Movie/TV Reviews

Frost/Nixon

Susan Granger’s review of “Frost/Nixon” (Universal Pictures)

Based on the play of the same name, this suspenseful drama recreates the legendary 1977 television interviews between disgraced President Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) and tenacious British interviewer, David Frost (Michael Sheen). It’s a titanic battle-of-wills. When Frost lost his prized interview program in America, he offered to pay the former president $600,000, plus a share of profits, for a “no-holds-barred” interview. It was a risky move. Sociable yet ambitious, Frost was known for his breezy bantering, not investigative reporting. The big networks wouldn’t make a deal without dictating the terms, and there were no guarantees that Nixon would admit to any wrongdoing. But peripatetic Frost had perseverance. By the end of 28 hours of questioning %u2013 only six of which were broadcast on independent local stations %u2013 self-sabotaging Nixon had tacitly acknowledged his role in the Watergate scandal, giving the public the catharsis they’d been craving. Written by Peter Morgan (“The Queen”) and directed by Ron Howard (“Apollo 13,” “A Beautiful Mind”), it’s an incredible cinematic feat since the plot revolves around two power-players talking. Morgan envisions it as “an intellectual ‘Rocky,'” expanding the gripping narrative by subtly delving into both men’s revelatory backstories. Amplifying the intensity, Howard makes shrewd use of revelatory close-ups, which are not possible on-stage. And seeing Nixon’s California home, La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente, shows the loneliness of his isolation. Recreating their Broadway roles, Frank Langella and Michael Sheen are perfectly matched sparring partners in this prime Oscar-bait match. Kevin Bacon is convincing as Nixon’s wary strategist, while Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell are memorable as Frost’s associates. It’s a shame that the R-rating %u2013 for vulgarities %u2013 discourages curious younger viewers because on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Frost/Nixon” is a ferociously exciting 10. A must-see!

Frost/Nixon Read More »

Cadillac Records

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Cadillac Records” (Sony Pictures Entertainment)

Earlier this year, Jerry Zaks’ “Who Do You Love” delved into the controversial character of Leonard Chess, founder of Chess Records. Now Darnell Martin integrates Chess’s saga with that of various musicians, including Muddy Waters and Etta James, in a celebration of the pioneering blues recording label of the ’50s and ’60s. Based at 2120 South Michigan Avenue in South Chicago, scrappy, ambitious, Polish-born Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) and his brother Phil (whose character is absent from the film) took over Aristocrat Records and launched Chess Records in 1947 with Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright) as their first star. Muddy serves as the tale’s troubled conscience, as Chess attracts additional talent: Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Etta James (Beyonce Knowles),Howlin Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Little Walter (Columbus Short) and Wille Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), who narrates the story in a rambling, disjointed flashback, “based on a true story.” Writer/director Darnell Martin has obviously done meticulous research, perhaps delving into more details than we need to know, awkwardly skipping from one anecdotal scene to another with poor pacing, scant character development and an over-abundance of clichés, particularly about the racial barriers that were being broken. As if to compensate for these deficiencies, the cast delivers memorable performances, particularly Jeffrey Wright (familiar from “Quantum of Solace” and “W”), Mos Def, Eamonn Walker and Beyonce Knowles, who is not only far better than she was in “Dreamgirls” but also positions herself at the starting gate if an Etta James biopic is ever made. Noting that the title comes from untrustworthy Chess’s penchant for gifting each of his stars with a new Cadillac, on the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Cadillac Records” is a superficial yet aurally satisfying 6. Better yet – buy the R&B soundtrack.

Cadillac Records Read More »

December 12 DVD Update

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, Dec. 5th:

Will Smith’s frenetic “Hancock” casts him as a whiskey-guzzling, profanity-spewing grudging superhero, causing chaos whenever he catches culprits, until an earnest public-relations consultant (Jason Bateman) tackles an image make-over.
Eddie Murphy’s “Meet Dave” is a tedious time-waster in which he plays the captain of a human-sized spaceship; the outlandish set-up is amusing for about 15 minutes.
In “Step Brothers,” sibling rivalry reigns between Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, two paunchy, immature, middle-aged oafs who are forced to share a bedroom when Ferrell’s mom (Mary Steenburgen) marries Reilly’s dad (Richard Jenkins).
In “The X-Files: I Want To Believe,” David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson delve into whether a pedophile priest has the psychic ability to find a serial killer.
Animation aimed at kids: “Fly Me to the Moon” involves mischievous Florida junkyard flies stowing away on the Apollo II space flight in 1969 and includes 3-D effects. But the science is so out there that astronaut Buzz Aldrin concludes with a disclaimer about how no insect could ever get inside a NASA ship. And “Space Chimps” recalls 1961, when NASA blasted off a chimpanzee named Ham as a test-run for manned space exploration; that’s the premise for this fictionalized, psycho-babbling story about three brainy primates dispatched after an Infinity probe crash-lands on a far-away planet.
PICKS OF THE WEEK: For adults, “Wanted” chronicles the wry, viscerally thrilling transformation of a nerd (James McAvoy) into a superhero – with the help of friends (Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman) who know more about him than he does. For families, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” picks up the imaginative adventures of the British schoolchildren a year after “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” but it’s 1300 years later in Narnia and much has changed.

