Midnight in Paris (2011)

Oh, this is a great film, if only to fantasize of living in a great city full of culture and croissants. Woody Allen continues to work his way around Europe (London, Barcelona before this and Rome after - I hope he makes it to many more), this time transporting his title character, another writer, to early 1920s Paris to mix with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Baker, Dali, Stein, Porter, etc. Will he cast caution to the wind to live among some of history's greatest misfits or will be bow to economic and social pressures and stay with his boring wife?

Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)

Ever since I watched my first anime flick (Howl's Moving Castle), I have had a special place in my heart for the genre, particularly the unrestrained creativity that comes from Studio Ghibli. Castle in the Sky brings a great adventure out of ordinary happenings. The boy & girl team end up foiling secret agents, flying all over the world, facing magical foes and of course discovering courage and strength along the way. The best part of these stories is the unpredictable turns, which may also be what people don't like about them - the magical elements are simply boundless making it easy to conjure a story that no one else could make up.

The Avengers (2012)

Some fun one-liners, entertaining inter relational dynamics, and of course great visual effects. But it's still an action movie primarily and you'll find little else.

Thor: You have no idea what you're dealing with.
Tony Stark (Iron Man): Shakespeare in the Park?

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La cité des enfants perdus (1995)

The City of Lost Children is one of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's (Amélie) early films (a collaboration with Marc Caro) and it certainly bears his marks of humour and fantasy. One of the lead actors, Dominique Pinon, appears in nearly all of Jeunet's films.

The story here revolves around the abduction of children from a port town by drones. The one having the children abducted can't dream, so he connects his brain to the kids' brains so that he can participate in their dreams. Ron Perlman's character is out looking for his lost little friend and eventually uncovers this massive plot. The film is saturated with rich villains, colourful children, and high contrast lighting. Oddly enough, Perlman delivers very few lines in barely understandable French.

It's a fun, rather humourous film despite its dark subject, but I found it a little difficult to follow.

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

In anticipation of the film which I got advance tickets for about 3 weeks before the opening night, I reread The Hobbit. This is the first time I reread it since the first time back in 1987. I thoroughly enjoyed the book though I wish Tolkien had been encouraged to write an adult version of events following the publication of The Lord of the Rings. I was deeply moved by Bilbo's goodness.

To the film now. I was worried about the high frame rate (48 frames per second is twice as many as traditional film) and there was some trepidation in regards to 3D - would it be gimmicky? I fretted without reason - neither was a hindrance, in fact the film was so crisp, engaging, warm, and real feeling that I was immediately sucked in. As an aside, if you don't like 3D or high frame rate, then see it in 2D at 24 fps.

The jovial nature of the children's tale was maintained with plenty of slapstick and one-liners. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. The character flaws were front and centre in every scene except when they became heroic - then it was a little over the top. It would be unkind to highlight any single character, hero or villain, as they were all magnificent.

Another worry I had was the caricaturization of the 13 dwarves with their wild hair, tattoos, beards and bling. The looks suite the characters and I was very pleased with their onscreen personas.

I plan on seeing the film in theatre at least 2 more times. It's candy.

[I'm 64 films behind in my reviews, so I thought I'd offer my 2 cents on this ahead of when I would reach it in April]

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Tangled (2010)

I enjoyed this modern, musical, Disney-fied take on the Rapunzel story. With such high returns on animated features these days, they typically gather a stellar crew of writers, animators, and producers.

As is typical, the side characters are the funniest and most interesting (the horse, the chameleon, the tavern crew, etc.). Some of the songs are fun, but a lot of them are sentimental crooning which, you know, get stuck in your head and will likely be memorized by young girls.

My pastor preached a sermon on this movie, likening it to a modern parable about identity and going home.

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The Corpse Bride (2005)

Brilliant animated feature! What could have been a very dark film is light, refreshing and full of hope - especially if those who are quite put off by the murky depths of the grave simply look at it as a parable (I could include myself in this category sometimes).

Tim Burton leads a troop of puppeteers and stop-motion animators to tell the tale of a Victorian fella named Victor who is betrothed to Victoria (I love it!) only to accidentally wed a corpse as he rehearses his lines in a cemetery. All of the characters - living and dead - give stellar performances and some of the puns are gut splitting hilarious (like when the maggot in the corpse bride's head pops an eye out and says "I'll keep an eye out for him.").

Fighting my dislike of celebrating death and all things spooky, I realized the amazing parallel that we have in Christianity: Christ, the bridegroom, will one day wed his church who's many parts will have been dead and so his bride could be considered a corpse. I think there is some valid parallel here. Some great resurrection images too (the young boy who approaches a walking skeleton, pauses, and then leaps into it's arms shouting "grandpa!").

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Fanny och Alexander (1982)

Fanny and Alexander is one of Ingmar Bergman's most celebrated films. It is the intimate account of a brother and sister born into the aristocracy of 19th century Sweden. The story begins at Christmas time where opulence is exposed as a deep root for the sadness in the family. It carries through a death into the bleak and cheerless world of a bishop's manse. The third chapter of this grand film is punctuated by the surreal inside a Jewish home.

