Movie of the Day: "To Catch a Thief" (1955)

In today's Hitchcock film, two of the stars from our previous picks team up for this delightful jewel thief mystery set in the French Riviera. Filmed on location, the countryside is gorgeous as Cary Grant is the typical Hitchcock wronged man framed for something he didn't do, in this case, a jewel heist. He meets up with the beautiful Grace Kelly and works to find the real culprit committing a series of cat burglaries among wealthy patrons. Some consider this one of Hitchcock's more lightweight thrillers, but to me there's nothing wrong with that at all, and I think it's one of his most purely enjoyable. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly have sparkling chemistry and it's incredibly entertaining from start to finish. People have tried to replicate the formula for this kind of movie ever since- movie stars, exotic locations, romance, mystery, and it almost never comes together this well. It's the mark of a great director who could make it look so easy.

Original Trailer from 1955: 

SPECIAL ANIME REVIEW: "Berserk: Golden Age Arc II: The Battle for Doldrey" (2012) Dir. Naoyuki Onda

Following the first entry in the Golden Age Trilogy, The Battle for Doldrey manages to surpass its predecessor in almost every regard. After a brief recap of the first film, we’re thrown right back into battle accompanied by “Aria”, the theme composed by the great Susumu Hirasawa. I also need to make mention of the rest of the fantastic music here, done by Shiro Sagisu, which is fittingly dark and brooding.

The Band of the Hawk has been on a winning streak in the Hundred Years War, earning considerable renown in the kingdom of Midland. Guts is still hacking away at everything in sight, contributing more than his fare share to the glory of the lowborn band of mercenaries. Their exploits earn Griffith a spot at the King’s war council, where he undertakes the challenge of recapturing Doldrey, a long thought impenetrable fortress. He not only wants to take this fortress, but he sets out to do so using only 5,000 men against its modest 30,000. The movie can be divided into two basic halves, the first contains the bloody and brutal campaign that the series is known for, and the second is the character drama of the aftermath. In both cases, the movie works extremely well. Much like the first, director Naoyuki Onda knows how to pace the story, cutting what he needs to and keeping in all that is necessary without sacrificing the flow. The result is a very tightly packed drama with a lot of development for even some of the lesser characters that went somewhat ignored in the first entry. The other captains, who were little more than extras before, are now given important roles to establish who they are, particularly the female warrior Casca.

The battles are epic in scope and don’t overstay their welcome. There’s only so much hacking and slashing that we need to see, so the fights scenes are kept fast and decisively brutal. With his giant sword, Guts tears through enemies like they’re made of tissue paper. In the end, the movie flows much better, not having to deal with large gaps of time and keeping a more focused view on the characters and their struggles, linking the main three together with their brutal, cruel pasts.

There are plenty of stories and subplots that were cut from either the original comic or the animated series, but they're done so efficiently, leaving the main story unhindered by their absence. Where the movie really distinguishes itself however, is in what’s new. Given that an entire show has already covered this exact material, much of it is familiar to say the least. This time however, there are new sequences that you won’t find in any other version of the story, and this is what was missing from the previous movie. Taking liberties for the sake of diversity is not unwelcome in a retelling.

Keeping with the animation style of the trilogy, the movie is a blend of CG and more traditional animation. The 3D models are used predominately for the battle scenes, allowing for a lot of characters to flesh out the massive armies onscreen. When these characters are shown up close, it’s still a bit stiff, but it’s also a noticeable improvement over the first movie. It’s used sparingly and often intermixed with the regular animation, making it considerably less obvious throughout. Like I said, it’s a major improvement. The rest of the animation is stunningly beautiful, particularly in the gorgeous backdrops and colorful locations. The city of Windham, during the parade for the Band of the Hawk as flower petals fall from the sky is particularly triumphant and memorable, just as the morning light creeping in through the trees over a hundred man massacre in the forest is equally haunting and oddly serene.

I enjoyed The Egg of the King quite a bit, but The Battle for Doldrey is an improvement in almost every way. It has a better grasp on the characters and their complexities, improves on the animation style, and just tells another great part of an incredible story.

FEATURETTE: "The Counselor"

Behind the scenes of Ridley Scott's The Counselor, out next Friday, the 25th. The movie is the first original screenplay from Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country For Old Men. 

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Eyes Without a Face" (1960)

Stylish, terrifying, gruesome. Another perfect choice for Halloween, this French horror film from 1960 is the creepy and ghoulish story of a mad, obsessed scientist who will go to any lengths to reconstruct the disfigured face of his teenage daughter. This movie was hugely influential on dozens of horror films that followed, and you're bound to recognize the familiar plot elements. The images of beauty and horror in this movie are unforgettable.

