Once again, the world’s best triathletes will travel to San Francisco to attempt the impossible: ESCAPE from Alcatraz! In its 29 years as a maximum-security prison, no one ever escaped alive from the menacing shores of Alcatraz. Every year, this popular event draws over 15,000 spectators to see who can accomplish that daunting task.

On Sunday, June 10, the 32nd annual Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon (EFAT) will be packed with heart-pounding action featuring 2000 athletes competing in a 1.5 mile swim through frigid waters from Alcatraz Island to shore, a grueling 18-mile bike race, and a demanding 8-mile run through the rugged trails of Golden Gate Recreation Area.

Troutco is delighted to be working with IMG Worldwide, the organizer’s of this world-class event.  Troutco will be recruiting, organizing and managing volunteers for the event for the days leading up to the race, June 7 and 9, and on race day itself!

Volunteer Registration is being managed through a partnership with The Welsh Foundation, a Riverside-based non-profit — and their instance of Point of Light’s advanced volunteer management software, HandsOn Connect.

This is an opportunity for Troutco to bring together its experience in managing volunteers, its relationship with nonprofit organizations across the country, and our role in technology training and support for Troutco client, Points Of Light.

If you’re in the Bay Area — or would like to travel and be part of this extraordinary event, Volunteer Registration is now open at the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon Volunteer website at efat.troutco.com

Troutco is proud to be returning for it’s 15th year recruiting and managing volunteers for the country’s greatest celebration of the written word — the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Find out more and register online as a volunteer for this year’s festival, April 21 and 22, 2012.  

This won’t go down as a banner year for motion pictures, and I think it’ll be a stretch to find real worthy oscar-contenders this year round.  You won’t find a lot of extraordinary movie-making in this year’s films, even in the indy sector which had a rather slow year with few breakouts.

I dodged a lot of crappy commercial fare and focused what time I had on movies that I thought might have artistic merit – or played into my own interests for popular entertainment (which explains why I saw so many disappointing comic-based movies this year).  I’ve notably missed a few mainstreamers this year (Sorry “War Horse” I don’t like horses or war movies that much – and even the critics say its ‘lesser Spielberg’ – though I plan to see it, as well as “The Help” because both are likely to get Oscar Nominations just because they tackle ‘serious’ themes and come from popular books or plays).

So here’s the movies I DID see this year.  With the 2011 films first – and then the 2010 holdovers that I caught at the beginning of this year, along with a few older films caught via netflix.

Best pictures of 2011

1. **** Win Win – Thomas McCarthy makes it three for three with his third film as writer/director (following “The Station Agent” and “The Visitor”, both of which I thought highly of.)   Its a textured script where character is more important than plot.  Example:  Most movies that showed the ‘old boiler’ in this movie only introduce such a device so that it can eventually blow up as a plot point.  Here, it’s just a reminder of the financial straits its lead character is in. In this movie teenagers act and talk like teenagers, and the family feels like a real family.  The old man isn’t cute or funny, he’s just an old man on the verge of dementia. The movie went to surprising places by avoiding all the usual cliches on expects with a film about families. This is the ‘blind side’ without sentiment, sap or a desire to inspire. Wonderful performances all around, with the ever-wonderful Paul Giamatti and the great Amy Ryan. A rare movie about a lawyer where you see perhaps what lawyers are really like – as opposed to the never-ending legal-thrillers that position lawyers as detectives time after time.  Sure wish there were more films as engaging as this one which barely made it into theatres.  

2. ****Margin Call – an exceptionally well written and directed debut from J.C. Chandor that focuses on the internal machinations of an amoral wall street brokerage firm on the day they see behind the veil of their toxic derivatives and make decisions about whether to serve their corporate ass at the expense of poisoning the overall economy. A terrific cast including Kevin Spacey, and a sly Jeremy Irons, along with wonderful turns by Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany and Zachary Quinto (who also produces), create very specific characters within the faceless organization. The script doesn’t waste time trying to explain the nature of the economic disaster or the circumstances that surround it – but instead focuses on the ethical decisions and the matter of factness of that 1% of society that makes millions while creating nothing at all.  The events of the film all fall within a 24 hour period, and the script quietly and clinically depicts the faces that matter-of-factly contributed to our current economic collapse. An impressive first feature.  (And one that, despite its deep and talented cast — seemingly received almost zero distribution and marketing and primarily was released to ‘on-demand’ programming.  THe most compelling of a string of dramas and documentaries on the subject that have appeared this year.

3.  ****The Ides of March - A first class cast and a smart script that plays right into my cynicism about politics, The Ides of March heralds in the fall season with a film about ideas, ideals, and the compromising nature of politics. Less about politicians than the campaign managers and marketers who run their campaigns, the versatile and ever-interesting Ryan Gosling plays an idealistic campaigner toughened and hardened by the realities of hard-ball political gamesmanship.  A series of terrific scenes has Gosling ping-ponging between two of the finest character actors in the business right now, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamonti as leaders of the two opposing campaigns. The script goes wrong only in a melodramatic complication in its 3rd act having to do with Evan Rachel Wood, who ultimately takes an action out of keeping with her otherwise seductive, and brash character.  The best directed of all of George Clooney’s films so far — and a nice performance to boot!  The dialog is crisp and fast-paced, and I mistakenly attributed the writing to Aaron Sorkin!

4.   **** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 –   Catchy title that, eh?  I think the superlative reviews for this, the final film in the series over-praises this one film and instead represents something long overdue — an acknowledgement of the remarkable achievement this entire series is when viewed together.  Like the books the films are based on — each chapter has been more sophisticated and more resonant that the one before it. The books benefited from the increasing sophistication of the themes, characterizations and complexities of the story-telling. The movies trump even the books, because they have the impact of watching the three principal characters realistically age, in real time, along with the actors that play them.  The depth of the acting chops of the series many characters lends great depth. And what are the odds you’d get actors as fine as these to appear in small parts in one film?  Only the collective depth of appearing in eight consecutive films has allowed such a fine ensemble to be gathered.

The other thing that has matured throughout the time is the sophistication of the production design and visual effects. So often, depictions of magic and fantasy in film are cartoonish and silly — but the magic sequences, spells, and battles in this last film are remarkably sophisticated and compelling. We take all this for granted because we’ve seen the growing sophistication film by film — and all the production work in these films greatly enhances the story.  Terrific adaptions to film and the steady humane hand of the direction have kept these from becoming just commercial “let’s cash in” sequels.  It actually IS a story that needed 15+ hours to tell.

Is this last film better than the rest?  Not sure it is — but as the capper to an epic story with everyone working at the top of their game — it feels like it is.  The achievement of keeping the same cast, tone and values intact throughout the ten year production period it took to bring this to the screen is the real achievement of this fine series.  Not just kid stuff — but a tale with fun, depth, serious things and emotional heft.  As I write this its faded a lot in my memory – but at the time I saw it I was moved by the overall impact of the Potter series.  Lump ‘em all together – and this becomes #4 on my list for the year.

5. ***1/2 – Bridesmaids – Not just a raunchy comedy (though it does get rather raunchy and is very very funny), but the script has both heart and character and the ensemble is terrific.  We need more comedies like this that care as much about story and characters as going for laughs.  This does both well!  A rare achievement to make a movie as fun as this and yet still feel it has something to say and that’s its characters are more than comic icons. Comedies don’t always get the credit they deserve, but I think this one will hold up over the years with the handful of other comedies that are considered classics.

6. ***1/2 – Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol – slam-bang rock ‘em sock ‘em spy action done right. The best pure action film of the year.  Animation directorial wiz Brad Bird joins the Tom Cruise produced franchise and comes up with best Mission yet!  Fully embracing the legacy of both the film franchise and its television predecessor this gives us all the touchstones we expect in an MI movie – disguises, gadgets, exotic foreign locales and a cravingly complex plan to save the world from nuclear destruction.  At times this recalls the best of the early James Bond movies – particularly in its terrific stunts, one darn beautiful kick-ass babe in Paula Patton. Cruise did a lot of his own stunts in this movie and he gives real presence, energy and drive to all his action sequences. The movie manages to breathlessly go from one stupendous action sequence to another and never lags for energy.  The Imax sequences are stunning looking! Only one impossible maneuver in the movie wildly strains the realistic grounding Bird manages to bring to even the climbing of the tallest building in the world.  (Hint: I didn’t buy the use of remote control magnets). Simon Pegg brings a nice dash of humor to the proceedings, though Jeremy Renner doesn’t find quite the right tone to play his conflicted agent.  Anyone notice that Brad Bird hasn’t missed with a film yet?  A director to continue to watch.

7. ***1/2 – The Descendants – While not on a par with “Sideways” – Alexander Payne has always shown a talent at adapting novels and creating films that blend drama and comedy in lifelike proportions. This time, the subject matter is quite a bit darker – the pending death and infidelity of a spouse, while wrestling with the moral dilemmas of being a trustee of a large family estate.  Not exactly a laugh riot.  But once again, Payne manages to find the humanity in his characters, and affords them the time to wrestle with complex, and very human emotion.  George Clooney does a great job maintaining the conflicted emotional state of a man on a precipice of so many decisions – all of which are put in overdrive by the very shaky emotional ground he’s standing upon.  Nice supporting turns all around. Payne has become one of the most interesting chroniclers of the emotional struggles of the middle aged man dealing with relationships, family, work and their day to day lives when they hit a crisis point.

8.  ***1/2 Crazy, Stupid Love – a fine cast elevate this romantic comedy into quite a bit more.  Kudos to Ryan Gosling for creating yet another interesting character.  So much more depth shown here than in the similar character that Neil patrick Harris plays on “How I met your mother”.  I give the director a lot of credit for finding the tough balance between comedy, the underlying drama of the situations, and the farcical plotting that ties everything together. Not easy to pull off.  The script is also cleverly constructed.  A great assemblage of actors here with lots of indy cred.  Enjoyable!

9.  ***1/2 - MoneyBall - Brad Pitt puts in his most relaxed and thoughtful performance in this back-room look at the game of baseball and a failed athlete who is determined to succeed against conventional wisdom as a general manager. The real-life basis for this story robs the film (happily) or a triumphant final act, and you have to admire the ingenuity of the screenwriters to structure the film without Hollywooding it up.  Also interesting is the atypical casting of Jonah Hill who turns in a quiet and interesting performance in this dramatic role.

