Be Careful What You Wish For

Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is bored in her new home until she finds a secret door and discovers an alternate version of her life on the other side. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life and the people in it – only much better. But when this seemingly perfect world turns dangerous, and her other parents (including her Other Mother voiced by Teri Hatcher) try to trap her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination and bravery to escape this increasingly perilous world – and save her family.

Coraline (Not Caroline!) has moved into a big house in the country with her parents. The house is shared by elderly, retired actresses Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Spink (Dawn French), who live in the lower flat, and Mr. Bobinski (Ian McShane), who claims he trains mice, who lives in the upper flat. Coraline is a typical young girl, curious and easily bored. While waiting out a rainy day, she decides to explore the big house and finds a door with a brick wall behind it. Her mother (Hatcher) explains the house was separated off when it was turned into apartments. But Coraline cannot help but be inquisitive about the mysterious door, especially after it is open when she knows she saw her mother lock it. One day, with her parents away, Coraline opens the door to find the brick wall gone and another apartment on the other side; an apartment almost like her own and yet subtly different. She steps through to find herself in an alternate world. Here, her parents are attentive to her every need and are not busy with work all the time. But her new mother is not quite like her real mom. Her fingers are longer and bonier, and she has coat buttons where her eyes should be. She wants Coraline to stay with her forever! Coraline retreats back to her apartment only to find her parents missing. Now, she’ll have to go back to the other mom and use all of her wits and resources to find her real parents and escape back to her world. Coraline is a work of dark, and sometimes disturbing beauty. The last third of the movie features very intense imagery as Coraline gambles in a game of wits with her otherworldly mother. As Coraline makes progress in their wager, we see the new mom’s loving, cheerful guise begin to fade as a darker side manifests itself. Besides her new parents there are twisted versions of the elderly women and Mr. Bobinski to contend with although Caroline will find aid from an unexpected source as she uncovers the secrets in the other apartment. Coraline is a young girl who has some complaints: life is boring, people mispronounce her name as Caroline and her parents don't give her much attention. She discovers a house similar to her own on the other side of a door in her new house where things seem better. But Coraline soon finds herself a prisoner held captive by her "other mother", a paler (and evil) version of her own mother. In order to escape, Coraline bets her that she can rescue the trapped souls that her other mother has captured and all she has to help her are a talking black cat (Keith David) and a stone with a hole in it. The young adult novel of the same name got high marks for writing style, mood and characterizations. The scenes here are as vivid as anything done before and in 3-D I was drawn in instantly. I felt like I was there right alongside Coraline, exploring the mysterious world parallel to our own. The other mother, for example, is a much paler version of Coraline's real mother and has big, black buttons sewn over her eyes. And all she wants is to do the same to Coraline. Yikes! The characters are very well done too. Coraline is a smart and determined girl who is immediately likable. The other mother is an equally strong character matching Coraline's likeability with evil. And the black cat is a hoot! Every character and it dark counterpart are easily enjoyable. This one will definitely have fans of young and old. If you've had the honor of reading the book, this will be a great treat for you and even if you haven't you'll still like this one. I sure did. A grand 4 on my "Go See" scale.

Be Mine In 3-D

Ten years ago, a tragedy changed the town of Harmony forever. Tom Hanniger (Jensen Ackles), an inexperienced coal miner, caused an accident in the tunnels that trapped and killed five men and sent the only survivor, Harry Warden (Rich Walters), into a permanent coma. But Harry Warden wanted revenge. Exactly one year later, on Valentine's Day, he woke up...and brutally murdered twenty-two people with a pickaxe before being killed. Ten years later, Tom Hanniger returns to Harmony on Valentine's Day, still haunted by the deaths he caused. Struggling to make amends with his past, he grapples with unresolved feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Sarah (Jaime King), who is now married to his best friend, Axel (Kerr Smith), the town sheriff. But tonight, after years of peace, something from Harmony's dark past has returned. Wearing a miner's mask and armed with a pickaxe, an unstoppable killer is on the loose. And as his footsteps come ever closer, Tom, Sarah and Axel realize in terror that it just might be Harry Warden who's come back to claim them.

