By Judy Russell June 29, 2011 ( Volume 80 , No. 4 )

The Help (PG-13)

Kathryn Stockett’s novel, The Help (2009), is being made into a film set to open this summer. The film, which has the same title as the book, is a study of life in small-town Mississippi during the early 1960s, and could be a thought-provoking study for students learning about the times that produced the Civil Rights Movement. Those who lived through those turbulent times may find it a bit uncomfortable to watch the presentation of how life was for many maids and cooks in the obscure little town of Jackson.   

Tate Taylor’s directing debut opens with a young white woman, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone), returning from her college graduation to her childhood home in Mississippi to be with her ill mother. Having always wanted to write, she applies and is hired at the local newspaper to write a home maintenance column. Since she has no idea how to care for a home or cook, she asks her “queen-bee” friend, Hilly Holbrook (sharply played by Bryce Dallas Howard)  if she may interview her maid, Aibileen Clark (magnificently portrayed by Viola Davis), to learn what to put into her column. Reluctantly Hilly gives permission for Aibileen to speak to Skeeter after working hours. Being in “control” of her maid’s off-hours may give the audience their first glimpse of how tightly regulated having a job as a domestic in the 60s was and how much power employers held over their “help.”

As Skeeter and Aibileen become better acquainted, Skeeter notices and becomes greatly concerned by things she overhears and sees happen to this wonderful lady while she works in her friend’s home. She decides that a story about domestic workers and how they feel about their job status would be a worthwhile study and an important article for publication. Although this could mean losing her job, Aibileen is brave enough to say yes and shares many of her life stories; soon many other maids join in the interviews and take a brave step towards social appreciation and equality.

One of those maids, Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), is very outspoken; she has lost jobs for being too straightforward. Her character delivers insight and outlandishly funny sequences for Skeeter’s writings; Ms. Spencer’s amazing facial expressions bring deeper understanding about social and personal issues and challenges to all women of that time period.

There are also several side stories which are intertwined to complete this mid-century, Deep South “picture of life” such as the mystery of why a white woman would ever want a job instead of a husband, how  it was impossible for an uneducated woman to become part of the inner circle of the Junior League no matter how hard she tried to better herself or how wealthy she became, and that it is never too late to become brave and say, “Enough!” to meanness and injustice.

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (PG)

Megan McDonald is the author of a popular elementary-level book series about an energetic third-grade girl, Judy Moody, who manages to get herself into and out of all sorts of funny situations. Director John Schultz has brought a story about the Moody family to the big screen, but unfortunately the screenwriters should have done a little more “homework” before the cameras started rolling in this silly film which has a storyline that seems to go nowhere.

The film’s Judy (Jordana Beatty) seems more angry and self-centered than the fun-seeking girl of the books—slamming doors, growling at her family, and complaining to anyone who happens to be around. Her little brother Stink’s (Parris Mosteller) speech is mostly garbled and difficult to understand. Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) has a very limiting role which, had it been expanded, may have saved the film, but there just wasn’t much for her to work with here.

At the beginning of the film there is group of unattended out-of-control students, including Judy, who are trashing their classroom. Their banjo-toting teacher, Mr. Todd (Jaleel White), flashes the lights to stop the bedlam and then sings a silly song, complete with subtitles so the audience can sing along—(really?), and then school is out. Soon after Judy gets the bad news that her friends and parents will not be in town for summer vacation. Her perception that everyone is leaving her for exciting adventures leads Judy to create a competition for “the best summer ever.” Highlights of the film are a mixture of peeing frogs, friends throwing up while riding a roller coaster, reckless driving and chasing ice cream trucks by bike – three people on the same small bike.

Very young children who enjoy slapstick and body related humor may enjoy this film, but reading the books aloud together might be a better choice. If there happens to be another Judy Moody film made, hopefully more care will be given so it will not be such a “bummer” in the summer.

The Beaver (PG-13)

Although this movie is rated PG-13 and one of the main characters is a hand puppet, this is NOT a children’s film. This story is about a family in a mental health crisis. Director Jodie Foster and writer Kyle Killen have captured a slice of life within a family in trouble. 

Walter Black (Mel Gibson) is in extreme depression. Much to the horror of his family—wife, Meredith (Jodie Foster), and teenage son, Porter (Anton Yelchin), he attempts suicide several times before moving out of the family home. While packing his belongings, Walter finds a hand puppet of a beaver. After he puts the puppet on his hand, the Beaver puppet “comes to life” and speaks through Walter—with a British accent no less. It becomes permanently attached to him. The puppet seems to guide Walter through the rough waters of reality, and he considers the puppet as a person in puppet form. Although there does seem to be improvement in his attitude towards work and family at first, those around him cannot understand this dependency on a puppet. It isn’t long before life turns to the worst for Walter and those around him.

