Happy Feet **
Cast (voices): Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Brittany Murphy, Hugo Weaving
Director: George Miller
Running Length: 1:45
MPAA Classification: PG

Upon returning home from a fishing expedition, Norma Jean (Kidman, an Emperor penguin, meets her baby boy Mumble (Wood). He is a little strange. While all Emperor penguins like to sing, Mumble likes to dance. He also sings really, really badly. Feeling like an outcast, he leaves his group of penguins and becomes friends with Ramon (Williams), a penguin of a different species who does not mind Mumble’s “Happy Feet”. With the help of his new friends, he sets out to figure out why the fish supply has decreased, a problem that threatens all the life on Antarctica.

“Happy Feet” could have been a really good movie. Lots of singing, cute penguins, and a nice story about how being different is not bad. But, in the last third of the movie, it all falls apart. A conservationalist message is handled with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the head. The way it is handled feels out of place in a kids’ movie, and has a different and darker tone from the rest of the film. Also, a dues ex machina to save the day for Mumbles feels like a big old cheat. The last third of the movie actually made me dislike this film a lot, and I cannot recommend it to anyone.

Casino Royale ***1/2

Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino
Director: Martin Campbell
Running Length: 2:24
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Two kills, and James Bond (Craig) has been elevated to double-O level. M (Dench) feels that he is not ready, sends him on his first mission anyway. His job is to find Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen), a supplier of terrorist money, and shut him down. When Le Chiffre enters an exclusive poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro, Bond enters as well to prevent him from winning. Even with the help of Vesper Lynd (Green), a treasury agent, Bond may have his hands full, as Le Chiffre sets his eyes on removing Bond from the picture permanently.

“Casino Royale” is a successful reboot of the James Bond franchise. As different as night and day from “Die Another Day”, “Casino Royale” does almost everything right. Daniel Craig is perfect as Bond, maybe even the best ever. He is a rough around the edges “blunt instrument” that has a ways to go before he is the James Bond we know. Grounded in reality, “Casino Royale” also does away with most of the gadgets one would expect from a Bond movie. The supporting cast all do a good job in a movie that is all Daniel Craig. This is not your father’s Bond…this is better.

Stranger Than Fiction ***
Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah
Director: Marc Forster
Running Length: 1:53
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Harold Crick (Ferrell) is an IRS agent who sees numbers everywhere in his daily life. He leads a boring life, and is somewhat content with it. Then, one day, he begins to hear a voice narrating his life. The voice does not belong to God, but to author Kay Eiffel (Thompson). She does not write books that end well for the protagonist, and one day Harold’s voice tells him that he is going to die soon. He seeks out help from a literary professor (Hoffman), who does not entirely believe him. Meanwhile, Harold is auditing Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal), an banker who he quickly falls for. Now, he has something to live for, and solving the problem of the voice and its prediction becomes extra important.

Will Ferrell is great as Harold. He is a likeable everyman. His humor is never over the top, and he handles the drama quite well. He is the glue that holds this movie together, and deserves recognition for the role. The supporting cast is good, never taking away from the focus of the film. The story itself is an interesting idea, but perhaps the ending was a bit of a cop-out. It did not feel right to me, but that is a small quibble for an otherwise enjoyable film.

Flushed Away ***
Cast (voices): Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, Bill Nighy, Jean Reno, Shane Richie
Directors: David Bowers, Sam Fell
Running Length: 1:25
MPAA Classification: PG

Roddy (Jackman) is a pet rat who slips out of his cage when his family goes on vacation. He is enjoying himself until Sid (Richie) arrives. Sid is a sewer rat who just wants to watch the World Cup undisturbed, so he flushes Roddy down the toilet. On the other side, Roddy finds himself in a town of sewer rats. After meeting Rita (Winslet), he makes a deal with her to get himself home. The one thing in their way is Boss Toad (McKellan), who is out to stop them and destroy the sewer rat’s world.

For “Flushed Away”, Aardman Studios have gone the route of computer animation instead of their usual stop-motion processes that work so well in “Wallace and Gromit”. This was to compensate for the high amount of water involved, an element that is difficult for stop-motion photography. Fortunately, they kept the look of their clay characters, and the resulting product is almost indistinguishable from the look that they are used to. The voice talent is top notch all around as well. The humor is there, for both children and adults. While not reaching the quality of this year’s “Cars” and “Monster House”, “Flushed Away” is an enjoyable film that is for the whole family. It is definitely worth checking out.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ***1/2
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen, Ken Davitian, Pamela Anderson
Director: Larry Charles
Running Length: 1:22
MPAA Classification: R

Borat Sagdiyev (Cohen) is a TV reporter from Kazakhstan who embarks on a journey to America to make a documentary of the United States for his home country with the hope that they can learn from us. His producet Azamat (Davitian) accompanies him on his journey. Soon, in New York City, Borat discovers and falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching “Baywatch”. He decides that he will not only film in New York, but all across the country, ending up in California where he hopes to meet the “virginal” Pamela Anderson. Along the way, he learns how to drive, adopts a bear, gets humor lessons, sings at a rodeo, and wrestle with Azamat.

