Mike's Holiday Movie Round-Up, Part 2
Another big week of moviegoing...
Me & Orson Welles. This one is getting lost in the Xmas movie onslaught, but it's really quite enjoyable. Christian McKay is getting all the notices for his Orson Welles imitation, but this movie deserves some kind of casting award -- they've found actors who look like all of Welles' Mercury Theater compatriots. The guy who plays Joseph Cotten is amazing, and the great Eddie Marsan (the only thing I liked in Happy Go Lucky, which I otherwise hated) plays John Houseman and you can totally imagine him becoming Prof. Kingsfield in The Paper Chase 35 years later. Oh, and Zac Efron is... adequate.
Avatar. Yes, on a technical level it's the most amazing thing you've ever seen. And yes, plot-wise it's Dances With Wolves with blue people. Best. 3-D movie. EVAH. You just gotta see it.
Sherlock Holmes. Big, noisy and preposterous, but Robert Downey Jr makes it enjoyable, and Jude Law is also quite good. And Eddie Marsan shows up again as the inspector. Glad to see him getting a big paycheck.
Nine. Yikes. Borderline awful. How can a musical directed by a gay guy have so much strip-club choreography? Has Rob Marshall been hanging out with Jay-Z and Li'l Wayne? Every number looks like an audition for the Hustler Club. When they said Rob Marshall likes some pole, I didn't know they meant this!