Alice in Wonderland (PG)
Alice in Wonderland is as visually brilliant as you’d expect from director Tim Burton. Like Batman, Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow, its look is distinctive and delightfully weird. But where is the story? What’s the film about? Burton seems clueless. It’s boring. Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is encouraged by her impish father to be a little “half-mad.” At 19, the twittish Hamish (Leo Bill) offers Alice what seems a perfectly sensible proposal — in the eyes of Hamish’s snooty mother, anyway. Alice is less sure, and bolts. When Alice follows the White Rabbit down his hole, it seems an attempt to escape from pre-determined destiny. But once she’s in Wonderland, she and the movie lose their way: the set-up becomes disconnected from what follows, and neither Burton nor Alice know how to proceed. What happens next? It matters little. 1/2 (KS)
Clash of the Titans (PG)
This 2010 version of Clash of the Titans wants to convey attitude. The story begins with mankind declaring war on the gods. Well, more specifically, the king of Argos declares war, without appreciating the consequences. Hades (Ralph Fiennes), god of the underworld, condemns man to destruction, unless the Princess Andromeda is sacrificed to the Kraken. One thing may save Argos: the head of the Medusa, whose gaze will turn any living thing to stone. True to the source material, the gods are bastards. The advance Internet fussing about a Judeo-Christian paradigm being imposed is hooey: the denizens of Olympus are nothing but a gang of thin-skinned megalomaniacs, who just happen to be immortal. In fact, if there’s a problem with the movie, it’s that we don’t get nearly enough of them. (KS)
The Ghost Writer (PG)
Crews discover a body, that of a ghostwriter, hired to turn the badly penned memoirs of an ex-British prime minister into bestselling gold. The former leader and subject, Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), is facing possible war crimes charges. Into the tumult of his household enters a ringer writer (Ewan McGregor) who remains unnamed throughout the film. It’s a lucrative opportunity for the Ghost: a quarter of a million dollars stands to be made for a month’s work. We share in the Ghost’s imprudent curiosity every step of the way, discovery by discovery, until we suddenly realize, at the same time he does, how deeply he’s stepped in it. Oh, but how expertly Roman Polanski reels us in. Indeed, The Ghost Writer could almost be considered a wicked black comedy, like Polanski’s at play. Some scenes unfold as if he were a pianist, adding little flourishes here and there. (KS)
Greenberg (14A)
Ben Stiller plays Greenberg, an intellectual loser whose life seems to be at an impasse. Directed and written by Noah Baumbach, Greenberg takes an unconventional path towards telling this story of personal transition. Through a series of inane complaint letters to various companies, we learn Greenberg feels stuck. With all his positive attributes wasted, as well as a once-promising music career, he can do nothing but spin his wheels in the mud. His love interest, Florence (Greta Gerwig,) seems to be the only character with the ability to grow. Co-written by Jennifer Jason Leigh, the script is one intended Greenbergian failure after another, which becomes a bit redundant. Only in the very end does its motivation start to become clear. 1/2 (TW)
Hot Tub Time Machine (18A)
Three old friends (and a young hanger-on) head to a ski resort to recapture past glories and forget about their mediocre lives. A bunch of booze, one illegal Russian energy drink and one mysteriously high-tech hot tub later, they awaken to find themselves in the 1980s. It wouldn’t be an ’80s comedy without nostalgic references aplenty, but while the spot-the-fad sight-gags are a big part of the film’s repertoire, they thankfully take a back seat to the dynamics of the cast. John Cusack (who also produced) is excellent in a role that recalls the sensitive sad sacks of his ’80s heyday. As Cusack’s nephew, Clark Duke breaks through his computer nerd stereotype thanks to a genuinely likeable performance, and Craig Robinson (The Office) steals more than a few scenes as an emasculated former rocker, but Rob Corddry (The Daily Show) is the real standout. Playing a complete alcoholic jerk, he dominates every one of his scenes with his schoolboy taunts. (PH)
How To Train Your Dragon (PG)
Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is not the greatest Celtic Viking. What he lacks in brawn, he more than accounts for in ingenuity as he invents a spring-loaded weapon that throws out a net, ensnaring Toothless who then hurtles to the ground. In the crash, one of his tail wings is ripped off, rendering him unable to fly. This makes it an easy target for Hiccup to finally claim his manhood by killing it. He doesn’t and that decision changes the horde’s entire way of life. This is one of those stories that has great action, family-appropriate humour, cool animation and a couple of lead characters that you desperately wish you knew in real life. The real story here though is about a boy’s struggle to be accepted by his community, especially his overbearing father and ending up as its hero. 1/2 (SH)
Kick Ass (18A)
Based on the Marvel Comics MAX series by Mark Millar, the Kick Ass story line is simple and the fresh approach stays fairly true to the comic book origin. It stars Aaron Johnson as Dave Lizewski, your typical comic-book-loving high school kid. Katie, the girl of Dave’s high school dreams doesn’t notice him. Being set on the mean streets of New York City, the movie is begging for there to be an abundance of violence, so Dave decides to clean up the crime of the city as his alter ego Kick Ass. There is nothing typical about the movie since he is just a regular kid with no powers. The true essence of a good comic book movie is not lost in this film, as it is chock full of nerdy comic book references and lots of blood. If you are a comic connoisseur or just looking to turn off your brain and shovel popcorn into your mouth for two hours, Kick Ass will leave you satisfied. (MH)
Shutter Island (14A)
Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), a U.S. Marshal is assigned to Shutter Island with his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate an escaped patient named Rachel. The problem goes beyond the fact no one can figure out how she got away; there’s also the stickiness of who among the facility’s ominous staff is telling the truth or if there is more hidden away than just an escapee. There are implications of medieval testing on the patients. Daniels and Aule are discomfited by the bureaucratic and enigmatic wardens who insist upon a thorough investigation but who also stymie it by providing little assistance, even going so far as to withhold vital information. Knowing that the odds are stacked against them, the detectives surmise they have played into an elaborate trap and now are inmates themselves. 1/2 (SH)
