Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Crisp Criticism - "Thor: The Dark World", "From Up on Poppy Hill", "Escape Plan", "Carrie"


by
Julien Faddoul




Thor: The Dark World *

Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must reunites with Jane Foster and sacrifice everything to save us all.
Fun, lovingly designed Comic-Book picture that ranks with Marvel’s better efforts. An effectual plot without murky and laconic mysticism at its centre would have been an even greater improvement.

d - Alan Taylor
w - Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Don Payne, Robert Rodat  (Based on the Comic Book by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby)
ph - Kramer Morgentheu
pd - Charles Wood
m - Brian Tyler
ed - Dan Lebental, Wyatt Smith
cos - Wendy Partridge

p - Kevin Feige

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Eccleston, Jaimie Alexander, Zachary Levi, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Rene Russo ,Kat Dennings, Stellan Skarsgard, Jonathan Howard




From Up on Poppy Hill ***

A group of Yokohama boarding school students look to save their school's clubhouse from being torn-down in preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
An outstanding example of adolescent delicacy; even those bored by the theme should be riveted by the treatment. The nostalgia is undercut by a youthful but candid tactfulness for the practicality of the time.

d – Goro Miyazaki
w – Hayao Miyazaki, Keiko Niwa   (Based on the Comic by Tetsuro Sayama, Chizuru Takahashi)
ad - Kamon Oba, Takashi Omori, Yohei Takamatsu, Noboru Yoshida
m – Satoshi Takebe
ed – Takeshi Seyama

p – Toshio Suzuki, Tetsuro Sayama, Chizuru Takahashi

Cast: Sarah Bolger, Anton Yelchin, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks, Aubrey Plaza, Jamie Lee Curtis, Bruce Dern, Charlie Saxton, Chris Noth, Beau Bridges, Isabelle Fuhrman, Ron Howard



Escape Plan

When a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside.
Takes itself more seriously than something like The Expendables, but really no different. Both stars seem uneasy throughout.

d - Mikael Håfström
w - Miles Chapman, Arnell Jesko
ph - Brendan Galloni
pd - Barry Chusid
m - Alex Heffes
ed - Elliot Greenberg
cos - Lizz Wolf   

p - Robbie Brenner, Mark Canton, Remington Chase, Randall Emmett, Kevin King Templeton

Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Faran Tahir, Amy Ryan, Sam Neill, Vincent D’Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, 50 Cent, Matt Gerald




Carrie

A high school girl with telekinetic powers unleashes terror on both the other students who taunted her and her deeply religious mother.
Perplexing: an almost beat-for-beat remake of the 1976 film but done with less style and a horribly miscast young lead. It is difficult to decipher what was meant to be accomplished.

d – Kimberly Peirce
w – Lawrence D. Cohen, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa   (Based on the Noel by Stephen King)
ph – Steve Yedlin
pd – Carol Spier
m – Marco Beltrami
ed – Lee Percy, Nancy Richardson
cos – Luis Sequeira

p – Kevin Misher

Cast: Chloe Moretz, Julianne Moore, Judy Greer, Gabriella Wilde, Ansel Elgort, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Barry Henley


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