Talking Pictures

Although the Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader boasts some of the best special effects seen all year long, the film is mired down by its heaviness.

After the first 30 minutes, the innocent air that surrounded the first two outings is gone and replaced by a thick cloud of indulgence. In this, the 3rd film in the series, Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia with their high-strung, bratty, ever complaining cousin, Eustace.

The plot has something to do with the children coming to the aid of the Narnians and help rid the land of an unseen evil force. Along the way, Eustace is transformed into a dragon and then into nice kid who doesn’t complain anymore. Then there are some glowing swords everyone is after but never really do anything, sorcerer’s who just explain the plot up to now and a star-girl who flirts with Prince (King) Caspian, but it never goes anywhere.

Pretty much that’s it. Then everyone goes home including the audience who scratches its collective head trying to figure out what they just spent 115 minutes watching.

The Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a weak story trapped inside terrific special effects. But without a story, special effects just become tiresome.

The Chronicles of Narnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader gets a C- and is rated PG.

Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie would be anyone’s “dream team” it was exciting to hear they would be appearing together in the new film “The Tourist.” But even the best actors can’t save a bad and indifferent script from itself.

Depp plays a tourist who meets a beautiful and mysterious woman on a train going to Venice, Italy. She’s being followed and she uses him as decoy.

The film from time to time has a familiar flavor to it, as it’s trying to be a kind of modern-day “Charade,” but it never quite makes it to “edge of your seat” status. In fact, the film is really a let down considering the star power it has.

The Tourist gets an average C and is rated PG-13

Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” is one of the best film this year. Virtually a one-man
performance from James Franco, the film is wonderfully constructed give the viewer the
feeling of being trapped along with the film’s main character.

Francoi is pitch perfect as Aron Ralston, who’s true-life experience is what the movie is
based upon.

The film gets an A and is rated R

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” is a fan film first and foremost.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But I mention it because if you’re not a fan you may get lost a bit in the film’s characters and references. But that being said, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” offers up the best combination of acting and special effects so far in the series.

And while this is a darker film than than the others, it also and boasts deeper relationships between the main characters and a more wry sense of humor.

Overall, this first part of the final curtain for Harry and friends is well worth watching and well worth the ticket price in.

It gets a solid B and is rated PG-13

“Unstoppable” stars Denzel Washington and (Star Trek’s Captain Kirk) Chris Pine in a throwback to those 70’s disaster films.

When an unmanned freight train is accidentally let loose, the railroad line begins a frantic quest to simply stop it. The action cards are stacked when the audience learns the train is carrying tons of volatile chemicals that will explode and wipe out a small city the train is shooting toward.

As it happens two lone railroad workers are on the track and as the company’s efforts to stop the train keep failing, it becomes clear these two men are the only hope to stop this disaster.

Under the direction of Tony Scott, Washington and Pine rescue “Unstoppable” from becoming overly cartoonish and laughable and allow the audience to relax and simply enjoy the ride.

“Unstoppable” gets a B and is rated PG-13

“Morning Glory” began as a wonderfully inspired comedy with a tip of the hat to cinematic predecessors like “The Front Page,” and “Broadcast News.” The new comedy also had quite a pedigree of good solid actors including Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams. But somewhere during the 2nd half of the film the plot, directing and comedy began to sputter and fade.

I’m not saying the film didn’t have its share of laughs, it did. But those laughs seemed to be spaced further and further apart as the movie plodded along.

“Morning Glory’s” best feature is the widely underused Jeff Goldblum, as the overworked executive news producer who hires Rachel McAdams, a young zealous producer to help a dying morning show make a come back. Goldblum can take even the most mundane dialogue and make it work.

Both Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton turn in good performances but in a mostly one-dimensional and formulaic way. Ford is clearly the old curmudgeon newsman, who has found his way of doing ‘hard news” is long past.

Keaton is the aging matron who is established herself as the queen of the morning, but finding that she has settled into a rut and needs to get out of her comfort zones.

Finally Rachel McAdams actually turns in a very pleasing turn as the young, vibrant catalyst finally finding her place and pace in life.

I guess what bugs me is although this will certainly please audiences, Morning Glory should have been much better than an episode of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

It gets a C and is rated PG-13

“Due Date” has a few laughs in it but needed to be, well… funnier. The comedy starring Zach Galifianakas and Robert Downey Jr. just doesn’t have enough gas to get through this road trip buddy picture before the audience gets bored with the whole thing. In essence, “Due Date” is a poor imitation of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”

“Due Date” gets a C- and is rated R.

Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” starring Matt Damon is uneven at best. A slow-paced film that seems to drown in its own excesses.

The film just doesn’t get anywhere with any of its three main plots and winds up just a
forgettable mess.

It gets a D and is rated PG-13

In the new film “Red” a group of retired CIA operatives get back together to find out who’s been killing off other retired agents. In the war between “old” and “young,” will wisdom and experience win out over cool devices and state-of-the-art technology?

The film is based on the cult D.C. Comics graphic novels by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner and humorously explores the question of age and youth and in turn takes the audience for one of the best rides this year, with Bruce Willis firmly planted in the driver’s seat.

“Red” is very much worth the ticket price in. It gets a B and is rated PG-13.

Disney will always do “Disney” better than anyone else. And in the hands of director Randall Wallace, the story of Secretariat is wonderfully told in that delightfully sterile Disney way.

I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Not at all. I am reminding everyone who ever said “Why don’t they make films like they used to” to actually come to the theater and buy a ticket to this film, or shut up.

Diane Lane takes on the role of Penny Chenery Tweedy, the housewife who saw something extraordinary in the colt she inherited. Lane has always been a gifted actress and adds a breath of frustration to this performance, making it a very human portrayal.

For a bit of comic relief, there’s John Malkovich as Lucien Laurin, the wacky trainer who is in need of a comeback himself.

For anyone (including me) nostalgic for a good live-action family film, this is as good as it gets.

Secretariat gets a B and is rated PG.