Rise Of The Guardians ★

Seeing Isn't Believing

Written by Matt Giles
Edited by Erin Accomando

A large amount of the joy I receive from the best of animated features comes from the fact that they all manage to bring something human to a story that, to the naked eye, seems like it's from a different world all together. Most recently, Wreck-It Ralph was set in the world of video games, yet anyone who saw the film probably recognized a version of themselves or someone they knew in at least one character. It's the heart of films like that and many others that make us love the possibilities animation offers. The worst in animation however, trades heart for technology, a fault that the new film Rise Of The Guardians has in spades.

The problem with Guardians is that it's all visual spectacle and very little story. Director Peter Ramsey seems like he's only interested in the freedom animation offers, delivering sweeping shots over rooftops during the film's many, many action sequences, and never allowing the camera to stay stationary for a moment's breath. What little story there is involves Jack Frost (Chris Pine) being chosen to help the other Guardians - North (Alec Baldwin), Bunnymund (Hugh Jackman), Tooth (Isla Fisher) and Sandy, or, as they're all more commonly known, Santa, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy and Sandman - defend themselves against Pitch, otherwise known as The Boogeyman who's voiced by Jude Law. Pitch has found a way to bring terror and nightmares back into the minds of children, growing more powerful with every success. His goal is to rob children of their belief in all of these characters thereby taking away the Guardians' power and being free to corrupt the world.

It's an easy enough plot to get behind and not much more than that. Sure, they throw in Jack's identity crisis (he can't remember who he was before he became Jack Frost) and forcibly try to make his story the one we're interested in, but he's the weakest character of the bunch. And by weak, I mean both in character development and animation. One could argue that it was the animators' point to make Jack so inhuman, as he's not even believed in by any of the children, but the animation is so lifeless that it just looks lazy. Whereas the other characters in the story, particularly North, have such grandiose features it's a shame they were not part of a better movie.

What Rise Of The Guardians ends up feeling like is the collision of too many ideas that do not fit together at all. I get that each of the Guardians come from different worlds and therefore need their own distinct look, but it seems as though attention and favoritism was paid to the characters the filmmaker's felt they could have the most fun with, in this case, North. His design and features look gorgeous, and the detail of the North Pole is different than most are used to seeing - one amusing difference is that Yetis make the toys, not the elves because well, they're not right in the head. Pitch meanwhile looks like something out of the art-deco era (which I actually didn't mind, except for the fact that it doesn't work within the film) and Bunnymund just looks like a standard Rabbit.

I don't think Ramsey was the best choice of a director for a movie like this (it's also his first feature) mainly due to the fact that Guardians seems directionless. There are simply too many separate ideas about the animation going on for the story to function well. The designs for all of the characters are so separate that they don't work in the same movie. I feel especially bad for Jack Frost, given that the premise is supposed to be all about him, yet Ramsey and Co. seem awfully uninterested in him. It's no wonder the children don't believe in him; the filmmakers don't either.

Remodeling The Moviegoing Experience

Waiting For A Movie? Enjoy Some Coffee!

Written by Matt Giles

Edited by Erin Accomando and David Hall

The smell of fresh popcorn, the look of a beautiful print displayed on the screen, the sound of whispers as everyone quiets down, the feel of the seats as you recline, and the taste of sweet fountain pop are all part of the movie going experience. The quality of these components has an effect on our overall enjoyment of a particular film.

The theaters that offer the most unique spin on this experience are usually the independent ones; the ones that, for whatever reason, have managed to stay alive in an era of mainstream movie houses where foreign and independent cinema are virtually unheard of. The Maple Theater, located in Bloomfield Hills, is not only a great venue for seeing quality films, but one that is changing the definition of a night at the movies.

The Maple reopened a few weeks ago after months of renovations and Jon Goldstein, the theater owner, is bringing his own unique perspective to quality. “I hired designers that were more familiar with restaurant spaces. This was the best choice I could have made as they brought an entirely unique point of view to the renovations,” Goldstein said.

Great Lakes Coffee

True to his word, when you walk into The Maple, what you see is something very modern - Great Lakes Coffee equipped with many tables and a few leather chairs for patrons to relax in before seeing a film. There’s even a bar section near the middle of the theater where people can feel free to unwind.

“We are aiming to celebrate the movie theater as a medium all its own,” Communications Director Jeremy Mills said. ”We hope movie lovers will realize how much we care about their experience and that we will continue to tweak and perfect the viewer experience as tastes and technology progress.”

This kind of attention to detail is something that too many theaters lack, making The Maple’s reopening that much more appreciated. Owning an independent theater in today’s economy isn’t easy, especially with a Midwest location, which restricts the number of movies a theater like The Maple may obtain.

