Movie/TV Reviews

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa

Susan Granger’s review of “Madagascar Escape 2 Africa” (DreamWorks/Paramount)

Three years after the original “Madagascar,” the animals-on-the-run from the Central Park Zoo and their pals depart for New York on in a rickety plane operated by a canny, if pesky penguin crew and crash-land on the vast plains of Africa. That’s just where – many years earlier – Alex the lion (Ben Stiller) was lured away from his stern father Zuba (Bernie Mac) by hunters. It’s also where Marty the motor-mouthed zebra (Chris Rock) has an identity crisis amid his lookalike brethren. Sassy, self-confident Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) finds romance with a hot-to-trot waterhole heartthrob, Moto Moto (will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas), much to the consternation of Melman, the shy, hypochondriac giraffe (David Schwimmer) who truly loves her despite their genetic differences. While the others are discovering their roots, the Lemur King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his associate/cousin Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer) are in their element with a new continent to conquer. Then there are peripheral characters, like scheming Makunga (Alec Baldwin), who aspires to be alpha lion in Alex’s pride. And Nana (Elisa Gabrielli), the feisty old lady who beat up Alex in Grand Central Station and is now on safari in a tourist-stuffed SUV. Amid the silly slapstick, constant jabbering and pop tunes, writer/directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, along with Etan Cohen, stick with the friendship theme as the plucky, pampered menagerie explores their emotional angst. And in the trivia trough, file the fact that Ben Stiller’s own son, Quinlan, voices Alex as a cub, while Jada Pinkett’s daughter Willow is baby Gloria. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Madagascar Escape 2 Africa” is a vivid, if scattered 6 and should satisfy kids who have been eagerly anticipating this sequel.

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Role Models

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Role Models” (Universal Pictures)

Taking its place among the raunchy, arrested development comedies by Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith and the Farrelly brothers, the aptly named “Role Models” revolves around two immature buddies with commitment issues. Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) work as sales reps for an energy-drink company, Minotaur, driving a fire-snorting monster truck to Southern California high schools, plugging their product as the safe alternative to illegal drugs. A wild man-child, Wheeler loves the job but underachieving Danny is dissatisfied and depressed, an attitude which so bugs his lawyer girlfriend (omnipresent Elizabeth Banks of “W” and “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”) that she breaks up with him. One day, Danny’s rope snaps and – after a public altercation involving a statue and the demolition of their vehicle – he and Wheeler are given the no-brainer choice: either go to jail for 30 days or devote 150 hours to community service at a Big Brother-type of facility known as Sturdy Wings. Following a stern, psycho-babbling lecture by Sturdy Wings’ crusading founder, Gayle Sweeney (scene-stealing Jane Lynch from “The 40 Year-Old Virgin”), they’re assigned troubled youngsters to mentor. Danny gets Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, the nerdy sidekick McLovin in “Superbad”), a cape-wearing teenage dork who’s into role-playing in a Dungeons & Dragons-like game in the mythical, medieval kingdom of Laire, explaining: “In this world, I don’t have to be me.” Wheeler’s misfit charge is foul-mouthed, fatherless Ronnie (Bobb’e J. Thompson). Written by Paul Rudd, David Wain, Ken Marino and Timothy Dowling and directed by Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer”) it’s a formulaic yet glibly funny examination of these guys’ inner goofball, culminating in a crowd-pleasing finale. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Role Models” is a profanity-laden, silly 6. Anarchy reigns.

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dvd update

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, Nov. 7th:

