Les Misérables (2012)
DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper
CAST:
Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter
REVIEW:
WARNING: THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN “SPOILERS”
Based on the phenomenally popular, long-running musical stage production which debuted in 1985, which itself was based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, this musical big screen adaptation of arguably the greatest French novel was a long time coming. Attempts were made at bringing the musical version of Les Mis to the big screen since the 1990s, but the various productions fell through time and again, while several non-musical adaptations of Hugo’s magnum opus were featured both in the theater and on television, only finally moving full steam ahead in 2011, when Tom Hooper, fresh off his acclaimed historical drama The King’s Speech, came onboard. As someone who would not really consider himself a particular Les Mis aficionado, I’m not really in a position to say how satisfied the musical’s legion of fans will be by this film (though I suspect many of them should be). In fact, I’ve always been partial to the 1998 non-musical film starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush (although some of its omissions, including the character of Eponine, rankled fans). Even so, Les Mis is a lavish, sumptuous experience, with plenty of emotionally stirring moments along the way. It’s also as pure a musical as they come–lines of spoken dialogue are few and brief. Those for whom musicals are unbearable are not likely to have their opinion changed here. But for those who enjoy them, and especially for fans of this musical in particular, there is much to appreciate.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
DIRECTOR: Timur Bekmambetov
CAST:
Benjamin Walker, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rufus Sewell, Anthony Mackie, Jimmi Simpson, Erin Wasson, Alan Tudyk, Marton Csokas
REVIEW:
Did you know the Confederacy was allied with vampires during the Civil War, that Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter before and during his Presidency, and that it was only his delivery of silver to the battlefield that decided the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg? I kid, of course, but all of the above is what Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s tongue-in-cheek pseudo-biography, would have you believe. Continue reading
J. Edgar (2011)
DIRECTOR: Clint Eastwood
CAST:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts
REVIEW:
During his forty-eight-year reign as director of the FBI, John Edgar Hoover was regarded by many as the most powerful man in America. Continue reading
The King’s Speech (2010)
DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper
CAST: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall, Claire Bloom
REVIEW:
The King’s Speech from director Tom Hooper and screenwriter David Seidler is proof that the “buddy movie” formula can be applied to things other than cop comedy-dramas, even to a historical docudrama about a decidedly odd couple friendship between King George VI and his speech therapist. To that end, it’s a handsome, stately period historical drama bolstered by strong acting and strong chemistry and the dynamic between two very different men who under different circumstances would never have met.
Continue readingAngels & Demons (2009)
DIRECTOR: Ron Howard
CAST:
Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Thure Lindhardt
REVIEW:
While Dan Brown’s novel Angels & Demons chronologically took place before The Da Vinci Code, the movie is a sequel to the 2006 Ron Howard-Tom Hanks film. In the wake of scathing reviews dissmissing the first as leaden and ploddingly-paced (which I did not, for the most part, agree with), Howard obviously took a few steps here to make Angels & Demons more conventionally cinematic, but despite a faster, somewhat more action-oriented pace, Angels & Demons is a close cousin to its predecessor, and whether that is a good thing or a bad thing will largely depend on your opinion of The Da Vinci Code. Continue reading
Valkyrie (2008)
DIRECTOR: Bryan Singer
CAST:
Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Kevin McNally, David Schofield, Eddie Izzard, Jamie Parker, Thomas Kretschmann, Christian Berkel, Tom Hollander, David Bamber
REVIEW:
During his twelve-year reign, Adolf Hitler survived over forty known assassination attempts, at least fifteen of which were made by Germans. But the most hated man of the 20th century was also one of the most extraordinarily lucky. Something always managed to go wrong; Hitler would cut speeches or conferences short, avoiding timed bomb blasts, the explosives themselves would fail to detonate, and the forces arrayed against him often proved to be unfortunately uncoordinated and indecisive. The final, most famous, and most nearly successful attempt on Hitler’s life came on July 20, 1944, orchestrated by a group of rebel German military officers and politicians spearheaded by decorated injured war hero Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg. Continue reading
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
DIRECTOR: Shekhar Kapur
CAST: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish
REVIEW:
Shekhar Kapur’s sequel to his 1998 lavish historical costume drama Elizabeth, despite reuniting the director, screenwriter Michael Hirst, and stars Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush, is an example of a sequel being, if not a precipitous drop, at least a downgrade from its predecessor. Elizabeth: The Golden Age, while including some rousing moments, too often feels more like a lavish costume soap opera than the intrigue potboiler of its predecessor.
Continue readingThe Good German (2006)
DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
CAST:
George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Jack Thompson,Ravil Isyanov, Tony Curran, Christian Oliver, Leland Orser
REVIEW:
The Good German is director Steven Soderbergh’s (Traffic, Ocean’s Eleven) adaptation of Joseph Kanon’s 2001 novel, but Soderbergh chose not to simply do a straightforward filming of Kanon’s book, but used it as his chance to attempt a film experiment of his own- making the movie, set in 1945, as if it had actually been made in the 1940s. Continue reading
The Da Vinci Code (2006)
DIRECTOR: Ron Howard
CAST:
Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow
REVIEW:
Ron Howard’s film adaptation of Dan Brown’s novel The Da Vinci Code was preceded by an extraordinary amount of controversy over certain of its plot points which seemed to take on a life of its own, raising the movie and the theological and historical questions it raised into something greater than the film itself. Continue reading
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
DIRECTOR: Ridley Scott
CAST: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Liam Neeson, Ghassan Massoud, Alexander Siddig, David Thewlis, Michael Sheen, John Finch, Edward Norton
REVIEW:
In a number of his previous films, Ridley Scott has proven he knows how to make an epic. With its desert landscape and ancient setting, Kingdom of Heaven bears the closest resemblance to 2000’s Oscar-winning Gladiator, but in some ways is an even more technically ambitious production. Unfortunately, it’s a far less engaging motion picture. Continue reading