The Muppets is a joy of a film, as it is wonderful to have the gang back, and the sheer positivity of the characters paired with the excitement of seeing them on the screen again makes it easy to forgive a few shortcomings as you grin ear to ear over almost the entirety of the runtime.

The film’s narrative acknowledges the pre-existence of the Muppets’ role in our world, from the movies to The Muppet Show, and is quite meta in that the Muppets have been irrelevant (to most) in culture for some time now.  But when a pair of brothers (Gary a human and Walter a muppet) live out their childhood dream and visit the Muppet studios, they discover there is a dastardly plot to wipe out the last remnants of the Muppets by the evil Tex Richman.  Walter decides to round up the Muppets in an attempt to raise the ten million dollars needed to save the studio and, with the enlistment of Kermit, they set off on the road in search for the group.

The film is written by star Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller and the two certainly know what they are doing.  The pair captures the spirit of the characters well and applies a sensibility to the Muppets that makes their transition to modern days come easily; while still making them feel timeless.  The film is entirely self aware and they have a lot of fun making fun of the Muppets’ personas against the modern entertainment landscape.  They also do a wonderful job, director James Bobin included, recreating the feel and vibe of The Muppet Show for the film’s third act, and as a fan of the series I couldn’t help but be transported back in time to when I watched the show as a kid.  The film had me grinning ear to ear from nearly start to finish and firmly feels like a piece of the Muppet canon.

The film isn’t without a few shortcomings and there is room for improvement in the (crosses fingers) eventual sequel.  First, the human characters are a little short changed for as much of a prominence they have in the film’s story.  Gary and his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) aren’t fleshed out enough for us to get all that invested in their outcome and it is a rushed arc for the two.  The script relies on the tropes it fully embraces to move their plot along and, thankfully, they have some fun with the said limits of being the two humans in a Muppet movie; well, besides Richman. Richman is similarly marginalized and played as a straight forward villain, but this is far more acceptable as the villain just needs to be bad in the context of a Muppet movie; which Richman is.  There is also just not enough time to get a whole lot of screen time for everyone’s favorite Muppet and fans of secondary characters will surely wish their favorite got a couple more scenes.  They crammed a lot of Muppets in here though, so you can’t fault them for that.

The film’s music is also a bit of a mixed bag as a lot of the choices seem a bit off.  From covering Nirvana and Cee Lo Green (possibly a human muppet) to using a lot of classic rock music never seems like a 100% fit and they could have easily made more interesting and inspired choices in a lot of places.  Bret McKenzie creates most of the original songs for the picture and he is far more successful, but “Party of One” did fall a bit flat for me.

The film gets a pretty easy pass from me on most of its shortcomings as I am just happy to have a new Muppet story to enjoy.  Even when the film drags a bit in the middle I was still grinning like a little kid on Christmas and was in awe of seeing our fuzzy friends back on the screen.  The puppet work and effects are done almost entirely practically and the lo-fi nature is a welcome change of pace, especially when done so affectively.

In the end, The Muppets is a wonderful throwback to the time of, well, the Muppets and any fan of the group will likely fall in love with the film.  Sure there could have been a few improvements here and there, but none of the film’s shortcomings are worth getting all that worked up about.  Full of fun and happiness, The Muppets is a success, and for anyone that has loved the Muppets before seeing the film, it will take you back in time so it feels like they had never left.

The Muppets is a B+

The Company Men is a fine little drama that rings very true and features a bevy of fine performances that help elevate this modern tale of job loss despair.

Our story follows Bobby Walker who is a rising future executive type at GTX, a transportation company that gets laid off when the recession kicks into high gear; along with the majority of his co-workers.  Walker doesn’t know how to deal with himself and as he tries to find a new job and can barely get an interview, let alone a job at the standard he once had.  The world of GTX is crumbling elsewhere as well as the upper executives are at odds with one another.  Gene McClary has been a lifelong partner and friend of GTX’s president James Salinger, but when Salinger cuts 2/3 of McClary’s division tensions grow between the two.  Lastly, Phil Woodward is a lifelong GTX’er who worked his way from the factory floor to upper management but when the heads start to roll he begins to stress out and become obsessed with when he will hit the chopping block.

Now, the biggest fault of the film I think is its inability to connect with the middle class of our country in the sense that we are watching a bunch of the wealthiest people in our country sulk and fret over their inability to be very wealthy.  The film is also almost fantasy when it comes to Gene McClary because you rarely, if ever, hear any stories about top level executives covering anyone’s ass but their own.  Having said that, I was still able to connect with the film and sympathize with the characters and the emotions they are feeling, Walker most of all.  Not to drag myself into it but having been laid off myself it wasn’t hard to connect with the feeling of not wanting to take a job less than what you had and your pride is on the table daily as you try and find your next step.

