Trips and time. Every winter break includes both trips and time. Trips home to see family or trips to see friends and loved ones miles away from you. Without school, time abounds. We fill it with dinners and long conversations with friends. We fill it with skiing and snowboarding. Sometimes we fill it with books, movies and games.
So, while school may have been out, life continues for your dedicated ArtsEtc. writers. A host of new movies hit theaters and, while we’re unable to see everything, we pick our select few. We find time again to read, to catch up on novels and “textbooks” that required reading forced us to neglect. Or we pick up the controller again, looking to rescue the president’s daughter from her just-a-bit-crazy kidnappers.
The results? We thought we’d share a little bit about the experience.
‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’
Bill Murray continues his trend of starring in more demanding roles in this, the latest Wes Anderson film. “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” follows an aging undersea explorer as he copes with his slowly fading fame.
Murray turns in an amazing performance, as does Owen Wilson, who plays Zissou’s estranged son. Anderson has always been a stickler for great soundtracks to go along with his films, and “The Life Aquatic” is no exception. The bulk of the music in the movie comes in the form of David Bowie songs played on an acoustic guitar and translated into Portuguese.
Smaller roles in the film are still important, as Anderson continues to focus his attention on character development. While the film has many comedic aspects to it, it also plays out as a sort of swan song for the recently departed Jacques Cousteau. The end result is one of the most entertaining and visually unique films to hit theaters in the last six months. — Ryan Gauthier
‘Resident Evil 4’
Capcom’s latest foray into the world of survival horror claims to take the long stagnant series in a “bold new direction.” Surprisingly, they have done just that by breathing some life into this seemingly dead franchise.
Leon S. Kennedy, one of the main characters from “Resident Evil 2” returns in this game as a government agent sent to investigate the disappearance of the president’s daughter. The graphics are shockingly good for a Gamecube game, ranking right up there with some of the better-looking Xbox titles.
By abandoning the traditional static backgrounds and going with a more action-oriented style of game play, Capcom has finally made a “Resident Evil” game that has an actual sense of suspense to it. Amazing boss battles, unending hordes of murderous villagers and a true sense of danger work together to once again bring a feeling of fear to the franchise. This is the best “Resident Evil” game ever made, and is a must-play for Gamecube owners. — Ryan Gauthier
‘Ocean’s Twelve’
Steven Soderbergh helms the sequel to his 2001 blockbuster. Early teaser trailers were basically generic music while the stars’ names flashed by the screen. The actual film is a little bit better than the teasers, but not by a lot.
The story isn’t as entertaining as the first one, and really relies on star power to fuel it. While it’s great to see so many big names on the same screen, a few of the scenes are incredibly devoid of all creativity. Having Julia Roberts play a character who impersonates Julia Roberts in a scene may seem amusing on paper, but it doesn’t work very well in the actual film.
Many fans complain that this film’s lack of one big heist is what hurts it, but the overall lack of plot is the real killer. “Ocean’s Twelve” is packed to the brim with big name actors, but even Bruce Willis can’t save an overall stale film. Some of the better parts are very entertaining, but the uninspired quality of the rest of the movie brings down the overall product. — Ryan Gauthier
‘Spanglish’
Director James L. Brooks (“As Good As It Gets,” “Terms of Endearment”) delivers a thoughtful comedy about family, true love and food that is filled with incredibly quirk-oriented characters.
Flor, played by the stunning Paz Vega — an uncanny Penelope Cruz look-alike — brings her daughter to America from Mexico in an attempt to create a better life for both of them.
As chef John Clasky, Adam Sandler plays a powerfully kind man who almost never says what he wants to on his first attempt. He makes a later-than-desired showing in the film, but immediately gives it a positive upswing. His wife, played annoyingly by Tea Leoni, is not only neurotic, but also eccentric, stressed and possibly nuts. She is everything he is not.
Flor comes to work for their family as a housekeeper and step-by-step gets to learn English, know them, and of course change their lives. “Spanglish” is well thought out and desperately tries to be unique, but sometimes fails. The comedy flowing throughout and one intimate scene between Sandler and Vega in his closed restaurant make this film enjoyable and worthwhile. — David Steinhaus
‘Finding Neverland’
Johnny Depp once again brings a unique and heavily nuanced character to the screen when he channels J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. Kate Winslet also doesn’t disappoint as the mother of four boys who Depp becomes involved in entertaining on a daily basis. The story centers on his odd position in their lives, solely as an innocent clown, and how it leads to his writing of one of the greatest plays ever.
