WALLACE AND GROMIT:THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

Animated cartoon

BACKGROUND
Clay animation began a short time after the invention of plasticine back in 1897 when people started moulding figures just for the fun of it. The first film that used clay animated sculptures, A Sculptor's Welsh Rarebit Nightmare, was released in 1908. For over 40 years, clay animation was not a very popular technique until The Adventures of Gumby was shown on The Howdy Doody Show , a children’s television program in the late ‘50’s. It proved to be so popular it became The Gumby Show on NBC. Today clay animation is a popular method for producing animated films, several of which have won Academy Awards.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Wallace: a bit of a crackpot cheese-loving inventor
Gromit: his faithful canine companion (and perhaps a lot smarter than his owner?)
Lady Tottington: a beautiful, wealthy, animal-loving carrot-grower
Victor Quartermaine: her suitor, a gun-happy snobby cad

REVIEW
This has all the “essential” elements of any Wallace and Gromit movie: crazy complicated inventions, sight gags, verbal puns, double entendres for the adults, cute characters for the kids. In a word, a must see.

CLASSIFICATION

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
The fingerprints of the animators can be seen in some of the shots, a nice reminder that this form of movie making still needs the human touch.

P.S.
Anyone who sticks around right to the end of the credits get a bonus chuckle.

IN HER SHOES

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Cameron Diaz: Maggie Feller, an unemployed party girl
Toni Collette: her sister Rose, a top notch Philadelphia lawyer
Ken Howard: their father
Candice Azzara: their stepmother
Shirley MacLaine: their maternal grandmother, Ella Hirsch

REVIEW
The story about the lives of two women having little in common except for their parents, encompasses many aspects of a dysfunctional family. Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine both do a fine job of acting; Cameron Diaz spends most of her time parading about.
One complaint though: it’s over 2 hours long and frankly the story doesn’t warrant that much time. Some serious editing would fix that problem.

CLASSIFICATION
for profanity and some sexual content.

L’AUDITION

Drama
In French with English subtitles

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Denis Bernard: Phillipe Chevalier, an experienced French Canadian actor
Luc Picard: Louis Tremblay, a 40-year old thug with aspirations
Suzanne Clément: his wife Suzie, a waitress
Alexis Martin: Marco, partner in crime with Louis

REVIEW
This movie is a real mixed bag. It is serious, funny, brutal, predictable, shocking, beautiful and thought-provoking. Generally the acting is excellent and the pacing is right on.

CLASSIFICATION

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

Thriller

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Viggo Mortensen: Tom Stall, owner of Stall’s Diner
Maria Bello: his wife Edie
Heidi Hayes: their daughter Sarah
Ashton Holmes: their teenage son Jack
William Hurt: Richie, an Irish mob boss
Ed Harris: Carl, his right hand man

REVIEW
The slow paced “nothing much going on” opening scenes pretty much sets the tone. Knowing it’s almost too good to be true creates a certain amount of tension. And well it should.

The acting is uniformly good and the story riveting. However this is not a movie for the squeamish as some scenes are pretty graphic.

CLASSIFICATION
for brutal violence, graphic sexuality, nudity (brief frontal shot), language and drug use (one joint shared between friends)

LORD OF WAR

Drama

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Nicolas Cage:Yuri Orlov, a Ukranian immigrant
Jared Leto: Yuri's little brother Vitali
Bridget Moynahan: supermodel Ava Fontaine
Ethan Hawke: Interpol agent Jack Valentine
Ian Holm: Simeon Weisz, an international arms dealer

REVIEW
Any story about international arms dealers is bound to show the ugly side of man. And this one does just that. It is doubtful many will find this movie a rewarding experience since there is so much sadness about the whole thing.

CLASSIFICATION
for scenes of violence and graphic gore (mostly shootings), frequent use of profanity (the f-word), drug content (cocaine use) and simulated sex (with flashes of partial female nudity).

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Jack’s face is alternately in shadow or in bright sun while talking with Yuri in the desert depending upon the camera’s point of view while he’s speaking or when Yuri is.

While Simeon is sitting in a chair with a cloth around his neck, despite the fact his hands are tied and no one approaches him, the blood stain on the cloth moves between shots from directly beneath his chin to the right hand side of his neck and back.

P.S.
At 2 hours and 12 minutes it’s a bit too long. Much of what Yuri does is repetitive and predictable. Some of it should have been edited out.

MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION WALKING ON THE MOON

IMAX documentary

REVIEW
For most of us this will be the closest thing to actually being on the moon. The accurate recreations of several moonwalks are amazing. Interspersed with these are archival photos and television news reporting of the same events but not in 3D like the movie: what a difference that makes.

CLASSIFICATION

JUST LIKE HEAVEN

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Reese Witherspoon: Elizabeth Martinson, resident physician at St. Mathews Hospital
Dina Waters: Elizabeth’s sister Abby
Mark Ruffalo: David Abbott who’s looking for a furnished apartment
Donal Logue: his party-hearty friend Jack
Ivana Milicevic: Katrina, David’s new neighbour

REVIEW
Hardly a laugh-out-loud type of comedy, it is nevertheless entertaining with more than a few amusing moments. The chemistry between the two principals is good and the supporting staff do a fine job.

CLASSIFICATION
for some sexual content.