HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:The Lovely Bones (2009)

Visionary Heavenly Creatures director Peter Jackson teams with longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to adapt author Alice Sebold's best-selling novel concerning a murdered young girl who watches from heaven as her family attempts to cope with their devastating loss, and tracks her killer as he stealthily covers his tracks and prepares to claim his next victim.









http://www.hollywood.com/movie/The_Lovely_Bones/415389

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous super-sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, gets an update with this adaptation of Lionel Wigram's comic book series by writer/director Guy Ritchie (RocknRolla) starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective, with Jude Law stepping into the shoes of his sidekick, Dr. Watson. Heading up the rest of the cast are RocknRolla's Mark Strong as the film's villain, Blackwood, and Rachel McAdams portraying the love interest, Irene Adler.

HOLLYWOOD COMING UP MOVIE:Avatar (2009)

A paraplegic ex-marine war veteran is unwillingly sent to establish a human settlement on the distant planet of Pandora, only to find himself battling humankind alongside the planet's indigenous Na'vi race in this ambitious, digital 3-D sci-fi epic from Academy Award-winning Titanic director James Cameron. The film, which marks Cameron's first dramatic feature since 1997's Titanic, will be shot on the proprietary FUSION digital 3-D cameras developed by Cameron in collaboration with Vince Pace, and will offer a groundbreaking mix of live-action dramatic performances and computer-generated effects. Australian actor Sam Worthington stars as the reluctant human settler Jake Sully, with actress Zoe Saldana signing on to portray the local woman who enters into a romantic affair with the hero. The revolutionary motion-capture system created for the film allows the facial expressions of actors to be captured as a virtual camera system enables them to see what their computer-generated counterparts will be seeing in the film, and Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning Weta Digital visual effects house has been hired to supervise Avatar's complex visual effects. Wes Studi, Sigourney Weaver, CCH Pounder, and Michelle Rodriguez round out the cast.






http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Avatar/381993

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:A Single Man (2009)

Fashion designer Tom Ford makes his directorial debut with this dramatic outing starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. Ford and David Scearce adapted the story from a book by Christopher Isherwood, which tells the tragic tale of a professor's loss of their longtime partner.

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:Did You Hear About the Morgans? (2009)

A well-off couple (Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant) in N.Y.C. get a taste of small-town life after they witness a murder and are relocated by the Witness Protection Program to Wyoming in this Columbia Pictures romantic comedy from Two Weeks Notice's writer/director Marc Lawrence.













http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Did_You_Hear_About_the_Morgans/3462905

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous super-sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, gets an update with this adaptation of Lionel Wigram's comic book series by writer/director Guy Ritchie (RocknRolla) starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular detective, with Jude Law stepping into the shoes of his sidekick, Dr. Watson. Heading up the rest of the cast are RocknRolla's Mark Strong as the film's villain, Blackwood, and Rachel McAdams portraying the love interest, Irene Adler.












http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Sherlock_Holmes/3681846

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)

Writer/director Robert Zemeckis adapts Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale A Christmas Carol as a star vehicle for Jim Carrey in this performance capture/Disney Digital 3-D animated film for all ages. Carrey will not only take on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, but all of the three ghosts who come to haunt him as well. The filmmaking process will be in tune with the director's other animated outings, The Polar Express as well as the adult-themed Beowulf adaptation










http://www.hollywood.com/movie/A_Christmas_Carol/4739509

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE REVIEW:Old Dogs (2009)

John Travolta and Robin Williams team up in the Walt Disney Company's Old Dogs, a family comedy that pairs the two as close business partners whose lives are thrown into disarray when twin seven-year-olds are put into their care. Travolta's wife, Kelly Preston, co-stars, along with the couple's daughter, Ella, who makes her big-screen debut here. Wild Hogs helmer Walter Becker directs a script by Evolution scribes David Diamond and David Weissman, with producing duties going to Andrew Panay, Peter Abrams, and Robert Levy.










ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW
http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Old_Dogs/3677015

Aao Wish Karein (2009) Movie Review

Every kid imagines what it would be like to be an adult. He wishes he could grow up quicker. Of course, once he grows up, a small part of him wishes he could go back to his childhood days. Quite an irony, isn't it?

There's a line in AAO WISH KAREIN that goes, 'If you want to be a part of a fairy tale, it's important that you believe in it [fairy tale].' The statement is applicable for everyone desirous of watching AAO WISH KAREIN.

In terms of concept, AAO WISH KAREIN bears a striking resemblance to the Tom Hanks starrer BIG [1988]. A decade-and-a-half ago, the Salman Khan - Sridevi starrer CHANDRAMUKHI also tackled a similar theme. In that respect, the concept isn't alien at all.
It's not sacrilegious if a film bears an uncanny resemblance to another film [it could be a coincidence], but films like these need to be well-structured and most importantly, supported by incredible actors who can make you believe in fairy tales. Also, the makers ought to take a stand at the very outset: Should it be targeted at kids or youth? You just cannot sit on the fence. In this case, you don't know if AAO WISH KAREIN is aimed at the kids or is it a breezy romantic flick, targeted at the youth.

All said, AAO WISH KAREIN has some endearing moments, but not enough to salvage it.

12-year-old Mickey's life was almost like a fairy tale: A beautiful family, best buddy Bonnie and his angel on earth - Mitika [Aamna Sharif]. One fateful day, Mickey's fairy tale is shattered into a million pieces. He realizes he's an adopted child and his 23-year-old angel Mitika too calls him a kid. A heart-broken Mickey sits all by himself until Hitchcock [Johny Lever] appears.

Mickey hopes for a miracle to happen. He wishes to become big. To his astonishment, he wakes up next morning and realizes that his wish has been granted. He has indeed turned big. But was this miracle a blessing or a curse in disguise?

The choice of the subject is perfect. But there's an inherent flaw in the story and that is, the 12-year-old kid seems to be in love with the pretty woman, but the moment his wish his granted and he transforms into a grown up man overnight, he continues to behave like a kid. Romance, therefore, just doesn't exist and even if it does, it's far from exciting.

Ideally, the writing would've worked had the kid-turned-grown up behaved like a grown up.

The culmination to the story is well penned, but, again, it might not work in entirety. The writers could've run their imagination wild, given the fact that they were writing a fairy tale, instead of taking the safe route here.

Director Glen Barretto has handled a few individualistic scenes well, especially the ones between Aftab and Johny Lever. Music is soothing to the ears, but the non-promotion or lack of popularity will make the effort go unnoticed. At the same time, there are too many songs in the second hour, which weren't required frankly. Keshav Prakash's cinematography is top notch. The locales of Himachal Pradesh and Goa are well captured on celluloid by the DoP.

Aftab pitches in a sincere performance. He looks the character. Aamna is easy on the eyes, although the role doesn't demand histrionics. Johny Lever is first-rate. Rati Agnihotri is good. Yatin Karyekar is alright. The kids are full of energy. Riteish Deshmukh makes a brief appearance towards the end.

On the whole, AAO WISH KAREIN is engaging in parts, but how one wishes the film would grab your attention in entirety. The wish of striking a chord and hence, succeeding at the box-office won't come true for this reason.


ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW

http://www.juraatmedia.com/articles/read-bollywood-movie-aao-wish-karein-2009-movie-review_62.html

Tum Mile (2009) Movie Review

In TUM MILE, a couple faces two storms. The storm within, when they come face to face after their breakup. The storm outside, when a natural calamity strikes Mumbai on 26th July, 2005 [unprecedented rainfall devastated Mumbai on this date].

After JANNAT, director Kunal Deshmukh [KD] chooses a love story yet again. It's about an estranged couple, but the wallpaper in TUM MILE is the Mumbai floods. Naturally then, the expectations from TUM MILE are colossal, given the fact that TUM MILE is the first film that attempts to chronicle the natural calamity on celluloid, with seriousness.
Had KD limited himself to narrating the ups and downs in a live-in relationship, TUM MILE may've struck a chord. But if you're attempting a disaster movie [its promotions send out strong signals], you'd be eager to know how KD recreates the horrors of 26th July on celluloid. Let's not forget, the catastrophe is still etched in our memory and has tremendous recall-value.

