EMMA

 EMMA:  And yet another look at the Jane Austin comedy of manners and a noteworthy one with one exception.  The film is absolutely splendid from the brilliant period costumes to the cinematography.  Adding to the beauty of it all is a musical score that both amuses and enlightens.  And the cast if first rate.  The exception, you ask?  Well, at times the actors are so comfortable in their roles that they have a tendency to speak softly (as befits the scene) which makes them hard to understand.  (Perhaps the sound man is to blame.)  That being said, it is still a cinematic work of art and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  And I'm still in awe of the costume designer (as well as the hair stylist)  Eat your heart out, "Downton Abbey."

THE CALL OF THE WILD

THE CALL OF THE WILD:  While top billing in this re-tooling of the Jack London classic goes to Harrison Ford, the real star of the film is a CGI dog named Buck.  In fact, all of the animals are the result of brilliant CGI work.  (CGI, as a reminder, stands for Computer Graphic Imaging and in this case, Buck was  the result of a ballet dancer going through the "choreography" of Buck's movement and then having it enhanced through technology)...………….Too much information?   Perhaps, but I include it to let you realize what goes into a film like this.  And it is magnificent for those reasons.   In a nutshell, it concerns the "journey" of a rambunctious canine "dognapped" from California and thrust into the "Klondike Fever" of  Alaska.  Yes, as a sled dog.  Along the way, there are terrors, beauty, kindness and eventually, "The call."  While, Mr. Ford appears in only about the last half of the film (with a brief a scene early on) I thought he was at the top of his game (considering he was acting with a dog that wasn't there).   So, if brief, go see this wonderful film and marvel at how it was made.

PARASITE

PARASITE:  After winning all those Oscars (including Best Picture and Best International Film), I had to see what all the fuss was about.  Let's just say it is well deserved in that it is a comedy of sorts, a thriller of sorts and a look at Korean classes of wealth and poverty.  In short,the film is a bit of a marvel that keeps you guessing as to what is next.  Best Director Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho has realized a miracle of a movie, both satirical and sardonic.  While the cast is virtually unknown to American audiences, they are individual superb and equally thrilling in the ensemble playing. I can't reveal too much of the plot lest I spoil your entertainment.  Let me just say, I was mesmerized for the last half of the film and you will be too.   While "1917" is still my choice for best picture of the year, "Parasite" is a worthy number two.

DOOLITTLE

DOOLITTLE:  Robert Downey Jr. stars in this re-imagined tale of the Doctor who could talk to animals.   And the animals?   A splendid array of stars do the voices of these CGI wonders.  They include Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, John Cena, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez and Marion Cotillard.  Other stars giving "real life" performances are Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen and Jim Broadbent.  In a nutshell, Doolittle has become a recluse following the death of his wife (All told in an animated sequence at the beginning of the film).  The plot concerned Doolittle being dispatched to find a cure for the ailing, young Queen Victoria.  And so begins a voyage to find a magic tree whose fruit will save her.  And he his accompanied by his animal friends, a parrot, a polar bear, a gorilla, and ostrich and so on and so on.  We also get some whales and even a dragon thrown in for good measure.  But sadly, it feels like too much was simply "thrown in."   The movie, I would guess was intended for the Christmas holidays but too many hands spoiled the broth and so it is basically a film without the heart is so desperately needs.  The CGI animals are quite well done and some of it is, indeed, breathtaking but it eventually sags under it's own weight.   And when an added scene is tacked on after the closing credits just to let you know what happened to the villain, well you know you're in trouble.   The younger set will most likely forgive all the errors that the filmmakers indulged it, but it is still not what it should have been.

1917

1917:  The winner of two Golden Globe awards (Best Picture-Drama and Best Director-Sam Mendes), this epic look at WW1 is a brilliant piece of movie making.  The story of two young British soldiers assigned a nearly impossible task of going behind enemy lines to deliver a message that could potentially save countless lives including the brother of one of them.  Newcomers (to me) George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman portray the two men (Schofield and Blake).  The supporting cast includes Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch in minor roles.   Director Mendes has delivered a film that is edited in such a way that the whole thing seems to be in one continuous shot and it is a wonder to behold.  Brutal, at times, but always honest in its portrayal of the horrors of war. There are no big battle scenes here, but rather an intimate look at soldiers doing their duty, making this a war film like no other.  Touchingly poignant at times, I found myself in tears more that once.  This is arguably one of the best films of this genre ever made.  No surprise if it also gets an Oscar nomination.

CATS

CATS:  The long-running Andrew Lloyd Weber musical has made it to the big screen.   And it's not nearly as bad as some critics would have you believe.   In fact, I found it rather charming and weirdly whimsical .  With an all-star cast including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba, James Corden and Rebel Wilson, their individual "moments" worked much better on film that it did in the stage production.   Star power has it's upside after all.  The choreography by Christophe Ross is imaginative and downright thrilling at times.  The book has been reworked from the stage production and all to the better, thanks to a wonderful dancer and actress, Francesca Hayward.  While this may not be everyone's taste and it takes a bit of getting used to cats with human faces, by the time Dench appears as old Deuteronomy, I was hooked.  (There was a bit of overkill early on with the introduction of singing mice and cockroaches, but they soon were a thing of the past.)  To sum it up, if you have an open mind and believe in the wonders of film,  I think you might be pleasantly surprised.  I know I was.