My apologies for dropping the ball on this countdown. For a couple of weeks I’ve been just barely holding back the flu and early last week it finally hit, hit with a vengeance, and put me in bed all week — something that hasn’t happened since the early nineties. Thanks to our awesome contributors and their awesome contributions (and Assoc. Editor Alex Marlow), the Big Hollywood plates kept spinning, but the effort required to write anything but quickie posts, much less a proper review, just wasn’t there. My thanks to everyone who chipped in while I was away, and without further ado…

“The King’s Speech“

Of course we all know by now that this was the big winner Oscar night; Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay — and deservedly so. What we have here is the perfect “Academy movie,” a look at one man overcoming a handicap — in this case a merciless stutter — which is always prime Oscar bait, especially when it’s pulled off as well as “The King’s Speech.”

Based on real-life events, what really makes the story sing is the relationship between King George VI (a terrific Colin Firth) and commoner Lionel Logue (a splendid Geoffrey Rush), his unorthodox speech therapist. This is essentially a love story between two men who meet under extraordinary circumstances and through a number of ups and downs both in their own personal lives and between each other, grow a real and lasting friendship.

The stakes are high, as well. After his hard partying, Charlie Sheen-ish brother is forced to step down, Firth is unsure of himself when it comes to assuming the throne of England. With Hitler spreading his reign of terror across Europe, Britain needs a king who can help to  rally and inspire its people against seemingly impossible odds. But the stutter makes speaking nearly impossible and is only a symptom, not the real problem. And so if this oddball and somewhat eccentric speech therapist is going to cure his patient’s speech impediment, it will require, in part, turning the King into A King, building the confidence and self-esteem of an insecure man unaware of his own potential.

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As I’ve written before, 2010 was actually a good year for movies.  The King’s Speech, The Fighter, Inception, Toy Story 3, Tangled, and How to Train Your Dragon were all great entertainment.  We’ve seen terrific starring roles from actors ranging from the heretofore unwatchable James Franco to the ever impressive Christian Bale, from the magnificent Colin Firth to the chameleonic Geoffrey Rush.  We’ve seen some actresses in supporting roles who have outshone their second-tier parts: Melissa Leo and Amy Adams in The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech.

But when we look at the leading actresses of 2010, the dearth of great performances and great parts is stunning.  The Golden Globe nominees for best actress this year were Halle Berry in the anonymous flick Frankie and Alice, playing a crazy person in her usual over-the-top style; Nicole Kidman in the anonymous flick Rabbit Hole, playing a grieving mother in her usual cold and remote style; Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone, playing a teenage girl looking for her meth-making dad; Natalie Portman in Black Swan, playing a crazy person with a constipated look plastered on her mug; and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine, playing a spoiled girl who gets knocked up, married, and presumably divorced.  Has anyone seen any of these women in any of these films?  And if the disastrous Natalie Portman – Queen Amidala masturbating, anyone? – is the frontrunner for Best Actress at the Oscars, how far have female figures fallen?

Far.  Quick, think of the ten greatest living film actors.  It’s not that tough – we have iconic male film stars all the time.  Now think of the ten greatest living film actresses.  Now take away all women over 50.  Still thinking, aren’t you? (more…)

“The King’s Speech” begins with a close-up shot of a microphone. The microphone isn’t extravagant. Nor would it be considered unique. However, its simplicity doesn’t portend its significance in the modern world. The microphone allows the voice of one man or woman to reach millions of listeners. Its power is on full display in “The King’s Speech,” a great film about a leader’s struggle with a speech impediment during a time of crisis in England.

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Colin Firth plays Prince Albert as the story begins in the early 20th century. Albert is forced to give public speeches as part of his official duties. It’s a responsibility that he dreads because he suffers from an awful stammer that he has had since childhood. That speech impediment prevents him from connecting to his audience and inspiring them. Instead, when he gives a speech,  listeners painfully look on as he struggles with the text in front of him. 