While KD succeeds in depicting the tiffs between the lovers, it's the disaster aspect that doesn't make much of an impact. That's because you strongly feel that the infamous Mumbai floods should've been given more prominence, instead of using it as a tool to take the story forward.

26th July, 2005 rang an ominous bell for most, but amidst all the chaos and the tragedy, it re-united two star-crossed ex-lovers.

Two people [Emraan Hashmi, Soha Ali Khan] meet after a hiatus of six years. What starts off as a seemingly innocuous encounter on the same flight back to Mumbai, ends up as a rollercoaster ride through some of the darkest hours of Mumbai, as they see the city get swamped with disaster and loss... and are forced to stick together in this time of crisis.

26th July, 2005 remains etched in your memory and I'm sure, every Mumbaikar would've a story to tell vis-à-vis what transpired with them or their beloved/relatives/friends/acquaintances on that fateful day. TUM MILE also highlights the dilemma of a couple, who once shared a beautiful relationship, but have moved on in life after they split, till they meet again on 26th July.

Opposites attract and so do Emraan and Soha in TUM MILE. Although their story goes back and forth several times, the narrative doesn't confuse the viewer one bit. So far, so good.

But the problem lies in integrating the natural calamity with the love story. Even if you're a non-Mumbaikar, you'd vividly recall the images that were flashed on news channels continuously or perhaps, you may've watched the footage on internet. But in TUM MILE, the nature's fury doesn't come across strongly or effectively. In a few scenes, yes, you do draw parallels with real life, but the impact it ought to make is just not there. Something is amiss!

KD has handled the love story very well. The tiffs between Emraan and Soha are so identifiable. The 'Dil Ibaadat' song in particular completely moves you. But how one wishes the film would've focussed more on the characters' attempts to escape or cope with the disaster or its aftermath.

Pritam's music is melodious to the core. The cinematography does justice to the beauty of South Africa [romantic portions] and also during the flood sequences. But the usage of stock footage, at places, doesn't work. The computer graphics could've been better and more effective.

Emraan takes giant strides as an actor. He continues to surprise in film after film. Grossly under-rated despite having delivered competent performances in the past, here's hoping that people wake up to this talented actor after TUM MILE. Like Emraan, Soha too has evolved into a truly fine actor and TUM MILE proves it. The best part is, Soha is extremely natural and that's what makes her sequences so believable.

Sachin Khedekar is there for just one sequence. Mantra, as Emraan's friend, is confident.

On the whole, TUM MILE caters to the youth mainly. At the box-office, the Vishesh Films - Emraan Hashmi combo has cultivated a strong fan-base over the years and coupled with good music, which is also very popular, the film should find itself in the comfortable zone. However, the super-strong opposition in 2012 [also highlighting a disaster on celluloid and which has had a wide release in India] might eat into its business at places.


ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW

http://www.juraatmedia.com/articles/read-bollywood-movie-tum-mile-2009-movie-review_61.html

Be forewarned. DE DANA DAN is the most bizarre film from the maharaja of laughathons, Priyadarshan. Not even in your wildest dream you'd think that Priyadarshan would place almost an entire film in a hotel and have its entire cast, comprising of 26 [or is it 27?] characters, most of them weirdos, interacting with each other. Brings back memories of BLAME IT ON THE BELLBOY? May be!

But Priyadarshan needs to be credited for pulling it off. There are times when you laugh hysterically at the most outlandish jokes and situations. There are times when a raised eyebrow or a wide-open jaw makes you break into a guffaw.
Be cautioned. DE DANA DAN is a loud film, with each and every character screaming on top of his/her voice, with the characters shouting, running, even floating and swimming in the end.