“When Did You Last See Your Father?” finds a dour British poet (Colin Firth), coming to terms with the life and death of his boorish, brooding country doctor father (Jim Broadbent). This therapeutic memoir delves into how loss of a parent can create in grown children confusing waves of unbridled emotion: blame, resentment, remorse, fear and pride.
In “Get Smart,” self-effacing Steve Carell (“The Office”) plays secret agent Maxwell Smart, a role originated by Don Adams on the ’60s TV series. The Cold War is still on when Smart is drafted into action as Agent 86, paired with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), and sent on a dangerous Moscow mission. The ensuing silliness misses by that much.
“What We Do Is Secret” is the true-life story of Darby Crash (Shane West), who was an L.A. music icon before committing suicide in 1980. This dvd follows the rise and fall of The Germs, the birth of punk rock and the rise of hardcore.
For sports fans, “Ringside Muhammad Ali” is a four-disc Collector’s Set with a unique and comprehensive look inside the life and career of a living legend.
For foreign film fans, Swiss-Bosian director Andrea Staka’s “Fraulein” is a highly acclaimed drama about the intersecting lives of three émigrés from the former Yugoslavia, detailing their hardships in war-ravaged Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Debunking his own superstar image, versatile Daniel Craig plays a debauched Hollywood hunk whose taste for high-priced drugs, liquor and hookers has ruined his career in “Flashbacks of a Fool.” When he hears about the death of a childhood friend, he swims into the ocean and floats not only out to sea but also back in time, recalling his intriguing past, filled with youthful mistakes.

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Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” (Weinstein Co.)

Although this offensive concept may have seemed far-fetched when independent filmmaker Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy”) first brought it to be table, in today’s economic climate, it has timeliness in its favor. Underachievers Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been pals since childhood. Now they’re platonic roommates in a crummy Pittsburgh apartment, sharing rejection since the objects of their respective lust seem unattainable. At their 10th high school reunion, schlubby Zack goes after a married former classmate, while Miri humiliates herself over studly Bobby (Brandon “Superman” Routh), a porn star, who’s back from L.A. with his gay lover (Mac spokesman Justin Long). So since they’re both desperate for dough %u2013 their rent’s overdue, their heat and electricity have been shut off – Zack and Miri decide to round up a couple of strippers (skin flick veterans Traci Lords and Katie Morgan) and eager acolytes (Jason Mewes, Craig Robinson) and make their own adult movie, a tawdry parody of “Star Wars” called “Star Whores,” and distribute it on-line. “Porno has gone mainstream, like Coke or Pepsi,” Zack reasons. While this romantic comedy premise is, admittedly, funny, Kevin Smith’s energetic, gross-out execution is exasperating. His raunchy dialogue is filled with foul-mouthed expletives and potty humor, rather than wit. Basically, he’s no Judd Apatow, even when he steals the shock value of full frontal male nudity directly from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is a crude, farcical 5. It’s a lust cause – yet I must confess a certain amount of amusement when I realized that Elizabeth Banks was also playing Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s “W” on an adjoining screen in the multiplex. Now that’s versatility!

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dvd update

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Grangers dvd update for week of Friday, Oct. 31st

Gather round for three spooky, new, family-friendly Halloween tales: Monster Blood, A Night in Terror Tower and One Day in Horrorland, spawned by R.L. Stines best-selling Goosebumps series.
And what could be more appropriate for this weekend than The Rocky Horror Tribute Show with original cast members Richard OBrien, Anthony Head, Michael Ball, Patricia Quinn and Little Nell, among others?
A number of documentaries during the past few years have taken aim at the bad behavior of American business but Bill Haneys The Price of Sugar is different. Set in the Dominican Republic, it exposes the slave labor on which the countrys sugar industry is built. But what distinguishes it is its hero: Father Christopher Hartley, a Catholic priest who becomes a crusader in behalf of sugar cane workers.
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is a chick flick for the pre-teen set, as a Depression-era 10 year-old is determined to solve a string of sinister robberies in her family home. Leaving the vanity of Barbie and the vacuousness of Bratz behind, this tackles gritty, relevant social issues like poverty and prejudice, while Abigail Breslin charms.
For the first time, Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) is available in a Collectors Edition, featuring a never-before-seen making-of documentary. Set in an unnamed but oppressive Latin American country, Kiss was the first independent feature ever to garner the four top Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Youll be amazed at Journey to the Center of the Earth: 3-D, packaged with four pairs of 3-D glasses. This awesome sci-fi fantasy update of Jules Vernes classic novel follows a scientist (Brendan Fraser) and his 13 year-old nephew (Josh Hutcherson) to Iceland on a quest to find his missing brother.

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RockNRolla

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “RockNRolla” (Warner Bros.)