The film is finely made and moves right along.  The tone of the film strikes a near perfect balance between the drama and spurts of humor, mostly from Walker, and while dealing with a potentially deathly serious subject matter the films weight is never overwhelming.  The characters are also exceedingly real and believable with all the actors providing a lived in turn that doesn’t fit any one type.  The most unbelievable bit of the film is actually the nature of the ending and its bit too rosy of a conclusion for some of the characters.  There is one large dose of reality thrown into the third act but I can’t quite buy into the ending and the sap that gets laid on a bit too much in the end.

The cast is full of talent, starting with Ben Affleck as Walker, who delivers one of his finer performances in a while.  Between his work here and all around talent in The Town, Affleck, is having his best year in film since possibly Good Will Hunting.  Affleck captures the inner battle of Walker and his desire to remain prideful while he struggles with unemployment.  Tommy Lee Jones plays McClary well as the executive with a heart and while his character is sort of a fantasy Jones makes it believable.  Chris Cooper plays a familiar role for him but he plays the grizzled and hardnosed veteran as good as anyone.  Maria Bello’s character is the most underdeveloped of the main characters but she captures the goal of the role which is to facilitate the emotional needs of those around her.  Rosemarie DeWitt is also sharp as usual as Walker’s wife and she gives the film its firmest footing in the non corporate world.  Kevin Costner provides some further grounding as DeWitt’s brother as well as some of the film’s further comic relief.  Craig T. Nelson rounds out the cast as Salinger and he is more than convincing as the C.E.O. that is as big of a jerk as you expect him to be.

In the end, The Company Men is a timely film that is full of a great actors doing fine work.  The film keeps its potentially depressing subject matter light, yet real, and never wastes a beat along the way.  John Wells’ debut is a quality first outing and if he is able to continue to round up fine casts like this he could have a prosperous feature future.  Anyone that has gone through some tough times as of late will be able to connect to this film but beyond that should be an enjoyable drama for those looking for a bit of optimism left in this mess of a situation our country has been in.

The Company Men is a B

Ben Affleck’s second directorial effort is as strong as his first, Gone Baby Gone, and is a very good crime/bank robbery movie that is tough to complain about.

The film follows Doug MacRay, a bank robber, and his team as they run through a series of jobs which events lead to Doug wanting to finally get out.  A former hockey protégé, Doug, turned to his father foot steps after he couldn’t make the squad; unfortunately his father was a crook and Doug begins working for his dad’s old boss, “Fergie the Florist.”  It’s on a recent job though that Doug falls for a hostage that they take and riskily enters into a relationship with her.  Added to this, the F.B.I. is coming after him as well and only needs some strong evidence to finally lock Doug and his gang up.

Now, I am not ready to say the film is better than Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone but the film is very good.  The film is a bit more mainstream and formulaic than GBG, but the film never falters and is supported by a strong cast.  The bank robberies are really great action beats, the pacing is sharp, and the film has a nice balance of humor with the drama.  In fact, the films final act takes things to a famous Boston landmark in which I never thought I would see integrated into a film in such a way.

I do wish the film would have gone a bit deeper into both sides of the world though, the cops and the robbers, but as it stands the film is extremely entertaining.  For a second there I thought the FBI side of things was going to tap into The Wire for inspiration but it sadly remains very surface and doesn’t go into as much investigative depth as one would have liked.  This is a minor complaint though as Jon Hamm and Titus Welliver do a nice job of representing the cops side of things, it just would have been an added bonus to dive a little deeper than that.  Same goes for the robbers side of things, they touch on this crime network underground in Boston but never dive in and while that is fine, I was intrigued to know more.  These complaints are minor quibbles and one of the few things I think the film could have done to be something a bit more.

Ben Affleck also stars in this film and he does a fine job as usual and is charismatic and likable as our anti-hero.  The book the film is based on is title Prince of Thieves and I think that would be a more fitting title for the movie.  Affleck’s Doug is a charming “good guy” that kind of falls into the wrong line of work.  He also can be quite the prince with the ladies it seems and the title fits the tone of the film better.  The romance between Affleck and Rebecca Hall is a large chunk of the film and it works between the two but I can’t help but think there could have been a bit more spark between the two.  Regardless of the average spark, Hall is good as the bank manager swept up by her own robber and she is proving time and time again how good she can be.  Jon Hamm makes his first big time appearance in a feature film as the FBI agent tracking Affleck and he does a fine job.  Sure the character isn’t as deep as his Don Draper, but he is charming and smug as he tracks down Affleck and his gang.  The other big role in the film belongs to Jeremy Renner as the hot head bank robber who gets the guys into a bit of trouble and Renner, like everyone else, is solid.

