SHOOT THE MOON

Peter Weller and Diane Keaton

SHOOT THE MOON (1982). Director: Alan Parker.

Faith Dunlap (Diane Keaton), a housewife with four young daughters, is married to an acclaimed author named George (Albert Finney), who is having an affair with Sandy (Karen Allen). Faith learns of the affair and divorce papers are filed, and the children try to cope with the painful disintegration of their parents' marriage and their own worries for the future. The oldest daughter, Sherry (Dana Hill) is particularly anguished, and at first wants no relationship with the father whose love she craves. Then a contractor named Frank (Peter Weller) enters the picture and begins his own relationship with Faith, and George's jealousy and paranoia threaten to demolish everything ... Shoot the Moon was a talked-about movie in its day, although it's pretty much forgotten now, and one can see why. While the film is quite good at delineating the emotional upheaval affecting the oldest daughter, and there are some good, near-powerful sequences, the characters are a little too unsympathetic to make us fully root for them. Spouses do tend to have conflicted feelings during divorces, and the film spells that out but never fully engages us. The constant presence of the four daughters, however adorable, sometimes makes this resemble a dark Disney film. The deck is sort of stacked against George because he is a self-absorbed asshole, which the film never quite addresses until the ending; while George had a girlfriend on the side, it is not clear if he actually wanted a divorce. Keaton [Interiors] gives an excellent performance, nearly matched by Finney [Tom Jones], and there is superlative work from the young Dana Hill as their daughter, Sherry  -- one of the best scenes is between Finney and Hill as they have a long talk on a dock. Weller [Star Trek Into Darkness] doesn't get much of a chance to be more than the likable, swaggering hunk with a penchant for his own violence. A scene when Faith and George have a fight in a restaurant is pure sitcom and out of sync with the rest of the movie. George Murdock scores in a brief scene as Faith's dying father. Michael Seresin's cinematography is superb.

Verdict: Something's missing ... **1/2.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS -- PART ONE/ PART TWO

Senior Batman vs eternally young Superman

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two (/Video/2012 - 2013). Director: Jay Oliva.

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, this two-part animated feature looks at the dark side and older years of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman has not appeared in Gotham city for a decade, but the threat of a homicidal gang that calls itself the Mutants, and whose activities are becoming more and more violent, bring him out of retirement. Eventually this brings him into conflict with the Gotham police department, which gets a new female commissioner in part two, and then with Superman in the final sequences. Taking care of the Mutants with blunt brutality, something the police were not able to do, makes the now-senior Batman a hero in the eyes of some Gothamites, and a fascist in others, such as the Joker's nutty psychiatrist, who thinks Batman is the real sociopath and is responsible for villains like the Joker. This is all played out before a backdrop of social and political commentary. A new, very young female Robin named Carrie at first seems like a frivolous character, as she comes out of nowhere and seems to have had absolutely no training, but she grows on you after awhile. There's more than one suggestion that the Joker in this might be gay -- his final confrontation with Batman is in a Tunnel of Love! -- as well as other sexually ambiguous characters, but whether this is to give them added color or is mere LGBT exploitation is debatable. [One villainess has a butch haircut and swastikas painted on her naked, substantial breasts!] Peter Weller makes a fine Batman, with David Selby also notable as Commissioner Gordon, and other voice roles are well cast.The animation is fluid and Oliva's direction is fast-paced and cinematic. This is not your father's Batman.

Verdict: Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes childish, but it holds the attention. ***.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Kirk and Spock witness the wrath of Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch)

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013). Director: J. J. Abrams.

Violating the prime directive to save Spock's life on a primitive world, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) finds himself demoted. But when a terrorist named Harrison, who turns out to be super-being Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), attacks the Federation, Kirk finds himself in command once again, and heading toward the Klingon home world, Kronos, to kill him. But what's inside those photon torpedoes that have been put on board the Enterprise? And whose side is Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) really on? It all leads to deadly battles both on Kronos, in warp space, and on Earth. Whatever its flaws, Star Trek Into Darkness is a big improvement over Abrams' initial reboot of the Star Trek franchise, with a better storyline and more exciting action sequences. The actors seem a little more comfortable in their roles, although Pine will never seem like James Kirk the way William Shatner did. Zachary Quinto is fine as Spock; Zoe Saldana is given more to do as his lover, Lt. Uhura; Karl Urban is an okay Bones; and Simon Pegg [Mission Impossible -- Ghost Protocol] seems to be channeling his inner Pee Wee Herman as Scotty. Weller and the unlikely-named Cumberbatch give the most dynamic performances. Alice Eve is a new character, Carol, a science officer and daughter of Admiral Marcus. Leonard Nimoy shows up briefly as the older Spock.

Verdict: Entertaining, fast-paced and frequently exciting. ***.