Reel News: Week of Nov. 26 — Killing Them Softly, Anna Karenina, Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Nutcracker

Theatrical Releases This Week

Thursday, November 29 – Special Event

Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Celebration of Season 2
Unrated; 150 mins.
Trailer

This not-to-be-missed movie theatre event will feature two of the most popular Next Generation episodes, “Q Who?” and “The Measure of a Man” which will include, for the very first time, about 13 minutes of never before additional content. This special event will also include exclusive looks at the extensive restoration taken to make Season 2 look better than ever before, never-before-seen interviews with the original cast members, a behind-the-scenes look at the artists who created the original FX elements and photography and a reunion with the original cast members, captured in December 2011, as they celebrate 25 years of this unforgettable series. (Synopsis by Fathom Events)

Friday, November 30

Killing Them Softly
Director: Andrew Dominik
R; 97 mins
Trailer

Three dumb guys who think they’re smart rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the enforcer hired to track them down and restore order. Killing Them Softly also features Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and Vincent Curatola. Max Casella, Trevor Long, Slaine and Sam Shepard also make appearances. (Synopsis by Weinstein)

A vicious crime drama that dabbles in critique of capitalism. Dominik and Pitt, who worked on “The Assassination of Jesse James,” combine for another dialogue-driven solid offering.

Anna Karenina
Director: Joe Wright
R; 97 mins
Trailer

The third collaboration of Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley with acclaimed director Joe Wright, following the award-winning box office successes Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, is a bold, theatrical new vision of the epic story of love, adapted from Leo Tolstoy’s timeless novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard. The story powerfully explores the capacity for love that surges through the human heart. As Anna (Ms. Knightley) questions her happiness and marriage, change comes to all around her. (Synopsis by Focus)

Knightly and Law manage to make an erotic experimental take on Tolstoy’s tale palatable. Despite being visually dazzling, it lacks the emotional punch needed make the audience invest.

Monday, December 3 – Special Event

Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker performed by the Mariinsky Ballet Theatre
PG; 105 mins
Trailer

DVD Releases This Week

Tuesday, November 27

Lawless
Director: John Hillcoat
R; 97 mins
Trailer

Lawless is the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave. (Synopsis by Weinstein)

With all the scenery and violence there is little room for heart in the film. With no one to care about, there is little to keep you invested. It almost feels like a better film got lost in the editing process.

ParaNorman
Director: Chris Butler (XII) and Sam Fell
R; 97 mins
Trailer

The new 3D stop-motion comedy thriller from animation company LAIKA, reteaming the company with Focus Features after the groundbreaking Academy Award-nominated Coraline. ParaNorman is, following Coraline, the company’s second stop-motion animated feature to be made in 3D. In ParaNorman, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he’ll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits. (Synopsis by Focus)

A scarier concept than usual for this type of film largely pays off. Most importantly, here is proof that horror can have substance. If you can appreciate Roald Dahl, you will like this.

Friday, November 30

Men in Black 3
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
R; 97 mins
Trailer

Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back…in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K’s life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him — secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K (Josh Brolin) to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind. (Synopsis by Sony)

Being closer to the first film than the dreadful second is a bonus. So is Josh Bolin’s deadpan and dead-on Tommy Lee Jones impression. Nonetheless, this is a film that no one asked to see and doesn’t do enough to energize the franchise. At least the payoff at the end is worth sitting through the awful opening acts.