Other Movies enjoyed seeing this year:

10 *** The Tree of Life – absolutely enigmatic but rather stunning to look at in a painterly way.  This is more a poem than a story.  It’s difficult to know what personal source is being tapped here, but it has a reverent tone marked by lush visuals, long periods without dialog, and whispered voice-overs.  Nonetheless, it paints the most realistic portrait I’ve ever seen in film of growing up as a boy in the country during the 50s. It captures the essence of boyhood, and the difficult relationship between fathers and sons.  The behavior and attitudes of the young actors portraying the three brothers really touched home for me and awakened many of my own complicated memories of growing up with my brother in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey. It reaches above and beyond the mundane and into the spiritual, and the filmmaker dares to look from both the beginning and end of time with the abandon of Kubrick’s 2001 and the painterly eye of the wordless film, Koyanisqatsi.  Like that latter film, this one is blessed with a beautiful and haunting score. This puts a capital ‘a’ on Art film — but is an uncompromising vision from a singular filmmaker. Whether one finds this rewarding or not depends on one’s patience to look beyond plot and just breathe in its tone and vivid cinematography, and this brave look at the volatile nature and emotional landscape of a boy experiencing the joys and tribulations of boyhood. As for the ethereal fireworks and yes, even some dinosaurs — one can only guess.

11. ***Tabloid – If this wasn’t a documentary you’d call this too far-fetched to believe — the story of Joyce McKinney and her life in the tabloids — from beauty queen, to her trip to England to abduct, chain and repeatedly have sex with a Mormon missionary she was in love with, to her later life cloning her beloved dog booger. Documentarian Erroll Morris once again allows his subjects to tell their own story, and Joyce is a most fascinating spokesperson for her own life. Funny, frightening and downright bizarre. Morris is the master of the ‘talking head’ documentary and there isn’t a lot of flash here – but the story and the characters make this the most interesting documentary of this year.

12. ***- Drive - It’s Ryan Gosling’s year, and the rest of us just live in it. You have to give the guy credit for jumping from genre to genre and always finding interesting scripts. This one is a brooding noir, with long periods of non-dialog and lots of unspoken thinking from a reclusive, enigmatic type.  And the film is certainly all types rather than characters, but there is a palpable dread and tension running through the film, which erupts in sudden, brutal surges of violence.  The strength lies in the colors brought to the shady characters, with very interesting turns from a calm and seething Albert Brooks, a thuggish Ron Perlman and a desperate and pathos-filled Bryan Cranston.  A bit less successful is Cary Mulligan – whose character doesn’t shed any light as to why she’d wind up associated with so many unethical men.

13; ***  POM Wonderful Presents - The Greatest Movie Ever Sold — The most self-referential documentary ever – this clever contraption by Morgan Spurlock is a documentary about the role of product marketing in movies, television and our everday life — and the movie itself depicts the process by which the filmmakers courted sponsors to fund the entire movie. Interestingly transparent, and entertaining throughout. You see the subtle and not-so-subtle product placements in every scene in the movie. This was the most entertaining documentary I saw this year. Just a lot of fun!

14 ***  Rise of the Planet of the Apes – In a summer of ho-hum blockbusters from reliable pros like J.J. Abrams (Super Eight) and Jon Favreau (Cowboys and Aliens), both under Steven Spielberg’s watch — who would have expected this prequel to a long-in-the-tooth B-movie franchise to emerge as the smartest, most engaging action film of the summer?   While the great digital effects from WETA are no surprise, the quality of the script and the performances distinguish this film as undoubtedly the best prequel ever made?  The smart thing here is that the authors were less interested in just hitching a ride to the original films — and instead created a situation that fully taps into our contemporary sensibility and guilt about animal experimentation and cruelty.  Its no small testament to Andy Serkis (the actor beneath the lead chimp’s CGI performance) that he created an interesting, sympathetic and at times frightening three-dimensional character out of an ape.   (A trick he performed once before in bringing Gollum to life in the Lord of the Rings movies).    The villains of the piece (the bad humans who exploit the animals or lust for money) are too flat — but James Franco and Amanda Silver are credible and interesting as the lead humans.  The film takes enough time to make its premise credible and involving.

15. ***Hugo – The source material here isn’t as interesting as the visual splendors of this wonderfully made adaption of the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” – but Martin Scorsese’s technical skills are on display throughout the wonderfully designed, beautifully photographed film. This is one of the rare live-action films that benefits from the well-executed 3-D imagery, with its many, many shots of gears, mechanical devices, long hallways and deep vertical drops.  The story, about a boy who lives hidden in a train station as a petty thief, and maintaining the station’s many, many clockworks — and his obsession with an automated, clockwork man unfolds like a mystery — and eventually reveals Scorsese’s interest and agenda with the material — the story of early cinema wizard Georges Mélies, and the importance of film preservation.  Unfortunately, as with any film centered on children, young actor Asa Butterfield doesn’t hold your interest and attention that well, and the story has a very leisurely pace to it.  So one finds oneself more immersed in the beautiful cinematography and the impressive, if distracting 3D.  Snowflakes are in the foreground of almost every scene, including interiors at times. (Makes me wonder why the boy is only wearing shorts in most scenes).  But as usual, Ben Kingsley is a commanding and interesting presence. And an interesting supporting cast including a nicely sympathetic comic turn from Sacha Baron Cohen, and one of the greatest voices in cinema, Christopher Lee anchor the movie well.

16. ***1/2 – Xmen – First Class – the more serious end of the super-hero spectrum, this series gets better and better as it delves into prejudice in a serious way.  For fans of the XMen, this prequel fills in a lot of background into who these characters are and how they wound up the way they did. The action sequences are quite good and the special effects are terrific. A lot more to chew on here than in the remainder of this year’s super-hero bumper crop, and the only really good ‘made from a comic book’ movie of this year.

17. *** – My life with Marilyn – Michelle Williams does a nice job with the unenviable task of recreating an American icon — and she manages to nail Monroe’s signature style, while making a real, insecure person out of her.  Less interesting is the “My” in the title — the author of the book it was adapted from, who apprenticed on the film set of The Prince and the Showgirl.  He’s mostly uninteresting and puppy-doggish.  Kenneth Branagh is interesting as the frustrated Lawrence Oliver who must cope with the unskilled actress.  The historical footnote of Monroe’s attempt to use Strasberg’s ‘method’ of acting on a picture made in Britain is interesting for anyone with the proper frame of reference on actors. My director’s heart went out to poor Olivier.   Still, overall the film is more of a love poem to poor Marilyn than anything else.  Oh yes, as always Judi Dench shines and steals her every scene.   Unclear why this is called “My week with Marilyn” as surely the author was in contact with Marilyn for more than a week. Entertaining enough though for film fans.

18. *** – Martha Marcy May Marlene – This movie, with the toughest to remember title of the year is a skillfully written back and forth skittering between two worlds that the title character, played by Elizabeth Olson finds herself unable to fit into — the cult, where as Marcy May she was seduced into an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle but ‘loved’ – and the present-day where, as Martha she escapes and stays with her sister and her increasingly irritated husband.  As a portrait of a difficult, bruised and lost human being, this works very well, and the cult scenes are seductive and terrifying with John Hawkes playing an even more insidious evil than in his turn in ‘winter’s bone’. It’s not clear where the film wants to end up, and it has an abrupt, Soprano’s like ending that leaves you wondering – huh?  But the movie really keeps you on edge.

19. ***Fast Five  - If you want to see great stunts, terrific car crashes, bullets and explosions, this one’s for you! As this stuff goes – this was very well done. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson makes a great addition to the franchise and brings some more weight to the cast. He and Vin “the Diesel” Diesel made formidable adversaries in style and toughness. The success of this film should keep this franchise alive.

20. *** Cedar Rapids - The marketing and distribution of this film missed the boat. Even though it seemed a smaller indy film – the trailers for this made it seem as if it as a low-budget Hangover ripoff — a raunchy, broad comedy making fun of small town insurance salesmen at a ‘big city’ convention in Cedar Rapids.  While that is in fact an element of the movie, what it really turns out to be is far more interesting than that — a sweet, even endearing movie about isolation and innocence and the need for people to connect to one another. Surprisingly , what initially looks like stereotyped cliche characters played for easy laughs gives way to rounded characters we start to care about and recognize.  Some wonderfully nuanced performances from Ed Helms, the invaluable John C. Reilly, and a touching performance from Anne Heche. Fun and funny, but unexpectedly touching.

21. ***Limitless – An interesting, original thriller about unlocking the power of one’s mind through an experimental drug.  Interesting visual way of displaying the thought process.  Oddly, it seemed a lot like the way my mind has always worked  This was one of the better, “small” thrillers of the year.

22. ***The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — I’ve not read the best-selling book on which this film is based, but it’s a bleak, dark and perverse.  David Fincher, of course, renders this with his unblinking detail, intercutting the story-lines that quickly dart back and forth. The first third of the movie is difficult to follow without having read the book, and the accents as well as the dim natural lighting captured by the “Red” Camera make it tough to get involved. But ultimately the story picks up steam and appalling steaminess and becomes hard to ignore. Can’t say I was completely taken by it though.

23. ***The Muppet Movie – It’s good to see the muppets again, and while this isn’t a great movie, its not without its charms.  I give them credit for recreating the style and spirit of the old musicals, without trying to put a cynical spin on it… not an easy task. The cameos were fun, and it had some of the original Muppet Show’s goofy, vaudevillian spirit.  I have to say though — Miss Piggy just isn’t the same since Frank Oz retired from puppeteering. Amy Adams is wonderfully cute, as always.  Jason Segal is OK but always seems a bit limited in range.  His brother Walter, the newest Muppet character does have charming star quality

Movies that were OK:

24 ***Young Adult - much has been made about Charlize Theron’s brave performance here, but really, its always considered brave when an attractive woman is willing to play an unflattering character.  Don’t get me wrong though – she does a terrific job here is portraying a 37-year old selfish, shallow, delusional adolescent.  The problem with the film though is – its hard to care about such an unsympathetic character.  This movie is being sold as a comedy, but its really not very funny.  It’s quite sad and disturbing actually in its portrait of a high school beauty queen bitch and grows up to be — nothing more than that.  It didn’t help that I was worried about her poor little dog throughout the entire movie. This is one of those films that’s easier to appreciate than to enjoy. A shame that Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody couldn’t somehow recapture the charms of their earlier collaboration Juno. The concept of this movie is easier to enjoy than the movie itself.

25. ***Source Code – Clever, sci-fi thriller. A serious-minded riff on “groundhog day”. A bit far-fetched, and with some odd performances at its edges, but still an engaging little puzzle of a film. Passed the time interestingly while watching it – though it didn’t stick much to my bones thereafter.

26. ***Paris at Midnight - an amusing trifle that combines a real postcard affection for Paris with a lot of Woody Allen’s signature moves. Reminiscent of “Purple Rose of Cairo” the movie is both amusing (in an intellectual way), and slight. A bon mot. It does however get tied together with a well-stated theme. A lot of praise has been heaped on this as its Woody’s first successful film in a decade or more — but honestly, its pretty light-weight.