The Beaver has its own strong personality – completely different from Walter—and takes over his life. When Walter finally realizes the Beaver’s persona is getting stronger and knows there has to be break between the two personalities, he severs this link with a table saw (bloody and very graphic).

This is a dark drama and will not fit everyone’s tastes, but it is well written and acted. It deals fairly realistically with a troubling subject. It is not what many go to the movies to see, but as the Beaver states in the movie, “Everyone loves (watching) a train wreck, especially one they’re not in.” The audience can watch and hopefully learn from this film about when and how to get help and what to do and NOT do when signs of mental illness become evident.

Super 8 (PG-13)

This action-packed Sci-Fi thriller, written and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg, has the ingredients of a summer blockbuster—mystery, first love, death, single parenthood, rocket ships and an amazingly realistic train crash. The story revolves around a group of teenagers who are making an original film for a contest in 1979. While filming their movie the group witnesses a train wreck; they are consequently pursued by the military who want to find out what they know about the train’s contents and to stop them from telling anything about the “accident.” When strange occurrences—including some violent ones—begin happening within the county, the military gears up for a battle.

The young actors of the film are extremely talented; they carry the story smoothly, capture the audience’s imagination and keeps viewers on the edge of their movie seats. There is an exciting and lovely mix of the “Goonies meets E.T.” throughout this exciting story.

Children as well as adults may be startled or frightened by abnormal occurrences (sudden actions, the alien, flying objects), the aggression of the soldiers and creature (the alien eats people, but this action is mostly hidden—without blood), and the long, frightening and realistic train accident which occurs near the beginning of the film. Although many scenes are intense, there are many funny and touching moments in the film as well. Make sure to stay for the credits at the end of the movie since the children’s “film” for the contest (which was made with a Super 8 camera) is run during the middle of the credit listings.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins (PG)

Director Mark Waters and writers Sean Anders and John Morris have taken Richard and Florence Atwater’s classic children’s book, Mr. Popper’s Penguins (1938), and fast-forwarded it into the 21^st century… unfortunately with so many changes that it is hard to find the original storyline. That said, the movie does have continuity and a sweet, if predictable, ending.

Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a driven Manhattan real estate professional intent on making partner in his firm. He is divorced from his wife and has very little contact with his children until he inherits six penguins from his late world-traveling, eccentric father. Through his guardianship of the birds, which presents all sorts of slapstick comedic opportunities for Carrey, he learns how to better care for his family and also for the many people around him. He develops into a more loving parent and adult.

Besides the talented Carrey and the live penguins, the audience will enjoy a lovely performance by the great Angela Lansbury as the owner of the Tavern on the Green, Mrs. Van Guny.

Younger children and parents, especially those who have sweet memories of reading this amusing book, may enjoy this simple story about love and what is really important in living.  Teens may find the animal-human comedy a bit  too wacky.

Cars 2 (Rated G)

Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, start your engines and get ready for Cars 2! Pixar Animation Studios’ 12th feature-length animated film is sure to be a summertime hit. The film was shot in 2D, IMAX, Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D. Although the film is strong enough not to “need” 3D, this film uses the format well and makes the audience feel as though they are “in” this adventure-packed tale. 

Many of the lovable characters from the first story (Cars, 2006) are seen again, but new friends and foes are met in this around-the-world story of racing and international espionage, starring Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and the Tow Truck (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy). The two stories unfold during the multi-country World Grand Prix Race. The landscapes and characters (all of whom are humanized cars, boats, and planes) are creatively and colorfully illustrated. Even the hillside formations of the different countries are visually fun!

When the racing world wants to know who is The Fastest Car in the World, our friends from Radiator Springs take the challenge and travel to Japan, Italy and England to compete in an all bio-fuel race. Most race cars are using a new mixture called Allinol. When a small group of anti-green/pro“lemon-car” movement investors try to destroy all the alternative fuel race cars, top British spy, Finn McMissile (voiced by Michael Caine), and his helper – the lovely, purple Holly Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) come to the rescue. Unfortunately they mistake Mater’s bumbling country ways to be his “spy cover” and assign him roles to play in helping foil the investors’ disruptive plans. All sorts of chases ensue on land, sea, underwater and in the air—complete with wonderful 3D effects.