In the end, The Town is a solid crime/bank robber movie that is bolstered by a strong cast and a solid story.  The film is missing that certain something to take it to greatness but still stands as an entertaining as hell ride to enjoy.  Full of great acting, intense action, and enough surprises to keep you guessing the film won’t disappoint, I just feel like it could have been a tad bit something more.  Oh well, Affleck has proven again he is great both in front and behind the camera and I can’t wait to see what he does next.

The Town is a B+

Allen Coulter’s new family drama/romance works pretty well for the most part and while it does nothing terribly new for the genre it is a solid and entertaining entry that avoids cheesiness at almost every turn.

The story’s protagonist is, Tyler, a 21 year old in a bit of a rut who doesn’t really care about anything right now in his life besides his younger sister.  His older brother committed suicide when he was 22 and Tyler’s approaching birthday is causing quite a bit of distress in his life as he wonders if said fate is awaiting him around the corner.  Enter Alyssa, a 21 year old student at the school Tyler’s roommate attends and that Tyler works at who also happens to have a cop for a dad that busted the two of them out on the town one night when they tried to break up a fight.  The two awkwardly dance around one another before quickly falling for one another with circumstances forcing them to be closer than they could have imagined.

The film isn’t just about Tyler and Alyssa though, Tyler’s relationship with his family, specifically his father and little sister get as much of the films focus as the romance.  In fact, the best parts of the movie are Tyler’s interactions with his sister Caroline who is an artistic prodigy that finds herself a bit of an outsider at school.  Tyler comes alive with her unlike anyone else and they are the emotional core that will pull you into the picture.  Tyler’s issues with his father is where most of the drama will be found in the picture and while it might be back loaded on to the picture it works as surprisingly well as the sister/brother stuff.

Another strong point for the film is that the romantic side of the picture is handled fairly realistically and avoids almost all cliché, besides the obligatory third act rift.  Robert Pattinson has plenty of charm and cute awkwardness to go around and he has a working chemistry with his co-star Emilie de Ravin.  Both show off that they can play more than their roles in Twilight and Lost, respectively, and it is nice to see both of these young actors getting a chance to do something different.  So don’t shy away from the picture if you think it is going to be a sappy Twilight romance for tweens, it is much more than that romantically and story wise in the picture.

The film is also helped by a pretty solid cast outside the two romantic leads.  Pierce Brosnan plays Tyler and Caroline’s tough nosed corporate father who doesn’t spend as much time in their lives, especially Caroline’s, as he should.  Pattinson and Brosnan do some great work together, the board room scene being the highlight, with Brosnan playing the part just right so as to not just be an all out villain of a father.  Chris Cooper plays de Ravin’s father and while he doesn’t have a whole lot to do, he is scary when he needs to be and delivers just as fine of work as you would expect from a great actor like him.  Ruby Jerins is also very good as Caroline and she shows some real promise as to being a child actor to keep an eye on.  The weak point of the cast is the character of Aidan played by Tate Ellington.  He has a couple of moments that work, but he finely walks the line of funny/annoying and too many times falls on the wrong side of that line.  Yeah the character was supposed to be that way, but he can be annoying in the film without annoying the viewer and he transcended that difference on too many occasions.

In the end, Remember Me is a solid family drama/romance that should have very few people complaining.  Not a chick flick in the slightest, the film is a nice look at family and the effects tragedy plays on our lives and figuring them out.  Full of good performances from just about everyone there isn’t a lot to complain about as Coulter’s film is fast paced and feels rather authentic.  I have heard some people cry serious foul about the ending of the film, and I won’t spoil it here, but I will say that people need to lighten up and realize that this story was true for far too many families and I didn’t have one problem with it.  With that said Remember Me is worth your time if you are looking for a solid drama that pleases even if it doesn’t blow you away.

Remember Me is a B

The 2^nd anthology film in the I Love You series this time stops in New York and the results are just as great as the Paris anthology, Paris, je t’aime.

The film follows a loosely connected group of individuals as we watch their experiences with love through a series of short films and connecting vignettes.  The stories involve a just dumped boy who gets a last minute prom date, a composer and an assistant who bond through their many phone calls, a couple of strangers outside a restaurant, a confident and tad overzealous smoker trying to pick up a not so forth coming women, a pick pocket and a girl that catches his eye, an jeweler and his client, an long lived and nagging couple, an assumed one night stand deciding to meet again, an aging star revisiting an old hotel, a painter and his longed for muse, a video artist capturing people around town, and the bond between father and daughter even if no one believes they are related.