27.  ***The Lincoln Lawyer - the dense plotting and parade of minor characters who appear and disappear from the story without warning, shows the ‘adapted from a novel’ pedigree of this interesting and engaging legal drama.  There’s too much detail to capture in a movie, but what’s there gives you plenty to engage your intellect.  Matthew McConaughey shows an appealing mix of sleeze, charm, and gravitas as a defense lawyer who finds his moral compass spinning in new directions. Some appealing supporting performances by Ryan Phillippe, the ever-appealing Marisa Tomei (queen of low-budget indy drama), and an underused William Macy. Whenever I see a film like this I always wonder though — are all lawyers essentially detectives?

28. ***Beginners – Much has been made out of Christopher Plummer’s performance as a man who admits to the world he’s gay and comes out of the closet at age 75. Its a fine performance, as most everything by Plummer is — but its only one element of an elusive film about the emotional ambivalence and confusion experienced by a graphic artist played interestingly and quietly by Ewan McGregor.  Certainly more of the film focuses on his relationship with a waifish french actress with amazingly deep and soulful eyes. Another major character in the film is his Jack Russell Terrier whose communications are often displayed as subtitles.  The film is very independent and modern – freely jumping across time and with a very personal, inner, artistic thread — almost like a poem.  Its mood is far stronger and interesting than its plot.

29. ***Horrible Bosses – a small triumph in that it could have been horrible.  This is an amusing enough comic trifle about three hapless men who are victimized by their (say it with me….) “Horrible Bosses”.  Jennifer Anniston turned some heads with her brave and vulgar performance as a sexually insatiable dentist – though the role might have made more sense played by a less attractive female.  (Who wouldn’t want to be molested by someone this luscious — and hard to believe she’d need to fool around in the office.)    Logic aside, Kevin Spacey is interesting as a truly mean and awful boss — and Colin Farrell is unrecognizable in makeup and accent to play another doltish boss.  (It’s more of a stunt though… he doesn’t make the role that much more interesting than another actor might).  Not without its laughs and chuckles.

Movies that dissapointed:

30. ** 1/2 Real Steel –  A mashup (no pun intended) of “Rocky” and “Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots” – with a somewhat unlikely but typically Hollywood father-son redemption story grafted on — making this a cliche-fest of the first order. Albeit an occasionally entertaining one.

The problem here is that there is little or no science, or any kind of real logic in the premise here. The film tells us that we’re in the not-too-distant future where fight fans wanted greater and greater thrills — and humans were edged out of the game which escalated from boxing to no-hold-barred ultimate fighting and yet still couldn’t meet the thrill quota the crowds craved. So robots became the new thrill for bloodthisty fans. What makes no sense here however is that the Robot warriors — rather than representing the ultimate in ultimate fighting, somehow were designed to fight in the manner of boxing bouts of the 70s. These ARE your father’s boxing robots — who battle one another by throwing punches to each others heads and mid-sections.

Huh? Does this make any sense? Why would a robot “knock out” another robot by hitting it in the head? What about a robot’s head is is vulnerable consciousness. Wouldn’t you bury the transmitter, which the human’s who control the robots use to communicate to the robots, deep in its innards instead of the head? Why would a blow to the head affect a robot at all? And hey — given that this is the future — wouldn’t robotic warfare look more like the way today’s primitive robots battle one another in real-life robowars? We have battling robots, and they are far more ingenious and battle with blades, buzzsaws, crushing hammers and flame throwers! Not the practiced moves of robotic Sugar Ray Leonards (who was a consultant on the film and tought Hugh Jackman his moves which he then passes onto his robotic double).

Now gratned – its fun to see these cool-looking CGI robots and the monstrous clanking of the soundtrack to give them weight – but really, it just makes me want to go out and buy the toys so I could have some anthromorphic fun with them like I did when I was six years old. And in fact, no one above the age of six would believe this is what the future of robotic fighting would like like. And only a six year old would really believe that this pack of characters, who have every reason to recognize Hugh Jackman’s character as a washed out lout, would unite in smiles and cheers when he and their son rise to the top of a massively corrupt, gambling influenced mechanical blood sport. But oh how they stand, smile and cheer here at the end when the little robot that could shows my ‘heart’ than the big corporate goliath robot and seizes the day.

Not without its fun factor — but park your intelligence at the door for this one. It joins Transformers in the continual abandonment of science in today’s science fiction. And speaking of which….

31. ** 1/2 Transformers 3 – Dark of the Moon — Shia La Beouf is rather smarmy and irritating in this third Michael Boy advertisement for the Hasbro toys franchise.  This time Megan Fox has left for an even hotter girlfriend who looks like a model, who for no conceivable reason is in love with him.  Apparently it’s true — guys with cool cars get the girls (especially if your car is an alien robot!)   This outing is phenomenally long — Just over 2 and a half hours — which is a long time to go for a movie in which the robots seem more three-dimensional than the human characters and the plot is just an excuse for bad robots to beat up on good robots so good robots can muster the courage and heart to save the day.   Nonetheless, some of the digital action scenes are a wonder, working best when the robots are inserted into real backgrounds like freeways, and downtown Chicago.  The film’s final third actually works the best, as the cuteness of the robots is played down and the film takes on a darker, War of the Worlds vibe as the decepticons, or whatever they are, seek to enslave (or is that just gun down) the human race.  There is a rather remarkable sequence as a large glass building begins to tumble and the humans inside do battle with evil robots and gravity!  This is a rare film in which the 3-D actually enhances the material (as it often does with cartoons and other digital effects shot directly in 3-D) and the many aerial sequences are actually quite effective with their sense of depth!  It’s just a bunch of fireworks really — but some of the display is quite spectacular. Grueling and explosive — in the usual Michael Bay tradition!

32 ** 1/2 Super Eight - the first half of this works better than the second, as it accurately recreates the era and the cultural obsessions of the time. And the train wreck is spectacular  (and as startling as the plane crash in the first episode of J.J. Abram’s Lost).  The choice to keep things largely unseen brings back the best of what early, mysterious sci-fi was like.  But the second half, where things begin to be shown works less well.  Clearly an homage to the early films of Spielberg — the use of the evil government operatives doesn’t resonate as well now as it did back in the day.  But enough to enjoy overall to make the film worthwhile, especially the nice performances by the young actors.

33.  ** 1/2 The Adventures of TinTin  - the problem I continue to have with motion capture animation is that it misses the best of what animation should have to offer. By being as ‘realistic’ as it is, the charm and imagination that comes with animation is lost. And if what’s wanted here is a family-friendly Indiana Jones style adventure – then why not just shoot it live action?  At least then you’d be thoroughly engaged in the thrills. As it is – this is fun at times (the final big chase sequence is full of kinetic flash), but mostly its just a hyped-up version of the adventures of clutch cargo and other Saturday morning cartoon thriller fare. I’ve been a big fan of Andy Serkis’s performances as an animation-capture performer, but his drunken sea captain in this picture is not much fun at all. Also odd is the fact that TinTin has been made amazingly realistic looking as a boy – but every other character in the movie is characterized with awkward big noses. So stylistically it doesn’t even hang together.

34**1/2 Tucker & Dale vs. Evil – the high concept of this low-budget indy outshines its actual execution, but its still a good natured little comic horror-movie.  The typical band of goofy teenagers goes into the woods in Appalachia, but mistake two good-natured hillbillies, Tucker & Dale for psycho killers.  As they react in fear poor Tucker & Dale have to defend themselves against kids who seem bent on attacking them and wind up killing themselves and each other through their clumsy heroics. Silly, gross fun – though the acting doesn’t quite pull it off.

35. ** 1/2 Green Lantern – I went to this one with rather low expectations based on the critical bashing and low box-office interest, but caught it in 2-D after it had been in theatres for a few weeks.  What I got was admittedly not the brightest day for super-hero movies, but also not the blackest night.  It worked fairly well for what it was — a rather faithful adaption of the Hal Jordan era of Green lantern comics, including the galactic corps of Green Lantern aliens!   I think the poor reception stems from what I’ve always said about super heroes depicted in the movies:  They work if they are grounded in the contest of everyday reality. The more we see super powers in the light of a real world – (X-men, Spider-Man, the later Batmans) the better they work.  When they get silly or stylized, or have to deal with fantasy elements — the harder it is to relate to and feel any emotional response to.   But Green Lantern has always had a sort of cosmic flair to it — and it always seemed more visual than sensible that someone who can conjure anything out of his ring of power would make giant hammers and machine guns — but nonetheless that’s the Green Lantern of the comics.  For an old power-ring admirer like myself — I found this faithfulness to the original source rather refreshing – and enjoyed it for what it was.

36. ** 1/2 Captain America – Joe Johnston has shown an affinity for the 40s before with the Rocketeer – and the best moments of this film are where it captures the period trappings – like the USO-like Captain America ‘show’ to sell war bonds. But other than period charm, and decent production values – the story here doesn’t amount to two much.  Cap isn’t much fun as a hero, his ‘romance’ with Peggy is kind of glum, and his friendship with Bucky Barnes seems more perfunctory than anything else. Huge Weaving is a decent Red Skull – but the story doesn’t go much deeper than the usual ‘let’s get the nazi’s” and the action is general shoot ‘em up.  The missed opportunity here is that they establish Steve Rogers as being ‘special’ because of his honesty and committed attitude; his courage and his decency.  But thematically, that never pays off.  His victory over the red skull, has nothing to do with those values.  The most successful comic movies are ones where theme follows character and the action is tied to those issues.  None of that here.    Not awful by any means, as the production values are fun ,  but nothing memorable either. The movie seems to exist for nothing more than to establish the character and set the stage for next year’s “The Avengers”.  Maybe that’ll have more to it!  Certainly it will be fun to see Robert Downey Jr playing against this ‘square’ decent guy.

37. **1/2 The Trip – British humor is an acquired taste, and despite the critical raives for this Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reunion, about the two actors playing essentially themselves on a road trip across Britain — one needs a greater appreciation of Michael Caine and other british artists to enjoy the impressions and dry humor on display here. The general relaxed performances are appealing — but this is a bit of a ramble.  Sort of a trivial pursuit version of My Dinner with Andre. The British countryside, on the other hand, is quite lovely. A lot of critics loved this – but it wasn’t my cup of english tea.

38. **1/2 Cowboys and Aliens – Not quite the disaster that critics and audiences seem to have made it — but their isn’t a lot of ingenuity to be found in this genre mashup.  The cowboys part of the story plays much better than the aliens, and the final hour just becomes a silly battle between cowboys and indians and bad guys working together with horses and guns trying to fend off the grasshopper-like reptilian aliens.  What works best here is Daniel Craig as “the mysterious stranger” — showing real gravitas.  Harrison Ford has some fun here and there as well (looking very craggy these days), and a few reliable character actors bring in nice turns.  The female lead however, is all looks and little else.