December 12 DVD Update Read More »

Transporter 3

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Transporter 3” (Lionsgate)

Frank Martin (Jason Statham) has become a kind of poor man’s James Bond. He’s this imperturbable, indestructible Mediterranean mercenary whose specialty is transporting suspicious packages. What’s remarkable is that he perseveres – no matter how the odds are stacked against him. In this installment, Martin is forced to transport irritating Valentina (Natalya Rudankova), the kidnapped daughter of Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe), the head of Ukraine’s Environmental Protection Agency, from Marseilles. While they drive through Stuttgart and Budapest to Odessa on the Black Sea, there is no specific destination because Frank’s supposed to get updates to punch into his GPS. But there’s a hitch. Frank’s wary employer, Johnson, (Robert Knepper from TV’s “Prison Break”), has strapped a chunky metal bracelet on his wrist that’s rigged to explode if he strays 75 feet from his car – and Valentina wears one too. That confines them to a strict perimeter, a device that is inexplicably underutilized. In fact, if you’re expecting a coherent plot, forget it. There isn’t one. The set-up is simply a stage on which to set resourceful action sequences. In one, for example, Frank disrobes, using each article of his clothing to fight off foes. That’s understandable but others lack continuity. Just a lot of noise and fury, captured by fast camerawork and razor-sharp editing. Concept creators/screenwriters Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen devote much screen time to car chases and the stunt work of fight choreographer Corey Yuen. Director Olivier Megaton’s disjointed style is as hyperkinetic as his name. And is it important that Natalya Rudankova can’t speak English, reciting her lines phonetically? Maybe not. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Transporter 3” is a testosterone-fueled 4. It’s nonsensical but, perhaps, die-hard fans of stalwart Jason Statham won’t care.

Transporter 3 Read More »

November 28 DVD Update

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s dvd update for week of Friday, Nov. 28th:

With Thanksgiving leftovers still in the refrigerator, ‘tis the Christmas season on dvd.
Warners’ “Classic Holiday Collection, Vol. 2” features festive favorites: “All Mine to Give” about six orphaned pioneer children struggling to spend Christmas together; “Holiday Affair,” starring Janet Leigh and Robert Mitchum; and “It Happened on 5th Avenue,” a screwball comedy about a hobo and his pals moving into a mansion, plus “Blossoms in the Dust” with Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. You can buy it alone or with Vol. 1 (“Boys Town,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Christmas in Connecticut”).
Aimed at an African-American audience, “This Christmas” has Loretta Devine, Delroy Lindo and others enduring an angst-filled, three-day gathering in Los Angeles. And “Fred Claus” stars Vince Vaughn as the sainted Nicholas’ resentful big brother.
The engaging new kids’ series, “How’d They Build That?” revs up curiosity and knowledge about how big rigs, like “Fire Truck” and “Big Truck,” are created in assembly plants. For pre-schoolers, there’s also “Snow Days” with Barney, Thomas & Friends, Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder and Pingu. And “Winky’s Horse” follows a young girl’s Christmas plea to Santa.
For horror fans, the notorious cult-classic, “Black Christmas” with Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea and John Saxon, is on Blu-Ray disc.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Set in the Jones household on Christmas Eve, “Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy” finds all the toys in the playroom magically coming to life, anticipating the arrival of new toys. Balthazar, the wise old bear, gives his annual Yuletide speech, stressing the importance of welcoming newcomers, while Rugby the tiger will have none of it. This glimpse into the secret life of toys shows youngsters how friendship, love and helping others are the most important gift of all.