There are plenty extra chuckles adults may catch—sight gags such as cars having to take off their tires at the airport security stations, hearing “Come on fuzzy dice” in a casino scene, a tavern named Ye Left Turn Inn,  and others. And please don’t think that this movie is a big anti-gasoline story because it isn’t.  It is just a fun, racing, chasing story about friendship and the importance of being oneself.

So – on your mark, get set, race right out to see it! 

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (PG-13)

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is back—this time to find the Fountain of Youth. “Stranger Tides” seems to have something for everyone; there are beautiful but vicious mermaids, King George II (Richard Griffiths), Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and even another lady-love interest for Captain Jack. Director Rob Marshall has created an evenly flowing story filled with action and does it with much of the same cast as the other “Pirates” movies with the exception of the leading lady. This time around Penelope Cruz plays Angelica Malon, a love from Jack’s past.

The story begins with Jack traveling to London to locate a man who is impersonating him and giving him “a bad name” by recruiting sailors for an expedition to find the Fountain of Youth. When he arrives, Sparrow finds his first mate Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) about to be hanged, rescues him, gets caught himself, and then uncovers the imposter who turns out to be Angelica. After many ins and outs, Johnny Depp style, Sparrow is conscripted to British Navy privateer Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). The trip is filled with impressive special effects and a couple of interesting side stories. Once the crew reaches the location, the entrance to the fountain is surprising but the fountain’s set is rather disappointing. The twist of the two chalices of Ponce de Leon used to attain everlasting youth sets up the ending of the story. There are many scenes which may upset younger viewers: a person is graphically shredded apart, a man has his life sucked out of him leaving a gruesome skeleton, a “dead” man is shown but as the camera moves in closer he jumps up—made the audience jump, too – and when the mermaids (Ariel cover your ears!) catch their men—they eat them! This is rated PG-13 also for sensuality due to several scenes with the mermaids and also Jack with Angelica.

Be sure to watch the very short clip after the end of the credits if you want to think about…Pirates 5 perhaps?

X-Men First Class (PG-13)

There have been four other X-Men movies: X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: the Last Stand (2006), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). X-Men First Class is the film which explains what happened before all of these other stories came to be.

The audience is introduced to a privileged young Professor X, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), as he starts a school in 1962 for humans who have unusual abilities. We also meet his best friend, Erik Lensherr who later becomes his archenemy, Magneto (Michael Fassbender). 

Director Matthew Vaughn and writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz do an excellent job of working the already set stories of these two “mutants” backwards to explain how the two became leaders on opposite philosophical sides of just about every question and action. Beginning with the contrast between Charles’s wealthy English family and Erik’s terrifying childhood in a Nazi concentration camp, the story unfolds until the two individuals cannot even agree to disagree. The film also introduces several other popular Marvel Comics personalities—Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Emma Frost (January Jones), Hank/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and others—and shows these characters’ reasoning in their selection of which group of mutants to join. 

The audience does not need to know any of the previous X-Men stories to enjoy this film since it is the “start” of the saga. For viewers who are familiar with the comic series there are several insider jokes which they will understand and have a chuckle over. However this is mostly a dark story. There is some suggestive sexual content, but mainly it is the meanness, killings, explosions and bigotry which may be upsetting to viewers, especially young children—the shooting death of Eric’s mother (when he was a child and helplessly watched), Eric’s stabbing of several old men who once were German soldiers, mutants lifting many people high into the air and then dropping them to their deaths, and the torture of individuals—sometimes showing blood. The writers included historical events—such as the Holocaust, the Cuba Missile Crisis blockade (which the mutants resolved by using their powers), and the death of President John F. Kennedy.

This dynamic film has all the signs of being one of the highlights of the movie calendar this summer for comic and sci-fi fans. If you are a follower of the series or have never read comics, you will be fascinated and immersed in this action packed story.

Green Lantern (PG-13)

What if one day while you were at a child’s birthday party you were suddenly surrounded by a green bubble of light, lifted into the air, and transported at the speed of light to the ocean where you met a dying alien who gave you a magic ring? That is what we see Hal Jordan/Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds) go through when he is selected as the first human bearer of a ring of power. Although that is the real start of the movie’s story, it is not the way this film begins. The film opens with a lengthy narrated prologue that ensures reader and non-readers of DC comics are on the same “page” about what is to come: what the Green Lantern Corps is, how the emerald energy of willpower works, who the Guardians are and what job they do for the universe, why the planet Oa was created, and who the universe’s greatest enemy is—Parallax (yellow fear).