Bergman helps us interpret these worlds through the discerning eyes of children. One does not necessarily leave the film filled with hope making it tough to watch at times. The engaged viewer should finish with more wisdom though, making it quite worthwhile.

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The Secret of Kells (2009)

This is such a lovely, fresh film that I can't help but give it my full endorsement. The animation is themed after the illuminating art in the Book of Kells - Celtic production of the four Gospels circa 800 AD. The story focuses on an Irish monastery where this special book is being guarded and produced under constant threat of invading clans. A young boy left in the care of the monks is so drawn to the book and also to the forbidden woodlands that his loyalty to the abbot is questioned.

I can't wait to see it again.

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Schizopolis (1996)

Tough to follow, but oddly gripping, Steven Soderbergh stars in this psychological film experiment.

Fletcher Munson works in a generic office setting where he does virtually nothing while at the same time trying to climb the promotion ladder and satisfy vague demands by his supervisor. At home, his marriage is falling apart and he ends up living in an alternative universe - I think.

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Delicatessen (1991)

An odd and quirky flick with a very dark story line from Amelie maker Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The stuff that comes out of France is often so different than what comes out of North America that it takes a major shift in being able to appreciate it fully, but it is definitely worth the effort.

In a food scarce future in France, a man finds work as a handyman in exchange for room and board. The catch, unbeknownst to him, is that he will be the supper for some future handyman. The story includes some underground people and wild children - dark, but also life breathing and luminous.

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Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)

Wim Wenders's Wings of Desire is a lovely contemplation of the human condition and it's need for redemption.

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How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

Terrific, engaging writing gives this little story some super characters, even though some are 2-D. It's also a great demonstration of the phenomenal things they can do with animation these days.

A lad in a viking outpost acts contrary to conventional wisdom and befriends a dragon. A moral tale on prejudice.

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The Last Airbender (2010)

It's a kids movie - terrible writing, acting. Really quite boring. The clincher for me was the interview with the creators of the story - not much depth there.

Kids with super powers band together to save each other's super powers.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

Again, Disney surprises me with a compelling, though made for children, retelling of a Narnia book.

The two youngest Pevensie kids, a bit older than before, and their "better than everyone else" cousin Eustace are magically transported to Narnia. They become part of an expedition with King Caspian and Reepicheep seeking seven lost lords. Their adventures build their character by testing them with temptations which they must resist.

The most impressive line in the film came towards the end when Aslan is speaking with Lucy. She asks him if she will ever see him again and he replies that the reason she was brought to Narnia was so that she might know him and know him in her world where he is known by another name.

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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Despite the disclaimer at the beginning of the film stating that this film is not based on the gospels, it begs the question: What is this film based on then?

I was both blessed and challenged by the closing 45 minutes of the film where Christ is tempted to withdraw from the cross and enjoy a human life and his ultimate decision not to. The opening two hours were more of an insult to the Christian faith than anything, not because the filmmakers were meaning harm, but because of the shallowness of the screenwriter's understanding of Jesus' message, life and death.

I remember the controversy when this film was released. I've always been intrigued by the concept and, being a Christian, felt it was my duty to give Scorsese and company the benefit of the doubt. But, John the Baptist is depicted as a hippy nudist colony leader and Jesus as a neurotic demoniac. I appreciate that Christ's humanity was emphasized, but his holiness was ignored.

I found it odd too that the North African culture was so prominently displayed rather than attempting to portray anything remotely Hebrew.

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Horton Hears a Who! (1970)

Dr. Seuss's tale of an elephant who discovers a world on a speck of dust is lovingly animated in this classic. I haven't seen the digital remake, so I can't compare the two, but I really enjoyed this offering.

The story itself is true Seuss and God's truth.

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

While it isn't the most inspiring film of last year, it certainly did not merit the barrage of negative reviews it got. The wildly inventive film keeps its viewers engaged and minds tantalized with great visual tricks.

Doctor Parnassus unwittingly wins immortality from the devil as well as many other prizes, but they only bring him despair. The episode told in this film is more contemporary and his friends try to save him from yet another botched deal with the devil.

The film is both serious in its nature, but too playful to take at all seriously and this might be its downfall - it can't decide what it is. But then again, the film does have a fair bit to say about choice so this demonstrates the quality quite well.

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Scoop (2006)

Woody Allen presents another crime centred comedy set in Britain, this time with a supernatural twist.

A nubile journalist hopeful stumbles upon a tremendous scoop delivered to her from beyond the grave. She is set on the trail of a serial killer whom she seduces as she snoops around to amass evidence about his crimes. Her sidekick, a bumbling, neurotic magician (you can guess who plays him!) does most of the digging for evidence while she does most of the seducing.

It's a playful comedy that doesn't cause much of a stir in the viewer. It is funny though.

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Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Known for her stark photographs of outsiders and her ability to show their humanity, beauty, Diane Arbus is featured in a made up fantasy story of her enchantment with the fringe. As she assists her photographer husband in their studio, a mysterious man moves in upstairs. It isn't long before Diane meets him and the develop a relationship. The stranger has a condition that causes hair to cover his entire body (think Chewbacca). Her journey into the world of freaks culminates with her embracing the odd and surpassing her husband as a photographer.

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