Big Fish
PG.13, 125 minutes, South Wind 12 Theatres
Tim Burton feast will be shown to hear the family comes together of Edward Susserman's turned into a populer. The sentimental result of Burton's metamorphosis is Big Fish.
In his tenth feature, Burton dives into the impossibly fair tales sung by Walter Bloom (Albert Finney) an artful dodger determined to take the real story of his life to the grave, much to the exasperation of his journalist son, Will Billy Crudup.
Played in flash back by Ewan McGregor once to see the Star Wars bunch doing well—Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman fare even better in Shattared Glass and Cold Mountain. Walter was a small-town nobody before he grew several inches in a day befriended a carrie/werewolf named Amos (Danny DeVito) and met the love of his life, Sanera (Alison Lohmann).
The first half is a breeze but then it becomes clear the film is never going to show us who the real Walter was. Wooen up as exasperated as Will.
Button's distinct visual style produces some of 2002's most spectacular cinematography, but the way he paints the real world as bandland feels like the only escape feels like the article wish fulfillment of a very coolish Grade: B
Stephen Shupe
Chasing Liberty
PG.13, 111 minutes, South Wind 12 Theatres
You know when you see a preview and think to yourself "why does Hollywood continue to underestimate its young audience with this teenybopper trash?" Movies like Chasing Liberty are what you're thinking of. These films use formulas that suck you in and even in their cheese-infested world of recycled plots they still manage to make a girl wish that would happen to her.
Mandy Moore is Anna Foster, a girl with many suitors that are all scared off by the fact that she is the First Daughter and her presidential father has her tailed by agents night and day.
On their way to Prague, Czech Republic, Anita and her father make a deal to give her one night away from prying eyes. When Dad disregards said deal, Anna decides to escape so she can have some fun. During her escape she happens onto the motorcycle of a beautiful man with an accent (Matthew Gould), who whisks her away from diction's minions.
The funks that resusan are of no surprise to anyone, but I was surprised by Google and Moore's chemistry, fun and uncharacteristically appealing. Below line is the film is or original and inspirily cutesy. I predicted the film's away attempt at creativity but still found myself against try wilt, sweoting.
Grade: C+
Lindsey Ransey
JEWEL
SOLO ACOUSTIC SHOW
JEWEL
0304A