman in every regard. John Hurt is fantastic, even in as pivotal but limited role as Control. Mark Strong, Colin Firth (The King's Speech) as the adulterous Bill Hayden, Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger) as the conniving Percy Alleline, David Dencik (War Horse) as the wavering Toby Esterhase and Ciaran Hinds (The Debt) as the steel-eyed Roy Bland, and Tom Hardy as the burned agent play their parts exceptionally well.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy breaks the current espionage movie mold by not given everything away at the beginning or explaining everything away at the end. Many will be turned off by this novel thinking concept, but it shouldn't detract from giving the film a look. Shot with alternate warm and cold tones, the era of 1970s Cold War era is picture perfect, if not perfect for everyone.

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WORTH: Matinee or Rental

The Adventures of Tintin - Secrets of the Unicorn

Journey Into Mystery

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Rated: PG Adventure action violence, some drunkenness and brief smoking
Release Date: December 21, 2011
Runtime: 1 hr 47 min

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Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish, based on the comic book series by Herge
Cast: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Nick Frost, Simon Pegg, Daniel Mays, Toby Jones

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SYNOPSIS: Young journalist Tintin and his trusted dog Snowy stumble upon a intriguing story of lost treasure, danger, and a drunken sea captain named Haddock when he unwittingly finds a clue hidden in a model man of war ship.

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REVIEW: Director Steven Spielberg returns with his second film of the season with an adaptation of the Adventures of Tintin, one of the most popular European comics of the last century. In print since 1929, the Belgian comic strip eventually was collected into dozens of graphic collections, a magazine, and previously adapted for film, radio, TV and theater. Created originally by Belgian artist Hergé, Spielberg's version is deftly written by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block).

Young Belgian journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell, The Eagle) and his trusty terrier Snowy stumble upon adventure when he buys a model sailing ship at a outside market. Tintin finds out that there are more parties interested in the model ship than he bargained for after his apartment is ransacked and the model ship stolen. Running against the henchmen of a determined man named Sakharine (Daniel Craig, Quantum of Solace), Tintin and Snowy find themselves teaming up with a drunken sea captain Haddock (Andy Serkis, Lord of the Rings) to chase down Sakharine in a race to uncover and decipher the clues that could lead them to a sunken man of war ship and possible treasure of Haddock's ancestor Sir Francis.

The Adventures of Tintin encapsulates and touches on plot points from three of the twenty four collected works of the comic series. Using elements from "The Crab with the Golden Claws", "The Secret of the Unicorn", and "Red Rackham's Treasure", the highly detailed animated film is a swashbuckling adventure with mystery and exotic locales. Several of the original recurring characters turn up, including the aforementioned Haddock, and a pair of bumbling look-alike detectives named Thomson (Nick Frost, Attack the Block) and Thompson (Simon Pegg, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol), adding slap-stick and humor.

Spielberg borrows much of the film's settings from the experiences he cultivated from films like his Raiders of the Lost Ark. Warm in tone, each landscape is cast in high detail and laid out in epic proportions. When Haddock, in a sobering moment of clarity, regals Tintin with a remembered tale from his ancestor sea captain Sir Francis, the dunes of North Africa seamlessly turn to tidal waves carrying the original Man of War ship named The Unicorn and the pirate incursion that followed. Also like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Tintin is plunged into a grand dangerous chase through the street of a Moroccan port village after a hawk, followed by henchman, raging rapids, and a military tank. But neither of these seem to compare to the climatic sparking dock duel at the end of the film.

Accounting for the fact that the film is an animation, Spielberg walks a double edged cutlass with both ultra realism and comic caricatures. While the backdrops and props border on the tangible and Tintin looks like he may step out of the screen like Jeff Daniels in The Purple Rose of Cairo, secondary characters and absurd action sometimes detract from the magic of the movie's escapism. When a military tank following Tintin carries an entire building on its shell from its foundation to the sea, it cuts into the superb action that Tintin manages up to that point.

Unfamiliar with the graphic exploits of the young journalist named Tintin before this film, I can see why the comics have been so popular during the majority of the twentieth century. Filled with mystery that would shame the Hardy Boys, and period action that would impress even Dr. Jones himself, The Adventures of Tintin has appeal for both children and adults. Let's hope that Tintin's journeys can continue. 

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WORTH: Matinee and DVD

The Sitter

No Adventure In Babysitting

Director: David Gordon Green

Writers: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka
Cast: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Max Records, Landry Bender, Kevin Hernandez, Ari Graynor, J.B. Smoove, Kylie Bunbury

SYNOPSIS: Suspended college student Noah Griffith decides to get off his butt to babysit three kids in order to help his divorced mother go out for a nice evening. Little does he know that a request from his girlfriend will lead him and the kids on a wild ride.

REVIEW: David Gordon Green, director of Pineapple Express and Your Highness, sets his sights on a movie about mishaps in childcare. From a script by relative newcomers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka, director David Gordon Green looks to make the next great babysitting flick to rival Elizabeth Shue's 1987 Adventures in Babysitting and Christina Applegate's 1991 Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead.

Noah Griffith (Jonah Hill, Get Him to the Greek) finds himself college school-less and living with his mother without a job or any motivation to make something of his young life. When his divorced mother's opportunity to meet a new beau at a dinner party is threatened because the Pedulla family needs a babysitter, Noah begrudgedly relented to babysitting their three children, phobic Slater (max Records, Where the Wild Things Are), celebritant wannabe Blithe (Landry Bender), and recently adopted Venezuelan explosives lover Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez). During a early evening of boundary crossing and authority bucking by the kids, Noah gets a call from his not-so-girlfriend Marisa for the promise of sex if he picks up and pays for some nose candy for her at a party she is attending. Weighing the options, Noah packs up the Pedulla minivan with the kids and begins a journey that starts with exploding toilets and ends with carjacking, car chases, gun fights, and revelations.

