P.S. A Column On Things

Astroboy

2.5 stars out of 5

Great voice talent. Fantastic CGI animation. A beloved Anime character from the 1960s. All in service of a limp story. I was never a hard-core Astroboy fan, so this film was only of mild interest to me. It wasn't Little Nemo in Slumberland bad (the touchstone for animated lousiness in our family), but it wasn't all that good either. I didn't feel like I needed a bath or refund afterwards, and at the end of my life I'll probably only apply to get 45 of the 90 minutes of my life back that I invested in watching the film. At least it wasn't too long.

New York, I Love You

4 stars out of 5

The unofficial followup to Paris, I Love You, this film contains 12 short films and more stars than you can shake a stick at. Every one of the vignettes is clever, funny, moving, original or all four. There are too many great moments to list, and anything I could say about the plots would end up being a spoiler. Suffice it to say that about a quarter of the time you'll figure out where the sketch is going, and the other three-quarters of the time you'll be surprised. That's a better batting average than O'Henry.

Neal Vitale Reviews: The Damned United

4 stars out of 5

It's risky to base your expectations of a film on the quality of the team that created it, but the key collaborators on The Damn United have one of the best track records going, and this effort is no exception. This true-life story of British soccer coach Brian Clough brings together a compelling screenplay by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), the crisp and straightforward direction of Tom Hooper (Longford, HBO's series "John Adams"), and a core trio of fine actors in solid performances. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) shines as the aggressive and brash Clough - Oscar consideration would not be out of the question - and is supported by Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd, Enchanted), as Clough's behind-the-scenes partner Peter Taylor, and Colm Meaney (The Commitments, Layer Cake, and many TV roles), as Clough's  rival on the football pitch. The Damned United provides a vivid portrait of hubris and ambition, the marks they can leave, and the intriguing, often contradictory, forces at work in professional sports ownership.

Neal Vitale Reviews: Where The Wild Things Are

3 stars out of 5

I was ten years old when Maurice Sendak's slim illustrated children's book "Where The Wild Things Are" was first published by Harper & Row, and I never read it at the time. It was a good forty-plus years later when I was finally exposed to the text, reading it to my daughter. At the risk of harrumphing, the story never made much of an impact on me, and I approached this film - an enormous expansion of the brief original tale by director/writer Spike Jonze (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) and writer Dave Eggers (Away We Go, books such as "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius") - with only minimal enthusiasm. (In fact, I might not even have gone to see Where The Wild Things Are but for the inclusion in the film's trailer of the wonderful, uplifting Arcade Fire anthem, "Wake Up," from their 2004 debut album, Funeral. Sadly and annoyingly, the song is not in the movie.) There are moments in the film that are captivating, capturing the confusing, contradictory, and often inexplicable actions, impulses, and emotions of childhood and life. Jonze imbues a fantastic story with feelings that read as genuine and realistic. But, for me, these high points are too infrequent, and I'll continue my decades of harrumphing.

Neal Vitale Reviews: An Education

4.5 stars out of 5

An Education is a sensitive and lovingly-rendered coming-of-age story of a sixteen-year-old girl in early 1960s London, deftly crafted by Danish director Lone Scherfig with an elegant and light touch. Based on a memoir by Lynn Barber and written for the screen by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy, Fever Pitch), An Education features a marvelous cast, led by Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice) in the central role. Peter Sarsgaard (Kinsey, Jarhead, Elegy) is her suave and winsome suitor; Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2), Rosamund Pike (Fracture), Emma Thompson (Last Chance Harvey), Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), and Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia!) all shine in smaller parts. But this is truly Mulligan's film, and her breakout performance suggests the start of a notable career.

The Informant!

4 Stars out of 5

Update Oct. 14, 2009: Because of a senior moment, I forgot that Neal Vitale had already reviewed The Informant on Sept. 24; he gave it 2.5 stars. And that's what makes horse races.