But what do you expect in a Priyadarshan film that has a title like DE DANA DAN? The promos never promised path-breaking or thought-provoking cinema that would give birth to debates and discussions. So why look for logic in this one?

DE DANA DAN makes no qualms of narrating a story you haven't heard before. Here, the story is non-existent and it's left on Priyadarshan to mix-n-match those two dozen characters and keep the momentum alive for the next 2.45 hours.

DE DANA DAN promises laughter and entertainment and sticks to its promise. This one's not for the hard-nosed types, but for those who worship escapist cinema. Who want to chuckle, giggle and chortle at those mindless jokes. In short, DE DANA DAN is a pure dhamaal entertainer!

Nitin [Akshay Kumar] is a butler, cook, driver, watchman, gardener to a wealthy female industrialist [Archana Puran Singh] in Singapore. Like any young man, Nitin too dreams of a better life. He desperately wants to become rich and marry the love of his life, Anjali [Katrina Kaif], who supports him financially.

Ram [Suniel Shetty], Nitin's best friend, also came to Singapore with the dream of striking it rich, but ended up a courier delivery man. He falls for Manpreet [Sameera Reddy], but her high society parents will never approve of marriage, not unless Ram has lots and lots of money.

In the midst of all this is Harbans [Paresh Rawal], a shrewd businessman, who's looking for ways to multiply his income and avoid his debtors. He decides the best way would be to marry his son [Chunky Pandey] off to a girl whose parents can give him a large dowry. He is introduced to Manpreet's parents at a function and is impressed by their social status. He introduces himself as a well-established businessman, impresses them and they decide to get Manpreet and Harbans' son married.

With several factors working against them, Nitin and Ram soon reach a dead end in their relationships. When both receive ultimatums from their girlfriends, they realize that only a life of vice can help them out of their misery. They come up with an audacious plan to kidnap someone important and demand a ransom.

The kidnapping goes awry and both hide at a local hotel while waiting for the ransom money. But misfortune is never far and the kidnapping spirals out of control.

Meanwhile, Manpreet's wedding reception is being held at the same hotel that Nitin and Ram are hiding in. Soon, they are joined by a motley set of characters including a Chinese Don [Asrani], a hired assassin [Johny Lever], a ACB police inspector [Sharat Saxena], a club dancer [Neha Dhupia], an ambassador [Vikram Gokhale], a young frustrated double crossing wife [Aditi Govitrikar], a letch [Shakti Kapoor], a drunken waiter [Rajpal Yadav] and a dead body nobody wants to check into the hotel.

DE DANA DAN is atypical Priyadarshan film that has the unmistakable stamp all over it. But, at the same time, DE DANA DAN is erratic and uneven - energetic at times, lethargic at places. Also, the culmination to the film is very similar to the director's earlier works, with the entire cast running helter-skelter.

On the flip side, you miss Akshay's presence in the second hour. He disappears [gets locked in a cupboard] for at least 20 minutes and the focus, hence, shifts to the other characters. His fans will miss his presence, for sure. Besides, the film tends to get very lengthy towards the second half and overtly verbose too.

Director Priyadarshan is synonymous with comedies and the ace storyteller promises laughter in abundance. Handling so many characters, plus making a film on mistaken identities could be very tough, but the director gets it right. Pritam's music is alright, while the RDB track, 'Paisa', is the pick of the lot. Salim-Sulaiman's background score is energetic. K. Ahambaram's cinematography is alright.

The review would be incomplete if one ignored the dialogue writer's [Jay Master] contribution to the film. The lines are laced with wit and soaked in humour and bring the house down on several occasions.

DE DANA DAN has so many characters that it gets difficult to pinpoint or single out any one actor. Akshay is at his best in a Priyadarshan film and DE DANA DAN proves it. Suniel is natural to the core. Paresh is incredible; he pitches in a superb act. Katrina and Sameera don't have much to do. Amongst the plethora of actors, Johny Lever, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Vikram Gokhale and Archana Puransingh deserve special mention.

On the whole, DE DANA DAN is targeted at the masses and it delivers laughter in abundance. Leave your brains behind to enjoy this madcap entertainer!


ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW


http://www.juraatmedia.com/articles/read-bollywood-movie-de-dana-dan-2009-movie-review_64.html

When Himesh Reshammiya stars in a film, it's got to be a musical. Musical it is, but RADIO also attempts to explore the man-woman relationship in a metropolis.

RADIO rests on a thin storyline. Superficially, it's about a couple that goes separate ways, then man meets another woman, later ex-wife develops a soft corner, much later man is torn between the two women. Haven't we witnessed similar themes in the past? Oh yes, aplenty!

Only thing, director Ishan Trivedi places the story in a radio station and that gives the film a different texture. Also, the film is divided in various chapters - some interesting, some mundane, some yawn-inducing and boring.
The USP of RADIO is, without doubt, Himesh's musical score. The film has some melodious tracks, but how one wishes the super music was complimented by an equally superior script.

Vivan [Himesh Reshammiya] is a successful RJ with a popular radio channel. His wife Pooja [Sonal Sehgal] seeks divorce and the reason cited is lack of compatibility between the two.

Enter Shanaya [Shenaz Treasurywala], who is like a ray of sunshine in Vivan's insipid life. He discusses Shanaya with Pooja, but being a woman, she can see his love for Shanaya. In the end, however, Vivan realises that he may have a soft spot for Pooja, but he wants to spend his life with Shanaya.

RADIO rests on a fragile plot, with the writing holding your interest at places, but blowing away the hard work in its immediate chapter. That's how erratic RADIO is.

Confusion kya hain? The ex-wife can't decide if she wants her man back or not. It was she who wanted a divorce, not the man, but she can't let go off her man for some inexplicable reason. Even the other woman, all of a sudden, wants the man she loves so dearly to go back to his ex-wife. That just doesn't work!

Besides, the narrative is laced with too many songs. Whether or not the situation warrants them, you have one track ready to unspool every 10 odd minutes.

On the brighter side, RADIO has some tender moments too. Note the sequence towards the end, when Himesh pours his heart out to Shenaz. It's a beautiful sequence and the writer in particular needs to be complimented for taking a mature look at relationships.

Directorially, Ishan Trivedi cannot do much given the fact that he's handicapped by a sketchy screenplay, which, ironically, is also penned by him. Resultantly, the film grips in bits and spurts. Himesh's music is top notch. 'Mann Ka Radio' is already a craze and its picturisation needs to be lauded. The other tracks - 'Teri Meri Dosti', 'Zindagi Jaise Ek Radio' and 'Rafa Dafa' - are lilting compositions as well. Attar Singh Saini's cinematography is perfect.

Himesh has grown as an actor and that reflects in certain difficult moments of the film. Shenaz is natural. In fact, she gets it right this time. Sonal acts well, but her character is not well defined. Paresh Rawal's track looks forced. Zakir Hussain is strictly okay. Rajesh Khattar is good.

On the whole, RADIO just doesn't work... It's complicated!



ARTICLE COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW



http://www.juraatmedia.com/articles/read-bollywood-movie-radio-2009-movie-review_66.html

Paa (2009) Movie Review

Can you ever imagine watching an Amitabh Bachchan film and not watching Amitabh Bachchan in it? Seems impossible, isn't it? The towering persona and the rich baritone just cannot be overlooked. But R. Balki transforms the legendary actor into Auro, replaces the rich baritone with the voice of an adolescent [who's neither grown up, nor a kid] and taps the hitherto untapped talent of the icon.

Trust me, 10 minutes into the film and you forget you're watching Amitabh Bachchan. For, Auro takes over the moment he is introduced to the viewer.
PAA is a simple film told in the most simplistic manner and that's one of the prime reasons why this film works big time. The emotions would've fallen flat had the writing been sub-standard or the execution of the material been humdrum or the actors been inferior. But, thankfully, PAA scores in all three departments, although it must be said that the entire slum redevelopment episode is a complete put-off.

Yet, all said and done, PAA is an outstanding film. A film for every paa, every maa... for everyone with a heart. Take a bow, Auro!

