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Another year is winding down, and once more the final month is packed with a variety of films to draw in crowds from the cold. There are spectacles, indies and award bait all vying for your attention over the winter holidays.
Here’s a guide to help you navigate the clutter and avoid dreck like “Yogi Bear” at all costs.
The Spectacles
Each December there are one or two wannabe blockbusters lurking around the corner, and while neither of these films plan on being as successful as last year’s juggernaut “Avatar,” expect to see TV spots and other ads everywhere for these two films.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
After the series’ second installment “Prince Caspian” moved to the summer months and dipped severely in box office gross, Disney promptly sold the rights to Twentieth Century Fox. Fox has kept the same craftsmen behind the first two films, but in moving it back to a winter release date, it’s clear they’re hoping for a tally similar to the first Narnia’s $750 million.
“Dawn Treader” is the most episodic of C. S. Lewis’ books. The quest is less urgent, and this could be used as a road movie of sorts, touring Narnia extensively and setting up “The Silver Chair” as the next grand adventure. Shot in proper 3-D, “Treader” could be a family-friendly adventure to a vaguely familiar world if done right. If not,
this could be the last in a once strong, proud franchise.
Tron: Legacy
Nothing has me more confused than Disney’s decision to remake the 1982 film “Tron.” The original is, to be polite, a terrible movie — slowly paced with laughable effects and poorly constructed mythology. I can understand the impact “Tron” has had on modern cinema — it was, after all, the first film to extensively feature computer-generated effects. But removing nostalgia and historical significance, you’re left with a dumb movie moving at a snail’s pace across a barely intelligible finish line.
Nonetheless, Disney is trying to drum up a “Tron” bonanza, launching the film in 3-D and IMAX. Jeff Bridges returns as Kevin Flynn and his computer counterpart Clu, and Garret Hedlund joins him as Flynn’s son, Sam. The effects look great and the 3-D is certainly astounding, but the story is where I’m concerned. News of rewrites and reshoots have plagued the production, and I can’t help but feel like this will mirror the original film in every way — technically sound, but emotionally empty.
Indies
Now for the films that have been playing in limited release that will slowly expand to theaters near you over the next few weeks. Living in Maine is frustrating because for a film like that to get here, it has to do boffo business. Luckily, two of the most talked about films of the year make the cut.
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky returns with another psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as battling ballerinas. The world of ballet is a lot harsher than people think, and with the trailer hinting at odd sci-fi flourishes, this could be the picture that leaves audiences scratching their heads saying, “I don’t think I understood it, but I sure like it.”
127 Hours
Danny Boyle’s follow-up to the universally loved “Slumdog Millionaire” tells the true story of Aron Ralston and his quest for survival after getting pinned by a fallen boulder while rock climbing. With a trailer trumpeting the strength of the human spirit and news of several people fainting or vomiting during the film’s climax, this is a must-see for the curious and the strong of heart.
Award Bait
Finally we come to the award bait, the big budget, high-caliber dramas that hope to collect Oscars and Golden Globes in the early moments of 2011. This year we have two very different films from two very different filmmakers.
The Fighter
David O’Russell, who helmed “I Heart Huckabees” and “Three Kings,” returns after an extended hiatus, with Mark Wahlberg in tow for “The Fighter,” the tale of Mickey Ward and his brother, Dickie. “The Fighter” seems like a hybrid of the two best boxing films ever made, “Rocky” and “Raging Bull,” with its rags to riches tale and brotherly love mixed with explorations of self worth and drug addiction. Christian Bale is gathering some serious Oscar buzz for his portrayal of heroin addict Dickie, and Amy Adams rounds out the cast as Wahlberg’s inspiring love interest. As a feel good movie for the holiday season, “The Fighter” seems poised to be a knockout.
True Grit
The Coen brothers are very hit or miss for me — some of their films are my favorites and others annoy the heck out of me — but “True Grit” is the one film this month I can’t wait to see. Produced by Steven Spielberg, and based on the classic John Wayne western and the book of the same name, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin join newcomer Hailee Steinfeld in this rough-and-tumble revenge film.
Steinfeld plays Mattie Ross, the 14-year-old girl who watched her father get murdered and hires Marshall Reuben J. Cogburn to hunt the bastard down. The Coens are leaning a bit commercially here, but their trademark sensibilities will surely shine through. Bridges won the Best Actor Oscar last year for “Crazy Heart,” so it will be interesting to see if he wins again this year for the role that nabbed John Wayne the coveted golden statue.
Bangor Daily News