The film runs a broad range of relationships from young to old and new relationships to fracturing ones.  Each film achieves its own distinct look and feel and while it isn’t as diverse as Paris, je t’aime, both visually and creatively, the shorts each define themselves as their own.  This iteration of the series is far less defined from one short to another as there are transitions that bring back older characters constantly and really blend the line of short film compilation and feature narrative.  I am on the fence though over which one I prefer, the straight forward transitions of Paris, to the blurring of New York, but it does allow both films to kind of form their own identity even with their very similar themes.

Like I touched on briefly above, it would have been nice if they showed a tad more creativity and oddity in the films here as some of the weirder shorts in Paris gave it a more definable character as a whole.  This iteration is far more straight forward and accessible though, with only one kind of out there segment and that odd piece feels a bit out of place with the more traditional stories.

The actors in the film are great through out with Ethan Hawke and Maggie Q having one of the more memorable interactions in the film.  Hawke really shines as a familiar fast talking role for him, but it is just great to see him go unhinged.  Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman also have great chemistry as a nagging couple, and Bradley Cooper is entertaining every time he pops up in the picture.  Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby are also standouts in their fast paced and surprising encounter.  Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn shine as well in their “chance” encounter on the street and Shia LaBeouf shows some acting chops in his scenes as well.  The actors give some great work for their directors and they run the international gauntlet from old pros to rookies.  Jiang Wen, Mira Nair, Shunji Iwai, Yvan Attal, Bret Ratner, Allen Hughes, Shekhar Kapur, Natalie Portman, Fatih Akin, Randy Balsmeyer, and Joshua Marston all direct here I think the high points come from Mira Nair and Yvan Attal.

In the end, New York, I Love You is a successful anthology with a little bit for everyone and plenty of creative spark to set it apart from being just a bland romantic endeavor.  Full of a lot of great actors and behind the scenes talent it is hard for this film to fall short, and it never really does, and it will hook you in till the end as it keeps things quick and fresh jumping from one story to another.

New York, I Love You is an A-

Streaming now on Netflix.

Spike Jonze’s long delayed adaptation of the beloved novel Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak finally has hit the screens and the results are more or less wonderful on every level.
Our hero is Max, a young nine year old with a wild side that can emerge from his everyday child hood demeanor when his buttons get pushed a little too far. In fact, it doesn’t take much pressure to set the kid off and when Max and his mother get into when she has a gentleman caller over, Max runs out of the house and sails of to a foreign land inhabited by a group of giant monster like wild things. Max quickly becomes anointed their king with promises to bring changes and happiness to their land.
That’s right, happiness, and I think you will quickly find that this film isn’t the fun filled adventure the trailers are selling it as. The wild things are not a happy race of creatures and their defacto leader, Carol, is riding an emotional roller coaster over the course of the film. Elated one minute, angry the next, and moping around depressed the next, Carol, is a fairly diverse and complicated character that is much unexpected for a film for younger audiences. In fact, outside Ira, most of the wild things are grappling with some kind of emotional distress and Max does his best to try and address everyone’s issues though very little is resolved over the course of the film.
Now that isn’t necessarily saying there isn’t some fun action and adventure in the film, there are some quite thrilling scenes to be seen and the overall magic and wonder of the land is a sight to be seen. Once you get the land of the wild things you will get lost in the world that is as bizarre and unique as any world put on to the screen, especially by a main stream studio. The choice to use the actual puppets over CGI pays off in spades and brings so much more to the table knowing that these wild things are really running around with Max. The actors as well in the puppets deserve some super kudos as well as they do some fantastic work that really nails the voice actors’ performances and works perfectly with the CGI work on the faces. In fact the wild things are some of the coolest creatures to grace the silver screen and will live on in the minds of children and adults for some time to come.
The film is an all to brief window into the world of the wild things as Max learns a lot about family and himself through the wild things themselves as each share many characteristics to Max’s own personality. Max uses his time with the wild things to realize the errors in his ways and while he loves his new friends and land he longs to return to the family he left behind. The writers, Jonze and Dave Eggers, did a great job at expanding the brisk novel to a feature length film and the choice to parallel the wild things to Max’s personality not only made each of the wild things unique but also allowed Max to be quite diverse himself.
Jonze should also be commended for creating the absolutely breathtaking visuals he puts on the screen and takes full advantage of his Australian terrains. The cinematography is also stupendous, creating mood and atmosphere with such ease that you could pull almost any frame out of the picture and hang it on your wall.
In fact the film is constructed very well and remains very engaging for as little that does actually happen in this film. There is no real plot or goal here and any plans that come up quickly fall to the way side as Max and the wild things attention swing else where. Jonze also throws in a nice balance of scary situations, bizarre moments, funny comedy bits, and heartwarming scenes to go along with the action and sad stuff to create a film that has a little bit of everything for everyone and will almost for sure find a way to connect to most members of the audience.
Max Records does a great job as Max showing quite a bit of range for a first time actor and giving you the feeling of watching a real kid let loose in this crazy world. James Gandolfini brings so much to Carol making him such a diverse character that can be cute and cuddly and truly terrifying to Max and us the viewer. Catherine O’Hara is the other real stand out of the voice cast as Judith as she wines and sasses everyone in the pack and actually is the biggest proponent to the fear that the wild things very much are willing to eat Max as a snack. Chris Cooper and Paul Dano are delightfully melancholy as Douglas and Alex, with Forest Whitaker nailing the lovable nature of Ira. Lastly, Lauren Ambrose as KW is a bit aloof and out there, but this allows the film to go to some delightfully bizarre and weird tangents that will stick with you the most after the film.
In the end, Where The Wild Things Are is a surprisingly sad adventure but one that forces the viewer to reflect and get wrapped up in these animals lives. Spike Jonze should be heralded for creating such an engaging, original, and unique vision to bring to the screen and executing it flawlessly. Without a complaint to really harbor against the film, I still think its tone will catch you off guard if not expecting the sadness there is in this world. Though don’t let that scare you away as you will be smiling, laughing, and be enthralled for much of the films run time; just know it isn’t afraid to punch you in the gut. I can’t wait to see it again and it is a film that I think will only grow on future viewings but don’t miss this film; it is a truly original experience and puts Spike Jonze at a solid A average for his three feature films; not to shabby.
Where The Wild Things Are is an A-

