Movie/TV Reviews

Susan Granger’s review of “Epic” (20th Century-Fox)

Beautiful to behold but bewildering in its allegorical concept, this computer-animated fable
from the creators of “Ice Age” and “Rio” revolves around a recently widowed, absent-minded scientist, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudekis), and his estranged 17 year-old daughter, Mary Katherine – a.k.a. M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) – living on the edge of a vast woodland.

One day, when their one-eyed, three-legged pug Ozzy runs off, feisty M.K. follows him, which
leads her to a fateful encounter with dying Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles), a tiny, Persephone-like creature who embodies the life force of the forest.  The Queen entrusts now-miniaturized M.K. with
her chosen Royal water-lily pod which will guide her people to crown their new Queen – but only if it blooms at midnight in the moonlight during the summer solstice.

On her perilous mission in the microscopic realm of Moonhaven, M.K. is a guided by a veteran
Leaf Man, warrior Ronin (Colin Farrell), and befriended by a rebellious Leaf teen, Nod (Josh Hutcherson). There are evil forces in opposition, including a ferocious Boggen named Mandrake (Christoph Waltz), who is determined to allow the endangered forest to rot and decay.

Based on William Joyce’s illustrated children’s book “The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs,” the
contrived, unfocused script by James V. Hart, William Joyce, Dan Shere, Tom J. Astle, Matt Ember and director Chris Wedge gets inspiration from “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “A Bug’s Life,” “The Secret World of Arrietty,” “The Borrowers,” even “Avatar.” Yet the essential story of
parents/children coping with loss gets muddled in magic and mysticism. Even the generic title is misleading.

On the plus side, Moonhaven’s vividly exquisite, deeply textured animation is enchanting, making the 3-D choice worthwhile, particularly when the intrepid Leaf Men ride their hummingbirds and the Munchkin-like flower-people appear.  Comic relief comes from the slug Mub (Aziz Ansari), the snail Grub (Chris O’Dowd), along with the guru/caterpillar Nim Galuu (Steven Tyler).

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Epic” is a sweet 6. It’s an eye-popping, eco-friendly
adventure, suitable for children of all ages.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Hangover, Part III” (Warner Bros.)

Back in 2007, screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore pitched director Todd Phillips “What
Happens in Vegas,” a raunchy comedy about a bizarre bachelor party in which the groom went missing.  Re-titled “The Hangover,” it starred Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, costing about $35 million to make. After grossing $467.5 million worldwide, a sequel was inevitable, and that raked in a record-shattering $586.8 million. Undoubtedly, this third – and final – installment will be highly profitable too.

Problem is: it’s not a caper, not a comedy.  Nobody wakes up, having forgotten what happened.  Instead, spoiled, self-centered Alan (Galifianakis) has discarded his meds. After he’s in a fatal freeway accident involving the graphic decapitation of a giraffe, his doting dad (Jeffrey Tambor), dies of a heart attack. Alan’s close friends – stalwart dentist Stu (Helms) and ladies’ man Phil (Cooper) – are determined to get him into an Arizona psychiatric/rehab facility. En route, they’re ambushed.
Alan’s brother, Doug (Justin Bartha), is kidnapped by Marshall (John Goodman), a menacing mobster and his gang, including Black Doug (Mike Epps), who holds the Wolfpack responsible for $20+ million in gold ingots stolen by Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong), the obnoxious, trash-talking Asian gangster who has just escaped from a Thai prison. So hapless Doug is held hostage until Leslie Chow can be brought to justice. After trekking to Tijuana, Mexico, they wind up back in Vegas, where they run into stripper mom Jade (Heather Graham) with her young son, and Alan falls in love with a surly pawnshop clerk (Melissa McCarthy, doing a cameo).

Screenwriter/director Todd Phillips and co-scripter Craig Mazin cynically juggle the genres in a rehash of gross, stale material that’s no longer amusing, not even the smoking monkey. The moronic plot basically revolves around clueless man-child Alan and stereotypically mean-spirited Mr. Chow. As Alan says, “When we get together, bad things happen and people get hurt.”