Writer/director Guy Ritchie (“Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” “Snatch”) specializes in exaggerated “Pulp Fiction”-like crime capers set in contemporary London. This time, a Russian billionaire, Uri Obomavich (Karel Roden), who does business out of a posh box in recently renovated Wembley Arena, concocts a crooked land deal attracting many denizens of London’s criminal underworld, particularly a manipulative, old-time crime boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) but also ambitious small-time crooks like Mumbles (Idris Elba), Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy) and brash One Two (Gerard Butler), whose love interest is a sexy, duplicitous accountant (Thandie Newton) strutting in red-soled Christian Louboutin stilettos. There’s a stolen “lucky” painting and cash is passed in a Louis Vuitton Murakami bag. But the wild card is Lenny’s estranged stepson, Johnny Quid (Toby Kebbell), a junkie punk rock star who was presumed dead but is very much alive. Narrated like a graphic comic, this is a very British film %u2013 which, to Americans, means that many mobsters spurt occasionally undecipherable Cockney (subtitles would have been helpful) and the often idiotic street thugs indulge in over-the-top brutal, even surreal villainy. As always, Ritchie’s sharply into style over substance, working with cinematographer David Higgs and editor James Herbert to present his contrivances with unusual visuality, if not economy. That often happens when the director is also the writer %u2013 and there’s no one to tell him he’s spinning too many labyrinthine plotlines. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “RockNRolla” is a darkly frenetic, smug 7. After the debacle of “Swept Away” (with his now-estranged wife Madonna) and the pretentious self-indulgence of “Revolver,” it’s encouraging to see Guy Ritchie back on track again as he begins work on a new interpretation of “Sherlock Holmes” along with a remake of “The Dirty Dozen.”

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Slumdog Millionaire

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight/Warner Bros.)

When 18 year-old Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) from the streets of Mumbai comes up with an unlikely stream of correct answers, winning millions of rupees on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” he’s suspected of cheating by the game show’s host (Anil Kapoor). Grilled by a police investigator (Irrfan Khan), Jamal reluctantly reveals how his intricate, Dickensian life experiences have informed his knowledge. As a child, sensitive Jamal and his older brother, Salim, were left to fend for themselves in the squalid slums when their mother was killed in a mob attack on Muslims. At Jamal’s insistence, they take in a third urchin, a girl named Latika, envisioning themselves as the Three Musketeers. After they’re captured by a vicious, Fagin-like operator who trains street beggars, crafty Salim saves Jamal from mutilation. But as they escape by jumping on a moving train, they’re separated from Latika, whom Jamal loves. In a hilarious sequence, the boys find themselves at the Taj Mahal, where they pose as guides, dispensing misinformation and scamming gullible tourists. Eventually, Salim (Madhur Mittal) falls in with gangsters, while Jamal toils as a lowly tea-server at XL5 Communications and is determined to ‘rescue’ Latika (Freida Pinto). Working with screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (“The Full Monty”), adapting Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q&A,” Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,” “Millions,” “28 Days Later”) skillfully concocts %u2013 in flashback %u2013 an ironic, vividly irresistible saga of courage and determination, introducing an exotic socio-economic-cultural angle which makes this premise fresh and filled with unexpected moments of revelation. Add the vibrant cinematography and kinetic energy of the throbbing soundtrack and on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Slumdog Millionaire” is an intoxicating, triumphant 10. Brutal and beautiful, tragic and joyful, it’s one of the year’s best movies, a must-see!

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High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” (Disney)

Already an integral part of the Disney Channel repertoire, this cheery pop culture phenomenon began as a television franchise. Indeed, that’s where its two predecessors can be found. Making the leap to the big screen was an act of faith and tweens have been eagerly lining up at the multiplex. The action at East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico, revolves around Wildcats basketball captain Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and his squeeze, Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens). There’s Troy’s best friend, Chad (Corbin Bleu), and scheming, spoiled Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale) with her twin brother, Ryan (Lucas Grabeel), plus an ambitious transfer student, Tiara (Jemma McKenzie-Brown). They’re all weighing their options for the future, coping with parental expectations, while planning for the prom, the spring musical and graduation. Since Zac Efron’s now 21, it stretches credulity to believe he’s still cavorting around the high school campus. But that doesn’t bother screenwriter Peter Barsocchini and director/choreographer Kenny Ortega, who not only introduce younger talent to carry on into the future but rely on the pre-release of the songs, which makes them already familiar to the tweens with their MP3s. After all, it’s not about the flimsy story – remember those Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland “Let’s put on a show” musicals – it’s about the colorful numbers, blending rock, rap and Broadway-type ballads. While Troy and Chad’s most inventive, energetic routine is “The Boys Are Back” in an auto junkyard, Sharpay’s “I Want It All” is the most memorable. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” passes with a bouncy, wholesome 6 %u2013 unless you’re a 10 or 11 year-old. In that case, it’s the coolest movie of the year. And, inevitably, plans for the “College Musical” are underway.