Auro [Amitabh Bachchan] is an intelligent, witty 13-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing. He suffers from progeria. Mentally, he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks five times older.

Inspite of his condition, Auro is a happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya [Vidya Balan], a gynaecologist, but is completely clueless of his father's identity. Till he meets him, Amol [Abhishek Bachchan], who is a full of ideals politician.

Okay, let's not disrespect Balki by calling PAA a rip-off of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON or JACK. It's not! PAA looks at the varied relationships so minutely. It may've been publicized as a father-son film, but the women - mother and granny - play equally pivotal parts.

The first hour of PAA grips you in patches. The introduction of Auro is brilliant, but the moment the story focuses on the politician and his arch rival's sub-plot, it goes off-track. Sure, there are some interesting sequences, but the impact isn't mesmeric.

But the post-interval portions take the film to dizzy heights and camouflages the defects. The father-son bonding and the penultimate 25 minutes raise the bar. The emotional quotient is tremendous. Get ready to overhear a lot of sniffs and see a lot of moist eyes once the lights are switched on.

Note the two sequences in the climax, when Auro reveals what his father's first mistake was and the pheras towards the end. Also recall the scene when the girl Auro detests for a certain reason shows up with a sketch of Auro. It moves you completely.

But let's not mistaken PAA to be a rona-dhona movie. It's a positive film with funny/light moments in plenty. The conversation between Auro and his best friend, on various occasions, are superb. Also, not once does PAA show Auro as 'different'. He's one among the kids and there's no discrimination whatsoever, which is remarkable.

Director R. Balki deserves a salute for thinking out of the box and also presenting Amitabh Bachchan like never before. The writing may be erratic, but his handling of the emotional moments is exemplary. Note this, he would be a force to reckon with after PAA. Ilaiyaraaja's music is soothing. P.C. Sreeram's cinematography is incredible.

It would be a blunder if one missed out the contribution of the makeup artists. Transforming the veteran actor into a kid must've been an arduous task and Christien Tinsley and Domini Till deserve to be complimented for making Auro look so real.

Now to the performances! No amount of praise, no amount of adjectives and personifications would do justice to Amitabh Bachchan's performance as Auro. Sure, the icon has enthralled us with superlative performances in his four-decade career, but PAA is something else. The icon keeps surprising you at regular intervals and PAA is one of those beautiful surprises, which will remain etched in your memory forever.

That doesn't mean that the remaining performances get dwarfed by Auro. Sure, PAA belongs to Auro, but not once does Abhishek Bachchan dither from his position or seems less inferior. This is the hallmark of a tremendous actor, which Abhishek is. Vidya is another surprise of PAA. She takes giant strides as an actor and proves yet again that given the right roles, she can match up to the best in the business.

Paresh Rawal is effective. Arundhati Naag is amazing. So is the kid, Pratik, enacting the role of Auro's best buddy. His telephonic conversation with Auro is superb. Jaya Bachchan's presence is lovely.

On the whole, PAA is an amazing experience. It makes you realize two things. One, the Hindi film industry is also capable of narrating fresh stories. Two, Amitabh Bachchan is truly the most accomplished actor this side of the Atlantic.

Talking from the business point of view, PAA has been made in a sensible and reasonable budget [approx. Rs. 17 crores, including P & A expenses], which should easily be recovered from multiplexes alone.

In the final tally, here's a film that should win awards [for Auro] and also box-office rewards, given its low costs. A film that should strike a chord with every paa, maa... just about everyone with a heart!



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN COPIED FROM THE LINK BELOW.All INFO ABOUT THIS FILM IS TOTALLY COPIED


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2012 MOVIE REVIEW

Rated: PG-13

Distributor: Columbia Pictures- Sony Pictures

Release Date: 2009-11-13

Starring: John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, George Segal, Tom McCarthy

Directed by Roland Emmerich

Produced by Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser

Written by Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser


People who view screenwriting as an art and don't particularly care about audience reaction to their films bristle at the thought of screenplay classes, in which Plot Element A and Plot Element B can be put together in such a way that-- voila!-- a hit is born. But Roland Emmerich has taken that very kind of formula writing and made a veritable empire out of it, returning every few years to destroy some corner of the earth and invent a handful of earnest heroes, wisecracking sidekicks and solemn old men to survive his newest take on the apocalypse.

