The Peanuts Movie
Most of us are familiar with the classic Peanuts television specials, where Charlie Brown is usually depressed about some kind of holiday or event coming up. However, it’s still hard to believe it’s been 50 years since A Charlie Brown Christmas appeared on CBS, probably because it’s rerun so often. While creator Charles M. Schultz died in 2000, the screenplay was written by his son and grandson. Original Snoopy and Woodstock voice actor Bill Melendez also died in 2008, but the film has revived him using archival recordings. The plot is one we’ve seen too often in the comic strip — Charlie Brown trying to charm the Little Red-Haired Girl, while Snoopy writes a novel on the side about saving his love interest from the Red Baron. The 3D animated Garfield completely tanked in 2004, but reviews for The Peanuts Movie have been generally positive, concurring that the 3D doesn’t harm the film, which retains its original humor and style. Let’s hope Hollywood doesn’t ruin another beloved comic strip character.
Before We Go
Captain America makes his directorial debut in a movie that’s as far away from the superhero genre as possible — a rom-com. Chris Evans plays a busker who by chance meets a woman at Grand Central Terminal who has missed her train to Boston. The two end up roaming New York City all night as they go on various misadventures and learn about each other past demons (Evans is still not over a breakup that happened, yes, six years ago). It’s hard not to notice that this simply seems like a ripoff of Before Sunrise — all the way down to the title and fake phone calls. We should applaud Evans’ effort to try to do his own thing that’s different from his bread and butter, but just from reading the movie description, it might be more satisfying to re-watch the Captain America movies and The Avengers.
Truth
Every week we have a film based on a book that’s based on true events, and this week is no exception. Truth is based on journalist and former 60 minutes producer Mary Mapes’ memoir, Truth and Duty. Mapes’ exploits include breaking the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and her story about anti-civil rights senator Strom Thurmond’s unacknowledged biracial daughter. She, along with legendary newscaster Dan Rather, later became involved in the Killian documents controversy (or Rathergate) about George W. Bush allegedly dodging serving in Vietnam, which the movie revolves around. There is much talent in the cast, with Cate Blanchett playing Mapes and Robert Redford playing Rather. CBS has claimed the there is “little truth in Truth” and refused to advertise the film, but that probably only served as further promotion.
Boychoir
French-Canadian director Francois Girard is known for the acclaimed Thirty-two Short Films about Glenn Gould and The Red Violin, both of which are about classical music, which is not surprising given he also directs operas and other stage productions. Here, the instrument is the young boy’s soprano voice, featuring a troubled and destitute Texas boy who, after his single mother dies, is sent to a prestigious singing academy by his rich father who is trying to keep the boy’s existence a secret from his new family. Dustin Hoffman stars as the strict and no-nonsense choir director who pushes the boy while nobody else thinks he’ll succeed. “This isn’t about music, this is about you,” he says at the end of the trailer.
My King
This is the second Palme d’Or-winning film for French actress-turned-director Maiwenn, as Emmanuelle Bercot, a director whose film Standing Tall also screened at Cannes, won best actress this year in this drama chronicling a troubled 10-year marriage. Bercot stars opposite Vincent Cassel, who plays a charming yet dysfunctional man, and they both spend most of the film trying to make their relationship work (even having a child in the process). Two hours seems like a long (and perhaps torturous) time to watch a tumultuous relationship play out, and while some critics say that the production team and cast are talented enough to make it somehow work, others find it self-indulgent and unbearable to sit through.
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