Wall of Cameras Located in The Theater Lobby

“We are at a bit of a disadvantage, but New York and L.A. are really the testing grounds for art product,” Goldstein said, adding that his issue “is not that they get them first, but that much of the reviews and info about these movies happen when the movies starts. By the time we get the films there is no marketing support that let's people know they are playing.”

To combat the lack of availability of certain movies, The Maple successfully made the transition to digital projectors – a switch that many independent theaters cannot afford, forcing them out of business. However, The Maple is still at a particular disadvantage because of their previous owner, Landmark, the Los Angeles-based movie chain that currently owns one of the biggest competitors of The Maple, The Main Art Theater in Royal Oak.

“They refuse to allow us to play any movie they book. We have an open policy and are happy to compete with anyone and everyone. Landmark uses their buying power as the largest exhibitor of independent and foreign film to block other theaters from showing titles. I think it is a short sighted and crappy business practice as we enter the digital age,” Goldstein said.

An Updated Marque 

Regardless of Landmark’s restrictions and the Mid-western location, Goldstein remains as optimistic as ever. The care he and all of the employees have for not only the movies themselves but the experience the theater offers them sets The Maple apart from virtually every other theater in the area. This is a theater that’s run by a lover of movies.

The decision could have been made to simply let The Maple continue to deteriorate, but instead Goldstein chose to resurrect it because he knows the value of independent cinema. His aim is to show films that are “good” but also balancing it out with a little bit of everything, which includes mainstream films as well.

When we see a great movie, we’re giddy with excitement. When we remember a particular theater because of the experience it alone offers, it’s something truly magical. Thankfully, The Maple Theater has brought back the wonder and excitement of going to the movies.

Skyfall ★★★★

The Classic Bond We've Come To Know And Love; A Perfect Film In Every Way

Written by Matt Giles
Edited by Erin Accomando

If Casino Royale blew your mind as a result of its greatness and Quantum of Solace left you questioning whether or not the James Bond series was headed in a downward spiral, alas, Skyfall trumps both films.

I loved Casino Royale. It reinvented a classic character we have come to know and love over the years and it did it well. Daniel Craig as James Bond is, for me, the best choice for a role like this. I know all of the Sean Connery lovers are preparing their angry comments as they read this, but Craig brings everything you would want to the role and then some: He is well-educated, a brutal killing machine, suave with women, in peak physical condition, has a great sense of humor, and most importantly, he's a human being, as opposed to just another iconic movie character. Casino Royale also set tragic events in motion that would ultimately be resolved in the lesser received Quantum of Solace, making Quantum the first true sequel in the entire Bond franchise. Even though that second film has it's faults, it also successfully established Bond as a man vulnerable to pain, as opposed to someone without feeling or remorse. While that aspect of it worked, the rest of the film was just okay, when it should have been great. Skyfall on the other hand is magnificent, largely because it reintroduces the character with a completely new story and thus frees it from the baggage of the previous installments.

Sam Mendes takes over the directing duties this time around, resulting in the first Bond film that feels like it was made by a true fan of Bond movies. There are references to all the things we've come to know and love about a classic Bond film and none of them are distracting. They work beautifully within the context of Skyfall, and it feels like this rebooted series has finally hit its stride. On top of that, Mendes and writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan, choose a personal story involving both Bond and M's past, giving this film the heart that other Bond films lack. (Judi Dench, who plays M, does her best work in the series here.)

Bond's story relates to his broken state after being badly wounded in the film's opening. He's disheveled, bearded, addicted to pain killers and heavy liquor, but is reinstated by M after a three-month absence out of sheer desperation. That desperation is a result of a stolen hard drive containing the names of nearly every NATO field agent embedded in criminal organizations around the world. The man in possession of that hard drive is Raoul Silva, (Javier Bardem who reminds us what a great villain can do for a franchise), a former MI6 agent with a vendetta for M and a menacing demeanor about him.

Rounding out the cast are Ralph Fiennes as Garreth Mallory, M's boss; Naomie Harris as Eve, a fellow MI6 agent; Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine, Raoul's employee; and Ben Whishaw as Q, a brilliant piece of casting if you ask me. Each actor is great in their respective roles and every one of them a necessary part of the puzzle that Skyfall ends up being. It takes the characters and story in some unexpected directions, all of which lead to a resolution that is, quite honestly, perfect.

