Rango (2011)

Big names.  Big voices.  Great animation.  A wee bit preachy.  But, still a very fun movie to watch.

The biggest surprise is who does the Eastwood-esque voice of The Spirit of the West.  The character looked, walked and talked just like the man with no name.  But it was not who you think.  No spoilers here.

Johnny Depp and Ned Beatty square off as the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Isla Fisher is the voice of the love interest, sort of.  And several others lend some very funny performances.  The voice of the rattlesnake is the second biggest surprise.

Written by the same guy who wrote Gladiator, The Last Samurai, and The Aviator, some of my favorite works, this story is as moralistic as the others.  Vegas stole the water and left small desert communities high and dry.  No judgments here.  I don't know the facts.

Watch this movie with someone who has a romantic vision of the old west and the many legends who punctuate those stories.

The Tourist (2010)

If you are in the mood for a movie with beautiful people doing exciting things in beautiful places, then this might be a good one for you. On the other hand, if you take away those things, there is not much to get worked up about.

Angelina Jolie is elegant if not a little less steamy that her past roles. Johnny Depp is both funny and fierce. But there is too little chemistry between them for my tastes. Paul Bettany does all the real acting here as the anguished Interpol Inspector chasing them. Timothy Dalton who might have been given the lead role back in the day plays the Chief Inspector. And I have to say he does it well.

Steven Berkoff does his usual splendid job playing an international bad guy and Alessio Boni is great as the local Venice cop who makes things happen.

For sure this movie keeps you guessing who the mystery thief is until the end. Some may guess early and some will find out in the end. No spoilers here, but it could have been done a bit better and with much better ending lines.

Watch this movie with someone who has actually been to Venice and enjoy their memories of the place.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Disney goes out on a limb with this one, but it works for me. Tim Burton dances with the devil again and comes up smelling roses - again. Dark tellings of classic stories ring truer with me than the the more gentle versions. Reading the original tales one finds some very dark themes and scenes. So, I like to see these fresh spins on old stories.

Relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska does a wonderful job of playing big and small Alice. Helena Bonham Carter (6th Burton film), next door neighbor and mother of Burton's children, plays the CG-altered Red Queen of Hearts - brilliant! Johnny Depp (7th Burton film) plays the totally Mad Hatter, and although his accent changes from scene to scene, it fits well with his character. At one point when someone threatens to "off his head" his replies, "too late". Very funny.

This movie is okay for the younger viewers as well. Some of the scenes may be a little scary for the less-than-PG crowd, but otherwise there is plenty of humor on all levels to keep everyone amused.

Watch this movie with someone who will get all the subtle nods to chess and card games.

Public Enemies

If you can ignore the factual and continuity problems with the movie, it is a great ride. If that sort of thing bugs you - reconsider.

Johnny Depp is excellent as the legendary, much "beloved", bank robber John Dillinger. During the Great Depression Dillinger was the terror of Midwest banks and police departments. When the predecessor of the FBI gets involved, J. Edgar Hoover, played smartly by Billy Crudup, turns up the heat with scientific and method. Christian Bale is the tormented Special Agent in charge of the Chicago office tasked with catching Dillinger.

Marion Cotillard and Branka Katic play the lovely women in Dillinger's life.

This highly fictionalized tale of cops and robbers in the 1930s is fast-moving and quite suspenseful. Though the characters are all based on real people the events are less than verifiable. Don't worry though, unless you are a good student of this period of time you won't notice.

Watch this movie with lots of popcorn and all the moxie you can muster.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

With 3 Oscar nominations and 1 win, you'd think I might like this movie better. With the likes of Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman, all of whom I usually love, you'd think I find some pleasure in the acting. Toss in Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat himself, and you'd think the comic relief impact would be good enough to lighten even Tim Burton's darkest vision. Not so in any of the cases above.

I found the story without any redeeming value. I found the acting so over-the-top that I was not sure when to laugh and when to cry. It was easy enough to know when to look away. Okay, so this exposes me as a horror film wimp. I don't see the point, and freely admit it. I do love a thriller, and this was far more the thriller than horror story. But as a thriller, it was to predictable.

Even if you don't read the DVD jacket, it becomes obvious what the barber will do, and how he will dispose to the bodies. Even if you have not seen the Broadway production, you should figure out fairly soon who proves to be the barber's undoing.

Please don't get me wrong, I did not dislike ALL the movie. The music was great. Stephen Sondheim is wonderful. From West Side Story to this, he has proven the master of setting complex dialogue set to music.

Having said ALL this, let me add some caveats. If you usually like Tim Burton's work, you will most likely "get" this movie. You may even love it.

I suggest watch it with someone who gets, or even loves, you.

Finding Neverland

Don't let the 7 Academy Award nominations distract you from the fact this this is a very good movie.

Director Marc Foster (Monster's Ball, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Kite Runner) has a short resume but look at the great choices he's made. Wow. Smart scripts. Great casts. Award-winning results.

Johnny Depp (Nightmare on Elm Street, Platoon, and What's Eating Gilbert Grape) is Sir J.M. Barre, author of stage plays and stories like Peter Pan. This story-of-a-story film is about the relationship he had with a family inspired him to write - stories like Peter Pan.

Kate Winslet (Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is the 'other woman' in Sir Barre's life and the mother of the children who invent Peter Pan.

Film greats like Julie Christie and Dustin Hoffman support well in this project. This is not Hoffman's only Pan work (see Hook). And, while this is the second Pan-related movie on this site, it will almost certainly not be the last. Just because Pan Syndrome has never been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association does not mean it does not mean anything. Right? We all just exhibit it in different ways.

I would be guilty of serious dereliction of duty if I failed to mention Radha Mitchell (Man on Fire, and Mozart and the Whale) is so convincing in everything she does, we forget how young she is. Pure talent.

Watch this movie with someone knows how to tell good stories.

Chocolat

Ever wanted to change the world? This movie will inspire you. If you have not already seen it, you are in for a treat. Juliette Binoche is magical, and her supporting cast, which includes greats such as Dame Judi Dench, Lena Olin, and Johnny Depp all weave together a delicious dramedy.

It is a story of good versus evil, right versus left, old versus new, and yin versus yang. The parties all discover that it is only when they embrace each other that they can stand themselves. Even if you don't have an addiction to chocolate, you will find this movie intoxicating. The more often you watch it, the more you learn from it.

Nominated for best picture and 4 other academy awards in 2001, "Chocolat" was a risky venture. The script and setting were better suited to Masterpiece Theater audiences, but Disney, via it's Miramax label, decided to give the viewing public a taste of smart story-telling that raised the bar for other studios.

Eating popcorn during this movie seems odd, so choose the milk duds or bon bons instead. It is a great movie to watch in front of the fire on a dark and stormy night.

POTC - At World's End

She was a 1950 Chevy pick-up. Hardwood bed. Curved windows in the cab corners. Foot starter. Straight Six engine. Black with lots of chrome. She was my first vehicle and my father lovingly called her The Black Pearl. Perhaps that was the start of my love affair with pirate stories.

The first "Pirates of the Caribbean" was a true pirate movie. The second was a disappointing monster movie with pirates in it. And, as with most 3-quels, the middle movie is just a set up for the third. This latest installment, "At World's End", just out on DVD, is back to formula and better. It is darker. It is full of character evolution. It is full of emotion. It has Keith Richards, who clearly skipped the make-up and wardrobe departments, and nobody noticed.

This third "Pirates" movie was not as funny as the first, but pirate stories are not always supposed to BE funny. Sometimes they are sad. Sometimes, the bad guys win. Sometimes rotten things happen to rotten characters. That's what we love about pirate stories.

Make sure you stick with the movie, even past the credits. And join me on the cliffs overlooking Dana Strand to watch for green flashes.