ROUND UP OF NEW AND RECENT FILMS PART TEN

Brendan Fraser

THE WHALE (2022). Director: Darren Aronofsky. Brendan Fraser stars as Charlie, a gay man who has been slowly killing himself through food since the suicide of his partner. He has a teenage daughter from his earlier marriage and tries to bond with her before it's too late. Along the way he interacts with his late partner's sister, his ex-wife, and a young religious man who wants to "save" him. Based on a stage play, this goes behind the scenes of a morbidly obese person and answers the question of how and why they got that way. This is a fairly interesting if imperfect film, with the daughter being nearly too obnoxious to take, and Fraser's Oscar-winning performance, while good, perhaps too dependent on a fat suit and prosthetics. Rob Simonsen's musical score seems to be doing most of the work. **1/2.  

Tai Gabrielle

UNCHARTED (2022). Director: Ruben Fleischer. Another movie inspired by a video game, this teams Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg trying to find a treasure collected by Magellan even as Antonio Banderas tries to stop them. Tai Gabrielle makes an impression as a ruthless assassin working for Banderas. The players are game, there are some exciting scenes and stunt work, but the whole project is just so overfamiliar and ultimately forgettable. **1/2. 

Dennis Quaid and Bradley Cooper

THE WORDS (2012), Written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Bradley Cooper appropriates an old man's manuscript as his own and becomes rich and famous, but what happens when the truth comes out? Besides being very well-acted -- the cast also includes Dennis Quaid, Jeremy Irons, Ron Rifkin and others -- the film boasts cinematography by Antonio Calvache and a score by Marcelo Zarvos. Despite all this, The Words is not entirely satisfying and many viewers were not that happy with the ending. **3/4. 

Lady Gaga

A STAR IS BORN (2018), Directed by Bradley Cooper. This is not so much a remake of the Janet Gaynor or Judy Garland versions of the venerable story, but of the Barbra Streisand version with the characters being singers instead of actors. Bradley Cooper as the older addict whose career is going to pieces, and Lady Gaga as the younger wannabee who accepts his help and achieves stardom, are both good but not spectacular. Rafi Gavron scores as a reptilian manager and there are good turns from Sam Elliott as Cooper's brother and Andrew Dice Clay as Gaga's father. 

Bradley Cooper

In addition to "Shallow" there are some good tunes in the movie, well-performed by the leads, especially Gaga. Just as Garland is transformed in her version of the story, Gaga is turned from a more original performer into a tiresome, sexed-up clone of Madonna, but not enough is done with this aspect of the story. A scene when Gaga wins a Grammy doesn't have a drunken Cooper accidentally hitting her but rather peeing in his pants! Ultimately, this version, although slickly done in some ways, lacks any emotional resonance, and you really don't care about any of the characters. Two former co-stars of Cooper's, all of whom appeared on the TV show Alias, are in the film: Greg Grunberg as a driver and Ron Rifkin as a counselor. Missing is Michael Vartan, another Alias alumnus, who I always thought was much more compelling and attractive than the somewhat over-rated and average-looking Cooper. **1/2. 

HOLLYWOOD PICKS THE CLASSICS

HOLLYWOOD PICKS THE CLASSICS: A Guide for the Beginner and the Aficionado. Afton Fraser. Bulfinch; 2004.

This guide to classic film is divided into chapters such as "Must See," "Drama,"  "Suspense," "One of a Kind" performers such as Carmen Miranda and Jerry Lewis, "Screen Teams" and so on. The main asset to this book is the many, many photographs from the movies. It falls short as a work of film scholarship for two reasons: most classic movie fans will already be familiar with most of the material in the book. Also, there is no analysis of the individual films, just a brief synopsis and sidebars on the cast, Oscar wins or nominations, and factoids about the famous players. On that level, the book is still a good bet for young movie enthusiasts who might wish to learn more about films released many, many years before their births. Indeed, the author makes the case that, say, a film from the 1980's can';t really be called a "classic." The included movies are generally the ones you would expect -- no "B" movies or forgotten gems -- along with a few that have always been over-rated.

