"I am Legend"--Will Smith battles zombies in a desolate New York City in one of the few action offering this holiday seasons. Smith is Dr. Robert Neville, a military scientist who is somehow immune to an unstoppable virus that has left him as the last human survivor in what's left of NYC. He lives with his German Shepherd named Sam and during the day they venture out for food---but at night when the mutant "infected" come out to prey he has to be locked up in his apartment or doing work to find a cure in his lab. The film starts off with an intriguing premise and Smith is an actor that has the star power and charisma to carry the story considering for the most part he's the only person on screen besides the dog and the occasional zombie. In the end this one sort of falls prey to many of the same old horror movie cliches and the final act sort of falls apart. One word of caution---this one is rated PG-13 for a reason. There are intense scenes of violent zombie attacks so leave the young kids at home. 2.5. out of 5
"Atonement"--This film lead the Golden Globe Nominations with 7 this week and is also nominated for Best Picture by my group the BFCA. I'm worried that some people might here the description of "British romance" and run as fast as they can to avoid this one, but that would be a mistake. Based on 2002's best selling novel by Ian McKewen the story is about a little girl and her older sister who both have their eye on the educated son of the family's housekeeper at a huge English mansion in 1935. Well, they both can't have him and when Briony the 13 year old girl realizes that her older sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightly) is winning the battle for his affections she concocts a devastating story about a crime he didn't commit. James McAvoy who was so good in "The Last King of Scotland" is Robbie the young man who finds himself wrongly accused and swept off to prison. The story takes off from there and actually covers three decades before it's all over. Robbie agrees to join the army to get out of his prison term and everyone's lives are changed forever. This is simply stunning movie making from director Joe Wright (Pride and Prejudice) working off a wonderful script from Christopher Hampton and an amazing score by Darioi Marianelli. Sure it's a bit on the artsy-fartsy side but "Atonement" is not only a great story its an intricate film which requires more analysis than most viewers might give it. I tend to think there's a Christian allegory at work here---even though McEwen is avowed atheist. But even if you don't want to go that far just appreciate the breathtaking way Joe Wright has brought this story to life--- from the scenes at the 1930's English mansion, London during the blitz...and most importantly the British evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940. There's a tracking shot that goes on for several minutes with Robbie walking---perhaps being resurrected---from the dead---that is captivating. I walked out of this one saying Wright deserved Best Director honors for that shot alone. He might very well get it. This one will be an Oscar favorite...and it's one of the best films of 2007. 5 out of 5
"Alvin and the Chipmunks"--not much to say here except it wasn't as torturous as I expected! I'm sure most critics will hammer this one hard, but I have kids and I sit through all these family movies. I'll promise you this---there are a lot of them that are worse than "Alvin and the Chipmunks". Jason Lee plays a Dave Seville a struggling songwriter who fails to impress his former college roommate record executive Ian Hawk played by David Cross. Then some chipmunks arrive and start signing and well, you know...the rest is history. Alvin is voiced by Justin Long, Simon by Matthew Gray Gubler and Theadore by Jesse McCartney. The CGI special effect these days is so good that the live action/animation mix works well and the hip-hop remakes of the old Chipmunk songs had my kids signing the tunes on the way out of the theater. If there's just ONE movie you see this holiday season make sure it's not this one! But it could have been a lot worse and I was surprised to learn than director Tim Hill did "Garfield: A Tale of two Kitties" because that movie was just awful. The kids will love this one and it's not a bad tribute to Ross Bagdasarian the creator of the original Chipmunks...2.5 out of 5.
This week on DVD--"The Bourne Ultimatum" perhaps the best in the Bourne series to date, and maybe the final chapter, but I doubt it. Also "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" which isn't the best of the Potter movies...but there hasn't been a true clunker in the bunch and it's interesting to watch these characters mature and grow up before out eyes.