November 28 DVD Update Read More »

I’ve Loved So Long

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “I’ve Loved So Long” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Oscar-nominated for “The English Patient” and seen most recently in “Tell No One,” Kristen Scott Thomas delivers a low-key, powerhouse portrayal of a woman with a secret past in this downbeat yet rewarding French melodrama. The story opens in a deserted airport terminal in Nancy in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, where pallid Juliette (Scott Thomas) sits smoking and waiting. Shoulders hunched over, drably dressed and devoid of makeup, she’s the picture of desperation and despair. Soon another woman rushes in. It’s her cheery younger sister Lea (Elsa Zylberstein), a college professor. But it’s obvious that the two women hardly know one another. Awkwardly, Lea takes Juliette home to meet her wary husband, Luc (Serge Hazanavicius), two adopted Vietnamese daughters (Lise Segur, Lily-Rose) and father-in-law (Jean-Claude Arnaud), left mute by a stroke. It seems Lea was a teenager when Juliette was convicted of killing her six year-old son and has spent 15 years in prison. That’s a shame-filled, ‘forbidden’ topic which Lea has never discussed with her family and friends. Above all, there’s the mystery: why did Juliette commit this horrific crime? Reluctant to discuss the past, tormented yet poised Juliette must now cope with her troubled parole officer (Frederic Pierrot), the task of finding a job and tentatively building an intimate relationship with Lea’s lonely widower colleague (Laurent Grevill). While screenwriter and first-time director Philippe Claudel scores in casting Kristen Scott Thomas, who subtly grounds her reserved performance in reality, his grief and guilt-ridden script is full of all-too-convenient contrivances, augmented by Jean-Louis Aubert’s foreboding musical score. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “I’ve Loved You So Long” is a sorrowful 7. It’s a psychological character study of a rebirth that’s rooted in resilience and rehabilitation.

I’ve Loved So Long Read More »

A Christmas Tale

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “A Christmas Tale” (IFC Films)

Gallic filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin’s latest offering joins other dysfunctional-family, holiday-reunion films and it’s no better, no worse than its bourgeois predecessors. Junon (Catherine Deneuve) is the venerable matriarch of the cheerless Vuillard clan in Roubaix in Northern France. Recently diagnosed with early-stage leukemia, she’s looking for a bone marrow donor for an experimental treatment. With her long-suffering husband, Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon), at her side, her illness evokes memories of the death of her sickly eldest son, Joseph, more than 40 years ago, a grim tragedy that still haunts his younger siblings. There’s Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), a successful playwright currently undergoing treatment for chronic depression; Henri (Mathiew Amalric, villainous in “Quantum of Solace”), an irresponsible, alcoholic womanizer who has been banished by his sister in exchange for settling his monetary debts; and self-indulgent Ivan (Melvil Poupaud). Running an annoyingly interminable two-and-half hours, the multiple, often intricate extended family relationships, grudging emotional baggage and indiscriminate bed-hopping are indulgently Chekhovian %u2013 spiked with acerbic dialogue by Desplechin and Emmanuel Bordieu. Mendelssohn’s overture to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” is used repeatedly in the background, along with the 1935 Hollywood version of the play on TV screen in the parlor of the Vuillard home. I suspect an appreciation of this comic drama hinges on one’s French cinema background: Amairic and Consigny co-starred in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” while the names of several characters are the same as in Desplechin’s “Kings and Queen” (2004), and there’s irony in chilly Junon’s cryptic criticism of her daughter-in-law, played by Chiara Mastroianni, Deneuve’s real-life daughter by Marcello. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “A Christmas Tale” is a self-consciously cranky, squabbling 6. Perhaps their perpetual feuding will make you feel better about your own family.

A Christmas Tale Read More »

