Lifestyle

A turkey of a season? Dann sees a lot of films to be thankful for

Posted November 19, 2009 10:00 pm

Dann Gire

"Lovely Bones"

Hollywood's trade publication Variety has already dismissed the upcoming holiday movie season as "playing it safe" with "almost the same number of major releases, the usual number of Christmas Day launches, the same mix of prestige items and popcorn fare" as last year.

To a bean-counter maybe.

If box office receipts are all that matter, then this year's movie crop probably doesn't look that promising, outside of James Cameron's loudly tub-thumped $225 million, 3-D science-fiction thriller "Avatar," going filmo-a-filmo against "2012" for the special effects audience.

But I think the season offers a very exciting mix of movies, and it has nothing to do with marketing.

First, we're about to witness a mini-renaissance in animated features.

Wes Anderson, whose live-action comedies have earned him a cult following, directs his first animated feature "Fantastic Mr. Fox" based on the Roald Dahl book. Like this year's earlier release "Coraline," it has been shot in stop-motion, not computer-generated, and the previews look terrific.

Then, wonder of wonders, Walt Disney animators did something nobody ever predicted. They created "The Princess and the Frog" the old-fashioned way with hand-drawn animation. This, after the studio shut down all of its traditional animation studios at Disney World during the public's insatiable appetite for shiny, look-alike computer-animated features.

Second, we've got movies from engaging, cutting-edge directors. Cameron, of course, leads the pack, with Clint Eastwood offering Nelson Mandela in "Invictus," Guy Ritchie putting his hyperbolic spin on "Sherlock Holmes," Rob "Chicago" Marshall giving us the musical "Nine," Jason "Juno" Reitman exploring the art of layoffs and layovers in "Up in the Air," and "Lord of the Rings" maestro Peter Jackson observing loved ones from the perspective of a little girl raped and murdered in "The Lovely Bones."

Yes, we also have two of the most expensive motion pictures in history. In addition to "Avatar," John Woo's opulent Han Dynasty war movie "Red Cliff" reportedly is the costliest film production to ever come out of Asia. Fortunately, both filmmakers are famous for putting their budgets up there on the silver screen.

So, all things considered, the holiday movies look pretty good to me.

But then, I prefer to eat beans, not count them.

NOV. 25

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" - Cult filmmaker Wes Anderson directs an old-fashioned stop-motion animated fantasy about a fox (voice by George Clooney) targeted for extinction by angry farmers. Based on the book by Roald Dahl.

"Ninja Assassin" - Stand back, Jackie Chan. Martial arts performer Rain - just Rain - plays a ninja who turns against the secret society of assassins who trained him by protecting a Europol agent (Naomie Harris) investigating them.

"Old Dogs" - Wacky comedy about a man (Robin Williams) who discovers he's the father of twins. John Travolta plays his pal, who tries to help him. Seth Green plays the guy who sings to the ape in those riotous trailers.

"Red Cliff" - John Woo's war epic is reportedly the most expensive movie ever made in Asia. (Maybe Woo should team up with James Cameron to make the costliest movie in history?) During the final days of the Han Dynasty in the third century, China goes full out war on itself.

"The Road" - This depressing little piece of futuristic fright from novelist Cormac McCarthy casts Viggo Mortensen as a single father trying to keep his son from becoming dinner for the cannibals foraging around in a post-apocalyptic America.

NOV. 27

"Singalong Sound of Music" - Yep, the hills are alive with the sound of dissonant harmonizers, also known as regular moviegoers. The Oscar-winning Julie Andrews classic is back at the Music Box Theatre. Where else can a person sing along with both nuns and Nazis?

DEC. 4

"Armored" - An armored car crew thinks it can pull off the perfect inside job for $42 million. Doesn't anyone ever watch movies to learn there's always a fatal glitch to perfect plans? Matt Dillon, Jean Reno and Laurence Fishburne apparently don't.

"Brothers" - We've seen the plot before, but not in context with the war in Afghanistan. An ex-con (Jake Gyllenhaal) falls for the wife (Natalie Portman) of his older soldier brother (Tobey Maguire) after he disappears overseas. Directed by Jim Sheridan.

"Everybody's Fine" - Robert De Niro stars as an estranged, widowed dad who tries to reconnect with his grown kids by taking a road trip to their houses. Unannounced. Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore play the kids. Based on the 1990 Italian comedy "Stanno Tutti Bene."

"The Maid" - A deluded, longtime maid begins to resent she's not thought of as a family member, and when new maids are brought in to assist her, the maid slyly sabotages them all. At the Music Box Theatre.

"The Strip" - Five suburban young people struggle to find meaning in their lives while working at a low-end electronics store called Electi-City.

"Transylmania" - Skokie native Oren Skoog stars in this comedy about a group of students in a Transylvanian university who become the victims of an ancient curse from an old music box. If it's not curses, it's leather-clad professors and topless vampires. You get the picture.

"Up in the Air" - George Clooney stars as a downsizing expert who spends his life in planes, traveling to companies and laying off employees so the local managers are spared the task. Directed by Jason Reitman, who gave us the wonderful comedies "Juno" and "Thank You For Smoking." Vera Farmiga and Jason Bateman co-star.

DEC. 11

"Collapse" - Chris Smith's doc profiles Michael Ruppert, a former Los Angeles cop who became a reporter and predicted the global financial meltdown a long time before the supposed experts saw it coming. At the Music Box Theatre.

"Invictus" - Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela in this look at the early days of his presidency in South Africa when his local team won an upset victory in the 1995 rugby World Cup. Matt Damon plays the team captain. Clint Eastwood directs. Can we say "Oscar-victus"?