Enhancing everything great about Skyfall is the cinematography by Roger Deakins and the score by Thomas Newman. Deakins is most famous for shooting many of the Coen Brothers films, including No Country For Old Men (easily one of the greatest photographed films of all time) and most recently True Grit, but also for shooting other films like The Shawshank Redemption and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Each of those films were enhanced by Deakins' work and Skyfall is no exception. It's the most gorgeous looking Bond film of the entire series; beautiful, crisp, vivid, and astounding in its imagery. Newman's music enhances that imagery, giving us the most nostalgic score of any of the new films, a point seconded by film critic Michael Phillips in his video review of the film.

Everything works in Skyfall, making it not just a a great Bond picture but an overall terrific film that will be remembered for many years to come. Craig does some of his best work as an actor and Dench solidifies herself as the best M the series will ever have. It's thrilling, it's touching, and it's everything that audiences go to the movies for. Consider me wowed.

Wreck-It Ralph ★★★★

A Lovable Animated Character of the 8-bit Kind

Written by Matt Giles
Edited by Erin Accomando

Growing up, my console of choice was Sega Genesis and the game I spent countless hours trying to conquer was Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic and I were a great team until, of course, I accidentally made him jump onto a row of spikes or bash into a badnik, at which point we would start the level over. Eventually we would reach the third act of a level and be forced to defeat the maniacal Dr. Robotnik, thereby saving the helpless animals he had trapped in machines. I watched Robotnik explode thousands of times, never thinking that Robotnik may have grown tired of always being the bad guy and never getting the spotlight Sonic did. I should have been more considerate.

The writers of Wreck-It Ralph obviously had these concerns in mind while growing up, as this charming film is all about the existential crisis of Ralph (John C. Reilly), the title character and villain to a video game called Fix-It Felix, Jr., wherein Ralph breaks down buildings that Felix (Jack McBrayer) must repair in order to win the game. It's now the thirtieth anniversary of the game's release, and Ralph has had enough of the lonely life his role offers him. He wants to be the hero everyone roots for as opposed to the lug that other characters are afraid of. He's even in a villain support group (which includes Dr. Robotnik) because of his dilemma.

When Ralph decides he's had enough, he determines that the best way to be seen as a hero is to win a medal from one of the other arcade games. The game of his choice, as fate would have it, is a first-person shooter game called Hero's Duty, which involves destroying thousands of alien bugs. Things don't go as planned, and, by way of escape pod, Ralph lands in an entirely different game known as Sugar Rush, a racing game whose landscape is made up of so much candy and chocolate that I may have a cavity just from having seen this movie. From this point on, Ralph is on a quest for his medal, which is now lost in the abyss of Sugar Rush, while also trying to prove his heroism by helping out a glitch in Sugar Rush named Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman), a 12-year-old who, like Ralph, is frowned upon for being different. Those differences are precisely what make these characters and the film itself so special.

At times, the idea of embracing one's uniqueness borders on being "too Disney" for older audiences like myself. But happily, Wreck-It Ralph has such a refreshing style and look about it that I found myself forgiving its hammer-over-the-head message and loving it for all that it is. That is, a film that has as much charm, joy and laughter as everything great that Pixar has ever created (Up, Toy Story 3, Finding Nemo, to name a few) and then some.

Part of that comes from the approach the filmmakers chose, which was making the world of a video games and the characters that inhabit them something to be taken seriously, but not too seriously. The screenplay by Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee is so obviously personal that there's no way audiences can't relate to the material in some way. The director, Rich Moore, whose credits include episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama, understands comedy and uses that knowledge to the film's advantage. Any other director may have gone too far in one direction, but thankfully, Moore is the perfect choice to bring these characters to life.

Inhabiting those characters, in addition to Reilly, Silverman and McBrayer are Jane Lynch as Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun, the leader of the characters in Hero's Duty and the object of Felix's desires, and Alan Tudyk, hilarious and incredibly creepy as King Candy, the leader and true villain of the movie. Each of these actors are cast perfectly, bringing something truly human to each of their characters, enlivening the comedy in every scene they are in.

In addition to the characters themselves, the animation is top-notch. Both the 8-bit and modern animation work perfectly together making the film feel nostalgic but also of its time. The colors are extremely vivid, especially in Sugar Rush, while the darker tones of Hero's Duty make it feel like you're actually in an Alien movie. Fix-It Felix, Jr., meanwhile, reminds me of another one of my favorite games, Rampage, in which monsters destroy dozens of city buildings.

Wreck-It Ralph is one of the surprising delights of the year and one audiences of all ages can enjoy. It also includes an animated short feature called Paperman, a brilliant, dialogue-free movie about a man who uses paper planes to get the attention of a woman he saw for only a moment on the morning train. It's a beautiful story, and one that works perfectly with Wreck-It Ralph's themes.

I think it's time that I play one of the Sonic games again, albeit with more consideration for Dr. Robotnik's feelings of being blown up by a hedgehog.