"X-Men First Class"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
"X-Men: The Younguns" has its share of things that go boom but it doesn't follow the summer blockbuster format. There aren't action sequences every ten minutes, the characters actually talk to one another and there's even subtitles! What a relief. After the heavy metal bombast of "Thor" and its ilk, "X-Men" is more like the art rock of a Radiohead disc -- brainy but still fun.
From concentration camps in Poland to a mansion in Westchester, NY, "First Class" details the evolution of the mutant band of X-Men (and Women). We learn how the two most powerful mutants, Eric / Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) get along long enough to put together a team of mutants, but soon find themselves on opposite side in a game of Free to Be You and Me. Add in some former Nazis, the Cuban Missile Crisis and Betty Draper and you have one of the most satisfyingly good blow-‘em'-up movies of the year so far.
"X-Men: First Class" is a bit talkier than you might expect from a big budget comic book movie, but at least they're saying something. It isn't just chatter. Mixed in with the action and the one-liners you expect from these kinds of films is a parable about tolerance and social context with a timely edge -- one line in particular, "Security is more important than liberty," sounds scarily up to date -- but the reason it all works so well is that it has the best of all worlds, good crash-boom-bang, great villains, cool characters and a script that respects all of the above. If they wanted to make it less chatty, I suppose they could cut some of January Jones's lines. One thing is for sure, acting is not her super power.
The other actors, however, do their best to make us forget that Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen once donned the mutant black and yellow uniforms. McAvoy brings real heart to the role of Xavier and Fassbender is edgy enough to really make us believe the rage that fuels Magneto. Of the teen mutants only Jennifer Lawrence, as the shape shifting blue lady Mystique and Nicholas Hoult as Beast do something interesting with their characters, even though Beast's mask looks like a dollar store purchase. The others are underdeveloped embryonic characters that provide some color but not much else to the story. Hopefully if any of them come back they'll do more than spit fire or flutter insect wings.
Stealing the show is Kevin Bacon as the power hungry Sebastian Shaw. Trying to take over the world is serious business, but that doesn't stop Bacon from having some serious fun with the role.
"X-Men: First Class" is a welcome addition to the "X-Men" movie series and a great example of how big blockbuster entertainment can entertain the eye (thanks January Jones and Jennifer Lawrence) and the mind.
"Midnight in Paris"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
The cliché when reviewing a Woody Allen film is to play the "Spot the Woody" game. Since Allen stopped actually appearing in his own films it has become de rigueur to speculate on which role Woody would have played. It's a bit of a tired game, but in his new film, "Midnight in Paris," (which opened the most recent Cannes Film Festival) Owen Wilson is clearly playing the part. He's a nostalgic Hollywood screenwriter who yearns to be taken seriously as an author. It's Woody alright, despite Wilson's California beach bum style.
In a story that harkens back to Allen's older magic realism films like "Purple Rose of Cairo," Gil Pender (Wilson), an American on vacation in France, finds himself transported back to 1920s Paris. For a man with "golden Age" fantasies it's a dream come true. He meets F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston, last seen as Loki from "Thor" and Alison Pill), hangs out with surrealists, sees Cole Porter sing at a party, drinks with Hemmingway and tries to steal Picasso's girl Adriana (Marion Cotillard). Bringing him back to reality is his irritating present day fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her obnoxious parents.
It must first be said that "Midnight in Paris" is worth the price of admissions for the lovely shots of the fetching Marion Cotillard strolling the streets of Paris in a flapper dress. It's also worth it to see Woody do for 1920s Paris what he did for 1970s Manhattan. He has one character say, "that Paris exists and anyone would choose to live anywhere else is a mystery to me," and after seeing the film it's hard not to agree. Allen's cities are often as much a character as any of the actors and Paris is no exception. Now if he'd only shoot in Toronto. It might help tourism.
"Midnight in Paris" is a fantasy, but there is a point. Every generation looks back at the past with envy, Gil comes to realize that there really never was a "golden age" and that to be truly happy he must live in the present. That resolution is a bit of a revelation coming from Woody Allen, a man whose films seem to be from a different age but the skill he brings to this film proves he's still a vital interesting filmmaker and not a relic from a past age.
"Good Neighbours"
Richard's Review: 3 1/2 stars
A thriller about friendship, serial killers and lies set against the backdrop of the 1995 referendum on the separation of Quebec, "Good Neighbors" has a Twin Peaks feel. That is, if that show had been directed by Dario Argento.
The lives of three neighbors in a Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood walk-up become entwined, leading to murder --dead cats and tenants -- suspicion and double and triple crosses.
The undeniable sweetness director Jacob Tierney brought to his last film "The Trotsky" is out the window, replaced by a delicious sense of mischief and mayhem. Also showing their dark sides are stars Jay Baruchel, Scottt Speedman and Emily Hampshire.
"Beginners"
Richard's Review: 4 stars
There's a reason why "Beginners," a melancholy new family drama starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent feels so authentic. Director Mike Mills (the "Thumbsucker" filmmaker, not the R.E.M. bassist) based elements of the story on his real life. The result is an intimate portrait of a man shaped by the influence of his parents.
In this nonlinear story we follow the broken timeline of Oliver's (McGregor) broken life. He's having a strange year. First his mother dies of cancer, then, just as he is coming to grips with her passing, his 75-year-old father Hal (Plummer) comes out of the closet, announcing that he's always been gay and now that his wife is gone he'd like to explore that long buried aspect of his life.
Hal's news is followed by turns both good and bad. First he meets a wonderful man, but just as their relationship is blossoming he is diagnosed with stage four cancer. The cumulative effect of all these events sends Oliver deep inside his own head to a sad and bad place until he meets Anna (Laurent), a beautiful actress with father issues of her own.
Told in flashbacks embellished with many stylistic flourishes, the movie never allows Mill's montages and other frills to overwhelm the story. Mills, who along with his personal connection to the story, brings a keen sense of how real people conduct themselves in times of stress, isn't afraid to allow his characters to be introspective. A good portion of the story is internal, conveyed by McGregor's dour expressions, Plummer's dignity and Laurent's vulnerability.
Even the meeting of the McGregor and Laurent characters -- her voice is shot, laryngitis, and she has to communicate with a notepad -- which would normally be too quirky by half for me, works because this isn't a fluffy rom com but a textured look at why people behave the way they do.
Mills has also drawn expert performances from his cast. Plummer looks ripe to earn another Oscar nomination for his touching take on a man who finds happiness only to have it taken away too soon and McGregor and Laurent make a compelling couple.
Topping off the tender tale is the cutest on-screen dog since Benji who provides unique insight into Oliver's emotional maturation.