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Pride and Glory

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Pride and Glory” (Warner Bros.)

Director/screenwriter Gavin O’Connor and his twin brother, producer Gregory O’Connor, are sons of an Irish NYPD officer and fully understand the conflicts cops struggle with when they go to work every day. Chief of Manhattan Detectives Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight) takes great pride in his family. His older son, Francis Jr. (Noah Emmerich), is a police inspector, bravely dealing with his wife’s terminal cancer. His son-in-law, Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell), is on the force. And his younger son, Ray (Edward Norton), is a detective. So when four officers are murdered in a failed drug bust in Washington Heights during the Christmas season, it’s not surprising that Francis Sr. asks Ray to head a task force to track down the killers. What he discovers is that someone tipped off the dealers, namely, renegade cops in the 31st precinct selling their shields to become murderers-for-hire. Working from a pulpy script co-written with Joe Carnahan (“Narc”), Gavin O’Connor’s (“Miracle,” “Tumbleweeds”) direction and Declan Quinn’s photography reek with bleak, gritty realism. Edward Norton, Jon Voight and Colin Farrell deliver top-notch performances. While female characters are peripheral, Jennifer Ehle and Lake Bell make their scenes memorable. Yet the melodrama is all too familiar and the dialogue is clogged with clichés, like “We protect our own” and “I was a good man once.” Plus, the bruising, visceral violence goes over-the-top when Jimmy viciously threatens to burn a Hispanic infant with a hot iron and becomes laughably absurd in a climactic bare-knuckles bar brawl. Suffering when compared with dramas like “The Departed,” “American Gangster,” and “We Own the Night” (about father/son loyalty/career clashes), on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Pride and Glory” is a brutal, scummy 6. It’s a misery-laden, all-too-conventional corrupt cop story.

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W

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction %u2013 with the current financial fiasco, the crumbling infrastructure of the health-care system, 150,000 troops in Iraq and 33,000 in Afghanistan – so he’s an easy target for provocateur Oliver Stone. Written by Stanley Weiser and directed by Stone, there is, unfortunately, no insight into the causes of our current crises because – unlike “Nixon” and “JFK” – Stone does not have the benefit of historical perspective – with Dubya still in the White House. The docudrama is episodic in structure and surprisingly tentative in tone, beginning with George W’s privileged background, frat-boy days at Yale, career-choice screw-ups, struggles with sobriety and overriding psychological problems, spurred by his father’s obvious preference for his younger son, Jeb. Yet Jeff Brolin’s embodiment of Dubya is uncannily convincing, as is James Cromwell’s elegant, reserved impersonation of his patrician father, George Sr., the 41st President of the United States. Elizabeth Banks is sweetly sensitive as Laura Bush, particularly contrasted with Ellen Burstyn’s brashness as Barbara Bush. One must credit Stone for impeccable caricatures, continuing with Richard Dreyfuss as manipulative Dick Cheney, Toby Jones as insidious Karl Rove, Jeffrey Wright as cautious Colin Powell, Scott Glenn as double-talking Donald Rumsfeld, Thandie Newton as ever-cooperative Condoleezza Rice and Stacy Keach as evangelical preacher Earle Hudd. Dramatically, the strongest part is the father/son conflict and the weakest link is George W’s midlife religious conversion with a messianic zeal that baffles his old-school Episcopalian father. The judiciously placed “Robin Hood” theme, “Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic” are evocative touches. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “W” is an empathetic, if oversimplified 7, having been rushed to completion to hit theaters before the November election.

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