39.  **1/2 Rango - The animation here is amazing in its detail  and daring in its rather grotesque design of its characters — but the story quickly degenerates into a string of Western cliches that, while initially amusing, lose interest after the novelty of them being mouthed by lizards, snakes, armadillos, etc wears off.  What’s left is a script that would be considered an absolutely tired retread if not for the animation.

40. ** Cars 2 - technically stunning, as always — especially in the amazingly detailed backgrounds, but the story for this car-oriented spy adventure lacks the usual attention to character and emotionality of story that marks the best of the Pixar pics.  This one’s aimed at a much younger audience that probably plays with toy cars;  The spy motif doesn’t bring anything special of unique to this outing.  One of the first pixar movies that doesn’t seem for the ages, or intended for all ages.

41. **  Unknown – Liam Neeson continues his unlikely transformation from dramatic actor to action hero in this not-so-thrilling mystery-thriller.  Marketed as if this was a revisitation of the surprise hit from last year “Taken” — this turns out to be a different sort of film entirely. Here, Neeson plays more of a confused victim, than the avenging father of the last film. Sort of a watered-down Hitchcockian thriller, the movie is more engaging intellectually (with its clever if occasionally far-fetched plot twists), that it is emotionally. The movie has a ‘cold’ feel to it — with its dreary, winter in berlin setting. The last act appearance of the great Frank Langella is a welcome relief. But the hyperactive, over-edited chase and crash scenes do not work.  A mixed bag — but not bad for a February B-movie thriller – which is mostly what this is.

42. **  Just Go For It – Adam Sandler is on familiar ground with this likable, if lightweight collection of poop jokes, visual slapstick (albeit, some funny plastic surgery sight gags), and adolescent behavior leading to the inevitable if unmotivated romantic conclusion.  But some interesting mysteries here as you coast along for the ride.  What on earth was Nicole Kidman doing in this, in a broad, nearly unbilled supporting role.  (Did she think she’d get more plastic surgery by being involved?).    What on earth was the reasoning for casting musician Dave Matthews as her supporting co-star?  Were no actors available?  (though he doesn’t embarrass himself any more or less than anyone else in this movie).  And wow — who thought of updating the basic plot of the 1969′s Cactus Flower (originally starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn!)     All that said — Sandler is likeable as always.  Jennifer Anniston is a reliable presence and gives the acting a bit of depth and veracity.  So this is a no-harm-no-foul date movie.  Strangely enough, the Valentine’s Day night crowd I saw this with was a bit restless, and a group of knucklheads shined a laser pointer at the screen whenever the film got a little serious about the relationships.  I guess they needed something to do when the little boy in the film wasn’t pooping on someone’s hand.

43. ** Sucker Punch – Despite the often stunning visuals, this just didn’t pack the promised whallop!

44. **Thor – despite being a comic-book fanboy back in the day – I still found this Asgardian yarn a bit of a yawnMaybe I just don’t like gods as super heroes.  Yeah… that’s it.  But where was the fun in this movie?

2010 Movies  I saw this year  (15)

****127 Hours - A remarkable feat of moviemaking.  Somehow Danny Boyle has taken a claustrophobic, stationary subject (man trapped in crevice by boulder) and turned it into one of the most kinetic, energized movies imaginable.  The movie is startling in its energy and imagination. James Franco gives a remarkable performance as both a free, energized spirit, and a determined, logical thinker. Nonetheless – this is not a movie for the faint of heart. My date, and the wife of the couple attending with me, had their eyes closed or heads turned away from the screen for more than a few minutes.  But both enjoyed and marveled at the virtuosity of the filmmaking.  And so did I.  So did I.

****Catfish – the less revealed about this small documentary the better.  But a great examination of the nature of ‘friendship’ and ‘relationships’ as they have evolved via facebook and the internet. Wonderfully edited and surprising. Glad I caught up with this one!

****Barney’s Version –  the movie has the scope and sprawling structure of a novel, and is in fact, adapted from one by Mordecai Richler (who also authored “The Apprenticeship of Dudley Kravitz” – another novel adapted into a film).  Paul Giamatti gives a brave and affecting performance, playing quite an unsympathetic character, a Jewish producer of  a Canadian Soap Opera, through his life before, during, and after his three marriages to three very different women.  A bit slow going at first — the complexities of character and situation draw you into Barney’s story — his ‘version’ of what happened in his life.  A very different version than that of a hard-nosed cop who is convinced that Barney literally got away with murder!  Minnie Driver is almost unrecognizable playing a self-centered jewish princess (Barney’s 2nd wife), and Rosamund Pike — who plays Barney’s third wife and ‘true love’ gives a remarkably controlled performance of one of the most intelligent characters played by an actress in years.   A well-deserved golden globe win for Giamatti – though Oscar neglected this little seen film with no more than a best-makeup nod.  Deeply emotionally effective in its final act!

***1/2 Another Year – A wonderful cast and a unforced stream of naturalism gives a unique quality to yet another fascinating Mike Leigh film.  Almost lacking a plot — instead built around 4 seasons in a year – its almost like short novellas. Plot isn’t the point here – it’s all about the characters. Jim Broadbent and Ruth Sheen give quiet performances  as a positive and loving elder couple who serve as human life-rafts for their circle of friends and relatives. Around them are an array of complex, sad and lost people. Central to the film is the fascinating character of Mary, in a deeply textured performance by Lesley Manville — a woman who ultimately is jealous and depressed by the happiness of her best friends, as she descends into drink and desperation.  By contrast – the easy and loving companionship of Tom and Gerri (Broadbent and Sheet), quietly shows the beauty of shared love and friendship.

***1/2 Machete - This full length film, created from one of the trailers from Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s “Grindhouse” from 3 years earlier — succeeds far better than the two ‘features’ that made up that earlier film.  A great homage to the drive-in movie flicks of the 60s that works both as an action picture, and a wink and a nod to the gratuitous violence and boobs of its predecessors. Rodriguez weds a timely theme of immigration as the centerpiece of the story and Danny Triejo gets to shine as the take no prisoner man-of-vengeance cut from the Charles Bronson cloth. If you don’t like ‘em gory, silly and violent with fountains of blood and severed organs then you’ve come to the wrong drive-in.  But if you have any affection for quick cut, cheap effects, gratuitous violence played for fun and laughs then you’ll be right at home.  Very enjoyable and nostalgic for the audience that is looking for it!  Gotta admit – I loved it!  With a surprisingly game cast aboard for the fun — Michele Rodriguez, Jessica Alba (more effective than anything else I’ve seen), Don Johnson, Steven Segal (!), Robert de Niro (!!), and Lindsay Lohan baring all!

*** Inside Job - Well-constructed documentary (and well-edited) that provides a clear explanation for the worldwide economic crisis.  Quite compelling without being the least bit flashy. And reason to continue to be concerned about the economy!  Oscar-Nominated for best documentary.

***Waiting for Superman – an articulate, and heartbreaking documentary on the failure of our educational system.  Despite some brave attempts to reform the problems – the film explores the failure of our system to provide an education for millions of deserving students – culminating in a lottery for the few spaces available in a few outstanding schools that offer the promise of a real future for its students.

*** Blue Valentine – More a portrait of a situation than a story, Blue Valentine is difficult and painful to watch. It is a story so devoid of hope. It’s the antithesis of a romantic comedy.  A romantic comedy follows an arc of two mismatched people who are not attracted or even hostile to one another, who overcome adversity and find romance and love and happiness.  Here we get just the opposite: we watch a relationship in which love has withered and died.  And the movie freely drops back into the past to see where the attraction originally was that formed the relationship.  Ryan Gosling and Michele Williams give raw, vanity-free performances, and the director captures them spontaneously playing each moment with a script so loose that its almost not there. Gosling is particularly touching as a man committed to trying to save his relationship and his family, but without any ambition in life other than getting by with that.

What’s tough here is that this is a movie without a shred of hope.  It confirms our first fears about what can happen to a relationship, without offering any suggestions on how to prevent it from happening. It’s like watching an accident about to happen.  I left the theatre touched, but mostly depressed.

*** Easy A - Emma Stone’s sassy performance launches her career in this amusing, high school comedy about exploiting the school’s rumor mill.  The film gets a lot of laugh by exploiting stereotypes of California hippiedom — but given that its set in Ojai it probably isn’ far from the truth    Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are wonderfully silly and warm as Olive’s new age parents. The film suffers a bit from the fact that most of the actors seem well beyond high school age — and the sense of shock about Olive’s lost virginity seems a bit dated, given there are probably far fewer virgins in high school than there used to be.  The movie nonetheless is a lot of fun, until it just runs out of steam at the end and peters out with a predictable and unconvincing ending.  But overall — a lot of fun and a great star-making performance for Stone.

***Super - speaking of grindhouse — this low-budget indy superhero psycho pic is an interesting find. A surprisingly talented cast got involved in this script about an “ordinary” guy who decides to become a superhero.  How ordinary he is depends on how you feel about a regular guy (Rainn Wilson)  who has lost his drug-addicted wife (Liv Tyler), and has a vision of the hand of god opening his brain and making him decide he should become a superhero to rescue her back from the drug kingpin (a wonderfully over-the-top Kevin Bacon) who has stolen her away.  Rainn Wilson is probably the wrong actor for this film, but Ellen Paige, as his sidekick ‘Boltie’ is a lot of fun in her unrestrained craziness.  All that said, this is a very, very dark comedy – that borders on camp – and has a real pulp sensibility. The violence is frequent and extreme.  Frank, lacking super powers, just gets a costume, and in the spirit of batman and green arrow decides he needs a weapon to do his heroic deeds.  He gets a large pipe wrench and begins righting injustice by clubbing people with it.  He is an unleashed psycho once he sets forth on his mission – and bashes people who ‘cut in line’ at the movies. This is definitely not a movie for all tastes, and is more of a satirical, crazed variation on the better film, “KickAss”.  Still — for B-movie aficionados who like their revenge comedies with a lot of splatter — this is kind of sick fun.

**1/2 The Town – the action sequences are tense and nicely directed, but most of this is a bit slow moving and over-serious. Seems like we’ve seen this sort of grim picture of life in the working class of Boston before.