First off…Just Wow! Here is a link to the trailer for now and check out the full story for the youtube clip.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RowGJtytQRE&hl=en&fs=1]

As you can probably tell, I am jacked for Where The Wild Things Are. It is directed by one of our finest working directors and is bound to be one of the most visually striking and interesting tales of the year.

The book wasn’t that deep, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out on the screen, but I have confidence Spike Jonze can make it happen. So lets get to the stuff, all of it coming from USAToday.

Pic are here, article on Max is here, and a Spike Jonze article is right here.

You can see the trailer in front of Monsters vs. Aliens.

The site also went live for the film, but there is nothing there really right now.

Check it out…

Billy Ray’s directorial follow up to the excellent Shattered Glass is a solid political thriller that is diminished by the fact that we know the outcome from the opening frame.
The story tells the events leading up to the arrest of Robert Hanssen, a FBI operative who was the biggest double agent spies in the history of the U.S. Blamed with the loss of two lives he leaked an incredible amount of info to the Russians both before and after the end of the cold war. Hanssen a teach guy and sexual deviant is put under surveillance in his new post in D.C. by Eric O’Neill. A field agent looking for his big break with the agency, O’Neill (played well by Ryan Phillippe) jumps at the opportunity to investigate a highly respected official. Though O’Neill isn’t let in on the big picture as, Agent Burroughs (the great Laura Linney), doesn’t let him know he is a traitor.
Hanssen is played brilliantly by the always great Chris Cooper and he does a fantastic job of showing us why O’Neill was so conflicted and caught on to the ruse Burroughs was pulling over his eyes. All of the actors bring excellent work and Ray assembles a very taught and well paced thriller. Though, the thrill is taken out of the fact that we know he is caught. O’Neill dealing and buying time with Hanssen creates tension at times but if they would have left us an ambiguous conclusion the whole film would have a lot more weight and have made the film better as a whole.
Phillippe rubs a lot of people the wrong way and he doesn’t change his shtick much here, but he carries the movie well and this is probably one of his better performances to date. He can come across as fairly one dimensional though but I think he played the part particularly well. The supporting cast is also good with Dennis Haysbert and Gary Cole turning in good work as agents in on the investigation while also adding a bit of light humor to the proceedings.
The movie is very well done though and if you don’t know anything about it and skip the opening news clip with John Ashcroft the movie is probably far more enjoyable. It is an excellent showcase for the actors involved and puts an important, yet little known story about one this countries government blunders on film for people to learn more about.
Ray continues to prove that he is an excellent filmmaker and sooner or later is going to explode on to the scene with an amazing movie that knocks the socks off of people’s feet. This falls quite a bit short of that but is a very solid film that most fans of political intrigue will enjoy and is a must see for any of the fans of the actors involved.
C-