Original trailer from 1960: 

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Back for the Globes

The news is out from the Hollywood Foreign Press this morning that Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will be back to host the Golden Globes in 2014 and 2015. They two had a lot of fans from their hosting stint last year, so this is probably good news for a lot of people. I thought they were funny, but I've never understood why the Globes suddenly feel they have to have a host all the time now. Before Ricky Gervais in 2010 they went years without one at all, which was part of what distinguished that ceremony from the others. It's not really necessary, is it? But I'm sure they'll do fine.

Tina and Amy's monologue from last year: 

Movie of the Day: "Notorious" (1946)

Our second Hitchcock movie this week is the Cary Grant/Ingrid Bergman suspense film Notorious. This is often considered Hitchcock's most romantic movie, and it is- the chemistry between the two leads was palpable. The story involves Bergman as the daughter of a Nazi spy who must go under cover to prove her loyalty to the U.S. and seduce Claude Rains, the head of a Nazi organization hiding in Brazil after the war. Cary Grant is her government contact who's in love with her and must suffer while he watches her complete the seduction and infiltration. It's a great movie, one of Hitchcock's very best, and the final scene is one of the great endings in the movies.

Original Trailer (warning- this one of those old trailers that likes to show the endings, so be careful if you don't want to be spoiled):

Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock Recreate 'Big' Piano Dance

This is so cool! On The Jonathan Ross Show Saturday night, Ross brought out the floor piano to redo the famous scene from Big- looks like Tom Hanks has still got it!

POSTER: "August: Osage County"

Hilarious new poster for August: Osage County of Julia Roberts beating up Meryl Streep. Probably my favorite poster of the year. 

REVIEW: "Captain Phillips" (2013) Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi. Dir. Paul Greengrass

A clash of two worlds. That's the underlying theme running all through the heart of Captain Phillips, the new thriller from Paul Greengrass, that documents the 2009 hijacking of an American cargo ship off the coast of Somalia by four desperate young men at the end of their rope. This is the clash of a poverty stricken third world where men are rounded up at gunpoint and herded into an every day life of piracy, who then dared to go up against the power of the American military in all its might. It was a battle doomed to failure for one side, yet that these guys went through with it anyway sends a message to the rest of the world about the depths of the darkness they faced back home if they didn't.

Tom Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips in this story we all remember from just 4 years ago, that happened to be the first recorded incidence of piracy against an American ship in over 100 years. Greengrass tells us what happened using his signature shakicam, faux documentary style, perfected from the Bourne series, that seems to have infiltrated action films in the wake of those movies ever since. Despite the copycat work however, Greengrass is the real deal as he's demonstrated in his other great films, including the highly acclaimed United 93. In retelling this dramatic event, it draws comparison to last year's procedural Zero Dark Thirty (another mission involving Navy Seals), but Greengrass ups the tension here with a dramatic intensity that keeps your heart racing the entire two hours and nine minutes. From the moment Phillips and his crew spot the approaching pirates it's an adrenaline shot in the arm that never lets up. With this and last week's Gravity, it's been an anxiety fueled two weeks at the movies for American audiences.

Also like Gravity, this film continues the fall's trend of harrowing survival stories, following a summer filled with end of the world apocalypse movies, and featuring a signature Hollywood star in the lead role. Here that's Hanks of course, who's become such an American icon that he's often taken for granted, but now he reminds us what a great actor he really is, and he creates in Richard Phillips, no matter what disputes exist over the real man, a fully realized, intelligent, savvy, and embattled average guy (Hanks's specialty) who's overcome with an enormous emotional conflict and must fight to survive in any way he can. We empathize with him in every scene, as he cleverly tries to lead the pirates off the ship, spare his crew, and then as he's taken hostage and watching the Somalis interact with each other, he gradually and wordlessly realizes the depth of their naivete over what they're facing, even as they remain armed and very dangerous. It's a terrific performance, understated yet extremely emotional and he's got another Best Actor nomination in the bag for this.

For their part, the unknown Somali actors (all in their film debuts) hold their own with Hanks, especially Barkhad Abdi as the leader Muse, who remains cocky and clever, but desperate and sad at the same time, never quite grasping the full effect of the mess he's gotten them into, yet even when confronted with it, feeling and communicating effectively that there is no other choice for these men. This is their life and they die here or they die back home. Even though the pirates are always threatening and dangerous, you understand that these are people from a part of the world where literally no other options exist, and as their inevitable fate closes in on them it comes with both relief and a sense of despair for the wasted youth and possible potential that this life could have fostered if given even the slightest opportunity.