"Me and Orson Welles" - Would the real Orson tolerate this title when it should be "Orson Welles and I"? I think not. Richard Linklater directs a drama about a teenager who goes to work for Welles' Mercury Theater in 1937 and runs headlong into romance, betrayal and a legendary ego that would never serve a Shakespearean production before its time. With Zac Efron, Claire Danes and Ben Chapman.

"The Princess and the Frog" - Disney returns to classic hand-drawn animation for this modern retelling of the classic fairy tale, this time transplanted to jazz capital New Orleans. Music by Randy "Toy Story" Newman. Oprah, John Goodman and Terrence Howard supply voices.

"The Red Shoes" - The classic, Oscar-winning 1948 dance film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger returns to the Music Box Theatre in a new, restored 35 mm. print.

DEC. 18

26th Annual Music Box Holiday Christmas Show - The tradition continues. The double billing of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "White Christmas" returns to the Music Box Theatre, complete with an old-fashioned singalong before each movie!

"Avatar" - James Cameron's science-fiction epic again pushes the boundaries of special effects storytelling with a 3-D adventure set on the planet Pandora. (She's the one who let all the world's evil out of her box, right?) Sam Worthington stars as a Marine paralyzed in battle. He adopts the persona of an Avator, travels to a distant planet to exploit its riches, and wipe out the local denizens, the Navi, if necessary. With Sigourney Weaver and Giovanni Ribisi.

"Cloud 9" - A story of new love in old age. Andreas Dresen presents the tale of a 67-year-old married woman who falls for a 76-year-old guy. At the Music Box Theatre.

"Did You Hear About the Morgans?" - A squabbling New York City couple (Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker) have their divorce interrupted by a murder that they witness. Whisked off to Wyoming as part of a witness protection program, the two come to grips with livestock, guns and themselves while on the lam. Not lamb.

"The Young Victoria" - Emily Blunt goes for the Oscar with a classy, classic performance as the young queen who battled overbearing men and conservative traditions to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Blunt is beguiling as Victoria, and Rupert Friend is perfectly cast as her husband-to-be, Prince Albert. Excellent camerawork by Hagan Bogdanski, who should net an Oscar nomination for cinematography, too.

DEC. 23

"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" - Because the first Alvin comedy was dumber than a knot hole (Jason Lee's Dave catches singing chipmunks in his kitchen and kicks them out of his house?), let's not hold out hope for No. 2. The Chipmunks go to high school and run into the ravishing Chipettes. Note to the person who came up with title "Alvin and the Chipmunks" - Alvin is a chipmunk, too.

"Police, Adjective" - A progressive cop lives to regret giving a young student a pass for offering some hash to fellow students. A black comedy from Corneliu Porumboiu. At the Music Box Theatre.

DEC. 25

"Broken Embraces" - Penélope Cruz rejoins filmmaker Pedro Almodovar in this film noirish tale of an aspiring actress who becomes obsessed with an older movie maker (Lluis Homar), at least before a terrible car crash.

"It's Complicated" - Why see the movie when the entire plot, including the pivotal laughs, are already being served up free in the trailers? Meryl Streep divorces her cheating husband Alec Baldwin, who starts up an affair with her, but only after (A) he marries another woman, and (B) she hooks up with Steve Martin's architect. Directed by Nancy Meyers.

"Mr. Hulot's Holiday" - Jacques Tati's 1953 comedy classic about a bumbling French vacationer returns to the Music Box Theatre. From a restored 35 mm. print.

"Nine" - Penélope Cruz returns in the musical version of Federico Fellini's 1963 classic film "8 1/2," as directed by Rob "Chicago" Marshall. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a movie director launching his ninth film, while also handling seven women who mean the most to him. The film contains 12 songs, three written for the movie by original composer Maury Yeston.

"Sherlock Holmes" - The great detective goes Indiana Jones on us in an update that stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson. They must stop the evil Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) from destroying London. Did anyone know Holmes knew martial arts?

"A Single Man" - Colin Firth stars as a college professor suffering from the loss of his longtime partner (Matthew Goode). A friend (Julianne Moore) tries to help him; so does a student (Nicholas Hoult) who feels like a kindred spirit to the teacher.

DEC. 31

"The Poseidon Adventure" - The 1972 hit disaster movie returns to the Music Box Theatre to show "2012" how they did it in the 1970s. Captain Leslie Nielsen dies trying to protect his ship from a rogue tidal wave, which turns the posh craft upside down. Gene Hackman leads Carol Lynley, Red Buttons, Ernest Borgnine, Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall and Shelley Winters to safety. Or does he?

TBA in December

"Crazy Heart" - A washed-up, broken-down country music singer (Jeff Bridges) gets a new lease on life when he meets a younger journalist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who gets him, unlike all those other women. With Robert Duvall and music by T Bone Burnett.

"The Lovely Bones" - "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson tackles this challenging tale about the spirit of a murdered girl (Saoirse Ronan) trapped in a mystical realm called the "in between" where she watches her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz) mourn her death and search for the man who raped and killed her. Based on the 2002 novel by Alice Sebold.

"Serious Moonlight" - This romantic comedy, written by the late Adrienne Shelly, stars Meg Ryan as a wife who holds her cheating hubby (Timothy Hutton) captive after he announces he's leaving her for a younger woman (Kristen Bell.) Justin Long rounds out the cast. Directed by Cheryl Hines, who played Becky in the excellent 2007 comedy "Waitress," directed by Shelly shortly before her murder.

"Avatar"

"Ninja Assassin"

"Have You Heard About the Morgans?"

"Lovely Bones"

"Sherlock Holmes"

"It's Complicated"

"Armored"

"The Princess and the Frog"

"Nine"

"Up in the Air"

"A Single Man"

"Invictus"

"Fantastic Mr. Fox." Courtesy 20th Century Fox

"Old Dogs"

"The Young Victoria"

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