The film follows a former member of the Israeli army (Ari Folman) retracing his steps and reconnecting with old friends as he thinks back on the events of Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Check out the official site. The film opens in limited release in select cities on Christmas Day. Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.
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Dustin Hoffman stars as a jingle composer struggling at work who takes time off to travel to London for his daughter’s (Liane Balban) wedding only to find more disappointment and make an unlikely connection with a stranger (Emma Thompson) in the airport. Richard Schiff, Eileen Atkins, James Brolin, and Kathy Baker also star. Check out the official site. The film hits theaters in a limited release on Christmas Day before opening wider on January 16th. Larger trailer available in the Full Diagnosis.
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On top of director Gabriele Muccino‘s English-language debut, The Pursuit of Happyness, the Italian filmmaker has shown a strength for heart-gushing material with his newest film, Seven Pounds. As a filmmaker, that he can make movie capable of affecting the audience without pulling any cheap tricks is perhaps the strongest quality any director could hope for; but Seven Pounds proves that too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing.
It’s not easy to summarize the plot of Seven Pounds, due to a well-executed story line that feeds you bit by bit of information until you finally discover the motive for the subject of this character study, Will Smith‘s Ben Thomas. From the beginning, all we can tell is that Thomas is an IRS auditor who is using his power to help people in ways that only he is willing to help them.
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Carl Allen (Jim Carey) is a selfish bastard who never wants to get involved, often ignores his friends (Bradley Cooper, Danny Masterson), and still mourns the loss of his ex-girlfriend (Molly Sims).
One day he runs into a former co-worker (John Michael Higgins) who convinces Carl to check out a Yes seminar run by a guru (Terrence Stamp) who teaches his followers to say yes to everything. Carl agrees and finds his life suddenly awesome. He parties with his friends, meets a new girl (Zooey Deschanel), improves his relationship with his boss (Rhys Darby), and generally gets a more positive outlook on life.
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If Dumbo were a mouse he might look like Despereaux. Adapted from the Newberry Award winning children’s book by Kate DiCamillo our little hero, the bravest mouse in the world, takes a bit of a light-hearted and bloodless (don’t expect to see in mouse tails cut off here) jump to the big screen. The result is a so-so movie which hints and teases at more than the animated action-adventure we receive, but never delivers.
There is a skill to adapting a book into a movie. The rise and fall of action in a series of chapters often doesn’t translate directly to screen and the necessary beats of a feature film.
The Tale of Despereaux isn’t a bad film. It’s got an all-star cast, sharp animation, and a lovable protagonist. It also has too many characters, a convoluted plot, and a less than satisfying ending.
It’s 20+ minutes into the film before we even meet young Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a small mouse with a big heart who takes instantly the notion of chivalry. Despereaux doesn’t fit into a society that wants mice to cower and run; he dreams of adventure, and even doodles drawings of cats.
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