**1/2 Burlesque – Not quite the disaster critics made it out to be — there is a certain amount of camp fun in this formulaic ‘small town girl makes good in the big city’ fable. Christina Aguilera sings well, and the Fosse-like choreography makes the musical numbers fun to watch.  Exactly in what universe a burlesque show with a $20 cover charge is something one makes their life’s passion and legacy remains a mystery.  Cher and Stanley Tucci provide some weight, but the central love-story between small-town girl who becomes star, and the bartender/roommate is a pile of cliches from a dozen movies of this sort.  Overlong and formulaic — but not without some pleasure if you like movie musicals with a lotta dancing.  Alan Cummings is interesting on the edges slumming in with a role that echoe his work in Cabaret, a film which the this one bears more than a passing resemblance to at times.

** Knight and Day – a not-so-wacky, not-so-funny, no-so-romantic, not-so-thrilling mashup of genres that never finds a tone that works. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz fail to find a style or much chemistry to make this throwback to 60s spy adventures work. Director James Mangold appears to be out of his element here.  It’s middling entertainment — and breezily entertaining enough — but completely disposable and feels looker than it actually is.

**Wall Street – Money Never Sleeps  — Money may not, but audiences might. This unnecessary sequel is long, convoluted and sheds no light on the financial crisis of the last few years. A pale shadow of the many other films on the subject that came out in 2010 and 2011. Michael Douglas still is appealing, and Frank Langella is a welcome presence — but Shia LaBouef continues to unimpressive, and Carey Mulligan is just sullen and uninteresting here.

* I’m Still Here – Joaquin Phoenix’s infamous appearance on Letterhead created viral marketing for what turned out to the be this mockumentary / hoax / conceptual art piece, in which he and Casey Affleck allegedly intended to comment on the lack of reality in so-called reality TV shows and documentaries.  The problem here is whether one views this as having been real, or as a scripted and staged fictionalization of reality it is neither engaging, funny or particularly well put together. It is amateurishly shot (perhaps on purpose?), edited and ‘written’.     This is a worse case scenario of a vanity project gone awry.  The rapping in the film is neither funny or the least bit entertaining, not even in a so-bad-its-fun way.  The excessive use of frontal male nudity and the scene in which someone shits on Phoenix in bed are crude and pointless.  If this wasn’t truly meant to document an end to his career, its nonetheless done a lot to make it a reality.  (He’s not made a film since 2008, and does not have an upcoming project scheduled for release until 2013).

Movies from Earlier Years (7)

*** Art and Copy (2009) – a small documentary examining the creative process and spirit of the masterminds who reinvented advertising by wedding ad copy and slogans with the visual sensibilities of art directors. An interesting examination of the thinking that led to some of of the most successful advertising campaigns of all time.  The filmmakers combine some stunning visual images with the ‘talking heads’ of these creative rebels.

**1/2 Capitalism – A Love Story (2009) – Michael Moore’s political bias and evangelism overtake his instincts as a filmmaker in this overlong, occasionally strident look at greed, political corruption and his view of the failure of capitalism during the century’s economic meltdown.  There are, of course, some heartbreaking scenes of the effects on the economy on individuals losing their homes, but any hope of a balanced examination of the issues, is lost in the melodrama of the greedy rich and the courageous poor.  Lacks the entertaining charm of his earlier ‘documentaries’.

** Life During Wartime (2009) – As someone who picked Todd Solondz’s 1998 film Happiness as best film of that year, I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that this sequel is a total washout.    It’s not just the fact this return to the lives of the three dysfunctional sisters are played by different actors — but that the balance and sympathies the earlier film ultimately created for the characters are completely gone.  What was tragic and comic is now just strange, offkilter, and offputting.  The character’s are now completely devoid of humanity and gross caricatures.   The cinematography and art direction are quite interesting – but the actors seem to be part of the stylish landscapes, not flesh and blood.   An absolute let-down — even for an admirer.

** 1/2 The Grand  (2007) - an amusing mockumentary set in the Las Vegas world of high-stakes poker tournaments,  with an interesting mix of poker playing actors and real poker pros. I enjoyed it quite a bit, though I think non-poker players would find it less interesting. Directed by Zak Penn with Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Chris Parnell, and a sup rising appearance from German documentary filmmaker Warner Herzog playing a made German.

** 1/2 Metallica – Some Kind of Monster – (2004) - Been meaning to catch this well-regarded documentary for a long time — but not being a fan of Metallica never quite got round to it.  However — seeing them perform at DreamForce in San Francisco this year kind of clinched the deal.  An interesting 2 year glimpse into the complexities of success and artistic / personal crises.  Interesting if not exactly revelatory.  Does give you a greater appreciation for the band though – even if you don’t like Metal Music.

**1/2 Storytelling – (2001) A better Todd Solondz movie than “Life During Wartime” — though an odd film nonetheless.  The high concept here is two shorter films, one labeled “Fiction” — which explores whether people would believe something that is true if it is presented as fiction,  and “Non-Fiction” in which a documentary filmmaker tries to capture the reality of a dysfunctional suburban team with unrealistic views of life.  Mostly uncomfortable and disquieting — but there are a few tender and scary moments, especially in the latter film.

**Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives (1989) –  6 years after the original Eddie and the Cruisers, for some reason or another a sequel was made.  The sequel focuses less on the characters and the actors, and just celebrates the music that must have been successful in the first picture. The music is, in fact, quite good, with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown band doing more of the same Bruce Springsteen sound-alike music.  Can’t argue with the music. And Michael Pare’ does his best to brood throughout the film as Eddie — who finally redeems himself for the love of the music. “It’s about the music, man!”.    Pare’ has an interesting B-movie career that includes the films Space Rage, Lunarcop, Strip Search, Merchant of Death, Postal, Ninja Cheerleaders, and 1968 Tunnel Rats! My girlfriend loves Eddie and the Cruisers, and so renting this on netflix was an act of love and devotion

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Troutco salutes the current L.A. Works staff that found a wonderful opportunity to engage community volunteers with the residents of the neighborhood of Leimert Park in South Central L.A. — a thriving community of African-American Artists. Beautiful weather, along with a great sense of community spirit and pride, made for a great day.  Click here to see some pictures from the day.

Troutco returns for its 14th consecutive year as Volunteer Coordinator for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books!  This year’s festival takes place on April 30th and May 1st at USC.

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Register today as volunteer space is limited!

In a year in which leisure time was at a premium for me, I’ve tried to avoid as many empty-calorie movies as possible, and only took time to seek out movies that either seemed worth the drive to the movie theatre, or qualified as ‘guilty pleasure’ sorts of films I’d enjoy.  Hence, this year’s list of thirty-one 2010 releases I saw has far fewer ‘misses’ than usual.  (I”ll catch the misses next year on DVD and for the most part, be glad I didn’t pay twelve bucks and leave the comfort of my home to see ‘em.)    Like most years, there will be a handful of good films that were in limited release only, that I won’t catch up on until January, as there were last year.  You’ll see last year’s limited releases in my list of 2009 movies viewed in 2010 below, as well as some catch-and-release films I avoided in theatres but felt compelled to judge for myself on DVD in the course of this year.

2010 Movies  (33)

The Year’s Best

#1 ****The Social Network – The combination of Aaron Sorkin’s sharp, incisive, dialog-heavy writing, with David Fincher’s astute use of high-tech moviemaking make for a movie that engages the mind at every level and wastes not a beat.  I was particularly impressed with the complex and vanity-free performance of Jesse Eisenberg that astutely pins down the drive and arrogance of a techno-tyrant with no sense of social norms. The tension in this kid’s face and jaw was amazing! The film also works on a number of thematic levels. Above and beyond the historical tale of the founding of facebook, it also tells the story of the turn-of-the-century clash of visions: from old-world business thinking (“we need advertising”) to traditional business partnership & ethics (“Harvard men behave honorably”), to the new technology-will-remake-the-world attitude  (“Hah! That industry will never be the same. We broke ‘em!” )  The power the Internet has over society and an individual’s soul has never been more clearly articulated. Even if you don’t give a fig for Facebook — this movie is full of food for thought and wonderfully constructed on every level.

#2 ****Toy Story 3 – Pixar’s streak remains unbroken, as they once again labor with love and don’t stint on story, design, and every element of each picture they make. Whereas most studios three-quels reek of desperation, this has a fresh story to tell, and deftly integrates old favorite characters with interesting and enjoyable new ones. It’s funny, nostalgic, and a marvel in blending the look and simplicity of their first round of digital design to the details now possible years later. The cliffhanger action sequence in the final third may go on a trifle too long, but most importantly, while entertaining us, they never lose site of the emotional underbelly of the characters and situation, and the last 10 minutes of this had my eyes tearing up.  Then they deftly put together adorably cute end credit bits, allowing us to wipe away our tears and leave the theatre with a smile.

If Pixar can do this every time (and they do!) — it does make you wonder why so many other movies seem formulaic, tired, and boring. Wish Pixar was behind every movie out there! Best sequel of the year! Fun for all ages, especially mine!

#3 ****The Fighter – Boxing movies always seem to enjoy both critical and popular success.  Audiences, I think, respond to the triumph of man over adversity, won at the cost of courage overcoming brutal, physical pummeling. Critics, I think, respond to the color and naturalism of the working class milieu. Rocky, Raging Bull…. both successfully plumbed these dualities.  While I went into David O. Russel’s “The Fighter” with some skepticism, thinking, oh gosh, end-of-year oscar-bait, another working class boxing movie — I was gripped within the opening five minutes of the film and cringed and cowered through the each bout.

The movie is fueled by some of the best performances of the year. A barely recognizable Christian Bale (back to the skeletal weight he slims down to for his most fevered performances), is electric as local legend and dynamic train-wreck Dicky Eklund. Amy Adams is a raw nerve of sexuality and fierceness as love interest, Charlene.  Her gift for drama is as keen as her gift for comedy seen in other films.  Mark Wahlberg’s laid back boyish charm and humility makes great counterpoint to the intensity of the family drama erupting around him.

The movie is as much about finding your way in a large family as it is about boxing. And the family is a fascinating portrait of Boston, irish working class (so many kids!), that reminded me of Woody Allen’s portraits of New York jewish families.

There are ingenious camera moves throughout the film, and the screenplay is tricky in the way it rolls in an HBO documentary that both allows for easy exposition, and yet guises its real dramatic purpose. This is a real crowd-pleasing movie that stabs you in the heart.

#4 ****The Kids are all Right – Wonderful performances by all five principal players make this keenly-observed indy one of the more rewarding pieces of cinema in this otherwise dull year. High marks for its insightful portrayal on the little things that exist in relationships.  It gets the spouse thing right, the parent/kid thing right, and if it runs a bit toward the melodramatic in creating an unlikely love triangle — well, what the heck.  If nothing else, it has fun with the California hippy-dippy lifestyle (since rolling along in Southern California after all these years).   And heck — it’s always great to see Mark Ruffalo in a non-genre picture in which he gets to act.  The guy has amazing chops and deserves far more recognition than he gets.  Never showy — but with quiet levels and depths and subtlety.  Julianne Moore – always terrific. And Annette Bening shows great bravery in playing the realities of being an unlikable character.  Good for her for shedding star vanity!

