Movie Review: Stardust

In a wry admission of "Stardust's" gleeful, impossible-to-market genre-bending, a poster tagline touts the film as "the fairy tale that won't behave". Neither a large-scale epic nor a testament to childlike wonder, as most recent such films tend to be, it must inevitably invite comparisons to "The Princess Bride" as the only other adult-oriented fantasy movie. But, and this is important, boys and girls, "Stardust" is not and never was a knock-off of Rob Reiner's classic. It is very much its own spellbinding, wondrous creation. Familiar motifs like wicked witches, scheming princes, wise mentors and a damsel in distress add a delicately old-fashioned air to the proceedings, but the characters present a decidedly modern take on fairy tale archetypes.

Our story opens in the town of Wall, an ordinary British village bordering the realms of faery. Young hero Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries vainly to woo his love Victoria (Sienna Miller). When the pair see a shooting star, the desperate Tristan makes a bargain with the rather conceited object of his affection - if he retrieves the star within the week, she will marry him. Aided by a magical candle, a gift from his faery mother, he sets off, and is rather surprised when the star turns out not to be a lump of celestial ore but rather a lovely woman(Claire Danes). Yvaine certainly has no intention of becoming an engagement gift.

The antagonistic spark between proud Yvaine and gallantly gawky Tristan never quite develops into the screwball-esque fire of clever comebacks and quick quips which the filmmakers aimed for, but it does maintain a steady glow of stinging sarcasm. Although their romantic destiny won't surprise, the quietly luminous chemistry between Cox and Danes ensures it enchants.

Alas for poor Yvaine, souls more nefarious than Tristan are searching for the fallen star - after all, Tristan doesn't want to hurt the star, just present her (kidnap is such an ugly word) to Victoria. Wicked witch Lamia and fratricidal brothers Septimus and Primus both seek her. Lamia, played by the astonishingly gorgeous Michelle Pfeiffer, is a sorceress of the highest order, prone to the more gruesome acts of magic - like divining via animal entrails and eating the hearts of stars to stay young and beautiful. Pfeiffer gleefully embraces Lamia's malicious nature, as well as the mortification (and amusement) of her increasing decrepitude as the previous star's power wears off. Septimus and Primus, on the other hand, are seeking a necklace which will grant one of them the throne - although they won't turn down immorality.

"Stardust" merrily breaks from usual fairytale conventions. Tristan is no knight in shining armor with Yvaine as the helplessly lovely maiden, nor is there a blatant effort to turn her into some proto-feminist who lectures her hapless beau in the ways of righteousness, as recent revisionist fairytale films have done. No, the lovers are fairly evenly matched. In another clever twist, the mentor so critical to the archetypal hero's journey from boy to man is the fierce, pitiless, dress-wearing Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro). Wait, what? Yes, it turns out the bellicose pirate is a gentle, pacifistic, well-read "woopsie". De Niro hams it up a bit - okay, a lot, adopting a strangely dainty, almost girlish inflection - but it remains an entertaining and, ultimately, commendable approach.

Perhaps “Stardust’s” most striking change lies in its attitude towards magic. Magic, and the CGI required to create it on film, serves the story, rather than the film having been built around special effects, dazzling as they are. As such, it helps transport viewers into the realm of the fantastic, but would certainly have failed without such a charmingly romantic, wondrous story. Stardust glitters brilliantly with a pure magic too rarely seen in films.

Grade: 95

Movie Review: Knocked Up

Everything you know about romantic comedies is about to change. In the past, they've been "chick flicks" characterized by meeting cute, witty dialogue, "hilarious" misunderstandings, and supremely attractive couples. But real relationships aren't like that, at all, and rom coms don't have to be either - so all hail Judd Apatow, for his refreshingly funny, vulgar, honest portrayal of love, sex, marriage and babies in the recently released "Knocked Up".

As the title suggests, this is no gently humorous exploration of pregnancy – instead, it’s a frank, funny exploration of what happens when a mismatched couple’s one-night stand ends exactly the wrong way. Alison (Katherine Heigl) initially comes off as that girl everyone hated in high school - pretty, smart, and likable all at once! While Ben's a walking "Above the Influence" PSA, since this stoner's career goal is to build a "boobs and bush" website with his buds for all those times you've wondered to yourself, "God, when does Denise Richards get nekkid in that movie?" Not exactly "father" material, but when Alison finds out she's preggers the couple decide to give it a go.

Watching Ben and Alison struggle through both pregnancy and forming a relationship is simultaneously sweet and fucking hilarious. Rogen and Heigl play off each other beautifully in a movie whose script is often improvised, Rogen proving he deserves a starring place in the list of contemporary comic actors. Let's not forget the super-terrific supporting cast, all of whom shine whether in bit part cameos or major roles. Ben's friends, pothead slackers all, constantly rip on each other in ever cruder ways - watch for their scathingly funny jibes at Martin Starr's character, growing a beard and facial hair to win a bet. Plus there's a steady stream of Jew jokes (yep, Rogen and Apatow are both Jewish), drug humor, and the general brand of male vulgarity that's supremely funny, especially if you've ever had Jewish and/or male friends.