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Hangover, Part III” is a tepid 3, followed by a
reminiscent, post-credit epilogue.

Susan Granger’s review of “Frances Ha” (IFC Films)

Years ago, coming-of-age films revolved around confused adolescents/teenagers. Now the
demographic has expanded: entitled twentysomethings are still floundering, trying to find themselves.

Writing the script with his leading lady, Greta Gerwig, director Noah Baumbach (“The Squid and the Whale,” “Margot at the Wedding”) has fashioned an arrested development serio-comedy
about a well-educated, yet socially awkward 27 year-old New Yorker named Frances, who enjoys telling people that she and her inseparable Vassar college roommate/best-friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner) “are the same person with different hair.” But they’re not. Self-absorbed Sophie has a good job in publishing, while disarmingly delusional, self-deprecating Frances is a klutzy apprentice
at an artsy modern-dance company. And while Frances wouldn’t even consider leaving Brooklyn – and Sophie – to move in with her boyfriend, Sophie has no hesitation about ditching Frances for a swankier move to TriBeCa. Sophie’s departure leaves Frances floating from apartment to apartment. Title cards list her various addresses.

“I’m so embarrassed,” she admits. “I’m not a real person yet.”

Filmed by cinematographer Sam Levy in black-and-white, like the French New Wave, with an obviously miniscule budget, it’s a facile, off-beat, female friendship story that’s adorned with excerpts from musical scores by Georges Delerue, who often collaborated with Francois Truffaut, along with vintage David Bowie and other rock/pop tunes.

Quirky, beguiling Greta Gerwig, who worked with Noah Baumbach previously in Ben Stiller’s “Greenberg” and became his off-screen girl-friend, also emoted in Woody Allen’s “To Rome With Love” and Whit Stillman’s “Damsels in Distress.”  Here, Gerwig’s Sacramento-based parents are
played by her real-life mother and father. British actress Mickey Sumner is the daughter of Sting and Trudy Styler.  And seeing Adam Driver from TV’s “Girls,” as a womanizing artist, reinforces the
similarity with Lena Dunham’s hit HBO series.

Why the title? Peripatetic Frances’s name is Frances Halliday, though only “Ha” fits on the mailbox.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Frances Ha” is an improbable yet engaging 8,
particularly endearing to those who can’t quite get their lives together.

Susan Granger’s review of “Kon-Tiki” (The Weinstein Company)

Back in 1947, Norwegian explorer Thor Hyerdahl decided to cross 4,300 miles of Pacific Ocean on
a huge balsa-wood raft called Kon-Tiki, named for the Polynesian sun god. Heyerdahl was determined to prove that, about 1,500 years ago, South Americans crossed the sea and settled in the South Pacific. His book about that perilous expedition has sold more than 50 million copies and has been translated in close to 70 languages. His cinematic chronicle won the Best Documentary Oscar in 1950.

Norwegian actor Pal Sverre Hagen plays charismatic Thor Heyerdahl, whose blond/blue-eyed
physicality is reminiscent of Peter O’Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia.” Financed by the Peruvian government, Heyerdahl and his brave crew of five men – four Norwegians and a Swede – spent more than 100 days afloat, encountering whales and sharks, along with treacherous storms, as a radio operator did his best to stay in contact – when the transmitter worked. While he did bring along a movie camera, Heyerdahl had no motor onboard and was resolute about building his raft using only the indigenous materials available to the original sailors, insisting that logs be lashed together with rope, not wire, despite the pleadings of one of his crew.

The Norwegian version of this new bio pic was nominated for this year’s Best Foreign Language
Film but lost to Michael Haneke’s “Amour.” Now, an English-language version is playing in local theaters.

Directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg filmed in both languages simultaneously to appeal to the international market, utilizing a script written by Petter Skavlan. Each scene was shot first in Norwegian, then in English. Many years ago, when Hollywood first introduced sound, multiple language versions were more common than they are today. By the mid-1930s, however, dubbing and subtitles took over. In recent years, the most commercially viable dual-language film was Angelina Jolie’s Serbo-Croatian/English “In the Land of Blood in Honey,” set in Sarajevo during
the Bosian War of the 1990s.

