Movie Buzz – 12/26

The end of each year brings the best Hollywood has to offer as part of the awards-season rush. The great thing about it is that theaters are now flooded with award-worthy performances and top-notch storylines.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside: the next few months will bring more than our fair share of bad movies featuring Jessica Alba, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katie Holmes and airhead socialite Paris Hilton. Sorry, I’m not kidding.

Enjoy the good flicks while you can. Mega-awards contenders “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” are heating up the holiday box office. Another new release features the perpetually Oscar-ready Denzel Washington, who directed himself in “The Great Debaters.”

Washington teamed up with the ultimate power producer, Oprah Winfrey, to bring audiences this historical drama based on a true story. Oprah’s opinion has done everything from encouraging people to read her favorite books to considering voting for Barack Obama. So having her stamp of approval on Washington’s passion project could mean some surprising box-office receipts.

Washington plays the coach of a debate team at a historically black college in the segregated South during the 1930s. Forest Whitaker co-stars while Washington pulls
together a team, builds them up from nothing and helps them get to a championship bout with Harvard.

Expect the team to face harsh racism, overcome adversity and kick some butt with their finely-tuned debating skills.

Maybe you’re not a fan of “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and, if that’s the case, and you’re looking for a suitable flick to entertain the whole family, be sure to check out “The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.”

Sure, its title makes it sound like a National Geographic bore-fest, but this flick comes from the writer of “Babe,” so animals, humans and sea creatures are sure to share the screen in a peaceful and amusing manner.

This story focuses on a young Scottish boy who finds an egg, which he takes home and opens to reveal a mythical baby sea monster. He and his family keep the creature in their bathtub until it gets too big too handle. Then they release it, wowing unsuspecting fishermen with an unbelievable bit of folklore.

For some reason, a token horror movie opens on Christmas day as if to say “Bah, Humbug” to moviegoers each year. This time it’s “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem,” another pointless, poorly made horror sequel made possible by writer Dan O’Bannon’s odd obsession with extraterrestrials.

Two more promising flicks open in limited release this week and could make it to Augusta in January. “The Bucket List” features Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as aging buddies who ditch their cancer care to start acting out the list of things they want to do before they die.

“There Will Be Blood” features the mysteriously enthralling talents of Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays a money-hungry oil tycoon at the turn of the last century. The actor’s performance in this film has already earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Movie Buzz – 12/19

Just when audiences start thinking the Golden Globes might be a legitimate awards show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association slaps us in the face with an insulting nod for an asinine performance.

Last year, Sacha Baron Cohen won the Best Actor Golden Globe in the Musical or Comedy category for his role in the funny, but utterly stupid “Borat.” Now, John C. Reilly has been nominated for an equally silly role, that of the title character in  “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.”

Reilly stars as an off-the-wall rocker who is meant to be a parody of some weird iconic rock star who is part Jim Morrison, part Johnny Cash, part Buddy Holly and part James Brown. This mockumentary comes from writer-producer Judd Apatow, the comic moneymaker behind “Knocked Up” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.”

Does anyone else fondly remember the days when Reilly was a celebrated serious actor? He was lauded for his performances in roles with more critical weight, like the ones he played in “Chicago” and “The Good Girl.”

Reilly will have to duke it out with Johnny Depp for his Golden Globe. Depp is nominated for his starring role in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” This marks Depp’s eighth Golden Globe nomination (and fifth consecutive), but will it be his first victory from the Hollywood Foreign Press?

Director Tim Burton, whose dark style has added character to several other Johnny Depp films like “Edward Scissorhands,” “Sleepy Hollow” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” is the creative mind behind this adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical comedy.

Burton’s significant other, Helena Bonham Carter, takes over the role made famous by Angela Lansbury, and Alan Rickman, who has perfected acting’s darker side in the “Harry Potter” movies, co-star in this gory musical masterpiece about the bloody extremes one man will go to for vengeance.

Another Golden Globe nomination-adorned flick opening this week is “Charlie Wilson’s War,” which finds Hollywood’s pickiest actors gifting audiences with their wildly famous onscreen presences.

It has been a while since we’ve seen Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, who have been hiding out and only lending their voices to animated flicks over the past few years. The one exception is Hanks’ “The Da Vinci Code” debacle.

Director Mike Nichols takes the helm as Hanks and Roberts play a fun-loving Texas politician and socialite, respectively, who work with a jilted government agent (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to make a war between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union go the way they want it to go. Their actions made a huge difference in Soviet Union and sent weapons to the Middle East, impacting us greatly in the present day.

Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind TV’s former political drama “The West Wing,” adapted this screenplay from journalist George Crile’s book, based on the true story.

Other openers this week are less critically acclaimed, but a high-profile sequel could earn some major box-office dough. “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” finds Nicolas Cage unlocking government secrets and seeking treasure once again.

Meanwhile, Hilary Swank tries the romantic comedy genre on for size with the help of “Friend” Lisa Kudrow in “P.S. I Love You.”

Movie Buzz – 12/12

December marks the time of year when we can anticipate the arrival of two very exciting things: Santa Claus and the latest Will Smith movie.

After years of growing up on television on “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and maturing through flicks like “Independence Day” and “Men In Black,” Smith has gotten to the point in his career where he can enjoy basking in the glow of the year’s most anticipated movies.

Now, Smith is once again settling into blockbuster bliss with another role that could earn him recognition during the upcoming awards season.

“I Am Legend,” is Smith’s latest vehicle, a sci-fi flick that brings back memories of his role in 2004’s “I, Robot,” a film now in heavy cable television rotation.

In the new flick, Smith plays the last man on earth. Left alone in New York City, he is the only human immune to a devastating virus. Equipped with a background in science and some fierce determination, he struggles to survive without his family and friends.

Adding further conflict to this existential-themed film are the mutants who seem to be chasing after Smith’s character. If anyone can make this work, it’s Smith, who is once again making this movie a family project. His daughter, Willow Smith, also stars.

Children of the ’80s, please fork over your cash! That’s what movie distributors would like you to do this holiday season. Why else would they bring back “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” a cartoon where three chipmunks with human attributes sing and live with their human father figure in peaceful harmony?

Who could forget Ross Bagdasarian’s characters, Simon the geek, Theodore the glutton and Alvin the bossy punk? Now they’re being marketed to a whole new generation: the children of the children their cartoons originally targeted.

Add Jason Lee, of television’s “My Name is Earl,” as the live-action dad, and Generation Xers will flock to the box office with their little ones in tow. It worked for “Garfield,” right?

Also vying for your holiday box-office buck is a sweet but otherwise pointless Gabrielle Union flick. “The Perfect Holiday” finds Union playing a divorced woman whose daughter conspires with a mall Santa Claus to find her the perfect new husband. Queen Latifah also stars in this fluffy holiday movie offering.

Movie Buzz – 12/05

Lions and tigers and Nicole Kidman, oh my! The Aussie siren’s latest flick is a fantasy feature which finds her appearing alongside some wild animals that walk, talk and behave as badly as humans.

It appears even legitimate actors like Kidman are getting on the CGI bandwagon and embracing computer-generated technology in motion pictures.

“The Golden Compass” is looking for the audience that made “The Chronicles of Narnia” a box-office success, but their PG-13 rating could hurt the film’s appeal to families with young children. After all, angry monkeys and armor-clad bears are scary.

Daniel Craig, pop culture’s latest 007, also stars in this tale of a young girl (newcomer Dakota Blue Richards) who uses a magical compass to help save a group of children from evil, power-hungry adults. The latest Bond girl, Eva Green, also stars.

This film is the inaugural flick in a planned trilogy, which will feature writer Phillip Pullman’s follow-up stories, “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass.” Fantasy flicks tend to come in threes, so the completion of the second and third films are inevitable, barring horrible box-office receipts.

Contrary to popular belief, movie producers can read. That might be why this week’s second major film release also comes from a book, and this one is said to be a fabulous adaptation.

The passionate intensity of actress Keira Knightley is put to great use in writer Ian McEwan’s story of forbidden love. “Atonement” finds Knightley’s love affair with James McAvoy’s character tested by a condemning, but false, accusation from her young sister.

Torn apart by the accusation, and then separated by a brutal war, the couple struggles through feelings of heartbreak as the accuser grows up riddled with guilt.

Knightley was reunited with her “Pride and Prejudice” director, Joe Wright, for this flick. Wright was able to coax Knightley into an Oscar-nominated performance in that film, but will he be able to do the same this time?

Perhaps we should be watching Knightley’s co-star, McAvoy, instead. He is a rising star, whose chilling performance in “The Last King of Scotland” meant he was able to hold his own on the big screen alongside the unbelievably talented Forest Whitaker.

Limited-release flicks opening this week include John Cusack as a dad widowed by the war in “Grace is Gone,” while Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman try to adopt a baby from a sarcastic pregnant teen in “Juno.”

If the limited-release flick you’re looking for hasn’t appeared locally just yet, sit tight. Our movie viewing venues have recently granted access to highly regarded limited-release flicks like “Bella” and “No Country for Old Men.”