While they don’t forget to add humor and a good deal of Peter Pan references, this movie is much more about the relationships between Barrie and the boys, his wife, and Winslet’s characters. Oddly, his ties to Winslet’s character are never fully explored, leaving the focus on the play and the boys. It is definitely a drama at heart: one that explores the world of the fantastic as well as the tragic. — David Steinhaus
‘Kinsey’
It’s not surprising that the life of Alfred Kinsey would eventually be transferred to screen. A pioneer in human-sexuality research, his life is a fascinating series of contradictions. But Billy Condon’s new film, “Kinsey,” somehow misses the mark entirely. It’s not that the film is historically accurate, although family-values groups have raised their voices against Condon’s acceptance of some of the sexual behavior the film portrays. It’s simply that Kinsey’s conflicts are glossed over.
Kinsey struggled with his own sexuality and relationship to his wife, with his desire to do something useful, with his volatile academic and social standing. Condon mentions all of these problems in turn, but refuses to focus on any given conflict. Instead, we get a movie that meanders around sexuality, occasionally hinting at a compelling humanity beneath the surface.
Despite incredible performances from Liam Neeson (Alfred Kinsey), we walk away wishing Condon would delve deeper instead of bemusedly cataloging the sexual spectacle. — Charles Parsons
‘Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events’
This adaptation of three of Daniel Handler’s beloved children’s books received generous critical attention over the Christmas break. With an all-star cast that includes Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Jude Law and Billy Connolly, stunning sets and visual effects and a release date timed to hit movie theaters just as families returned to the nest, everyone knew that “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” would be a box-office hit. Yet, for all its popularity, “Lemony Snicket’s” falls just shy of its potential.
Don’t misunderstand — it is an entertaining and amusing film. Darkly comic, the story follows the three Baudelaire children through a series of tragic, yet telling, events. Jim Carrey puts in a masterful performance as Count Olaf, as does the rest of the cast (although Billy Connolly’s wonderful character disappears far too quickly). As adaptations go, “Lemony Snicket’s” does a good job.
But while all three children struggle to survive and thwart Count Olaf, the movie begins to fail just as it begins to end. Director Brad Silberling must make sacrifices in order to fit the story into a reasonable time frame, but the changes in both Violet and Klaus Baudelaire seem tacked on, a byproduct of cutting the development of characters in order to devote more time to the rather beautiful visual effects. A good movie, but unlikely to survive the test of time. — Charles Parsons.
‘America: The Book’
With extra time over break and no assigned reading to take care of, it was a good time to catch up. “America: The Book” has been on the bestseller lists for months now, and rightfully so. John Stewart and The Daily Show writers have put together an amusing and satirical look at American history and political process.
Written like a textbook, it manages to parody the absurdity of certain aspects of the American educational system while taking shots at politicians, the media, the Supreme Court and Maya Angelou. While not necessarily something to sit and read cover-to-cover, the book has the ability to sustain attention and humor throughout.
No stranger to controversy, Stewart’s masterful piece of satire was recently banned (and then un-banned just as quickly) in several Mississippi library systems, and Wal-Mart has refused to sell it due to a page of naked Supreme Court justices. The facing page has cutouts of their robes with instructions to “restore their dignity” by matching the robe to the justice.
If for no other reason than to laugh hysterically, pick up “America: The Book.”
— Charles Parsons
Seattle’s Pike Place Market
If you’re in Seattle, make sure you stop by the Sound and check out the famed Pike Place Market. This nine-acre area is considered the soul of Seattle and a national treasure. The area is full of small specialty shops, eateries and an amazing open-air market.
Plus, if you’re into seafood, Pike Place Market is one of the best-known and varied outdoor seafood markets on the West Coast. We’re not talking some minor seafood market. Fresh catch from up and down the coast and Alaska rolls in on a daily basis, handled by expert vendors who are as much showmen as they are salesmen.
Looking for great food? Pike Place Market. Looking for great value? Pike Place Market. Looking for work by local craftsmen and small farmers? Pike Place Market. Looking for the world’s first Starbucks? You guessed it, Pike Place Market. — Charles Parsons
‘Red Light District’
Ludacris has been all over the musical radar the last few years, collaborating with almost as many artists as Lil’ Jon — with whom he has also worked. Taking a break from working with “Urshur,” Luda dropped his fourth album, The Red Light District.
Always one to bask in controversy more than avoid it, Ludacris pulls no punches on his new tracks. Apparently he still can’t let go of his feud with Bill O’Reilly, throwing a few insults his way in “Number One Spot.” Topics covered include: hos, alcohol, clubbin’, heavy drug use and being ridiculously rich. Really, it’s the average fare in today’s rap picture.
Where Ludacris makes it all okay is in his silky-smooth flow and oddly great enunciation. The Red Light District has great beats and sees Luda collaborate with everyone from DMX to Sleepy Brown to Doug E. Fresh. This disc includes some of his best work to date, with Ludacris showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon. — Ryan Gauthier
