The Wolverine (2013)

Director James Mangold's film features some breathtakingly suspenseful action sequences, exquisite production and costume design and colorful characters, some of whom register more powerfully than others. It's a relief to come across a blockbuster that finds a location and stays there, rather than hopping desperately from one place to the nextIt restores the tarnished lustre to this most fan-beloved of Marvel characters by doing precisely what Chris Claremont and Frank Miller's near-sacred 1982 run did: It pumps some feeling into the guy along with his muscles and steel talons. Too quickly the random fights pile up, so much yakuza thugs who forgot to wear chain mail that morning -- and you yearn for the film that might have been.

 

Mangold front-loads the action, but near the end there's a first-rate fight atop a bullet train between Wolverine/Logan and some especially pesky ninjas. It puts the train fights in the recent The Lone Ranger to shame. Just as comic-book movie fatigue was starting to set in, along comes The Wolverine to revive a moribund summer of superheroes. After this Origins film, the Wolverine character had the potentially of crashing and burning. Thankfully, it did not. Looks like someone decided to take the Wolverine spin-off series seriously. It's Hugh's movie, and he's in formidable form, whether chatting with the dead Jean Grey, skewering multiple baddies, clinging to a bullet train's roof or performing seriously ouchy auto-surgery.

 

Man, Wolverine is a boring character. Never has that been made more apparent than in "The Wolverine." Ultimately, this is Jackman's film, and he plays the reluctant but fearsome hero perfectly. Moderadamente eficaz, mas não deixa de ser sintomático que sua melhor cena seja aquela que surge apenas durante os créditos finais... the movie simply doesn't have anything interesting or relevant to say about the iconic Marvel character.

 

Slick, entertaining, super-hero thrill ride, the only quibbles are its length - every big film these days seems to be 20 minutes too long - and its 3D conversion. Really, it's another example of the marginal difference that process often makes. A superior, even adult Marvel Comics adaptation that plays almost like a straight gangster/yakuza thriller for much of its length, until the obligatory climactic superhero/supervillain dust-up. For all the up and down The Wolverine is definitely more up than down more of the time... It still doesn't feel like the definitive adventure for the character, but there's potential for the character still. The Wolverine can proudly take its place with most of the rest of its comic book brethren this summer - high atop the mountain of the Massively OK. The movie contemplates Logan's existential dilemma for all of two seconds before getting to the slashing and bashing.

 

a murky and muddled thing saved, such as it is, by Hugh Jackman's steadfast commitment a man's mute, impotent melancholy and the many females around him engaged in the maintenance of their separate, disintegrating orbits. After 2009′s bland X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it's refreshing to see Hugh Jackman inhabit the character in a movie that actually understands his inner conflict. The Wolverine is surprisingly dour and uneventful, at least by the carnage-n-claptrap standards of modern superhero films Much of the reason Wolverine has become everyone's favorite Canadian mutant is because, despite his origins in the Marvel Universe, he doesn't act much like a superhero.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

With those eyes that are a little too close together, and that confident swagger that looks as if it could disintegrate into a pratfall at any time, Ferrell makes a grand ringleader for all this nonsense. A dash of outrageous visual humor (notably, in a car-wreck scene) and crazily crude sex talk can't compensate for the formulaic stiffness that dominates ... Scene after scene rockets past dumb, past camp, past Kabuki, and into the Milky Way of Silly where laws can be made up and discarded as long as what happens gets laughs. Great fun this may well be, but the finale signifies a distinct running out of ideas. Like all Judd Apatow comedies, the movie could do with ruthless pruning, but the top story is that Ferrell's fearless energy keeps things going, even if the skits are a little hit and miss.