#5 ****Inception - the critics in backlash mode put down this film for being a glorified videogame, with its levels, bazookas, and explosions.  But let’s not forget — as video games go — this was a terrific one!  Enough density of plot to keep your mind engaged, solid acting, and some original and terrific visual effects, make this a sci-fi puzzler well above the norm.  If not a film for the ages, its every bit a distinctive and entertaining sci-fi action thinking-mans pic.  I’d gladly see more like it! Compare the intelligence and careful construction in this film, to drek like Tron: Legacy.  It’s nice to see science fiction taken seriously!

#6 ***The King’s Speech – In life, I naturally gravitate to stories of how people make critical decisions that lead them to success, fame, fortune or happiness. I’m less interested in those who have greatness thrust upon them. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never shared most people’s fascination of royalty. The idea that somehow becomes an important leader just because it runs in the bloodline doesn’t hold a lot of interest to me, and I’m equally uninterested in the fairy-tale aspect of the lives of royalty. While I have no doubt there can be interesting content in the difficulties and challenges of wishing to be a commoner and being both blessed and cursed by the trappings of royalty, you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t relate to it personally or vicariously. It just ain’t my cup of tea, mate.

Having said that, I can’t say I am intellectually drawn to material like “The King’s Speech”, which agonizes over the plight of being born a prince and denied the simpler life of a pauper. However — at a simpler level this movie succeeds on several counts. For one: at its heart, it mines the most universally accessible theme in drama — Triumph over adversity. This movie shares it climax with another end of the year oscar-favorite, “The Fighter.” Both King George and fighter Mickey Ward have to overcome family adversity and their own conflicted hearts and succeed against terrific obstacles. Here, its the familiar challenge of mental or physical disabilities – in this case, a stammer. Secondly – the movie trades on the fact that it is a ‘true” story – or at least based upon one. The rising tide of World War II and the challenges it presented worldwide lifts all stories connected to it. The importance of the moment and the occasion couldn’t be stronger. And finally, and most importantly, there are wonderful performances throughout. Colin Firth pulls off the delicate act of displaying his despair, frustration and fear without succumbing to self-pity or weakness. He’s far more sympathetic than Natalie Portman was in Black Swan, for example. It’s a finely tuned performance full of subtle shadings. Geoffrey Rush turns in a funny and charming performance as the ‘unconventional’ speech therapist, who ultimately is more of a director / frustrated actor and amateur psychiatrist. He avoids playing ‘quirky’ and tempers his humor and irreverence with an undercurrent of deep respect for the monarchy and humanity. And Helena Bonham Carter gives a remarkably understated yet rich performance as Queen Elizabeth – who more than anything else is a wife in love her with her husband. There isn’t a trace of artificial ‘royalty’ in the performance, and she humanizes the monarchy in a way its rarely seen.

As I say, the story itself doesn’t resonate with me personally — but there is a fine sense of satisfaction and gratitude that is communicated in a sincere way in the film’s climax — and that made this a rewarding experience overall.

#7 *** Greenberg – An interesting departure from most movies in that it’s entirely character-driven with little or no plot. Ben Stiller turns in a vanity-free performance as an insecure and unfocused ordinary Joe, who might have had a chance at success in the music business but walked away from it.  His life now has no direction or goal other than whatever catches his interest for a fleeting moment — whether its sex, friendship, or building a doghouse. His life is completely on hold.   There is a level of authenticity here that I found both engaging and interesting. The supporting cast is great, particularly Greta Garwig as an equally insecure love interest, whose life is similarly arrested, but who yearns for more. Definitely not for all tastes, as the characters makes little progress and do not grow in any real way — but I found this an interesting character study that really kept me engaged. An anti-romance that probably says more about relationships than most films with a sunnier outlook.

#8 *** Winter’s Bone – -  This critic and Sundance Film Fesival favorite is beautifully photographed and is anchored by an authentic performance by Jennifer Lawrence. It’s an affecting portrait of ethical desperation for a teen caught between the code of silence in her community, the law, and her lack of options to survive and care for her parentless younger siblings. The film suffers a bit from some harsh melodramatic stereotypes, and we’ve seen this story told before in other films but it is gripping and suspenseful nonetheless. Its narrative thrust occasionally feels contrived — but there are scenes (such as the one with the Army Recruiter), that are wonderfully effective in their simplicity. Best perhaps, is the authentic music and song, that melts away the harsher stereotypes of life in the Ozarks.

#9 ***Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows Part 1 - Just like the books, each subsequent film in this series gets darker and more complex.  While I originally thought the studios were just being greedy (which of course, they are), by dividing this last film into two parts – it actually turns out to be a good decision. Allowing the screenwriter and director 5 hours to tell the story in this Longggg novel, allows space to indulge in some quiet, emotional scenes that give the story depth.  While the whizbang opening 30 minutes of the film is terrific and exciting, I equally enjoyed the quieter moments exploring the feelings and characters of the central trio.  I probably still prefer to the great Jim Dale narrated audio books to the movies — but this series has come a long way from its clumsy Chris Columbus-helmed beginning.

#10 ***Exit Through the Gft Shop – If life is stranger than art, than this documentary (or is it one?) proves it. British street artist Banksy turns a documentary film that was meant to include him as the subject, into a film about the filmmaker. The fine line between art, its audience, celebrity, pop culture and the lure of the camera turn inside out on one another like a mobius strip.

#11 ***KickAss – an original and entertaining rethinking of the super-hero genre. Regular kid decides to be a caped crusader. An interesting blend of the horny teenager movie, with a touch of Tarantino (in the amazing form of the jaw-dropping “Hit Girl”, and a nice sense of melodramatic fun from the villains — this movie should have performed better at the box office.  And that’s exactly why the studios avoid originality and instead remake ‘commerical brands.”

Worth Watching

#12 ***Scott Pilgrim vs the World – Despite the fact that I’ve grown bored with the repetitive acting of Michael Cera, I had a lot of fun at this entertaining mashup of videogames, comic books and romantic comedy. Lots of ‘in-jokes’ for the gamer crowd and a wonderful sense of style  (if your idea of style is having a movie that looks like a giant video screen.  For me — an old gamer from way back — I found the movie fun, nostalgic, and silly in a good way.  Not for all audiences – but if you’ve ever played mortal combat or similar battle games — here’s the backstory the games have lacked. A triumph of style over substance.

#13 ***Joan Rivers: a piece of work – an extremely candid portrait of the drive, insecurity and need for approval that power and drive a performer/actress/comedienne. One needn’t be interested in the comedy of Joan Rivers (presented here in all its vulgarity), to find this real backstage look at a performer’s life fascinating.

#14 ***True Grit – The Coen brothers get to the heart of matters and eschew their usual ironic and distinctive tone, making a rather uncluttered and traditional western. The film is marked by fine lead performances by Jeff Bridges (almost redeeming himself for the mess of ‘Tron – Legacy”, Matt Damon, and a plucky and engaging young lead. Most notable here is the fine cinematography and the rather poetic tone of most of the dialog, that put me in mind of the fine HBO-series “Deadwood.”

#15 ***Unstoppable – a straightforward, old-fashioned action picture from the reliable team of Tony Scott and Denzel Washington.  This is big screen material due to the sheer mass and impact of the giant, loud, steel train — and like a train, the action starts of slow but steady, and builds its speed and momentum.  What was best about this was the emphasis on real photography and real stunts. CG effects work was kept to a minimum (if you can call 300 shots minimum) — but by capturing most of the movie ‘in-camera’ – the film has the grit and weight of realism that’s been missing in so many action pics.  I also enjoyed the fact that the danger did not come from terrorists, criminals, aliens, or any of the usual suspects — but instead was just plain, old human error and carelessness.

#16 *** Red – a surprisingly entertaining action picture, yet another successful adaption from a comic book source.  Red stands for “retired – extremely dangerous” .  And this provides the opportunity to graft some solid acting talent on top of the usual mayhem.  Bruce Willis brings his usual charm and gravity to an action hero, and with support from mature actors like Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Ernest Borgnine, and a wonderfully nutty John Malcovitch to balance out the high-level of sharp action sequences and endless rounds of escalating ammunition and explosions, the director, Robert Schwentke brings a nice blend of suspenseful spy stuff and comic charm. Much more entertaining than the vaguely similar CIA pic this year like “Salt”.

#17 ***Iron Man 2 - While not as tight as the first film (origin stories are always more compelling than 2nd chapters), this is still a very entertaining spin-off of the franchise, powered by Robert Downey Jrs’ bad-boy charm, a roguish performance by Sam Rockwell and solid creepiness from Mickey Rourke.  Jon Favreau shows a great sense of style and real affection for the comic sources.

#18 ***Cyrus – Marisa Tomei continues a great string of little indy performances in this quirky, yet surprising love triangle between a sad sack looking for love (the best of ‘sad sack’ actors, John C. Reilly), and her 20-something son, Cyrus, played remarkably low-key by Jona Hill, in a significant departure from his work in broader comedies.  The surprise here is that everything about the situation here would indicate the movie was going to develop into comic madness, but instead we get a rather insightful character study into love, need and jealousy.  The movie lacks any conclusion or thematic insight, but as a series of interesting character studies it is spot-on and interesting.

#19 ***Black Swan – as much as I admire Darren Aronofsky’s unconventional and daring filmmaking, I found this award-nominated film somewhat overrated. Built around a metaphor for artistic transformation set in a parallel arc with the ballet Swan lake the film is more about idea than character or even plot. It works best as a sort of a psychological horror film with some decent jolts and some hard to watch gross-outs.   Trouble is, none of the characters elicit any interest or sympathy – and Natalie Portman’s performance is unrelentingly unappealing. It’s just neurosis from start to finish.  With no character to root for, the film is intellectual rather than engaging.

#20 ***Who is Harry Nilsson and Why is Everybody Talking about Him – a nicely constructed, bio-documentary with rare film clips and articulate talking heads telling the sad story of one of the most original song-writers and finest voices of the pop-rock era.  While the filmmaking is fairly straightforward (and could have been seen on one of those ‘bio’ TV shows — the story is deeply moving and compelling.  The fact that I have deep affection for the music and the recordings of Harry made this something special for me.  Most anyone with a love of music however will recognize a surprising number of the songs sprinkled throughout, and be surprised at the number of artists who were part of his life and among his admirers. John Lennon called Harry  ”My favorite American Group”.