Director Martin Campbell and screenwriters Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael Goldenberg created this film version, or “origin story,” from a long history of comic Green Lantern tales. There are plenty of spectacular visual effects throughout the film, especially during Hal’s boot-camp style training on how to manage the ring’s power and also the battle at the end of the film, but the filmmakers also did an excellent job portraying Hal’s struggle to decide if he can be part of this intergalactic peacekeeper group or not. About a third of the film is filled with Hal’s vacillation about whether or not to accept the ring and its responsibilities and dangers. Finally with Carol Ferris’s (Blake Lively) encouragement and a Universe/Earth crisis Hal becomes the hero he was always meant to be. He becomes the Green Lantern—the first from the young planet Earth.

Most comic book fans will enjoy this action-filled film of the Green Lantern Corp, but children may not. There are many frightening CGI effects that appear “real” and could become nightmare material. The green guns and weapons Hal and his trainers use in combat are from their imaginations but react and cause damage that is real. The huge, tentacled, spider-like body of the Parallax grows in size and power during the film and has several more-than-creepy scenes where it sucks the life and yellow fear out of individuals, leaving only their skeletons to collapse and fall away.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)

The first Kung Fu Panda film had a great story, interesting characters and many laughs, but the sequel is even better than the first. Kung Fu Panda 2 shows the growing friendships between the Kung Fu Panda, Po (voiced by Jack Black), and the Furious Five, and offers a touching story of the power of love within adoption. Writers Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Robert Koo crafted a double tale this time around. One of the stories deals with the Five and Po battling the army of the evil Lord Shen (sinisterly voiced by Gary Oldman) and his gunpowder powered cannons. The other is about Po’s concern for his birth parents and his “real story” before Mr. Ping (voiced by James Hong) adopted him.

This film is more serious than the first movie, since Lord Shen’s quest leads him to genocide as well as a violent campaign to conquer all of China while eliminating Kung Fu. As Po tries to piece together his early life, he recovers early memories of his mother being pursued by Shen’s soldiers—never to be seen again. There are many disturbing scenes such as these which may be upsetting to young viewers. There are also many battles, fights and scenes of dangerous circumstances throughout the movie; these may alarm some very young children who have trouble separating fantasy from reality. For everyone else the two intertwined stories will be highly entertaining with their action, beautiful artwork, funny sight gags and silly quips. The message of inner peace and the power of love are highlighted. After Po and the Five defeat Shen’s army they return home, and Po sweetly tells his adoptive father that although he has been successful in remembering his “life story” he knows that the goose is his “real” father—through his love and care.

 Thor (PG-13)

Paramount Pictures has produced an action-packed adventure film that connects the Marvel Universe with the Norse gods of Asgard. The storyline follows the mighty Thor, an arrogant warrior, from his home in Asgard to Earth and back again with several stops along the way to other universe realms. He travels by means of the Bifrost Bridge—a type of Einstein-Rosen Bridge wormhole—and it seems that wherever he goes chaos is not far from him.

Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz’s screenplay has Thor (Chris Hemsworth) invading the realm of the Frost Giants out of anger and without information or permission from his father, King Odin (Anthony Hopkins). This reckless act concerns his father since it is expected that Thor will one day be King of Asgard. As a punishment for this lack of maturity and his apparent lack of concern for others, Thor is literally thrown out of his realm and into Earth’s realm. His entrance into our world is witnessed by scientists, among them one who later will become his love interest, Jane (Natalie Portman) and the military. The scientists are the first to find Thor, since they were in the New Mexico desert investigating a celestial anomaly which they believed to be a lightning tornado (later revealed to be Thor’s wormhole). The military are the first to take procession of Thor’s hammer which was also thrown to Earth. The rest of the film examines how Thor learns valuable lessons from his new Earth friends. He fights for the people of Earth when they are invaded by a giant robot called Destroyer; he learns how withheld truths can become toxic; and he learns that love and caring are pure truths in all of the universe’s realms.

During this film there is a great deal of chaotic violence which may be unsettling and scary to young children: hand-to-hand combat, knives, swords, explosions, super-powerful characters with gray bodies and glowing red eyes, and a huge robot that destroys everything and anyone in its path. Teens, however, and those who love comic book drama will enjoy this tale linking Norse mythology with members of Marvel’s superheroes. “Two worlds. One hero.” 

If you are interested in the upcoming Marvel adventure make sure you stay through all the credits. The movie begins again with a major story strand sure to be used in the next Marvel movie.

Judy Russell teaches music and performing arts at Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School.