On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Kon-Tiki” is an adventurous 8. Astonishing!

Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., May 24

    Back in 1964, British director Michael Apted began to create a series of documentaries that profiled seven year-old children from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in order to evaluate how class structure affects their lives. Since then, he’s questioned them again every seven years. In “56 Up,” they’re coping with the global financial crisis.

    Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects” is a far-fetched psycho-thriller about an ex-con (Channing Tatum), his depressive wife (Rooney Mara) and two psychiatrists (Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones) who become involved in their lives; unfortunately, what could have been a cautionary fable or social commentary strains credulity, becoming a lurid murder mystery.

   Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin are criminal cronies in “Stand Up Guys,” a flimsy, contrived caper that’s filled with formulaic Viagra jokes and sleazy sexual innuendos. 

    When mystery writer Donald Westlake was alive, he fiercely guarded his hardboiled, highly principled antihero “Parker,” but Westlake died in 2008 and his estate has allowed muscled Jason Statham to become the master criminal who righteously operates within a specific code of honor.

    “The First 70” is an awe-inspiring journey through California’s budget-threatened state parks, as young documentary filmmakers highlight the need to keep them open for future generations.

    For family viewing, “Adventures of Bailey: A Night in Cowtown” features dogdom’s latest star in the third installment of the popular series. And based on the popular video game, there’s ”Lego Batman: The Movie DC Super Heroes Unite.”

    To get youngsters moving, “Dance With Barney” gets their groove on by building confidence learning new steps dino-style, along with “Twinkle Toes Music Video Collection.”   

    PICKS OF THE WEEK: For adolescents, Richard LaGravanese’s supernatural Southern Gothic love story “Beautiful Creatures,” based on the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, explores forbidden romance with Alice Englert, as a teenage ‘spell caster,’ and Alden Ehrenreich, as Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons fear for their future.  And for hardcore action fans, “The Last Stand” stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the mild-mannered sheriff of a small Arizona border town who must capture a diabolical Mexican drug cartel kingpin.

Susan Granger’s review of “Fast & Furious 6” (Universal Pictures)

    Confession: everything I know about street car racing I’ve learned from this action-packed franchise, a concept that director Justin Lin credits to synchronicity. Many years ago on Saturday night, three NBC-TV shows – “The Golden Girls,” “Empty Nest” and “Nurses” – all dealt with hurricanes. The way those dissimilar plotlines interconnected so impressed Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan that they’ve patterned the mythology of these street-smart, multi-cultural characters in the same way.

    Set in Europe, this installment concludes the second trilogy, connecting back to the first, marking the return of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), love interest of rebellious Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). It’s confusing since Letty supposedly died. But don’t let that bother you as much as it troubles Dom.  Although she has amnesia, Letty’s alive and kicking, working for British ex-Special Ops mercenary Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and taking on Riley (mixed-martial arts fighter Gina Carano), sidekick of DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson). Hobbs offers full pardons to Dom and his gang (including Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris) if they’ll help him bring Letty in, retrieve high-tech weaponry and take down Shaw. It’s formulaic plotting.

    Focusing on cars, Toretto drives a 2012 Dodge Challenger SRT8, as well as a 2012 Dodge Charger SRT8, powered by a stock 6.4-liter HEMI V-8 engine, and a vintage 1969 Dodge Daytona. One chase sequence involves a Jeep, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta and a huge Russian Antonov cargo jet hurtling down a runway, as cars careen, catapult, clatter and crash – in massive vehicular carnage. Another has a superfast tank bursting out from inside a large truck. The threat here is a long, low-slung ramp car designed to get underneath other cars and flip them over. There’s no 3D, no IMAX, just old-fashioned stunt work (credit coordinator Dennis McCarthy), embellished with CG visual effects and a turbo-charged sound system.

    On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Fast & Furious 6” is an outrageous, high-octane 7, concluding with a Tokyo-set teaser for the next sequel in July, 2014.

Susan Granger’s review of “The Iceman” (Millennium Entertainment)

    Inspired by actual events, this is the sordid story of unrepentant hit man Richard Kuklinski (Michael Shannon), who murders more than 100 men in and around New Jersey between 1964 and 1986, as his adoring wife and devoted daughters suspect nothing.