#21 ***The Expendables – Sylvester Stallone manages to deliver what this year’s A-Team completely missed — a balls-to-the-wall action picture with characters who live and breathe. This is tough guys being tough in a most satisfying way. Stallone manages to pull fine performances out of a large ensemble of solo stars, including amusing cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold himself. The lengthy ‘making of’ documentary included on the DVD is actuaklly more gripping than the movie itself, and shows Stallone to be both intelligent and sensitive, and driving himself as a director, through extreme physical injury, in a manner reminiscent of the man we know as Rocky. Viewed in tandem with the documentary – I gave this film a higher rating than it otherwise would have gotten.

#22 ***Get Low – Robert Duvall is wonderful as always, and Bill Murray brings an interesting mix to his character, and wonderful performances permeate this entire movie.  However, the plot seems a bit contrived and doesn’t entirely hold together. Despite the wonderfully handled scene in which Duvall’s character reveals his ‘secret’ to the town — one is left to wonder — why couldn’t he do this in the first place without having a ‘funeral party’.  What’s the funeral got to do with any of this?   Still — some wonderful character work and acting throughout make this worth seeing.

#23 *** Splice – A rather intelligent, yet chilling sci-fi flick about genetic experimentation and ethics.  Surprisingly good effects for a low-budget, indy-sensibility film. While it stretches credulity at times with “why would smart people make these dumb choices’ plot contrivances — it nonetheless keeps you nervously attentive. And not without a few good horror thriller jolts!

#24 ***Book of Eli - This stylish B movie gains a lot of extra gravitas from the solid presence of both Denzel Washington and Gary Oldham. It’s spiritual overtones aside, this is almost a direct cross of Mad Max and Deadwood. Nice visual snap.  I’d call this a B+ movie.

OK but no cigar

#25 *** Alice in Wonderland – Tim Burton movies are beginning to all blend together.  The usual macabre craziness, but it didn’t feel particularly fresh to me. There was a germ of a good idea here, in making Alice a grown young woman and taking a thematic stance in her finding her independence and confidence – but I feel like this material has been seen so many times that it was hard to understand why the movie had to be made again.

#26 **1/2 The Runaways – as indy films of drugs, sex (of the lesbian kind) and rock ‘n’ roll go, this is a surprisingly tame affair. Dakota Fanning gets all growed up to play the rise and fall of Cherie Currie — another drug casualty of rock and roll.  Not without interest, but all rather perfunctory.

#27 **  Salt - Angelina Jolie got far too much praise for her macho posturing (and doing her own stunts) in this ho-hum action piece.  Not terribly thrilling, and with a plot that both defied logic and common sense, this was a piece of popcorn that didn’t even stick between my teeth.  Forgotten the next day.

#28 ** The Lovely Bones – I have not read the book so don’t have a point of reference to understand why this novel was so successful — but Peter Jackson’s cinematic version is just too melodramatic and too…. much.  I’ve never seen more colors used in each and eveyr frame. While never boring — it does feel rather, leering and self-possessed.  It’s almost as if Tim Burton had had a hand in this. And it takes a lot to make Susan Sarandon so awful in a movie.  Something’s truly off here.

#29 **  Piranha 3D – What should of, and could have been good trashy fun turns out to be mostly trash. Jerry O’Connell plays a very unlikable character that wears out his welcome way too quickly.  Yes — we know he’ll eventually get mauled by killer fish — but couldn’t they have taken him in the first scene and spared us from interminable scenes that were far more revolting than anything the fish do!  A few good cheesy bits — but even the gratuitous nudity here isn’t as much fun as it ought to be — because these spring break revelers are such boorish dolts.

#30 ** From Paris with Love – John Travolta has more fun than the audience in this unremarkable B-movie shoot-em-up.  Nowhere near as successful and taut as last year’s surprise “Taken” by the same Director.

#31 ** Hot Tub Time Machine – the high-concept comic idea, four losers returning to the 1980s through encountering a Hot Tub Time Machine is fun – but the movie itself is short on laughs.  Instead of real humor, we get a lot of pee and poop chokes, and a record amount of projectile vomiting.  The only good running joke involves Crispin Glover and a missing arm.

The Worst

#32 **Tron Legacy – Exactly what’s wrong with Hollywood filmmaking. Instead of recognizing an opportunity to revisit a prescient tale of technology and video games, and re-imagine it with what we’ve learned and experienced both technologically and socially about the digitial experience — someone must have gotten the notion that “We can make the special effects cooler now, release it in 3-D, digitally graft Jeff Bridge’s younger face onto his body so he can play himself at two different ages, so let’s fast track a sequel now!”  The fact that no one considered the script seems to be a minor oversite.  At least in the theatre I saw it, the cliche-ridden dialog was almost impossible to hear, as it was ‘auto-tuned’ to make it more robotic, with echos and effects to create a sense of space , and mostly drowned out in the dense, atmosphere-drenched score so that it would all seem IMPORTANT!  Ever more of a ripoff was the fact that, according to some inserted titles, “part of the movie was imagined in 2-D so there is nothing wrong with your overpriced 3-D glasses … we just didn’t bother to make the whole thing in 3-D.”   Somewhere, someone riding a light cycle is chuckling all the way to the bank for releasing this disappointing  mess.

#33 **A-Team – Despite charming terms from Bradley Cooper and Liam Neeson – this uninspired action flick suffers from a convoluted, who cares, plot and weak CG action sequences that despite frantic editing produce no sense of thrill, no sense that anything is actually happening.  Throughout the movie I felt like I was watching a wildly-cut trailer for a movie, rather than a movie itself. Fast editing of fights and action does not make it seem more exciting — just more disorienting and more faked.  Ho-hum.

2009 Movies seen during 2010 (27)

DVDs and netflix streaming make it easy to wind up catching last year’s films in the comfort of your home. These days, indy releases rarely make it back to the theatres, even if they get some oscar love at the end of the year.  I caught a few of these in the theatre in January, but most were seen on my home theatre  (and often they were better than what was playing in the cinemas for the first half of 2010).  The top five of these are well worth seeing if you haven’t yet.  Some of the others confirmed my initial impulse not to spend 10 bucks to see them when they first came out.

THE BEST OF LAST YEAR (Seen this Year)

**** An Education – Carey Mulligan’s performance has been rightly praised, but not enough has been said about what a lovely, adult film this is with its sharp script by Nick Hornby.  Its a rare depiction of the 60s that doesn’t wallow in the ‘cuteness’ of the period — but instead looks honestly at the limits that existed for women back at the time. The film adroitly presents a heroine with the appropriate naivete’ for her time and age — but also makes her smart, sharp, and avoids presenting her as a victim. Great supporting performances all around in this film, with even the parts that could have descended into caricature showing surprising definition and depth. The film does a great job of keeping you inquisitive, nervous, and slightly on edge – without tipping its hand about where its headed.  The film has no ‘high concept’ at all — so marketers probably floundered at finding an angle to ‘pitch’ this film with.  Too bad — its an interesting ‘coming of age’ film, from a young women’s point of view for a change. Good stuff!

**** Crazy Heart - Crazy Heart is wonderfully scripted, and nicely acted —  a film that allows plot to follow character rather than formula — resulting in an an authentic and touching story — even if its one we’ve seen before.

The film is reminiscent of last year’s “The Wrestler” by way of 2005′s “Walk the Line” but without the celebrity baggage of the latter.

Jeff Bridge’s brings his charm, and selfless, lived-in authenticity to this solid performance.  Both he and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell do a very credible job singing the great songs produced and written by T-Bone Burnett, Stephen Bruton, and Ryan Bingham.   I imagine Bridge’s will be the Oscar Favorite since self-destruction, alcoholism and singing country music gains more academy respect than subtler, closer-to-home performances like George Clooney in “Up in the Air.”  Such is the nature of horseracing — but Bridges is quite enjoyable here and its a more reserved and honest performance than  Joaquin Phoenix’s melodramatic turn.  This film also has very nice work from Maggie Gyllenhall — and how many films can quietly reserve Robert Duvall to show up in a quiet, supporting role 2/3rds into the movie? (And Duvall does a very authentic little vocal in the film as well!)

Why does a film like this linger without a major release? If the Academy Awards are good for nothing else — it provides the marketing edge it takes to bring small-budget films around.

*** Passing Strange – Spike Lee takes on the unenviable task of filming a live stage performance of a Broadway Musical — but surprise — the sheer vitality of this material and its music somehow gets passed through despite the limitations of live theatre captured in film.  Credit Los Angeles musician and artist “Stew” — as well as his music collaborators and partners in his fascinating local band “The Negro Problem” for bringing fresh vitality and real pop-rock cred to the stage.  One of the most effective stage-to film- to DVD transfers I’ve seen.  This is a musical that I would have loved to see live on stage — a real antidote to the over-produced spectacles that have become the standard for musical theatre.

***Moon – This low-budget psychological science fiction is tricky to follow, but is amazingly produced for an independent film. Effects are first rate, and Sam Rockwell’s performance(s), should have earned him more recognition than this little-seen film managed to garner. A thinking man’s sci-fi.

*** This is It — Say what you like about MIchael Jackson — this reheasal documentary shows an amazing amount of dedication, discipline, and chutzpah.  The sheer scope of the show that never was is quite staggering. Fascinating to see the detail and work and the amount of energy put into the rehearsal process. Nicely assembled from footage that was probably never intended to be used in this way.

GOOD FILMS FROM LAST YEAR

***  -  9 - Beautifully designed with stunning visual imagination and computer animation — However the story isn’t particularly unique or compelling, and the dialog runs a little mythic/wooden, and emotionally is a bit one-dimensional.  They considered making the film without dialog (as was the original short film on which is was based — but unfortunately they did decide to use voice actors.  I don’t think the director brought much to the actors.)   Turn off the dialog though and you have a rich and original visual world.  (I think cinema 2009 was the year of the post-apocalypse milieu.  This was one of the early entries into the year of bleak, desolate future).

***The International – A far better turn by Clive Owen than the messy ‘Duplicity’ – this is a straightforward, intense and serious-minded thriller about one man’s obsession with bringing down an International Banking cartel. There is a great shoot-out in the Guggenheim that rewards your patience, and rather than being the film’s finale — the larger central occupation of the film continues. Not entirely satisfying in its resolution, but intellectually engaging.

*** Good Hair – Chris Rock’s good-natured documentary about the issues african american women have with their hair — and the massive industry that has grown up around it is interesting and fun, but not terribly deep. Still — I now know things about the female of the species that I hadn’t even dreamed of!