The book was written by Afton Fraser, the wife of actor Brendan Fraser [Looney Tunes: Back in Action] and mother of their three children. Sadly, four years after this book was published the couple ended their ten year marriage. Also an actor Ms. Fraser now goes by Afton Smith.

Verdict: Recommended for readers who don't know much about classic film. ***. 

LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION

MEGA-STAR: The Adorable Daffy Duck

LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION (2003). Director: Joe Dante.

To his dismay, disbelief, and horror, Daffy Duck, who has always played second fiddle to Bugs Bunny, finds himself fired by the Brothers Warner. Also fired is a security guard named DJ (Brendan Fraser), the son of famous Bond-like actor, Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton). It develops that Drake really is a super-spy, and has been kidnapped by the sinister forces of one Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin). DJ becomes unlikely teammates with Daffy and the woman who fired both of them, Kate (Jenna Elfman), to find and rescue Drake even as Bugs Bunny and other weird characters, both live and animated, provide a zany backdrop. On paper it might have seemed like a good idea to combine live action with cartoon animation as in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, but despite the lovable characters -- underdog Daffy has always been my long-time favorite "funny animal" -- the spy plot is ill-advised and the movie is much, much more silly than any of the classic Warner Brothers cartoons. Kids will enjoy this the most, while their parents and older viewers may get a kick out of all the in-jokes (surely the children won't get the reference to the Psycho shower murder, although it is funny). Fraser and Elfman do the best they can, while Steve Martin offers a bizarrely notable turn as the definitely weird Mr. Chairman. Others in the cast include an amusing Joan Cusack; a sinister Granny with Tweetie Bird in tow; the Tasmanian Devil; Marc Lawrence; a slithering brain from Fiend Without a Face; Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet; the hulking insectoid creature from This Island Earth;  Jeff Gordon; Peter Graves; a plant from Day of the Triffids; the ape-man in a helmet from Robot Monster; Yosemite Sam; Elmer Fudd; Roger Corman (as a director); Dick Miller (as a studio guard); and Heather Locklear as a showgirl/secret agent. Did I miss anyone? The film's highlights include an amazing battle on top of the Eiffel Tower and a clever scene in the Louvre when Bugs and Daffy jump into different paintings and immediately convert to the style of the specific artist. Considering everything, you really want to love this movie, but at times it gets too frenetic and stupid without being especially funny. Still, there's always the delightful Daffy!

Verdict: Daffy rules -- but this great star needs a better vehicle. **1/2 out of 4.

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 2008

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (2008.) Director: Eric Brevig.

NOTE: Not to be confused with the direct-to-video feature, also made in 2008.

Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) goes off with his young nephew (Josh Hutcherson) to see if they can locate Josh's father, who has been missing since he went under the earth for an investigation into seismic activity. They team up with a young lady guide named Hannah (Anita Briem). The premise of the film is that Jules Verne's novel was factual, and Trevor uses the text as a guideline to descend into the depths. This is not very convincing, of course, but it fits the tone of the movie, which is nice but too "cutesy" by far. There is no suspense or epic quality, and even that black and white cheapie Unknown World had more atmosphere. However, there are some exciting sequences and fine special effects in the movie: a thrilling ride on a runaway mining car; bio-luminescent birds like fire flies that flit around the cast; flying fish with big, nasty choppers; humongous sea monsters; a sequence with floating rocks over a deep chasm. A T-rex shows up at one point but it's only serviceable. The score is forgettable (a fry cry from Bernard Herrmann's wonderful music for the 1959 version) and there's very little directorial panache -- it's all left up to the FX people. Despite some of the silliness of the 1959 version, this is much more of a kiddie movie. The actors are fine; young Hutcherson is especially good.

Verdict: Watchable but the 1959 version is better. **1/2.