Martin's Musings

James Cameron’s Avatar sure is a feast for the eyes.

The film takes place on the faraway planet of Pandora, where paralyzed Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has come to infiltrate the tall, blue, powerful, and prideful residents using a genetically engineered Avatar.

The tribe, called the Na’vi, are standing in the way of American industrialism, and a full-scale military operation — led by Stephen Lang’s gruff, buff, and tough general and Giovanni Ribisi’s slick, determined businessman — has been set up to get at the precious mineral that’s sitting just below where the Na’vi live.

Cameron has created the world of Pandora completely from scratch, and, with the help of some high-tech 3D tools, it’s photorealistic, lush, and truly breathtaking.

What a technical achievement. Continue reading →

It isn’t complicated to see why It’s Complicated is going to be a big, fat hit this holiday season.

For one thing, you have an audience-pleasing plotline: 10 years after their divorce, Jane and Jake (Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin) rekindle their flame, even though he has remarried.

At the same time, Jane is pursued by Adam (Steve Martin), the architect she has hired to do work on her house.

Can Jane and Jake keep their passion alive — and a secret from their kids? Suffice it to say, the film’s title isn’t a random choice. Continue reading →

In the new film Brothers, Natalie Portman stars as Grace, a woman who learns her Marine soldier husband, Sam (Tobey Maguire), has been killed in battle in Afghanistan. Distraught, she finds comfort in her till-then irresponsible brother-in-law, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), who also becomes a father figure for Grace’s two daughters … until Grace learns Sam was not killed after all, but had been captured and held prisoner in a mountain village. Suffice it to say, when he returns home, Sam is not the man he once was and things between the brothers and with Grace are a bit tense. If you’re thinking this is not the stuff of cheerful holiday merriment at the movies, then you’re right.

Directed by Jim Sheridan (In America) and based on a Danish film of the same name, Brothers tells a very current and very unfortunate story in a very spare and intimate style. Acting by the three leads is effective (though I never did buy that Sam was Tommy’s older brother), and Portman is especially impressive in a much more grown-up role than she’s used to playing. However, the film is a bit slow-moving, and when it ended, I felt a bit relieved. Brothers is the kind of mezza mezza movie that’ll eventually make a fine rental. For now, I’m giving it a B.

A friend of mine once told me that if he was ever stuck on a deserted island, he’d want Morgan Freeman with him. His reasoning was that if Morgan Freeman was there, that’s the only way he’d know they’d be rescued and that everything would be alright. I thought about that because Freeman’s at it again. After years and years of starring in uplifting roles (e.g., The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty), now he ups the ante in Clint Eastwood’s latest, Invictus. Here, Freeman stars as no less an inspiring figure than Nelson Mandela, who brought together the people of South Africa with the help of the country’s rugby team nearly 15 years ago. Wouldn’t you know it, the role’s a natural fit.

To say that Freeman gives a good performance here is stating the obvious; it seems almost too easy. But he’s great. So is Matt Damon, who stars as Francois Pienaar, the rugby team’s captain. (Damon clearly got back into fighting shape for this role after expanding his size for his role in this fall’s The Informant.) Damon doesn’t have a ton of dialogue, but he seems to have the accent down and he has the presence of a leader.

Eastwood keeps the action moving, and in his spare but effective style, doesn’t hit you over the head with cues to tell you how to feel. Invictus is a much better movie than his Changeling and Gran Torino were a year ago. It’s about a rugby team, but it’s not about rugby. It’s about quiet dignity and leadership, and with his graceful and powerful performance, Freeman demonstrates both. I’m giving Invictus an A–.

If you’re anything like me, then chances are good you’ve not seen many movies like Precious. Oh, you may think you’ve seen one too many movies about underprivileged young people from bad homes who deal with multiple hardships but who find the strength to persevere despite all the odds being stacked against them, but I’ll bet those movies didn’t move you like Precious moved me. Believe the hype; this is one great film.

In Precious, Gabourey Sidibe stars as the title character, 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones, who lives with her abusive mother (played by the comedienne Mo’Nique) and is pregnant (for the second time) with a child fathered by her own father. To say life is hard is an understatement; at one point, Precious says she wishes she were dead, and that it wouldn’t be much of a change for her because she’s already used to being so far down and looking up at the world. When she’s thrown out of her school, Precious enrolls at an alternative education center, where her teacher (played by the beautiful Paula Patton) and classmates show her the love and guidance she’s never had, and help put Precious on the road to redemption.

The film is marked by some super performances: Sidibe, in her film debut, gives a heartbreakingly natural performance of such subtlety that you’ll think she’s not acting at all. Mariah Carey, as a social worker, is impressive and real and nearly unrecognizable. Lenny Kravitz, as a nurse, is charming and great. Patton is more than just a pretty face; she shows depth and feeling, and turns the saintly role into something more well-rounded.

And Mo’Nique … What can one say about this performance? Mo’Nique’s character is perhaps the purest definition of evil that we’ll see on screen this year. She’s one of the worst on-screen mothers of all time. And Mo’Nique is so good in this role that it’s hard to believe she makes a living telling jokes. It’s a career-changing performance, and it will leave you in awe. Near the end, both Mo’Nique and Sidibe get the chance to deliver devastating lines of dialogue that will have you tearing up. Bring your tissues to this one, my friends. Even the hardest hearts will be affected by what they see on screen.

Adapted from the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire, Precious was written by Geoffrey Fletcher and directed by Lee Daniels, and it is a raw and unflinching portrait of a young girl with very little going right for her. Yes, there’s hope to be found, but there isn’t a sappy happy ending here where everyone smiles and the music swells. Precious is hard to watch and it isn’t pretty, but it’s well worth seeing. I’m giving the movie an A–.

Instead of a formal review of 2012, allow me to be totally obvious and cheesy and cliched, and to sum up my feelings by quoting R.E.M.: “It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.”

Basically, there’s a lot of cool special effects, a lot of preposterous plot points, plenty of close calls, Danny Glover as the President (not getting too old for this sh*t, apparently), all the expected cheeseball lines of dialogue (“I thought we’d have more time,” etc.), stubborn government officials, a good-hearted scientist, a rich jerk who doesn’t make it to the end of the movie, and a lot more cool special effects. Continue reading →