As someone who's not overly fond of horror remakes or eye-straining 3-D crap, I went into My Bloody Valentine: 3-D knowing all the facts, but with fairly muted expectations. The movie, which does employ several 3-D "gotcha!" gimmicks as well as subtle immersion into the story and character-driven moments, begins with a flashback of what happened in Pennsylvania's Hanniger Mines 10 years ago. It was February 14, when the owner's college-age son Tom (Ackles) set a chain of events into motion which led a psychotic miner Harry Warden (Walters) to kill some 22 people. Careless Tom was enjoying himself at the big holiday dance when it happened. Having fled in shame, Tom returns home a decade later to collect his now-dead dad's ashes and inherit the family's tarnished legacy. Nobody's exactly leaping with joy to have the stern young man come back to town. His old flame Sarah (King) is now married to his ex-best friend Axel (Smith), who has recently become the town's sheriff. Axel took over from retiree Burke (Tom Atkins), who always harbored bitter feelings after having to shoot and kill Warden. Even the executor of the Hanniger Will, the seemingly benign elderly local gadabout Ben Foley (Kevin Tighe), has nothing but outright dislike for Tom. Then, a strange thing happens: The grisly pick-axe murders start up again. It is the ghost of Harry Warden? Has Tom's return triggered fury in a latent killer? Is it (and was it) Tom himself? All these questions are answered in the end, which is what makes the movie so much fun to see twice… now, don't get me wrong: it's no Usual Suspects puzzle, but armed with your knowledge, it's a kick to go through the motions again and pick up all the hints and clues showing whodunit. Having seen far more 3-D than I'd care to admit (Friday the 13th 3), I must say that My Bloody Valentine: 3-D makes the very best use of the medium I have ever experienced. The gory and violent death scenes spatter blood most gleefully outward, while the breasts bounce up and down in the gratuitous nude scenes (totally expected and welcomed in this hard-R horror world!) — but what you may not realize is how drawn in you get into the everyday worlds of these characters.  There are people with shades of gray; a plausible pool of (ever-dwindling) suspects; indoor and outdoor locations, including expanse and claustrophobia; and just enough comic relief to punctuate the seriousness of the situations. The actors all do their parts very well — from the bit players (Selene Luna) to the main attractions (King) — but there's a certain scene-stealer I'd like to single out. Not because she is buck-naked throughout one drawn-out and pivotal suspense scene, but because Betsy Rue is a damn fine actress. As the feisty and spirited Irene, she gives a truly fearless performance in every sense of the word. Rue's definitely got the chops to make to wear the scream queen crown if she so chooses. This was gory, good fun in 3-D and I have to admit that I liked every bit of it. A bloody 3 on my "Go See" scale.