    Opening with the question: “Mr. Kuklinski, do you have any regrets for the things you’ve done?” –there’s a flashback showing how, back in 1964, hulking, young Richie began dating sweet, unsuspecting Deborah Pellicotti (Winona Ryder).  Telling her that his job involves dubbing Disney cartoons, he observes that she’s prettier than Natalie Wood. In actuality, Richie bootlegs porno pictures, when he’s not violently stabbing, shooting or bludgeoning anyone who annoys him. His malevolence attracts the attention of local gangster Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta), who hires him as an enforcer. Dubbed “the Iceman” because he freezes the bodies of his blood-splattered victims to disguise their time of death, Kuklinski then works as an assassin for various East Coast crime families, often using cyanide since it kills quickly and is difficult to detect in toxicology tests.

    By the time Richie and Deborah marry and produce a couple of daughters, he’s earning enough in ‘currency exchange’ to move to suburbia. A former altar boy, he insists that the girls – Anabel and Betsy (McKaley Miller, Megan Sherrill) – attend Catholic school, as Deborah naively believes they’re living the American Dream.

    Based on Anthony Bruno’s true-crime novel and an HBO documentary, featuring interviews with incarcerated Kuklinski before he died at age 70 in 2006, the script is by Morgan Land and Israeli-born director Ariel Vromen.  Unfortunately, while a neo-noir tension abounds, there’s no psychological profile that would explain Kuklinski’s sadistic, psychopathic behavior as he deliberately leads a double-life.

    Michael Shannon’s menacing performance and Winona Ryder’s poignant beauty are the only saving graces in this grimly bleak, contemptibly cold-blooded endeavor, wasting supporting turns from James Franco, Stephen Dorff, Chris Evans, Robert Davi and David Schwimmer.

    On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Iceman” is an intensely ferocious 3, glorifying a dour, dangerous, despicable man.

Susan Granger’s review of “Star Trek Into Darkness”  (Paramount Pictures)

    Set your thrusters on maximum for this swashbuckling sci-fi action-adventure in IMAX 3D!

    In the peril-propelled opening sequence, impetuous Capt. James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) rebels against the Federation’s Prime Directive that prohibits interference with alien civilizations. It’s a breach of military discipline which is duly reported by his half-human/half-Vulcan First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto), setting them in conflict.  But soon the crew – including Zoe Saldana as Spock’s love-interest Lt. Uhura, Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, Simon Pegg as Chief Engineer Scott, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu, and introducing Alice Eve as weapons expert Carol Marcus – is reunited aboard the USS Enterprise and boldly proceeding at warp speed into Klingon space in pursuit of a mysteriously malevolent, super-powered, intergalactic villain, John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), who seems determined to destroy Starfleet.

    Pine and Quinto firmly establish their bro-mance loyalty and emotional kinship, while Bruce Greenwood scores as Kirk’s mentor/boss, Admiral Christopher Pike, and Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus. But it’s British star Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock”) – with his exotic looks, deep voice and calm, expressionless, yet demanding demeanor – who steals the show, delivering an icily cunning, convincing, electrifying performance.

    Written by Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof, it’s produced and directed by J.J. Abrams (“Super 8”), who’s efficiently rebooted Gene Roddenberry’s iconic pop culture franchise into a sprawling, high-tech, high-tension spectacle, adroitly revealing one layer of deception after another with a breathless sense of pace and tempo that keeps the attention riveted.

    The “Into Darkness” title is appropriate because the simplistic, characteristically upbeat, light-heartedness and quirky, bantering humor of the original series has been almost discarded in favor of sinister, convoluted global conspiracies, challenging moral ambiguities and a myriad of graphic effects and lens flare-laden set-pieces. On the other hand, die-hard Trekkers, like me, will appreciate some reminiscent surprises.

        On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to10, “Star Trek Into Darkness” revs up to a highly entertaining, adrenaline-fueled 8, filled with feverish, fast-paced suspense and excitement. Live long and prosper!

