Popcorn Bucket List: Ho, ho, holiday releases

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December 12, 4:04 PM

by Austin O'Connor, Film and TV Examiner

Michael Sheen shines in Frost/Nixon

Here goes...

Five popcorn buckets - Frost/Nixon

Talk about a progression of media: This is Ron Howard's new film based on a hit play that was based on David Frost's television interviews with Richard Nixon a few years after Watergate. If you've seen the trailers, you know all about Frank Langella's stormy, lumbering portrayal of Nixon - it's so over the top it's all but guaranteed to be nominated for an Oscar. As Nixon, Langella is certainly entertaining, but take a look at clips from the actual Nixon/Frost interviews and ask yourself whether Langella's blustery portrayal is all that fair. I much preferred Michael Sheen's far more restrained version of Frost, who used the interview to elevate himself from lightweight game show host to serious journalist. Even with Langella's outbursts, the acting is first-rate, and this is one of Howard's best directing jobs - he somehow wrings great suspense out of a story with which most are very familiar. Watch the way he shoots the climactic interview sessions as if it's a heavyweight fight, right down to the cut men giving pep talks when the combatants return to their corners.

Five popcorn buckets - Milk

Sean Penn is the best reason to see this stirring biopic of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician to win political office in California. Penn absolutely melts into the character of Milk - despite the actor's brash persona, after a few seconds you're unaware that it's even Sean Penn up there on the screen. He simply is Harvey Milk. It's an astounding performance, and director Gus Van Sant makes sure it isn't for naught. By seamlessly mixing archival footage with flawless set design, Van Sant recreates San Francisco in the 1970s in all its out-there frenetic glory. Say this for Van Sant - the guy knows how to give a film a sense of place. His Good Will Hunting was, for my money, the best on-screen depiction of Boston, especially South Boston, and he turns the trick again here with San Francisco, specifically the heavily gay Castro district. Beyond Penn, the movie boasts great turns by James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Josh Brolin, and as Milk defies the odds and overcomes stereotypes and bigotry on his political rise, it's hard to miss the parallels to the recent Presidential election.

Three popcorn buckets - Nothing Like the Holidays

There seems to have been a dearth of holiday movies this year - the instantly forgettable Four Christmases has pretty much had the field all to itself and has been rewarded with two straight weeks atop the box office charts. So this one at least offers those looking for some holiday spirit a choice. Unfortunately, Nothing Like the Holidays is pretty much exactly like every other holiday movie about a dysfunctional family reuniting for Christmas. The twist here is that this is a Puerto Rican family, and the ensemble cast is peppered with fine Hispanic actors. John Leguizamo, Alfred Molina and Debra Messing (as the token uptight white person) head the cast, but it's the lesser-known Elizabeth Pena who impresses the most as the put-upon matriarch of the Rodriguez clan. The movie goes pretty much where you'd expect as it sticks to its holiday formula, but you could do worse this season: say, by going to Four Christmases, for instance.

Two popcorn buckets - The Day The Earth Stood Still

The special effects look pretty good and... well, that's about it. Keanu Reeves stars in this remake of the 1951 movie about an alien invasion. Big budget sci-fi flicks can do well this time of year (last year, Will Smith's mediocre I Am Legend cleaned up at the holiday box office), but why see this one when there are so many good movies to choose from out there? For examples, just see above. If you insist, however, at least seek out one of the theaters showing this one in IMAX. If you're going the cheesy alien movie route, at least make it the cheesy 80 foot tall alien route.

Holdovers worth checking out (in order of preference): Slumdog Millionaire, Happy-Go-Lucky, Synecdoche, NY, Bolt, Role Models.

Read my reviews for movies still in release:
Twilight
Quantum of Solace
Slumdog Millionaire
Role Models
Synecdoche, NY
Zack and Miri Make a Porno 

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