You know how it is in Hollywood — somebody finds a successful formula, and everyone else imitates it (come to think of it, that applies to a lot of other things, also, but I digress).
“Crazy Heart” is a film that we feel like we’ve seen before, but the performances of the primary characters are significant enough to pay attention, anyway.
It’s an old story, but here it’s told so piecemeal that we almost don’t recognize it: rich executive Ernesto Martel (Jose Luis Gomez) falls in love with his beautiful administrative assistant, Lena (Penelope Cruz).
“Avatar” is taking the CGI to a new level, and in IMAX 3-D, it’s an incredible movie-going experience, even if the plot does make you uncomfortable.
James Cameron, the director of “Titanic,” penned this one several years ago, waiting for the technology to catch up to his vision. The difficulty is that as technology developed, international politics changed as well.
“The Hurt Locker” is the movie you’d rather not watch starring the people you hardly know, dealing with a subject matter you’d prefer to avoid: the awful war in Iraq.
The Pulitzer-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy is now faithfully converted to the big screen. The problem is, it’s just as successful as the book in being really depressing.
This film started out as a novel, then converted to a screenplay. But it has a gritty, raw, realistic feel to it that is way beyond “once upon a time.”
“A Christmas Carol” is a high-quality animated re-telling of Charles Dickens’ classic novella. But it’s not for kids. Jim Carrey’s prodigious voice talents and the masterful direction of Robert Zemeckis combine to make this version memorable, disquieting, and even scary. But it’s too intense for small children, and the older ones may tire of the lengthy “hellfire and damnation” sermon followed by a very short summation of the repentance and restoration. It’s really preaching to the adults.
Those of us who enjoy music of any kind, and have even a basic acquaintance with American pop music over the last couple of generations, cannot help but be familiar with Michael Jackson.