Steven Soderbergh's new film, The Informant! stars Matt Damon in the most entertaining role of his career to date. It is the story of an incredibly complex informant, Mark Whitacre, who was at the center of a price-fixing scandal at Archer Daniels Midland in the 1990s. Vicki and I were fascinated by every minute of it. It was shot very weird--not much focus, not much lighting. It almost looks like a documentary. They music is bizarre and inappropriate--on purpose! Soderbergh set out to make the anti-drama about an informant, and he succeeded, wildly.

Neal Vitale Reviews: The Informant!

2.5 stars out of 5

If nothing else, prolific director/producer Steven Soderbergh deserves credit for the volume and range of his work. His films ranges from the gritty, indie reality of Sex, Lies, And Videotape and The Girlfriend Experience, to mainstream fare like the Ocean's 11-13 series and Erin Brockovich, and on to quirkier pieces like Solaris, The Limey, and Che. The Informant! is yet another breed, a dark "comedy" built on a fictionalized version of a real-life price-fixing scandal at agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland in the 1990s. What starts off as a seemingly straightforward tale of whistle-blowing turns increasingly murky and bizarre as the informant inside ADM - a chubby, toupee-wearing biochemist and car lover named Matt Whitacre, played by Matt Damon - reveals lie after lie, deceit upon deceit, as the story unfolds. In the end, while the substantial wrongdoing by ADM is documented and punished, Whitacre's delusions, self-deceptions, and outlandish fabrications take center stage. But who cares? Damon is effective as the central character, but The Informant! is yet another film that makes you wonder why it was made.

Neal Vitale Reviews: 9

2.5 stars out of 5

Director Shane Acker has produced a visually arresting animated film in 9, but his storyline rings hollow and unsatisfying. A scientist has created sophisticated robotic weapons that have fallen into malevolent hands, leading to a cataclysmic war and the near-total destruction of human life. As this battle ensued, the scientist hand-made nine dolls, each carrying an aspect of his soul, in the hope of having those elements eventually reunited, to help in mankind's recovery. While the look of 9 is richly detailed and quite beautiful (in the dark vein of Producer Tim Burton's oeuvre), the theme is too abstract and overly complicated - and even a bit hackneyed, despite the lushly original surroundings - to ever truly resonate. A treat for the eyes, but little else.

My One and Only

3.5 stars out of 5

Even if you don't like George Hamilton, even if you can't imagine liking a biopic about his youth, go see this film. Renée Zellweger as Anne Deveraux is in every scene, and glitters in every scene she's in. Kevin Bacon as her philandering bandleader husband Dan Devereaux shines in what amounts to little more than a glorified cameo, projecting more bad boy charm than I knew he had. Logan Lerman as George Devereaux/Hamilton is good, but outshone by his elders. The film is short and sweet (108 minutes). It isn't based on a book, just stories Hamilton tells about a cross-country trip his mother took in 1953 after finding her husband in bed with another woman. I love period pieces, particularly period pieces set in my own youth. Since I was born in 1952, I don't remember this era, but I'm charmed to watch it on the screen. Great acting, great writing, great cinematography, funny, cute and worth an hour and a half.

Still Walking

4 stars out 5

It's really a matter of taste. If you like your movies beautiful, elegiac, and picaresque; if you like to figure out what's going on instead of being told, then this Japanese outing, a day in the life of a retired doctor, will be just your cup of tea. On the other hand, if you hate subtitles, and want your movies to develop towards a point--to be, in the old screenwriters formulation, about the most important day in this person's life--avoid Still Walking like the plague. Ditto, if you prefer your exposition to hit you over the head with a two by four.

As we were not interested in cartoonish wads of violence or a documentary, and we'd already seen everything else that was showing, this was the only film in the East Bay area of San Francisco that didn't make us throw up a little in our mouths (well, OK, Woodstock would have been all right, but the showtimes were wrong. And I thought My One and Only looked cool, but with the Bay Bridge closed for the weekend, we weren't about to trek into the city). We're glad we saw it. Subject to the warnings above, you might be too.