This is easily the funniest movie I have seen this year. Sacha Baron Cohen has created an idiot character that exposes the prejudices of the unsuspecting people he interacts with. Most of what he says is cringeworthy, as he has the ability to say the exact wrong thing to the various people he runs into. This movie is not for everyone, in fact there is surely something in this movie to offend everyone, but there is more to it than you might initially think. I highly recommend this film.

Saw III ***
Cast: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Angus Macfayden, Bahar SoomekhMpho Koaho, Dina Meyer
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Running Length: 1:47
MPAA Classification: R

Jigsaw (Bell) is back, although still dying from cancer. With the help of his assistant Amanda (Smith), they enlist the “help” of Dr. Lynn Benton (Soomekh). They connect her to a devise around her neck that will blow her head off if Jigsaw’s heart stops. Properly motivated, she begins to try to help him. Meanwhile, Jeff (Macfayden) is going through a series of tests in which he faces the people responsible for his son’s death and must forgive them. After all, Jigsaw just wants people to appreciate life.

It’s Halloween, so there must be a new “Saw” movie out, right? In fact, “Saw IV” is already scheduled for 2007. “Saw III” lives up to its predecessors, and even manages to tie up some loose ends. Flashing back to points in the first two films, the makers of this movie are able to make things fit a little more tightly. Tobin Bell is good as the mastermind Jigsaw, and the rest of the cast is good enough as his pawns. The death devices are still fairly clever this third time out, and there are enough twists to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. If you enjoyed the first two “Saw” films, there is no reason not to check this one out.

Flags of Our Fathers ***
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Jamie Bell, Barry Pepper, Tom Verica, Paul Walker, Robert Patrick, Neal McDonough, Joseph Cross, Melanie Lynskey
Director: Clint Eastwood
Running Length: 2:15
MPAA Classification: R

The photograph of the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima is one of the most famous pictures of World War II. It was so moving that three of the surviving soldiers, John Bradley (Phillippe), Rene Gagno (Bradford), and Ira Hayes (Beach), were sent back to America to promote war bonds and raise the American flag at rallies. Of course, they only raised the replacement flag, but that was kept from the public, lest it detract from what they were trying to accomplish. “Flags of Our Fathers” jumps between these survivors making appearances to raise money, the war itself, and the interviewing of veterans by James Bradley in the present day.

“Flags” is an interesting look at WWII and the heroes from that war. It provides an interesting look at what exactly a hero is, and many will be surprised by the true story behind the actual flag raising. Adam Beach is the standout amongst the cast as the Native American Ira Hayes. He gives a performance that deserves to be recognized come Oscar time. The rest of the cast is adequate, but not standout. Eastwood’s direction gets the job done, but I cannot help but think he is a little over his head with all the special effects used to create the battle scenes. Eastwood is used to movies that are less “big”, and it shows. Overall, “Flags of Our Fathers” is definitely worth seeing, and will provide a vision of the war that is not widely known by the American public.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D ***
Cast (voices): Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ed Ivory
Director: Henry Selick
Running Length: 1:15
MPAA Classification: PG

In Halloween Town, October 31 is the biggest night of the year. Jack Skellington (Sarandon & Elfman), organizer of the festivities has got the blues. He wants something different in his life, and while wandering in the forest, he finds a door to Christmas Town. In Christmas Town, things are bright and cheerful. It captures his interest, and when he returns to Halloween Town, he announces that this year, they will celebrate Christmas. In fact, Jack will even replace “Sandy Claws” on Christmas to help spread the cheer. He has it all planned out, but Salle (O’Hara) has a premonition that things will go terribly wrong.

“Nightmare” has developed a following since it’s initial release in 1993. The stop-motion animation as well as the melding of Halloween and Christmas has captivated many, and Disney’s decision to release it in 3-D is a welcome event for those people. I think even a regular re-release would drum up some excitement. The animation is top notch, and the story idea is an interesting one, but for me the execution of the story falls a little flat. That being said, “Nightmare” is still worth seeing, especially in 3-D.

The Prestige ***1/2
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Piper Perabo, David Bowie
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running Length: 2:13
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Rupert Angier (Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale), along with Rupert’s wife, Julia (Perabo), are assistants to a magician at the turn of the twentieth century. Alfred causes a trick to go wrong, and Julia dies. Rupert blames Alfred, and the friends become enemies. They not only attempt to out-do each other on stage, but also attempt to actively sabotage and hurt each other. Soon, Rupert is off to Colorado Springs to meet with Nikola Tesla (Bowie). Tesla has created an integral part of Alfred’s show, and Rupert is determined to get a similar device and top Alfred once again.

The story is told with three storylines, alternating between the three. Parts of one storyline that make no sense at first become clear as the other storylines progress. Even the murder at the very beginning is not what it seems. Christopher Nolan has once again constructed a fascinating tale, this time of obsession and the price that people pay for their obsessions. The cast is solid all around. Bale and Jackman, as the leads, own their roles and breathe life into their respective characters. Michael Caine, as their assistant, steals just about every scene he is in. Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall as the love interests both do credible jobs. And finally, David Bowie makes Tesla into a memorable character. This is a great, entertaining movie. Christopher Nolan has quickly proved himself to be a great director. “The Prestige” helps to solidify that. I highly recommend this film.