Perfume

Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Karoline Herfurth
Running Time: 2h 27min

Grade: A-

Zodiac

Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, Chloë Sevigny, Elias Koteas
Running Time: 2h 38min

Grade: B+

Live Free or Die Hard

Directed by: Len Wiseman
Starring: Bruce Willis, Timothy Olyphant, Justin Long, Maggie Q, Kevin Smith
Running Time: 2h 10min

Grade: B+

Grindhouse

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (with extras from Eli Roth, Edgar Wright, and Rob Zombie)
Starring: Rose McGowan, Zoe Bell, Tracie Thoms, Freddy Rodríguez, Kurt Russell, Josh Brolin, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Vanessa Ferlito, Quentin Tarantino
Running Time: 3h 09min

Overindulgence has always been the modus operandi for these two auteur directors, though not in a financial form. Rodriguez is perhaps the most thrifty director around, overindulging his creative palate by writing, directing, scoring, editing and physically shooting his films. Tarantino, on the other hand, has always overindulged on dialogue, violence and odes to cinema oddity. Together, these two overindulge in the pleasure they derive from B-movie films, creating a compelling, though self indulgent grindhouse double feature, which they must have had more fun filming than we have watching.

First off is Rodriguez's take on the zombie flick, "Planet Terror". The better half of the double feature, this gore fest is true to the director's oeuvre, filled with over the top action, crazy cuts, and explosive stunts. It's story arc sticks to the traditional small-town-losers-in-way-over-their-heads-as-army-base-outside-of-town-unleashes-a-slew-of-zombies, and supplies plenty of opportunities for great lines, much machismo, and sweet sweet love making. It's everything a late night drive in experience should provide, and then some.

Planet Terror benefits from some superb performances from lesser lights, Rose McGowan and Freddie Rodriguez (uncertain if there is a family connection here), as well as some toned down supporting work, notably Bruce Willis. The director is no stranger to this genre, having travelled here before in The Faculty and From Dusk Till Dawn, (a far superior use of the two directors' talents). The cheesy special effects give way to mind-blowingly amazing makeup work, and the zombie cliches wind up seeming fresh in the lens of Rodriguez. Guilty fun, with laughs, screams, and gasps, Planet Terror sets us up for a rollicking ride at the Grindhouse.

Following the frenetic pace of the first film is a series of mock trailers, filled with funny cameos, ridiculous voice overs, and preposterous premises from some of the director's most visionary friends in the genre. Any full length treatment of these films would have been more interesting than Tarantino's book end, "Death Proof".

Now, i am a fan of Tarantino, and yet i still didn't find his half of the grindhouse all that interesting. You have to be a super fan of the films he's lovingly re-imagining to fully enjoy his take on a stuntman gone sadistic. Even still, he tests even the most hard core fan, by filling almost three quarters of the film with chicks speaking dialogue that goes nowhere, says nothing, and reveals very little about the characters on screen. For a writer-director that's made a living from his fresh, original and witty screen writing, Death Proof provides very little fodder for fun.

Russell is menacing and McGowan equally good in this second half, playing very different from her role in the first, but Dawson and company are wasted, suited up for eye candy and little else. The real star of the show is the stunt driving, but in this day and age of where we've seen everything, the car chase in Death Proof seems nothing more than an ode to car chases of yesteryear. Stunning, yes. Breath taking, certainly. Mesmerizing, for sure. But worth the hour of pointless dialogue beforehand? Definitely not. Tarantino has reached a point where his love of old movies is overpowering his ability to make new ones. Or inspiring him to make new bad ones. Someone needs to say no to him, as he is starting to abuse his position of harbinger of everything old is new again, instead of creating something fresh and exciting based on hidden gems of the past.

Like the films they are galvanizing, Grindhouse has great moments, but as a whole, is truly a B-movie, best viewed on video, where you can cut to the chase.

Grade: B

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Imelda Staunton, Michael Gambon, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Evanna Lynch, Matthew Lewis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Ralph Fiennes
Running Time: 2h 18min

The fifth film from the seven book franchise, the Order of the Phoenix has the distinction of being the heaviest tome, the greatest battle yet, and the launching point of a number of key characters and plot threads that will play out in the series' conclusion. This all makes for wonderful reading, but very difficult viewing and screen writing.

Reading fans can lose themselves in the novel, expecting Harry to live on to see subsequent novels, enjoying his adolescent development and growing responsibilities. Film fans, however, can't invest the time needed to see the characters through their full story arcs, nor leave the theatre feeling satisfied with an installment without conclusion.

So, it is a wonder that the Order of the Phoenix manages to cram a healthy portion of the book's features while still moving along at a delicious pace, offering up enough character moments (Harry's first kiss) and action scenes (Quidditch is barely missed, as the broom flying really zooms with London as its playground). The three young leads continue to grow into their roles remarkably well, though some of their limitations are noticeable (Radcliff doesn't quite seem threatening enough when Harry's blood boils).

Secretly, as in many great "children's" films, it is the adult roles that really give us the greatest joy, and Staunton's turn as Delores Umbridge is frightfully spot on, gleefully sadistic as the bureaucratic representative from hell. Never has such rule following and attention to procedure been so sinister. The supporting cast of adults that reads like a British walk of fame continue to shine in small roles, lead by the inimitable Rickman as Severus Snape. If there were parts from the book that could have been beefed up for the movie, it was his occulemcy lessons. i would gladly have taken those scenes over the whole giant subplot.

Alas, some things have to get cut, and Kreacher's role seems to be the most omitted. Though, having read the series to the end now, it's almost a blessing in disguise as his character provides the most inconsistency in the series. Yet the introduction of Luna Lovegood and emergence of Neville and Ginny as full fledged characters really give fans and cinephiles much to rejoice about.