With 2012, as you probably could have guessed from the poster art of tidal waves crashing over the Himalayas, Emmerich is letting go of whatever restraint he might have had before. Clocking in at nearly three hours, boasting about a dozen major characters and at least half a dozen emotional death scenes, 2012 operates on the assumption that, if we liked seeing New York destroyed in The Day After Tomorrow and Washington D.C. zapped in Independence Day, we'll really love witnessing the wholesale destruction of the globe.

I hate to say it, but Emmerich is pretty much right. Far from conveying the horrors that might befall us should anything remotely so destructive happen, 2012 feels more like a soothing bath of Hollywood tropes and cliches, allowing us to witness Los Angeles slide into the ocean like Atlantis, but then warming us with a Woody Harrelson wisecrack and a rousing speech from Chiwetel Ejiofor. It's numbing, sure, especially when the first half is nothing but CGI explosion after another, but on some level it's exactly what we expect out of Hollywood-- shallow spectacle and a bevy of stars, an adventure and a few moral lessons, a giant budget spent guaranteeing we won't feel a bit different than we did when walking into the theater.

If there's any surprise at all in 2012, it's that Chiwetel Ejiofor, not John Cusack, is in fact the star of the film. We meet him in what amount to the film's prologue, a White House-employed geologist trying to prove to a cynical chief of staff (Oliver Platt, wonderfully hammy and villainous) that, in fact, the end is nigh. The cause is less important than the results-- giant fissures open up in the earth's surface, mountains turns to volcanos and skyscrapers turn to ash, and eventually tidal waves cover the entire earth's surface.

Billions of people die in the ensuing melee, but there are only a few we're instructed to care about. Chief among them is Cusack and his family, who start driving out of Los Angeles seconds before the destruction begins thanks to a tip from Woody Harrelson, who plays a Yellowstone-residing conspiracy theorist who saw the whole thing coming and made a YouTube video about it (Emmerich's nods toward modern concerns, like casting Danny Glover as the President and having characters constantly complain about cell service, head toward parody when Harrelson demands that Cusack "download my blog.") Plot mechanics too silly to describe require Cusack, his ex-wife (Amanda Peet), her new boyfriend (Tom McCarthy) and their cutesy kids (Liam James and Morgan Lily) to fly a series of planes on their way to China, where they intend to save their own skins in a manner that's best left discovered in the theater.

Somewhere along the way George Segal perishes on a cruise ship, Danny Glover does the heroic Presidential thing, a Russian oligarch and his bratty kids team up with Cusack and company, and the main players in Washington-- plus the President's comely daughter (Thandie Newton)-- all make their way to a souped-up version of Dick Cheney's undisclosed location. The final quarter of the film, while utterly unnecessary to the disaster elements, is also the best section, finally abandoning generic and plasticine CGI for situations that feel real and dangerous. There's no villain here, unless you count the merely loathsome Platt character, so it takes a lot of effort to keep putting the characters in danger, and by the end of the movie, Emmerich has most certainly run out ideas. But there's something about the scale of it all, or maybe the way seemingly random characters tie into the main plot, that keeps the train chugging along. When Ejiofor gets to make his hero speech, and certain bad characters make good at the eleventh hour, it's not quite a "This is our Independence Day!" moment, but it does come closer than any of Emmerich's films since then. Somehow he's got a real heart beating inside his movie, and no amount of groaner one-liners or thunderous explosions can take that away.