Safety never takes a vacation

As a mall security guard, Paul Blart (Kevin James) is devoted to keeping crime and mischief out of the New Jersey shopping center where he works, even if he isn't allowed to wear a gun. But Santa's helpers decide to be naughty, taking Paul's loved ones hostage, so he has to use all his training to save them.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop answers the pressing question - Can a chubby guy be a superhero too - in the resounding affirmative. TV's King of Queens lovable working stiff Kevin James relocates to suburban Jersey in an even larger than life silly but good natured laughathon on the big screen as the crimefighter mall cop in question, who's more than a little obsessive about cornering anyone shopping around for trouble. Paul Blart: Mall Cop stars James as the hapless 21st century Jackie Gleason, scorned and ridiculed both on and off the job, but not hearing any of it. Between nurturing elaborate fantasies of supersized superheroics, Blart spends a typical day running over a neighborhood dog tailgating his scooter on the way to work, directing civilians to exactly which stores the heated toilet seats are located in, and being subjected to a Victoria's Secret beatdown by an irate shopper dissing the slutty underwear. Paul Blart has always wanted to become a law enforcement officer, but sadly has not been able to make that wish a reality due to his hypoglycemia. Instead he has had to settle for a job as a security guard. Blart is also a single dad duped into a green card marriage by an even more rotund illegal alien femme fatale, who left him to raise preteen daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) alone. But he's showered with plenty of maternal doting, emotional support and platefuls of food at home by both Mom (Shirley Knight) and surrogate parentally inclined Maya. And though the family is eager to match him up with a mate online, Blart wears his heart conspicuously on his sleeve at work, nursing a crush on perky wig saleslady Amy (Jayma Mays). But running interference on his courtship moves, is a gang of cutthroat shoplifters who show up one day, intent on conspiring a hostile takeover of the premises on skateboards, and committing assorted acts of mall malice. Not to worry, Blart singlehandedly sets his sights on finally getting a chance to seriously show his stuff chasing down these athletic accomplices. Which includes making the most of his mountainous assets like gargantuan sliding and slithering around the mall, and flattening the felons with the advantage of his ample torso, when not beating up a perp with a handy tanning machine. He also gets a little help from a jar of some sort of wickedly spicy condiment called The Devil's Crotch, enough said.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop is an affectionate if often sitcomish ode to creative copping and mindless mall madness. In any case, James sweats it out lifting the material above the mundane and derivative, and nicely proves that in an emergency, size matters and extra large superheroes can rule. James rules in this comedy about a mall cop destined to do great things. A definite 4 on my "Go See" scale.

Jumby wants to be born now

Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) hated her mother for leaving her as a child. But when inexplicable things start to happen, Casey begins to understand why she left. Plagued by merciless dreams and a tortured ghost that haunts her waking hours, she must turn to the only spiritual advisor, Sendak (Gary Oldman), who can make it stop. With Sendak’s help, Casey uncovers the source of a family curse dating back to Nazi Germany—a creature with the ability to inhabit anyone or anything that is getting stronger with each possession. With the curse unleashed, her only chance at survival is to shut a doorway from beyond our world that has been pried open by someone who was never born.

Written and directed David Goyer, The Unborn stars Odette Yustman as Casey, a Chicago coed who suspects something is just too weird for words when both boy and canine ghosts start joining her while out jogging. She eventually tracks down her hunches to an institutionalized mom who committed suicide, a twin brother she never knew about who died in the womb, and assorted other twins dating back to the Holocaust who may or may not hold the key to multiple birth demonic possession. At wit's end, not to mention utterly frazzled, Casey seeks help from Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman doing a bad imitation of a rabbi), a Kabbala guru who happens to know a thing or two about exorcism. After enlisting the co-exorcist aid of a basketball coach cleric (Idris Elba), the determined duo tie Casey to a gurney in an abandoned building, and get down to business. After much prolonged mayhem and spirit fleeing, it turns out that just a good swat with a crowbar will do the trick nicely. The Unborn is a mostly outlandish tale of really possessive, attention deficit disorder dybuks who can't make up their mystical minds about which body is cool enough to inhabit. And concocted by inane idea gurus who think that genocide and motherhood make for really effective spooky narrative devices to exploit, but bad taste would be a better description. And though some of the images are on the terrifying side, like those supernatural creatures with their heads screwed on backwards, the same might be said of that what was he thinking filmmaker. Partway through The Unborn, an elderly Holocaust survivor writes an ominous letter to her young granddaughter: "It has fallen upon you to finish what was started in Auschwitz." That's a lot of pressure to put on a petite horror-film heroine, especially one who repeatedly forgets to wear something more than low-rise panties and a ribbed tank while inspecting strange noises in her darkened house. It's also a lot of historical weight to dump on a genre flick. Then again, any film that features Gary Oldman as a rabbi with exorcism powers isn't asking to be taken seriously. Writer-director David S. Goyer pulls every trick he can to get a rise from his audience, with varying results. The freak-out sequences (hey, everything's back to normal!) are overly familiar and the pop-up monsters quickly lose their novelty. But a frenetic chase through an old-age home packs a few punches, as does the crunchy climax. It helps if you haven't seen "The Exorcist," or for that matter any horror film. If the use of Nazi atrocities as a MacGuffin for cheap thrills offends you, The Unborn isn't your movie. If, however, you appreciate the sight of a half-naked beauty being terrorized by potato bugs, look no further.
A saddend 3 on my "Go See" scale and that's being nice.