Darkest in tone, most quietly (and subsequently, eerily) paced, and grandest in scope, the Order of the Phoenix does a remarkable job of resting comfortably amongst its predecessors, while steering the train in an all new direction. Though not as lush and lavish as the series' best Prizoner of Azkaban, it certainly makes its case as one of the top three. A series this long is always in danger of fizzling out before its story is told. Rest assured, the fifth feature only wets your appetite for more.

Grade: B+

Snow Cake

Directed by: Marc Evans
Starring: Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire, Callum Keith Rennie
Running Time: 1h 52min

A movie featuring an autistic character, that's not actually about autism. Alan Rickman gives perhaps his most nuanced performance, certainly the best work that i've ever seen him do. His character arc is integral to this sweet, though not sugary film that explores how tragedy can push and pull us in different directions.

Weaver co-stars as a woman with autism, and a child who supports her effort to live independently in a small, Northern town. When Rickman's character enters the lives of the small town inhabitants, through an unfortunate event, it disrupts the patterns that they've chosen to live by.

These habitual practices are called into question, and at times it seems that Weaver's autistic obsessive compulsive tendencies have more merit (attached to her autism) than the choices other adults make in their neurotypical lives. Like any good character study, Weaver's wonderful portrayal shines a light on what we value from our family and relationships with loved ones. The interaction between her and Rickman is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking.

Carrie-Anne Moss and Callum Keith Rennie do great work in supporting roles, giving their roles an honesty and multi-layered angle, which fits well within the mysteries lying beneath Rickman's character's past and why exactly he is staying in the small town. Hampshire adds a vibrant vivacity of life to the film, where the adults that populate the screen seem too burned by life to exhibit the joy and exuberance that her and her autistic mother find in each snowflake.

A movie as delicate as a snowflake, yet so unique in its presentation of human responses to pain, love, and forgiveness, Snow Cake is the type of film that presents its characters so well, that you feel like you know them. In the process, you may just also learn a little more about yourself.

Grade: A

Transformers

Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Anthony Anderson, Jon Voight, John Turturro
Running Time: 2h 24min

A perfect example of a film whose sum of its parts is not nearly as good as the individual pieces. Transformers boasts some wicked CGI and some silly yet enjoyable performances from LaBeouf, Anderson, and Turturro, but leaves an unsatisfying feeling at the end of it all.

A movie like Transformers, based on the toys i loved as a child, should make you want to watch it over and over again. The wonder and excitement that permeates so many of Steven Spielberg's films (executive producer on this flick) is completely absent, giving way to Michael Bay's flashy yet forgettable style. He has a knack for formulating a truly eye popping experience, only to leave the viewer with little memory of what has transpired. A brilliant opportunity is missed here, as the parties involve deliver a truly unremarkable film.

The whole premise of robots changing into everyday vehicles or Earth objects, battling over a precious energy source is wide open for interpretation and storytelling. Unlike most adaptable source material, Transformers is capable of changing into any number of retellings or allegories. Yet, much like the nineties eye candy release, Independence Day, this sci-fi tale is all style, no substance. The human characters are throw away foil for the robots to play off of, and the robots are underdeveloped props in need of personality.

If there's one thing a drive-in theatre experience gives you, its an honest look at a film. Stripped of its overpowering sonic disguise and in your face visuals, a movie is left to perform on the bare bones of excellent film making; story, dialogue, performance, and cinematography. Transformers offers little of these essentials of movie making, opting instead for the sensory overload that Bay's oeuvre is loaded with.

It's too bad that Transformers is unable to switch between Spielberg's sensibilities and Bay's kinetic pacing. Underneath it all is a flimsy skeleton, unworthy of our attention, unless that attention is being bombarded by technology. Maybe there is a lesson to be learned from this film after all. Technological advancement is only as good as the character beneath that's driving it. And if that's the case, then Transformers, like robots, is in need of a soul.

Grade: B-

Shrek the Third

Directed by: Chris Miller and Raman Hui

Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Eric Idle, Justin Timberlake, Larry King, John Krasinski

Running Time: 1h 32min

i'm one of the few people who disliked Shrek 2 for its rehash of old jokes, minus the creativity and scope of the first film. In retrospect, i don't think i gave that film enough credit, as it does have some funny moments and some good use of new characters. Still, it really lacked the magic of the first film, as the originality of a fairy tale send up gave way for a Meet the Parents/My Fair Lady premise.

Shrek the Third confirms my feeling that this franchise has run out of steam. Revisiting major plot points once again, while borrowing from buddy road movies and high school flicks, the third installment offers little, if anything original, continuing to tarnish the novelty of the first Shrek. Myers and company seem content to rest on their laurels, spouting their lines with little spark or ad libs. You can almost sense Eddie Murphy's shame as he belts out another tune as Donkey.

The introduction of babies usually means a series has run out of fresh ideas, and the Shrek franchise is a perfect example of formulaic plot lines playing themselves out. There's the unwilling hero, afraid of his power and destiny. The hero's journey and development as he embarks on a quest. It's sad to see a series that so wryly turned these conventions on their head, succumb to the same conventions without a crumb of wit or satire the third time around.

The animation is still top notch, but without the humour or excitement of a storyline worth visiting (or revisiting, for that matter), Shrek the Third spins its wheels and ends up in a swampy mess. What once was a film for all ages has turned into a film for ages 6 to 10, only they won't get the references, while the adults won't get any laughs. Save your money for all the spin off merchandise, which is getting to be more original than the films themselves.

Grade: C+