Emmerich claims that 2012 is his final disaster movie, unless Independence Day 2 ever gets off the ground, and the movie is nothing if not an indulgent curtain call for the man who figured out how much we like watching cinematic portrayals of our own demise. It's all the reasons we've ever loved or hated his movies, but also a reminder of why it's high time to move on. When he ends the movie, no lie, on a bathroom, joke, it's not exactly going out on top, but those of us who love Emmerich despite him wouldn't have wanted it any other way.



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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY Review

Paranormal Activity Review(2009).
© Paramount Pictures

I never bought the hype surrounding The Blair Witch Project, a vaguely interesting genre exercise undone by praise far in excess of its modest charms. It worked mainly by turning budgetary limitations into a genuine stylistic asset… and unfortunately convinced a thousand would-be auteurs that the only thing they needed to make a good horror movie was a hand-held camera and a cast with a knack for improv.

Now comes Paranormal Activity, which follows the Blair Witch playbook step for step (right down to the hype that can't quite be believed). Unlike Blair Witch, however, this film backs its rep up with genuinely good filmmaking, transforming another point-and-shoot horror quickie into a peerless exercise in stimulus response. Writer-director Oren Peli uses a bag of very old tricks--creaky floorboards, shapes on the wall and the ubiquitous bumps in the night--to generate his chills. But he deploys them with such mastery that you're scarcely aware of how effective they are until they've grabbed you by the throat.

He also borrows a few pages from Hitchcock by transforming mundane surroundings into the stuff of nightmare. In this case, it's a pleasant San Diego home occupied by a young couple on their way up. Micah (Micah Sloat) works as a day trader and thinks he has the world by the balls. Katie (Katie Featherston) is happy to enjoy the fruits of his wealth while studying to be a schoolteacher. Sadly, she also has a secret: her past has been periodically troubled by supernatural visitations. It's nothing life-threatening--a few shades and moans here and there--but lately the incidents have been getting worse, prompting Micah to buy a camera in hopes of capturing something on film. The act triggers more serious manifestations, as well as increasing evidence that this spectral visitor has nothing good in store for the young couple.

Peli makes his bread and butter by hitting us where we sleep… literally. Micah points the camera at their bed every night, recording the entity's ever-more horrific activities around their sleeping forms. The psychological impact can't be underestimated, reminding us how vulnerable we are when we slumber and striking at the very place we instinctively head towards for safety. It doesn't take much. The bedroom door swings ominously open and closed, footsteps can be heard on the stairway outside, and the yawning shadows enshrouding the bedroom conjure more terrors than any make-up studio could ever hope for. Paranormal Activity remains largely in the realm of plausibility, taking the sort of incidents found in Ghost Hunters and pushing them just a step or two closer to the concrete.

It also adds a pair of victims who immediately sell us on their veracity. They behave very normally, with off-the-cuff dialogue stressing natural rhythms and an easy chemistry between the actors that quickly conveys their characters' history. Micah is frankly a dick, with the answers to everything even when he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He treats the intruding spirit like a cool new toy--even buying an Ouija board after Katie tells him not to--and his frat-boy swagger seems to actively invite the trouble that befalls them. Katie acknowledges the danger they're in much more readily, even calling in a psychic (Mark Frederichs) to offer advice. Their natural rhythms allow the film to present itself as fact, with the credits replaced by a special thank-you to the couple's "families" for use of the footage. That blurry line makes the terror all the more difficult to deny.

And Paranormal Activity has little on its mind beyond sending a goose or three across our graves. It holds no thematic complexity and its straightforward scenario requires no bells and whistles to carry it through. It simply knows how to get inside our skin, utilizing pure craftsmanship to achieve what a thousand more expensive productions couldn't hope for. I'm very hard to scare and it got more than a few serious jumps out of me (including a finale that should have you sleeping with the lights on for a month). The hype surrounding it is insufferable, of course, and may provoke a backlash similar to that of Blair Witch. It has the chops to stand against the vagaries of public opinion, however; divorced from its pop culture context, it still scares the crap out of you and while multiple viewings may diminish those returns, it has officially announced itself as the spookhouse to beat this fall. Take a look before you're sick to death of hearing about it; for once, the indiscriminate praise is really onto something.



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