Mostly funny, and the satiric arrows, frankfurter-thick as they are, find their targets more often than not. Patchy and in need of a rigorous edit, but amid all the weeds there is some ripe comedy - satire, even - for the plucking.This is Anchorman turned up to 11. This Anchorman sequel knows who its fans are, and does its best to keep them happy. No one will be complaining. The laughs are still there But shockingly, this sequel is actually "about" something -- the birth of cable news and the death of TV journalism Get ready for some vintage Burgundy. It's not really my kind of comedy, but I do admire the risky inventions and daring ideas - even if they don't all work

This Anchorman sequel gift wraps plenty of crazy ideas, slapstick and occasional hilarity. It soars when it's hot and bums out when it's not A deliriously barmy, laugh-out-loud sequel that manages to top the much-loved original, with fond nods to Australia in tow. The film nails its 70s setting, but too much of the comedy is based on people falling over or shouting. The inspired lunacy of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is downgraded to calculated silliness in its long-gestating sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, but hey, that is barely cause for complaint. Director Adam McKay and co. up the ante with this side-splitting sequel, which plays, bigger, funnier and more absurd. You'll be impressed.

Some Velvet Morning (2013)

Doesn't reinvent man-vs.-woman theater, but it's a twisty and vitriolic barb-fest that should please audiences in the mood for respite from holiday cheer. It represents a return to the kind of writing and filmmaking with which Neil LaBute made his name. An hour and a half of emotional manipulation seasoned with a dash of straight-up violence. While there's much to admire in how Mr. Tucci and Ms. Eve perform Mr. LaBute's artful, apocalyptic duet, this is one seriously out-of-date tune. Something's not right, and anyone who's paying attention will be able to spot the signifiers easily. You may be nonplussed by the Big Reveal, though the path to it is rough.

 

This smallest of films marks a welcome return to the world of interpersonal miniature for the writer-director. I hope he stays here a while. Anyone game to watch two effortlessly volatile and vulnerable performers trade barbs for 83 minutes ought to give this due consideration. Stanley Tucci and Alice Eve ably trade verbal volleys but the movie feels like an acting and writing workshop more than anything else. The Neil LaBute movie for people who hate Neil LaBute movies -- a tightly packed, deviously well-played two-person drama about the illusions of both love and drama. Too much method, not enough madness.

A second viewing of Some Velvet Morning might prove considerably more rewarding than the first, but a stronger film (or play) would work equally well on both levels. Neil LaBute is a master at manipulative, funny and provocative wordplay, and Stanley Tucci is a master at crafting a charming, witty and controlling character and seems to relish the changing tones and moods that Fred has to go through. LaBute has consistently made intriguing, often idiosyncratic films in his career, but he hasn't made anything this unsettling and unforgettable in a very long time. Some Velvet Morning is absorbing and enraging, sure to spark debate both about its meaning and its method.

Hours (2013)

Hurricane Katrina has already been pretty thoroughly mined for documentaries and fictional stories, but "Hours" holds your interest nonetheless. Most of the movie elicits tense empathy, which builds to a genuinely nerve-wracking sense of dread. Hours has a great B-movie premise, but at 97 minutes, the strain of keeping the story going, and throwing more obstacles in Nolan's way, starts to show. Here's a hero who's maybe like you, suffering like you might but also scraping through like you hope you could. A lean, palpably tense thriller. Paul Walker gives the best performance of his career. As one of the last completed roles by [Paul Walker]...it feels nice to be able to luxuriate in the actor's presence. In another set of circumstances, Hours could have proved to other filmmakers what the actor was capable of

There's something vexing about the use of a baby as narrative device, and the movie leans too heavily on her inborn potential for heart-tuggery. Called upon to carry almost the entire movie by himself, Walker has a tough time mustering genuine emotion, although he does better in the few legitimately tense scenes. While uneven, the film is uniquely involving - right down to a final shot that will break your heart into a million pieces. For those who wish to see [Walker] at his best, "Hours" is worth the time. Represents a change of pace for the performer, who delivers some of his best work in this odd thriller, which somehow transfers the bomb-on-a-bus concept of "Speed" to an infant-on-a-incubator ride of suspense and heartbreaking stakes.

From the evidence here, Walker's forte may have been not action but stillness-a knack for embodying ordinary Joes without any fussiness. Take away the on-the-nose title and some half-hearted stabs at symbolism, and what's left is a B-thriller of the "they don't make 'em like they used to" variety.

American Hustle (2013)

Reveling in its '70s milieu and in the eternal abrasion of sexy women and covetous men, American Hustle is an urban eruption of flat-out fun - the sharpest, most exhilarating comedy in years. While Russell's film succeeds on the strength of its casting and characters, it's dragged down by a murky and poorly-paced narrative.