Broken, but easily fixed

Can This Marriage Be Saved? Dave (Morris Chestnut) and Clarice (Taraji P. Henson) have been married forever; yet the things that they do not know about one another could fill up a small house. That is the basic problem in their marriage. They have grown apart over the years, rather than together. How many marriages are the same way? 

Not Easily Broken is based on the novel of the same name by T. D. Jakes about an upper class African American couple who find that their marriage has fallen into disrepair right before their eyes. Neither one of them seem to be able to acknowledge the truth of the matter. They have gotten used to acting like nothing is wrong until they are involved in a near-fatal car crash and Clarice (Henson) is seriously injured. As David (Chestnut) fails miserably at his attempts to take care of his wife; he finally admits that he no longer feels needed. Her lack of neediness and her inability to trust him with her fears is at the core of their problems. Suddenly; the wonderful life that they have built is no longer enough. The house, the cars and the material possessions are no longer fulfilling because they both realize that they have lost that loving feeling between them. Clarice is a woman who makes you want to actually slap her. Her self-centered persona is portrayed so realistically that she could be someone that you know. And although the Johnsons belong to a church that they attend regularly; they don’t seem to be spirit-filled believers. They aren’t the type that lean on God for guidance; at least not until they find themselves deep in trouble which is the case with most people. While Clarice is caught up with keeping up with the Joneses and climbing the ladder of success in the real estate business; Dave is a down to earth man who is more interested in coaching a little league baseball team in the community than making money. His humble position as the owner of a small  business is enough for him and that bothers Clarice. On the other hand; her disinterest in having children is a thorn in Dave’s side. You wonder what brought these two together in the first instance. Before the accident, Clarice is busy climbing the corporate ladder and keeping up with everyone else while David is content with running his janitorial business and helping out in the community. The accident should have drawn them closer, but instead it pushes them further apart. David finds himself spending more time with Clarice's physical therapist (a single mom) and mentoring her son (Maeve Quinlin & Cannon Jay). In the process, he becomes attracted to her and a father figure to the young boy. He learns more about himself, and what it feels like to spend time with people who care about him and share similar beliefs and dreams. Clarice notices the difference in David and begins to wonder if he's having an affair. After a tragic accident, she confronts David and forces an answer. What follows gives the movie more drama than seen in most drama laced movies. While I enjoyed it, some of the issues seemed glazed over and Clarice's character worked my nerves to no end. I really felt nothing for her, and though I knew David was being led down a road of temptation, I wanted him to find some type of happiness and it didn't seem that Clarice was capable. Her selfish demeanor will turn off many viewers, but others will find her realistic and a portrayal of a woman balancing her career and marriage. On the flip side, Director Bill Duke did a wonderful job of showing David's side of things and there are some very moving areas in Not Easily Broken that will resonate with the viewer. The resolution was satisfying, though predictable, and sends a message that what God puts together cannot be easily broken. I saw myself in this movie (although I won't tell which character) and maybe we can all find a piece of ourselves, no matter how small in this movie as well. I enjoyed this very much and I highly recommend it. A strong 4 on my "Go See" scale.

The Spirit Soars

Adapted from the legendary comic strip, THE SPIRIT is a classic action-adventure-romance told by genre-twister Frank Miller (creator of 300 and SIN CITY). It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he’s going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront ... all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Surrounding him at every turn are Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), the whip-smart girl-next-door; Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), a punk secretary and frigid vixen; Plaster Of Paris (Paz Vega), a murderous French nightclub dancer; Lorelei (Jaime King), a phantom siren; and Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a sexy young cop. Then of course, there’s Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the jewel thief with dangerous curves. She’s the love of his life turned bad. Will he save her or will she kill him?