Australia

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

In one of the most ambitious, exciting filmmaking feats of the year, Baz Luhrmann has created a compelling, romantic frontier adventure that is, in its weight and grand ambition, on the epic scale of “Gone With the Wind.” As viewed through the eyes of half-Aboriginal outcast child, Nullah (Brandon Walters), the story begins in 1939, when Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) travels from England to the inhospitable Australian outpost of Darwin to visit her husband’s remote cattle station, Faraway Downs, only to discover that he’s been killed by the scheming property manager (David Wenham) who’s in cahoots with a ruthless cattle baron (Byran Brown). Lady Sarah’s only hope of saving the ramshackle Outback ranch lies with the Drover (Hugh Jackman), a feisty, restless stockman. Together – with the help of Nullah and his grandfather, King George (David Gulpilil), a mysterious Aboriginal shaman – they must drive 1500 head of cattle across the Kuraman Desert to market. Then in 1942, Japanese warplanes bomb Darwin with twice the airfreight they used to attack Pearl Harbor. Stunningly successful both as a vibrant, emotional journey and as fascinating history, it’s awesomely photographed, intensely emotional and creatively challenging, including an effective “Wizard of Oz” motif. Despite some raggedy editing, it goes over the top, then up and over again. Nicole Kidman buries herself deep inside the character, conjuring up an incandescent image of a powerful, passionate woman shaped by destiny, Hugh Jackman’s charismatic intensity holds you in thrall, and Brandon Walters is enchanting. Essential to any great melodrama are its villains: Bryan Brown is malevolent while David Wenham is loathsome. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Australia” is an enormous, exotic, exhilarating 10. A must-see – this monumental movie stands way out from the crowd.

Australia Read More »

Four Christmases

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

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

While I rarely issue parental warnings, there’s a scene in this PG-13 holiday-themed romantic comedy in which the verisimilitude of Santa Claus is not only questioned but denied. I’d hate to think parents would inadvertently bring youngsters, only to have them disillusioned in such a crass, tactless way. Otherwise, it’s a harmless enough endeavor, chronicling the emotional maturation of a self-absorbed, happily unmarried, upscale San Francisco couple – Brad (Vince Vaughn) and Kate (Reese Witherspooon) %u2013 who have agreed to ditch their respective dysfunctional family gatherings on Dec. 25th, saying they’re doing humanitarian work abroad but, instead, indulging in sybaritic pleasures. But when they’re trapped at the airport by a fogbank and caught on camera by a local TV reporter, the jig’s up; their parents – who are all divorced – expect them to visit. So for the first time in the three years they’ve dated, Kate meets Brad’s uncouth father (Robert Duvall) and brawling brothers (Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw) and Brad’s ‘cougar’ mother (Sissy Spacek) who’s serenely living with Brad’s high school buddy (Patrick Van Horn). Then Brad meets Kate’s mother (Mary Steenburgen), who’s smitten with Pastor Phil (Dwight Yoakam), and sister (Kristin Chenoweth), who’s still grinding adolescent axes. The evening ends at the Lake Tahoe retreat of Kate’s compassionate father (Jon Voight) where some decisions have to be made. While comedic virtuosos Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon skillfully underplay their amusing size difference and characters’ vulnerability, exaggeration is the name of director Seth Gordon’s game as %u2013 count ’em %u2013 four screenwriters (Matt R. Allen & Caleb Wilson, Jon Lucas & Scott Moore) toss around the anxiety/discomfort theme. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Four Christmases” gets a festive 5, but do use caution when opening this early holiday present.

Four Christmases Read More »

Milk

Movie/TV Reviews / Susan

Susan Granger’s review of “Milk” (Focus Features)

“Have bullhorn, will travel” could have been gay civil rights activist Harvey Milk’s mantra, instead of “I’m Harvey Milk %u2013 and I’m here to recruit you.” Whatever the rhetoric, Milk’s message was a simple one of respect, equality and hope. In 1977, Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man voted into public office in America. And that ever-present bullhorn – given to him by a member of the Teamsters – was part of his arsenal. But Milk’s struggle began years before in Manhattan where, on the eve of his 40th birthday, he picked up a partner, Scott Smith (James Franco), who helped him evaluate his life. Together, they moved to San Francisco and opened Castro Camera in a working-class neighborhood that soon became a gathering place for the gay community. Recognizing Milk’s charismatic leadership, the Teamsters enlisted his help in their protest against Coors Beer %u2013 and Milk earned staunch union support for gay rights, along with a Mayoral ally (Victor Garber), much to the chagrin of fellow supervisor and eventual murderer, Dan White (Josh Brolin). Written by Dustin Lance Black (“Big Love”) and directed by Gus Van Sant, it’s a socio-political biopic. Using a narrative device, along with black-and-white archival footage of that era, it traces the last eight years of Milk’s life. His protégés %u2013 Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch) and Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill) %u2013 reflect different perspectives. Only Milk’s unstable Mexican lover, Jack Lira (Diego Luna), strikes a distractingly discordant chord. Ferociously impassioned, Sean Penn brings powerful conviction to the role, embodying Milk with the kind of touching vulnerability and impeccable dignity that deserves Oscar recognition. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Milk” is an intense 9. It’s a must-see performance.

Milk Read More »