Top 10 - The Austin Chronicle

first runs*Full-length reviews available online ataustinchronicle.com. Dates at end of reviewsindicate original publication date.Alex crossD: Rob Cohen; with Tyler Perry, Edward Burns, Matthew Fox, JeanReno, Rachel Nichols, Giancarlo Esposito, Cicely Tyson, Carmen Ejogo,John C. McGinley. (PG-13, 101 min.)Based on the eponymous creation of JamesPatterson, Alex Cross is the third theatrical incarnationof the whip-smart FBI profiler played previouslyby Morgan Freeman. This time, however, the role istaken on by the hulking Tyler Perry, stepping far outsidehis Madea comfort zone. It’s a courageous butmisguided move; watching Perry display the gamutof emotions called for here is like watching the Hulkattempt Swan Lake. The film is a prequel of sorts:Cross is still a detective with the Detroit PoliceDepartment, trading strenuously overwritten buddy/pal banter with his partner Tommy Kane (Burns).Enter the sadistic, sinuously evil serial killer Picasso(Fox), who attracts Cross’ attention, and vice versa.It’s a mess, really, but a crowd-pleasing one. Perry’sregular audience will follow him out on this creakinglimb, no problem. Whether anyone will want tosee him portray Patterson’s profiler again, though, isanother question. (10/19/2012)HHnMillennium– Marc SavlovAnnA KAreninAD: Joe Wright; with Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Taylor-Johnson,Domhnall Gleeson, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, AliciaVikander, Ruth Wilson, Olivia Williams. (R, 129 min.)In this bold but empty imagining of Anna Karenina,director Joe Wright sets the action mostly within thewalls of a theatre: This world is, quite literally, all astage. There is the sedate wife and mother Anna(Knightley), limply married to the fly-right bureaucratKarenin (Law) and embarking for Moscow tosave her brother’s marriage to poor, put-upon Dolly(Macdonald). And there is the first acquaintance ofdoomed Anna and Count Vronsky (Taylor-Johnson),who tumble into an erotic liaison that will both igniteand ruin her. There is so much to compact here,and – forgive the schoolmarm aside – if you haven’tyet enjoyed the source novel, then you should stopreading this right now and start reading that, becauseit truly is a transformative thing. Sadly, the complexityof Tolstoy’s vision is only just skimmed here; thisAnna Karenina provides no lasting illumination, onlythe fast-burn spitzing of bang snaps. (11/30/2012)HHHn– Kimberley JonesArbor, Tinseltown SouthJ ArgoD: Ben Affleck; with Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, JohnGoodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy,Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler,Chris Messina, Zeljko Ivanek, Richard Kind. (R, 120 min.)Ben Affleck has reinvented himself as one ofHollywood’s top-notch directors, and this third featurefully proves that the filmmaker knows what he isdoing. Argo is a terrifically entertaining thriller that’sbased on a true-life incident. Latino CIA operativeTony Mendez (Affleck) has been called in to helpsix American embassy employees who managed toescape when their compound in Iran was taken overby Islamic fundamentalists on Nov. 4, 1979. As theCIA contemplates extraction, Mendez hatches a crazyplan: creating the cover of a location-scouting expeditionfor a science fiction movie called Argo. As wefollow every step of the mission, Affleck’s deft craftsmanshipand casting instincts are on full display. Notallowing well enough to be, however, is the multipleprongedcoda, which slackens Argo’s taut pace to acrawl. But I can hear the filmmakers saying, in thecadence of the film’s running joke, “Arrhh, go fuckyourself.” (10/12/2012)HHHHn– Marjorie BaumgartenGateway, Tinseltown South, Violet Crown, Westgatecirque du soleil:worlds AwAyD: Andrew Adamson; with Erica Linz, Igor Zaripov. (PG, 91 min.)To call Cirque du Soleil mere circus is to undersellthe astonishing breadth and vision of the Canadiantroupe-turned-entertainment empire. And to callCirque du Soleil: Worlds Away a movie – while technicallyaccurate – is a wet willy to all those othermovies out there toiling away at narrative logic,dramatic stakes, and identifiable characters. This3-D film offers up a kind of pupu platter of sevenCirque du Soleil shows, strung together with the verythin connective tissue of an original story, pennedby writer/director Andrew Adamson. In the framingstory, a circusgoer (Linz) falls in love with an aerialist(Zaripov) and chases him into a beautifully renderedbut bizarro land of dizzying, gosh-wow acrobatics andthrilling design. Unfortunately, the leads are dull asdishwater, and, minute-to-minute, the damn thingdoesn’t make any sense. Cirque du Soleil: WorldsAway is fine to look at, but good luck feeling anything.(12/28/2012)HHn– Kimberley JonesGateway, Tinseltown North, Tinseltown SouthJ cloud AtlAsD: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski; with Tom Hanks,Halle Barry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae,Ben Whishaw, Keith David, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, David Gyasi,Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant. (R, 172 min.)This remarkable adaptation of David Mitchell’ssupposedly “unfilmable” novel achieves nearperfectionon virtually all levels. What at first seemsan ultraconvoluted series of interconnected storylines – six of them, with actors playing multiples rolesover multiple centuries – quickly transforms into afilm of astonishing depth and insight. But, “What’s itabout?” The answer, in brief, is “the interconnectednature of life.” Cloud Atlas is ambitious and complexbeyond measure, but Tykwer and the Wachowskis pullit off with compassion, cliff-hanging storytelling, anda deeply empathetic moral center. Evil is all over theplace in this film, but it ends on a thrilling, majesticnote of hope, with directors, cast, and crew all comingtogether to create a singular whole that makesperfect sense in the end. Cloud Atlas is an utterlyspellbinding film about the triumph of the humanspirit across centuries and over the darkest of odds.(10/26/2012)HHHHMovies 8film listings– Marc SavlovNow PlayingTHE IMPOSSIBLE“One of the best films of the year.Here is a searing film of humantragedy…a powerful story of afamily’s cohesive strength.”LES MISÉRABLESSILVER LININGS PLAYBOOKComing SoonCHICAGO SUN- TIMESVioletCrownCinema.com434 W. 2nd Street | 512-495-9600ARGOLINCOLNZERO DARK THIRTY“The film's power steadily andrelentlessly builds over its longcourse, to a point that is terrificallyimposing and unshakable.”THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER55DINNER » DRINKS » MOVIES » EVENTSa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JANUARY 4, 2013 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 55