Susan Granger’s review of “Peeples” (Lionsgate)

    Pilfering characters and plot points from Ben Stiller’s “Meet the Parents,” this silly marital comedy pivots around Craig Robinson (Darryl on TV’s “The Office”) as Wade Walker, an aspiring New York music therapist who works as a kiddie entertainer, advising toddlers not to wet their pants: “Speak it; don’t leak it!”

    Working-class Wade lives with and loves Gracie Peeples (Kerry Washington), a successful lawyer, who has never mentioned him to her distinguished, upper-class family, headed by demanding, disapproving Federal Judge Virgil Peeples (David Alan Grier), whom Wade refers to as “the chocolate Kennedys.” Intending to propose marriage with a diamond ring in his pocket, bumbling Wade arrives, uninvited, at the annual family “Moby Dick Day” party at the Peeples’ palatial, waterfront Sag Harbor mansion, bringing a gift of wine, not knowing that Gracie’s kind-hearted mother Daphne (S. Epatha Merkerson) is a recovering alcoholic and former disco queen known as Lady Divine. Chaos ensues, involving Grace’s kleptomaniacal teenage brother Simon (Tyler James Williams) and her CNN broadcaster sister Gloria (Kali Hawk), a closeted lesbian who’s brought along her partner, camerawoman (Kimrie Lewis-Davis). That’s enhanced by hapless Wade’s consumption of psychedelic mushrooms and the arrival of his prankster brother (Malcolm Barrett).

    Written and directed by Tina Gordon Chism (“Drumline”) like an episodic sit-com with black cultural references, it meanders, desperately trying to be farcical but never attaining the proper momentum despite its amiable ensemble cast that includes Ana Gasteyer as the Mayor with Diahann Carroll and Melvin Van Peebles as Judge Peebles’ parents. Billed as “Tyler Perry Presents The Peeples,” its escalating slapstick shtick is certainly more effective than Tyler Perry’s sermonizing “Temptation.”

    On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Peeples” is formulaically funny, utterly familiar, fish-out-of-water 5 – with a few absurdly engaging comedic touches.

Susan Granger’s DVD Update for week of Fri., May 17:

   Set in a stylized Los Angeles, Roman Coppola’s “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III” revolves around Charles (Charlie Seen), a successful graphic designer with fame, money and charm. When his girl-friend (Katheryn Winnick) breaks up with him, he spirals into doubt and confusion, relying on his friends and family (Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Patricia Arquette).

    Based on true events, a Vegas-style 21^st birthday bash goes terribly wrong in the horrifying thriller “Stripped,” when the guys discover that the strippers they’re hooking up with actually work for an organ trafficker.

    Andrew Marcus’s documentary “Hating Breitbart” explores the life and impact of the late media provocateur Andrew Breitbart, a passionate whistleblower that people either loved or loathed. Along the same lines, Robert Greenwald’s “War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State” highlights four cases where whistleblowers noticed government wrong-doing and exposed the fraud and abuse.

   David Alexanian’s  “Marley Africa Road Trip” catches up with Bob Marley’s sons Ziggy, Rohan and Robie, travelling to South Africa to continue their father’s legacy and embark on their own journey.

    And Andy Mikita’s “Mr. Hockey” focuses on hockey great Gordie Howe, who retired after 25 winning seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, only to go back onto the ice when his sons were drafted by the Houston Aeros.

    If you missed Lindsay Lohan’s impersonation of Elizabeth Taylor on Lifetime TV’s Original “Liz & Dick,” you can now judge for yourself whether she captured the essence of one of Hollywood’s greats.

    Foreign film aficionados: if you’re a “Game of Thrones” fan, you might enjoy the Swedish action/adventure “Escape,” set in 1363, a decade after the Black Plague has ravaged the land.

    PICK OF THE WEEK: Based on David Miller’s best-seller, the Wachowski siblings’ and Tom Tywker’s awe-inspiring “Cloud Atlas” is an unconventional, epic fantasy, a multi-layered narrative filled with flashbacks and flash-forwards, which are meticulously cross-cut with the same actors – Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving – playing a variety of roles in multiple stories, set in different time periods, spanning 500 years.