Filled with crude language and lots of sexual references, The Sitter is certainly not geared to kids, no matter how many unaccompanied minors are strapped into the back seats of the family soccer mobile. Jonah Hill manages to be both crude and cuddly, childishly naive while painfully insightful. The kids, each with their own too-grown-up problems, funnel their frustrations at the novice Noah with barbed bravado. Noah's girlfriend Marisa (Ari Graynor, What's Your Number?) is to die for at the start of the film, but ends up someone you want to kill by the end. The highlights of the film? Drug kingpin due Karl with a K (Sam Rockwell, Cowboys & Aliens) and Julio (J.B. Smoove, Date Night), and Soul Baby (Reggie Alvin Green, Coney Island Baby). Rockwell is disarming, maniacal, and in desperate need of friends more than eight. Smoove, as Rockwell's wingman and business partner, enables Karl at every turn, probably fearful of any stray retribution. And Green's Soul Baby, lends a little swagger and jazz cool as the doorman of a downtown New York pool hall.

At some times funny and silly, at other times foul and crude, The Sitter is a film that you would expect Jonah Hill to star in - in 2007. With recent films under his belt like Moneyball  and Get Him to the Greek,   I expect more from Hill but see why he would return to the type of films that he started off with. The pace of the story is fine, but the situations that Noah and his charges find themselves in become increasingly far fetched and coincidental. Even the supposed love interest Roxanne (Kylie Bunbury, Prom) gets minimal screen and scene time with Noah. Maybe that's for the best since Noah has his hands full with all of the other problems on his plate.

The Sitter is not the 80s-styled formula flick that we remember with the late decade Adventures in Babysitting, although some of the soundtrack is reminiscent. The heady days of good natured ill-advised childcare hi-jinks is so last century. Today, The Sitter, with all of its foul-mouth angst seems to be the standard for this century. Oh, to be young again.

WORTH: Rental

We Bought A Zoo

An Adventurous Animal Spirit

Director: Cameron Crowe

Writers: Aline Brosh McKenna, Cameron Crowe, book by Benjamin Mee
Cast: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, John Michael Higgins

SYNOPSIS: A widower moves his troubled son and carefree daughter to a run-down house and zoo in the Southern California countryside in an attempt to make a fresh start in their lives.

REVIEW: The last major film project brought to the masses by Cameron Crowe was the so-so 2005 Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst Elizabethtown. The Almost Famous and Jerry Maguire writer/director returns to the big screen after six years to bring us the story of writer and adventure junkie Benjamin Mee who moves his kids out to the Southern California countryside to fix up a run-down zoo and fix up his relationships with his son and daughter. 27 Dresses and I Don't Know How She Does It scribe Aline Brosh McKenna assists Crowe to Americanize Benjamin Mee's book.

In the Benjamin Mee book, he uproots his wife and two children to the English countryside to fulfill his dream of refurbishing a zoo. While making repairs to the property, his wife falls ill with a brain tumor and passes away. In the film version Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon, Contagion) has already lost his wife to her illness and struggles to handle his morose son Dylan (Colin Ford, Push) and spirited daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Footloose (2011)). When Dylan is expelled from school, Benjamin decides to uproot his family and move them into a house that sits on a property that includes a dilapidated zoo with hundreds of exotic animals. Seeing the possibility of an adventure that could reconnect him with his son, Benjamin sinks all of his savings into the zoo, its animals, and the staff in an experiment that may leave him and his family in financial ruin. Benjamin's accountant brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways) tries to talk Benjamin out of the project at every turn, but Benjamin pushes on with the help of zoo keeper Kelly Foster (Scarlet Johansson, Iron Man 2), her niece Lily Miska (Elle Fanning, Super 8), Robin Jones (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous), and enclosure designer Peter MacCready (Angus Macfadyen, Braveheart). Standing in their way to success besides money and a proper zoo re-opening is MacCready's nemesis and USDA inspector Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins, Bad Teacher).

We Bought A Zoo is a tender and real portrait of the lengths a father will go to keep his fractured family together and safe. So many can relate and reflect on the aftermath of the tragic loss of a loved one. Matt Damon does his utmost to bring gravity to every hard decision his character needs to make, while keeping the spark of hope alive. Together with Colin Ford as his angst-ridden son forced to the countryside zoo and Maggie Elizabeth Jones as his wide-eyed adventure-ready daughter, Damon unites the audience on their journey. Scarlet Johansson excels as the hard-working but sensitive zoo keeper, desperate to keep thriving the animals she has spent years caring for. But the humans are only part of the story.

As the Mee family tries to hang on to their fragile family, they still need to try and get a rundown zoo in good enough shape to pass inspection for a grand re-opening. Rosie decides to foster the hatching of peacock chicks. Benjamin takes on the responsibility of the care of an aging and ailing Bengal tiger, projecting his own frailties onto the large cat. Dylan, on the other hand, withdraws to his sketchbook to pour his feelings onto its pages through pencil and marker.

Lions, tigers and a bear, oh my! We Bought A Zoo will keep you rooting for the Mee family and the zoo staff throughout. Can father and son work out their differences? Can Benjamin come up with the fortitude and finances to get the zoo running again? Walk a mile in a bear's paw prints to find out.

WORTH: Matinee or DVD