So check off the box for "R-rated comedy that appeals to men, and women who aren't afraid to laugh at the mention of pubes". But Apatow and his crew aren't content to just be riotously crude - no, they believe that emotions actually matter! Shocking, I know. To that end, "Knocked Up" has a wonderfully developed subplot dealing with Alison's sister Debbie (Leslie Mann, one of the funniest women in show business) and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). Debbie could come off as strident and demanding, Pete as selfish and uncommunicative, aka the worst stereotypes of women and men. But their own relationship issues are genuine - serious and funny at the same time, just like in real life. Debbie worries about getting old and why her hubby doesn't want to spend time with her (at the same time, she's out clubbing with her single sister), while Pete's childish, cynical desire for independence comes crashing down around him in an amazingly touching and comic episode with Ben in Las Vegas.

It would be easy to quibble with the film's central premise - namely, that successful Alison would fall for loser Ben. But that would be to miss the characters' complexity and, yes, growth. From the start, both Alison and Apatow are fully aware of Ben's flaws, while eventually impending fatherhood forces Ben to reexamine his careless attitude toward life. What Apatow gets, brilliantly, is that being in a relationship isn't just about matching your partner's success - it also demands support, love, and faith in the other person, no matter how fucked up they are. Not to mention a willingness to embrace the utter ridiculousness of life.

Final grade: 95

Movie Review: Once

Time was, the phrase "movie musical" conjured up very specific images of stars like Judy Garland and Gene Kelly arbitrarily breaking into big, sparkling songs. Every once in a while you got flicks like Rent and Hair, featuring songs that sounded more like popular music and less like gimicky, stuffy showtunes, but even then the films worked on a grander, theatrical scale - yes, Rent is based on Jonathan Larson's experiences in boho NYC, but I doubt that struggling AIDS-afflicted artists serenaded each other in cafes. It is a testament to Once, then, that while aptly deemed a "musical," it so completely redefines what it means to use music in movies as to demand a new genre for itself - call it a "lyrical film".

The flick first garnered notice at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, winning the World Cinema Audience Award for a dramatic film. And, true to the indie nature of the event, Once is a small, intimate, low-budget production. The Dublin-set story centers around an Irish busker (Glen Hansard), known as "Guy" in the credits, who meets Czech immigrant Girl (Marketa Irglova) one evening while performing a self-written song. Her personal questions about the motivation and feelings behind the tune lead to a friendship between the pair and he soon learns that she too is a musician. Too poor to afford her own instrument, she practices piano at a music store - it is here that the two first perform a lovely, delicate duet of a song Guy wrote, crooning the pitch-perfect lyrics "I don't know you/But I want you/All the more for that".

Their quietly developing courtship comes off as genuine - with the awkward propositions, unexpected silences and reliance on neutral vocabulary like "brilliant" that usually mark real relationships. So too is their individually complicated romantic histories - he has an ex who cheated, the basis for the amusing ditty "Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy," while she is estranged from her husband. As singer-songwriters, the pair express the majority of their emotions through songs, but ones with general thoughts on life and love that don't feel constrained to the movie's plot. Rather, the real-life musical team's melodies and lyrics would be at home on an indie-rock radio station, although placed in the context of the story they serve as invaluable narrative devices.

As the pair grows closer, Guy proposes a collaboration on a demo recording and Girl jumps at the chance. The obligatory montage scene at the studio flows smoothly and easily - the relationship between Guy and Girl, and their dedication to the music-making process, is heart-felt, not staged.

Hansard and Irglova are musicians, not actors - a characteristic which allows their music to shine all the more, but also leads to such tendencies as Hansard gazing at Irglova with big, dewy eyes to express affection/surprise/sadness. Director John Carney is more accomplished at the art of movie-making - important scenes take place in small spaces that enhance the moment's emotional weight, and he adeptly uses a long tracking shot to follow Girl as she walks down a street singing lyrics she wrote to accompany one of Guy's melodies. Carney also makes clever use of Dublin, playing up it's working-class, urbanized feel to emphasize the prosaic environment surrounding the two talented artists, one which works to restrain their creative and ultimately romantic impulses.

Once is a sweet, restrained film, whose charm owes much to the masterful use of modern music to tell this love story. It does not aspire to be more than it is and those who connect deeply to music as a form of expression will find much to enjoy in this film.

Final Score: 90

Movie Review: I Think I Love My Wife

When it comes to making movies, there are three people who are most responsible: the writer, the director and the main star. When these roles are all performed by the same person, as with Chris Rock in I Think I Love My Wife, things get missed, because there is not another pair of eyes looking out for things. This, I assume, also makes the filming much easier as there is just one voice and one vision to see to fruition. This movie is thus a story about Chris Rock, while the characters and surrounding environment are just there because movies require them.

To be honest, I was underwhelmed by this movie. I was expecting a Chris Rock movie and I got a typical romantic comedy. And I'm sure that is exactly what Chris Rock had in mind. I was hoping the movie was laugh-out-loud funny and that there would a line or two I could quote to people about the movie, but nope, there is none of this. This was a movie about what Chris Rock thinks about marriage. I feel that Rock squanders the opportunity he has with the cast he has. Steve Buscemi and Gina Torres (not to mention my man Steven A. Smith.) are just there because you can't have a movie with just one person.

If you like romantic comedies, you'll like this movie.