Now that they've gone and made Batman all serious and good, the campy comics hero movie mantle has been taken up by "The Spirit." Will Eisner's brilliantly designed and drawn strips about a slightly supernatural crime fighter originally appeared in freestanding Sunday newspaper inserts in the middle of the last century. They were packed with inventive visual effects, hardboiled dialogue and sly satire. But in trying to transfer that approach to the screen, adapter-director Frank Miller, an acclaimed comic book writer and artist who was friends with the late Eisner, loses command of his narrative as thoroughly as he exerts control over the film's imagery. This is the first film Miller has directed by himself. For the movie of his graphic novel "Sin City," he teamed up with the more experienced Robert Rodriguez. The same high-tech approach was used on both productions; actors were shot on soundstages against blank green screens, and anything behind them was later painted in with computers. Colors were generally muted for a close but not entirely black-and-white look. But "Sin City's" ridiculous adolescent fantasy was a lot easier to indulge than "The Spirit's." This one's more pronounced self-mocking tone isn't the only reason for that, but it's the main culprit. There are some scenes that are tremendously cool in the picture. If you can swallow the imitated style, it looks fantastic. And the ladies serve up a nice helping of eye candy, especially Eva Mendes (and her valuable assets) as well as Stana Katic as the rookie cop Morgenstern. If you can get past the film’s ultra-corny dialogue and own cleverness, which is its ultimate downfall, you might enjoy it. In the end, there’s a part of me that really enjoyed “The Spirit,” and I actually recommend it if you want a bit of the comic book flavor this holiday season. However, it would have fit better were it not dropped into the movie houses on Christmas Day against so many other films. All of Frank Miller’s sins are forgivable with this movie, and I do still consider him a creative genius. I just hope that he spreads his creative wings in his next effort. I look forward to what he has to offer in a sophomore effort. Denny Colt (boyishly charming Gabriel Macht) is a rookie cop gunned down in the line of duty. Through mysterious circumstances he doesn’t understand, he’s resurrected as something not quite human. He shrugs off blows that would lay low the mightiest palooka, and machetes and bullets merely irritate him and slow him down. He dons a mask and strikes a deal with Police Commissioner Dolan (gruff and perfect Dan Lauria) to go where Dolan’s officers cannot, to wage a new kind of war on the criminals of Central City, a filth-streaked urban hellhole. Every hero needs a nemesis, and the Spirit has a humdinger in the form of the Octopus. As inhabited by Samuel L. Jackson, he is a former city coroner looking for the secret of immortality, prone to violent outbursts and Cheshire Cat smiles, and assisted by his cloned and none too smart goons Pathos, etc (Louis Lombardi) and Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), one of several femmes fatale shoehorned into the plot. The story, created in the 1940s by comics man Will Eisner, isn’t important, anyway. Miller has seen two of his works, “Sin City” and “300,” adapted into hugely successful films. Their directors, Robert Rodriguez and Zack Snyder, established a certain visual style in comic book films, and Miller doesn’t deviate from it in any great measure. Central City, towering gray monoliths wreathed in snow, isn’t too far from Basin City of “Sin City.” It’s a city where the police are overmatched and people hide behind curtains rather than aid a passerby calling for help. Miller’s joy at pairing his astonishing visual sense with a worthy budget is evident in many of his compositions, which are stark and often iconic. The same attention is on display in every scene. But given the Spirit’s Sunday-comics origins and the pulp-turgid nature of the plot, it’s welcome. The dark, hopeless scenery is fortunately leavened with some sharp dialogue, with the Spirit and his various female foils cracking wise in small exchanges that wouldn’t be out of place in a screwball comedy. Lombardi is entertaing here playing off of himself in certain scenes as the Octopus' cloned henchmen with each name across his shirt, each ending in "Os" (Pathos, Huevos, Rancheros, etc). Miller does tend to keep the reins a bit too slack on Jackson, however, and allows him to indulge in his unfortunate tendency to scream his dialogue. But “The Spirit” is terrific entertainment. It’s a better and a more complete film than “Sin City” or “300.” Having a comic book genius create a comic book movie is a very, very good idea indeed. I was thoroughly entertained, being a comic book nerd myself. A happy 3 on my "Go See" scale.