A brilliant cast shines in David O. Russell's deliriously funny account of the notorious Abscam case. An infectious blast of funky jazz played by a terrific cast and a director at the top of their respective games. Has the kind of throbbing pulse, wicked snap and sheer moviemaking bravado that makes it one of a very few films that can be mentioned in the same breath as Goodfellas.

The screenplay is outstanding, taking us on an ever changing course where the dramatic scenery shifts from tense to bizarre to deadly to hilarious ... not to mention a great 70s soundtrack. A deliciously entertaining movie about the perfect con, corruption and how to survive on thin ice, American Hustle starts its hustling right from the get-go with its edgy script, winning cast and fab jazzy score It subverts the focus of other '70s-set movies about charming crooks - of which "Goodfellas" is the standard-bearer - by emphasizing emotional mechanics over the ones used to perpetrate their crimes. It's so satisfying. It's so suspect. It's so '70s. And it's so good.

While you have to admire American Hustle for its willingness to work hard and play harder, it's also hard to not notice that all of its frantic efforts don't really go anywhere new. one of those extremely watchable movies that will suck you into a cable tractor beam when you come across it for the next ten years If awards were handed out for the sloppiest movies, "American Hustle" would be a dead ringer for just such a booby prize. Solidly assured from beginning to end, compulsively watchable, very funny, beautifully textured and surprisingly intricately structured ... American Hustle ... is a delight, a sure Awards-season contender, and worth every cent you spend on a ticket.

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

The whole thing goes down with a few bucketloads of sugar. What keeps it from becoming sticky schmaltz is Emma Thompson, who plays Travers with wit and warmth. What could have merely been a studio's love letter to itself winds up being a meditation on the power that art has for artists as a way to exorcise the past. This is a good looking film with strong performances and a rich musical score by Thomas Newman ('Skyfall'). but there are certain narrative and structural problems that hold it back.

Thompson is so delightfully acerbic and convincing that she makes Saving Mr. Banks safe for people who find Disney films too saccharine. Not adventurous, but entertaining.The end result, though well-mounted and featuring knock-the-soot-out-of-your-chimney performances from Emma Thompson as Travers and Tom Hanks as the movie mogul, feels more like a Disney theme park version of events than the real story.

One might say the ultimate irony in the clash of cultures and approaches to storytelling exemplified by P.L Travers and Walt Disney's tussle over Mary Poppins, is the Disneyification of the dispute: Uncle Walt's empire enjoying the last word. Emma Thompson is terrific as the no-nonsense raspish writer who tongue-lashes the great and good. It is easy to forget that as well as actor, writer and all round good egg, Thompson is also a very accomplished comedienne.

Hanks and Thompson are a delight, Farrell gives one of his best performances, and there are some lovely moments as we observe the creation of the musical, especially when we hear the tunes. An enjoyable, occasionally laughable, and sometimes moving drama, with Emma Thompson on fine brittle form as the quintessentially English Australian who gave the world its most famous nanny. Utterly charming, frequently funny and powerfully emotional comedy-drama with a most delightful script, spit-spot-on production design work and wondrous, award-worthy performances from Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks.The sugar-to-medicine ratio is fixed at around 15 parts to one, but there's nothing wrong with true sweetness.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (2013)

Eschewing the kitchen-sink minutiae of the first installment, Peter Jackson creates a rousing, immersive sequel that offers the same sort of sweeping action - and emotional engagement - that helped the "Rings" films become a cultural phenomenon.

 

Nearly everything about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug represents an improvement over the first installment of Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved creation.

After a bumpy beginning with 'An Unexpected Journey,' Peter Jackson's 'Hobbit' trilogy finds its footing in this much more exciting and purposeful second chapter.

Maybe this really is what a lot of people want to see from a film version of The Hobbit, but let's at least accept that Tolkien would probably not have been among them.

 It's a breathlessly told, action-packed crowd-pleaser that restores the luster of the saga for those underwhelmed by its predecessor and leaves you excited for the final chapter in the trilogy.