*** - He’s Just not That Into You - a large ensemble cast gives an agreeable and recognizable glimpse at over-hopeful woman, and the men they are attracted to who behave like…. well, men.  This is good for some nice laughs and some interesting and recognizable insights into relationships — but in the final twenty minutes this gets thrown out the window to provide a woman-pleasing romantic finish.  Suddenly the men stop behaving like men and ‘do the right thing’ providing happy endings for all the women we were told were being foolish.   Moral: Ladies – don’t give up hope – even if he isn’t into you he’ll come around in the final reel!

***The Cove – This is less a documentary of what’s happening and why, than an  extremely effective piece of environmental activism.  If you are not already horrified at the idea that dolphin are slaughtered for their meat, than seeing this happen in this hidden cove in Japan will chill your bones. The film tracks the efforts of the original trainer of ‘flipper’ as he’s realized that because of him, Dolphin’s are now herded into captivity, and if not chosen for training and exhibition, then corralled into slaughter. The efforts of him and other concerned friends of these marine animals plays out like a thriller.  (It reminds me a bit of the cloak and dagger of last year’s “Man on a Wire” though here  the stakes are much higher of course). I do think the film would have been more compelling if the filmmakers at least gave voice to those who find economic or culture rationale in the fishing industry that support this slaughter.  I imagine I’d be equally horrified at a film that showed me the slaughter of cattle for steak and other consumer meats, but the intelligence of these beautiful creatures does raise the stakes and one cannot help but share the filmmakers appalled point of view.  ”Awareness” seems to be the key. It goes without saying I’ll never eat dolphin meat as a result of this film — even without the red herring (no pun intended) of mercury poisoning that is raised as the reason they don’t think dolphins should be consumed.

OTHERS FROM LAST YEAR SEEN THIS YEAR

*** Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - Not without its charm, the audience for this is definitely the young set.  Nicely colorful, but none of the animation comes close to the detail and definition of Pixar’s efforts, and the script doesn’t even begin to aim as high.  But as an animated version of the classic children’s book, it succeeds pretty well.  Certainly the best animated film featuring Mr. T!

*** The Informant! – Matt Damon tackles his first ‘character’ role in this interesting but uneven look at corporate whistle-blowing based on a true incident involving a bi-polar, compulsive liar, with a hero complex. The seriousness of the situation is played for ironic laughter via director Soderbergh’s choices to play the film as a 60s style farce (complete with goofy music and titles).  Ultimately, its quite an interesting character study though.

*** – I love you Man – Paul Rudd brings a certain charm to this otherwise formulaic ‘bro-mance”.  A low-maintenance comedy – worth a chuckle or two — unless the tired cliche’ of men as boorish clods eventually bores you.  Then again — its not like I don’t adolescently play in bands myself  The pluses here outweighed the minuses.

*** The Blind Side – An enjoyable and uplifting story — but one remarkably free of conflict or development.  Essentially Sandra Bullock plays a hard-headed, progressive and even saintly woman who by sheer force of will saves a young man by taking him into her family, and giving him short but simple advice that allows him to become a much-desired football star. The family embraces and supports everything she does, and beams lovingly throughout. The boy is lovable and wonderful in almost all ways as well. It’s a feel good movie on all cylinders, but divorced from any sense of real-world conflict other than the ‘big picture’ stuff that is glossed over.  Only 1 referee presents opposing ‘racist’ behavior, and even the gang back in the hood, is more talk than action. Both Michael and Sandra Bulloch get tough with them and they let them walk away without incident.  A lovely dream of good being its own reward.  While the role presents no particular complexity — Sandra Bullock is a formidable presence in the film — and that coupled with the affection everyone has for her in the academy, earned her her first Oscar!

***Funny People – not as bad as it was originally reported, but this dramedy is neither very funny or very heart-warming. Quiet long — and yet, if you go into it with low expectations, there is a sort of interesting relationship story here.  Seth Rogan is actually quite interesting here as a budding comic.  This reminded me quite a bit of “Almost Famous” with comedians substituting for rock stars.

***The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Does anyone making movies have greater imagination and worse luck than Terry Gilliam?  So many of his films have had troubled production histories, and this one, in which Heath Ledger died halfway through filming (and therefore had to be replaced by Johnny Depp, Jude law, etc), is both visually stunning and flabbergastingly confusing. The usual blend of crazy camera angles, animated wonder, dwarfs, and props and settings from a variety of periods and styles.  A bit dizzying to watch or fathom — it nonetheless has its moments of joyful wows.

*** Whip It – I think I like roller derby more than I liked this rather bland script.  Drew Barrymore gets the girlz passion right, but can’t find a tone for this otherwise mildly enjoyable skating flick.  Ellen Page however, continues to shine.

*** Zombieland – Given the initial enthusiasm this movie received by critics and box office I was expecting a bit more. Woody (a former ‘student’ of mine) rises above the material, but a little bit of Jesse Eisenberg goes a long way…   The only thing that gives this movie a sense of fun is the use of ‘the rules’ as a framing, narrative device. But even that doesn’t pay off in the long run.  Neither fun enough, cohesive enough, or Zombie-riffic enough.  Could be the zombie genre is a bit over-saturated right now. Still — if you’re looking for some lowbrow zombie bashing fun — this goes down pretty easy.

**1/2 2012 – The first hour of this is fun, with some great effects sequences around giant earthquakes destroying just about everything, and narrow escapes as streets collapse, buildings fall, and airport runways crumple right behind the heroes narrow escapes.  But plotting that recalls the very worst of Irwin Allen destruction-fests of the past, and eventually feels like a bad day on the “love boat” sets in quickly, and we grow bored as the volcanos erupt, and move into a stupor during the silly final hour as mankind faces peril in giant arks with giant gears as giant waves flood everything and pretty soon its beyond silly and a yawnfest. How exactly did they get John Cusack into this mess?

**1/2 Frank Zappa / Mothers of Invention:1960s – a rather dry documentary about the birth of the Mothers of Invention and the emergence of Frank Zappa.  Not without interest for a fan of his music (which I am) — but probably not much here for a general audience.

** 1/2 Bruno – OK… some of this is quite funny — if you believe that outrageousness is funny (which is can be).  But its a bit much and I’m not surprised this didn’t work at the box office.  No one wants to see this much display of male genitalia (except perhaps the population which is being broadly satirized and made fun of here. While you’ve got to admire Cohen’s daringness — this just doesn’t entertain or touch you the way the far superior “Borat” did.

**1/2 - It’s Complicated. A lot of talent is wasted here with this implausible and awkward script.  Alex Baldwin’s charm can’t compensate for his totally unsympathetic ‘cheat on his wife’ because he’s so darn hot about his ex contrived-character. Meryl Streep plays a woman, who, when gathering with her women friends are thrilled at her infidelities and just cheer her on.  This makes even “Sex in the City” look like a realistic portrayal of women.  The central character plays a woman who seemingly has everything — an incredible job, immeasurable money, is lusted after by her by both Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin, can afford a massive renovation to an already indescribably gorgeous estate, and still has time to gossip with her friends, attend to her family, and garden in her glorious garden out back.  And yes, she cooks scrumptious meals at home too!

**1/2 - The Last Station – I found myself fairly restless with this historical melodrama. I think it had some good thematic points — but I found the style very uneven and the performances verging on the hammy. If you’re a fan of Tolstoy and his movement – then this may be of interest to you.  If not — I can’t recommend.  (The folks I were with however LOVED this — so for the right audience – the right stuff). To each their own.

**Duplicity – two good looking stars, but litle chemistry. Overcomplicated plotting with twists and double crosses, and ultimately its hard to care.  Even with nice turns by Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson its hard to muster much enthusiasm for this slick piece of nothing much.

** Surrogates – Lots of robots, plus Bruce Willis — so how come this is so dull and lacking?  Weak effects, and routine action render everything as emotion-free as the title characters.

** – Fast and Furious - Dull and leaden.  Other than some stunt work at the beginning of the film, its all video-game level cgi, and its unrelentingly melodramatic seriousness robs this of any of the fun of the first 3 films in this series

** – In the Loop - This critically praised ‘black’ satirical comedy of hard cursing insiders in the British and American political process proved a real yawn for me. I just didn’t connect to this on any level.  An indy comedy in emperor’s clothes.

Movies from earlier years seen in 2010  (5)

Here’s a few movies that I missed in 2008 that I caught up on this year. Only the first is worth the time.  And, as usual, I don’t dip too back in time to old movies, but the latter film was screened at a movie night this year so I threw it in as well.

**** It might get Loud (2008) – A documentary in which three generations of distinguished guitarists discuss their relationship to the electric guitar.  Jimmy Page is the elder statesman and interested in dynamics, the Edge is interested in the specificity of the sound and the rhythms of playing, and young turk Jack White is seeking authenticity and attitude.  The film is not so much about the music they make, but rather, more interestingly, about the artistic impulses that shape their vision as sonic architects and their relation to the instrument itself. It’s as much about sound, in its rawest form, as it is about notes. As a musician, I found this a very interesting conversation. A rare peek into the real process of true artists and a very interesting choice on the part of documentarian Andrew Davis to exploring something as abstract as a musical instrument.

** 1/2 Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay - (2008) – If you didn’t like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle – you certainly won’t like this. On the other hand – if you did — this is guilty fun.  Quite raunchy, in a fun-spirited way.  Nonetheless, I laughed despite myself.  The guys are quite likable and even though the picture is a bit of a mess, they keep the low blows coming and I laughed quite a bit despite myself.

**Zack and Miri Make a Porno – (2008) – Kevin Smith continues to lose his commercial appeal as a filmmaker with this  romantic comedy cum porno film with  Seth Rogen (playing yet another adolescent manchild) and Elizabeth Banks (playing an oversexualized bimbette cutie – a character that only could exist from a male pen.  While the romance tempers things a bit — this is raunchy even by the standards of Seth Rogan and Kevin Smith movies. Not terribly funny, except in a gross-out way.  Was this released with a rating?   If so — it had to be NC-17 — which may explain its limited success.

**The Brothers Bloom – (2008) An uneven cross of a ‘con’ film (i.e. “The Sting”), with an indy film sensibility — the movie is somewhat convoluted and uneven in tone.  It keeps promising to be fun and yet has a gloomy outlook.  Lacks drive and momentum.

*** Prince of the City – (1981) - This movie hasn’t weathered well, and the first half of this rather long movie is over-filled with exposition. Better films of police corruption have left this in the dust — and Treat William’s performance here telescopes why he never made much headway as an actor.  It’s over-the-top and hammy.

Previous Year’s Movie Lists:

2009

2008

1993 – 2007

Here’s a video, to be premiered at the Dreamforce Convention in San Francisco on December 6th, highlighting the value this marriage of technology and volunteerism brings to corporate customers.

http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/arts/101660698.html