Captain Phillips is an outstanding thriller and a draining emotional survival tale that will stay with you for days. Paul Greengrass continues to show off his unmatched ability to mix procedural with effective performances and heartpounding suspense in a true life story that, even though we already know, seems as if we've never seen before. One of the best films of the year.

* * * 1/2

Movie of the Day: "Rear Window" (1954)

Our Movie of the Day series this month, in celebration of spooky stuff for Halloween is a weeklong tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense. He's made so many masterpieces, and I only recommended one in our Halloween picks for October, so this is a chance to salute more of the master's work. Rear Window is up first, my favorite Hitchcock movie, and it hasn't aged a bit. It speaks to the inner voyeur in all of us, playing on the eye of the movie theater crowd itself, and with a classic performance from the great Jimmy Stewart, if you haven't seen this one yet, now's the time. Also with Grace Kelly, the first icy blonde of Hitchcock's obsession, it still has the power to genuinely scare in its final moments.

Trailer: 

BOX OFFICE 10/11-10/13: 'Gravity' Holds Strong, 'Captain Phillips' Scores Big

It was a great weekend for the top three films at the box office, with Gravity continuing to hit record breaking numbers and Tom Hanks earning his first big hit in years, as adult audiences are flocking to the theaters for awards bait films.  

Gravity fell just 21%, pulling in another $44 million for the biggest non-holiday hold of any movie that's ever opened to over $55 million in the first weekend. The movie performed like a summer blockbuster over the weekdays, so the word of mouth is outstanding and it's still got a long way to go. $250 million total is all but assured, the question is if it can get to $300 million with all the Oscar buzz. That's an incredible hold by the way for an action movie starring a 49 year old woman of all people- and that's not snark, that's genuinely impressive and extremely rare. Sandra Bullock continues to rule the box office after The Heat became the biggest comedy of the year, and all this on the heels of her smash hits The Proposal and The Blind Side in just 2009. After breaking through 19 years ago in Speed, who'd have thought at her age she'd be the biggest female movie star in the world? It's pretty cool, I have to say.

Meanwhile Captain Phillips pulled in $26 million and earned an "A" Cinemascore (better than Gravity's A-), so this film will have legs as well. The Tom Hanks real life inspired piracy drama reached an audience 52% male, 48% female, and 62% over age 35. It's his first hit since Angels and Demons 5 years ago and is looking to cross Argo's total of $130 million by the end of its run (it will). In third was Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, which is hanging in there with $14 million this weekend and $78 million total, set to surpass the original for sure, and Machete Kills bombed with just under $4 million as the other wide release.

Top 5: 

1. Gravity- $44.2 million
2. Captain Phillips- $26 million
3. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2- $14.2 million
4. Runner Runner- $3.7 million
5. Machete Kills- $3.7 million

Next week, in wide release there's the Carrie remake, Escape Plan and The Fifth Estate, and in limited release, the dramas 12 Years a Slave and All is Lost with Robert Redford.

'Her' Closes out the New York Film Festival to Ecstatic Praise

Spike Jonze, the wildly imaginative director of Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Where the Wild Things Are, seems to have launched another winner, as Her premiered to very enthusiastic reaction at New York today. The Joaquin Phoenix-starring drama about a lonely man in the near future who falls in love with his operating system (Scarlett Johansson in a highly praised pure voiceover performance), is being described as a highly romantic, contemporary story about the interactions we have with others in the age of technology. I can't wait to see this- it's coming out in limited release in December, but set to expand wide January 10th. It may not be a big Oscar player though, as its quirkiness and select appeal will probably limit it to screenplay and original song consideration only. But it's set to be a critics' darling based on this early word.

"What begins like an adolescent dream soon blossoms into Jonze's richest and most emotionally mature work to date, burrowing deep into the give and take of relationships, and that eternal dilemma, shared by both man and machine: the struggle to know one's own true self." (Variety)

"It's sincere in how it approaches loneliness and the compulsion to overcome it, and it asks the question of whether technology fosters distance from others, helps surmount it, or both." (Hollywood Reporter)

"Deeply perceptive and attuned to the risks, fears, surprises, and wonders of intimacy, 'Her' is a vulnerable, earnest movie that strikes no false notes, never feels manipulative, and earns the sadness and reflection it evokes in its audience." (The Playlist) 

"'Her' is a screwball surrealist comedy that asks us to laugh at an unconventional romance while also disarming us with the realization that its fantasy scenario isn't too far from out present reality." (Slant)

Here's the trailer again: