John Carter

Based off a novel, A Princess of Mars, by author Edgar Rice Burroughs, 2012's John Carter made headlines for all the wrong sort of reasons. Budgeted for around $250 million, it tanked in America, making around $75. It succeeded overseas and other markets, helping regain some of its losses (barely). So what happened? I don't know for sure. I loved the first hour, and yeah, there's also a second hour....unfortunately.

A Civil War veteran from Virginia, John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is searching the Arizona desert for a cave that legend states is packed with gold. Pursued by Apaches and the U.S. Cavalry, Carter finds the cave only to be transported to a different planet. He knows it as Mars, but there he finds a race/species of 12-foot tall barbarians called Tharks. Carter discovers he has the ability to physically leap hundreds of feet into the air at will, impressing the Tharks with his prowess. Trying to discover how, why and where he is though, Carter finds himself involved and fighting in another war as warring factions fight for control of this supposedly dead, far-off planet.

I didn't go into this Andrew Stanton-directed science fiction-fantasy-western-epic with high expectations, but I was certainly curious to see what the fuss (or lack of) was all about. The genre-bending premise sounded intriguing. Early on, I loved it. 'Carter' was like a blend of Star Wars, Avatar and Dances With Wolves. How's that for a deadly trio of films? The exploration of a "new" planet was great, seeing the disbelief in John's eyes as we do the same. It's somewhat like Earth, but not quite. We meet a new race/species -- the Tharks -- and see their culture and way of life. We see warring factions -- the people of Helium vs. the fighters of Zodanga -- and John must come around with how he fits into it all. Is he willing to fight again, to fight for something that doesn't impact him?

That's the first hour. I loved it. Those scenes especially reminded me of the things I liked most about James Cameron's Avatar. And then there's the rest of the movie. A visual spectacle, a treat for the eyes, a genre-bending story, and you know what? I didn't care. I was bored. I had no interest in this war for control of Mars. None. The last 70 minutes therefore tended to drag for me. I don't know how/why it all changed so quickly, but it did. While I liked Kitsch's John Carter, I didn't have a whole lot of interest in his plight, much less that of the Helium survivors vs. the Zodanga city-state. A battle for sole power of a planet? It should have been cooler, but I would have just settled for even a little interesting.

Just 31 years old, Kitsch is trying to carve out a niche for himself as an actor and movie star. This is a good part in that direction. A tad wooden at times, I liked his performance although I could have done with more in the way of flashbacks. Lynn Collins plays the love interest, Dejah, the princess of the King of Helium (Ciaran Hinds). Collins is quite the heroine -- no damsel in distress -- and looks good doing it, but she doesn't have much chemistry with Kitsch. As for the Tharks, look for Willem Dafoe, Thomas Haden Church, and Samantha Morton lending their voice talents. Mark Strong plays Matai Shang, a space-manipulating being who leads destruction of planets one-by-one. Also look for Dominic West, James Purefoy and Bryan Cranston in supporting parts. West has some fun hamming it up as the villainous Sab Than, the puppet for Matai's intentions.

A swing and a miss here for the most part. A framing device with John's nephew, the future author Edgar Rice Burroughs (Daryl Sabara), is a great introduction and gets things moving well enough. The movie is gorgeous, New Mexico and Utah combining with some impressive CGI to stand in for Mars. Michael Giacchino's score is appropriately epic, and in general, the movie has the feel of an epic from the 1950s/1960s albeit with some great CGI. On the whole, the movie never connects on any sort of emotional level. The first hour though is highly enjoyable, making it worth at least a mild -- very mild -- recommendation.

John Carter <---trailer (2012): ** 1/2 /****

Easy A

Comedies about teenagers are so hit or miss it can be hard to tell what one's are worth looking into and which ones you should just skip by on the street.  Even raunchier comedies like American Pie (or at least the original) had a heart to it.  Teen sex comedies typically go for that lowest common denominator of lots of partying, boozing, and sex. Exaggerated to such a ridiculous point that the movies don't even resemble any actual high school experience, they can be the guiltiest of pleasures.

Then there's 2010's Easy A, a comedy about teenagers and about sex but not specifically a teen sex comedy...if that makes any sense at all. The ads late last summer really did their best to shove this movie down audience's throats, and I remember thinking that if I hadn't been overloaded with ads, I might have been interested in seeing this critically well-received comedy.  This is one of those rare comedies with a heart that also tries to deliver a message to its teenage audience, and to its older audience members a look at the life of a high schooler (albeit a movie teen).  Now it is still a movie portrayal of what someone must think high school is like, but compared to most, this one is moderately realistic, and that's something.

Your typical high school student, Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) is like a lot of the kids in her high school.  She's more than content to hang out with her friends and just blend in with the crowd as opposed to standing out.  But one day she tells her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) that she lost her virginity to a college freshman and the news spreads like wildfire. People look at Olive differently, and her reputation grows for the better.  'She's the girl who had sex!' The reputation grows to the point where a gay student (Dan Byrd) asks Olive to pretend she had sex with him to help build his own reputation as a ladies man while avoiding the beatings and mocking for being gay. Olive goes along with it trying to help a friend, but she could never imagine what happens next as a result of her choice.

A recurring problem with movies based in a high school is that some combination of writers/studios/producers/directors clearly never went to any sort of a realistic high school.  Or on the other hand, they did and decide to make a movie about what they think high school should have been like. Thankfully here director Will Gluck finds a nice middle ground in between. The cliques among the students, the ever-moving rumor mill, the cool teacher, the stiff faculty, these all feel authentic.  Add in some modern elements like Twitter, webcams, Facebook and all sorts of other technology, and you get a movie that if nothing else feels authentic.  Is it?  Not at all times, but for the most part Easy A tries to represent at least a somewhat realistic view of high school.

From the time I saw her in Superbad a few years back, I've had a crush on Emma Stone so I'll say that early and get it out of the way.  I'm a sucker for redheads so when an actress is a genuinely funny one -- and a redhead at that -- I'm dead meat.  Besides not looking like your typical high school student, Stone puts off this very cool, smart appeal.  Physical humor or just a subtle delivery of a line, she can do it both equally well.  She plays off her cast nicely, giving everyone else a chance to shine while still making sure the camera's focus is on her.  In her first part where it's truly HER movie, Stone nails it.  Hopefully this is a sign of things to come as she continues her climb to stardom.

Stone does her fair share of heavy lifting as Olive, but Gluck assembles quite a cast around her.  Penn Badgley (of Gossip Girl) is Todd, Olive's big crush since the 8th grade who seems oblivious to all the rumors that start to fly around her. Amanda Bynes is the requisite bitchy character, an all-around good student and firm believer of Catholicism, looking down on anyone and everyone around when given the chance. Michalka is also good in the smaller part as Olive's best friend, Rhi.  The real supporting stars are the more established adult actors, some playing parts that amount to extended cameos.  Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson are hilarious together as Olive's honest, intelligent parents who just want what's best for her. Thomas Haden Church steals every scene he is in as Mr. Griffith, Olive's favorite teacher, with Lisa Kudrow playing his wife, a guidance counselor at the school. Also can't forget Malcolm McDowell as the principal always worried about what all his students are up to.

You know what surprised me most about this movie? It's a comedy that's genuinely funny.  It feels real and rarely tries too hard, making the movie funnier because it isn't force feeding you the laughs.  Easy A is well-written with some biting humor and criticism of the current state of high schools and students everywhere.  Comparisons to the classic John Hughes comedies of the 1980s are not far off base in this comedy that is funny from beginning to end...and a happy one at that.

Easy A <---trailer (2010): ***/****