Harvey makes the best of his last chance

In London for his daughter's wedding, a struggling jingle-writer, Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman), misses his plane to New York, and thus loses his job. While drowning his sorrows in the airport pub, Harvey meets Kate (Emma Thompson), a British government worker stuck in an endless cycle of work, phone calls from her mother, and blind dates. A connection forms between the unhappy pair, who soon find themselves falling in love.

Falling in love can happen at any age. Last Chance Harvey emphasizes this romantic theme while having a bit of fun doing it. Playing two lonely middle-aged people who find each other during some tough times in their lives, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson may look ill-suited for each other here, but they deliver the goods with believability and charm. Who would expect these two actors to be the most fascinating on-screen couple during 2008?  Hoffman portrays Harvey Shine, a man disappointed with the way his career has turned out. Although quite talented as a composer and pianist, he’s ended up writing jingles for commercials. And his boss (Richard Schiff) hints about bad things to come. On the personal side, Harvey’s relationship with his estranged daughter (Liane Balaban) couldn’t get much worse. To attend her wedding, he must leave New York City --during what he insists is a crucial time for his job --and travel to England. After arriving across the pond, Harvey faces the humiliation of being the odd-man out at his own daughter’s nuptial activities. Luckily, our sad-sack hero soon meets Kate Walker (Thompson), a woman who spends most of the time answering calls from her quirky mother (Eileen Atkins). Mom can’t seem to stop pestering Kate about her single status or her curiousity of her new polish neighbor (Robert Jezek), who just always seems to be barbequeing. Unfortunately, Kate’s latest blind date resulted in considerable embarrassment for her --so she’s not in a very happy emotional state when Harvey tries to start up a conversation with her.  These two walking wounded believe they are losers and that love has passed them by. However, their amusing interactions and shared misery help them establish a strong bond, one that offers them a chance for happiness. Despite the painful and, of course, humorous obstacles standing in their way, will they be daring enough to risk being together as a couple?  Hoffman and Thompson give great performances as the unlikely Harvey/Kate duo. They are a treat to watch! Because of their brilliant acting skills, it’s easy to feel empathy for the unhappy characters they portray. Hoffman lends Harvey an almost pathetic demeanor during certain parts of the film, and Thompson makes Kate someone we care for from the very beginning. She’s a real pro at changing expressions in the blink of an eye, which serves her well in various interactions with Hoffman. Thompson towers over Hoffman, so they look like Mutt and Jeff. This striking visual reinforces the idea that Harvey and Kate may not be right for each other. And yet a surprising Hoffman/Thompson chemistry comes across in practically every one of their scenes together.  Hopkins's follow-the-dots approach to the up-and-down stages of developing romance between Hoffman's Harvey Shine and Thompson's Kate Walker is familiar and formulaic in the making. When this middle-aged couple is clicking with a renewed enthusiasm it's inevitable that a dash of cheap-minded pathos would be thrown in for good measure. In this case, Harvey's last minute medical emergency threatens the planned noontime rendezvous therefore triggering Kate's cynicism in her previously clogged heart. Other than this convenient bit of sentimental contrivance, Last Chance Harvey is a good-natured valentine to the rigors of unexpected mature love. Hoffman is disciplined and restrained as the bewildered Harvey Shine--an average guy torn by the choices and chances he never truly capitalized on emotionally. Hoffman's Harvey is gently befuddled but believable as a man stuck in an in-between existence of ambivalence. Thompson is soundly radiant and reserved as the uptight Kate confined to a world of lyrical printed pages and disastrous blind dates. Consequently, the undeniably attractive Kate is guarded--her vulnerable exterior unassumingly peeled by the impish Harvey.  Last Chance Harvey is an amiable and earnest examination of maturing adults discovering the giddiness of what they thought would evade their sensibilities--the vague conception of love beyond the restricting boundaries. A nice little Rom-Com deserving of this 4 rating on my "Go See" scale.