 With the support of his wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), Prince Albert seeks the counsel of doctors to help him overcome the stammer. One doctor even has Prince Albert insert marbles into his mouth to cure him. That suggestion, like so many other approaches before it, fails to make a difference. (more…)

“Alice in Wonderland” director is Tim Burton a recognized genius of signature atmospheric animation and cinematic story and style. The story’s screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, who has penned Disney classics like “The Lion King,” is also a masterful story-teller. But their styles hardly mix, and the surreal atmosphere of “Alice in Wonderland” can’t hide this fact.

“Alice in Wonderland” borrows elements of both of author Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, telling the story of a grown Alice who is set to marry the oafish son of her deceased father’s business partner. But as her trophy wife future pans out before her, she gets cold feet and flees her engagement party, inadvertently chasing a rabbit in a waistcoat and falling down a hole into a strange world. Once there, she learns that it is her destiny to rescue “Wonderland” from a swollen-headed Red Queen, obsessed with beheading others. As a rebellion brews in preparation for the foretold day of victory, Alice must reconcile that to save Wonderland she must battle the terrifying dragon-like Jabberwocky. Despite the dreamy atmosphere of Wonderland, Alice slowly realizes that if she accepts the task of slaying the Jabberwocky, it might kill her. (more…)

A human being enters a lushly rendered alternative world, meeting an assortment of strange beings before having to save them from a vicious attack. No,this isn’t a review of “Avatar.” Rather, it’s a review of “Alice in Wonderland,” the new 3D take on Lewis Carroll’s classic book, which director Tim Burton and his favorite leading man Johnny Depp have brought to life in visually stunning – yet narratively befuddling – fashion.

I’m admittedly not acquainted with Carroll’s book, and only vaguely remember the 1951 fully-animated version that the Disney studios also created. But the key in reviewing a movie is in determining how it stands on its own as entertainment, and on this front, “Alice” mostly succeeds. It’s fun to look at and most of the performances are inspired, with relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska able to hold her own in an endless series of absurd and sometimes frightening situations.

On the downside, I found some of the gibberish talk by the Mad Hatter and the sometimes endless stream of odd-character introductions to be annoying at times. And while this is fine entertainment for teens and adults, parents of young children should realize that this movie is nearly a full two hours long, has some seriously violent moments in Alice’s fight with the dragonesque Jabberwock and even features a quick shot of a bad creature’s eye getting graphically gouged out. Also consider the fact that Alice drinks from any bottle and takes any pill in sight without questioning it – a fact that has inspired generations of drug-favoring hipsters to consider “Alice” a favorite story, but which might be concerning in the modern age, which is far more sinister than Carroll’s Victorian era. (more…)

As we enter the fourth week of this summer season, I don’t know about you, but after a pleasant surprise with the unpretentious, proud to be a B-revenger “Wolverine,” each new release has gotten progressively worse. Let’s just hope – because there’s a lot of summer ahead of us – that we’ve bottomed out with “Terminator Salvation.”

What a crushing and noisy disappointment this is. For whatever reason, Director McG’s fourth chapter in the “Terminator” franchise tosses aside the simple but successful plot template that made its predecessors so memorable and goes all “Bourne” with a hyper-complicated plot, narcissistic “hero” and a big fat wide blur between the concept of good battling evil. Yes, welcome to Hollywood’s post-Bush “Terminator,” where a militaristic Resistance demands we “Stay the course,” Terminators work through their feelings, and John Connor runs off to find himself only to end up in a numbingly dull third act that plays like a direct-to-DVD toss off.

Things open on an intriguing and hopeful note. The year is 2003 and Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) is a guilt-ridden death row inmate not far from execution. Dr. Serena Krogen (Helena Bonham Carter, who’s always interesting), approaches Wright for what we assume is the umpteenth time to convince him to donate his body to science. His coming to terms with his own death mixed with her losing battle with cancer sparks his humanity and he relents. The State gives him what he deserves and we cut to 2018.

The world as we knew it is now ravaged by a war the machines wage against mankind. Cities are reduced to rubble and those who survive are reduced to prey, living underground or constantly on the run. Some have organized into what’s called the Resistance and their spiritual leader is John Connor (Christian Bale). (more…)