Cinematic Escapes
Some New Year's Eve revelers pay big bucks to party in Las Vegas.
But for locals who yearn to get away -- and are unwilling, or unable, to finance a round-the-world odyssey -- there's a bargain alternative as close as your neighborhood multiplex.
Whether you're interested in traveling to other worlds or contemplating the mysteries of this one, 2009's holiday crop offers a world of cinematic diversions.
So, if you're planning to ring out the old -- and ring in the new -- here are a few suggested destinations, depending on your moviegoing mood:
If you want to get away from it all: "Avatar"
Had it with 21st-century Earth? Then blast off with writer-director James Cameron ("Titanic"), who takes us to 2154 on the planet Pandora, where greedy humans threaten the noble native Na'vi population. Breakthrough high-tech effects (especially in immersive 3-D) make this space odyssey a fantastic voyage to a new cinematic world -- as long as you can overlook the hokey dialogue and a story line straight out of "Dances With Wolves."
If you can't wait for Mardi Gras: "The Princess and the Frog"
Time to let the good times roll with this traditionally animated tale, a treat for kids of all ages, as hardworking Tiana (voiced by "Dreamgirls' " Anika Noni Rose) dreams of owning her own restaurant in Roaring '20s New Orleans -- until a close encounter with a voodoo-cursed prince changes everything. A scrumptious jambalaya of smart storytelling, spectacular visual set pieces and a memorable Randy Newman score, this proves the Disney magic's back -- in a big way.
If you want to party with George Clooney: "Up in the Air"
In this timely yet timeless comedy-drama, smoothie Mr. Clooney plays a poster boy for our times: a cynical corporate terminator whose job is telling other people they've lost theirs -- and who keeps telling himself he doesn't need the human connections he keeps missing, in the air and on the ground. (If you just can't get enough of Clooney, he's also an even slyer fox in the captivating stop-motion animation romp "Fantastic Mr. Fox.")
If you want to party with Robert Downey Jr.: "Sherlock Holmes"
This is not your father's (or your grandfather's, or your great-grandfather's) Sherlock Holmes. The great detective doesn't wear a deerstalker cap. He doesn't use a magnifying glass to peruse clues. But, with the once-and-future Iron Man portraying him, he's not only the smartest guy in the room, he's the smartest-aleck guy around, too, trading quips with Dr. Watson (Jude Law) while generally behaving as if Sherlock Holmes were a superhero as well as a supersleuth.
If you want to party with hot babes: "Nine"
Penélope Cruz strutting her stuff in lacy lingerie. Kate Hudson shaking it in a sequined minidress and boots (just like mom Goldie Hawn used to do in her "Laugh-In" days). Class act Marion Cotillard getting down and dirty. Down-and-dirty Fergie as the original good-time gal. Nicole Kidman as a silver-screen goddess. A real-life screen goddess in the ever-regal Sophia Loren. Even Dame Judi Dench gets into the song-and-dance act for this adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis as a Fellini-like director driven to distraction by the attention of the aforementioned ladies.
If it wouldn't be the holidays without a squirm-inducing family gathering: "It's Complicated"
Yes, it's a comedy. What else can you do but laugh, as Meryl Streep plays a successful divorcee who finds herself having a passionate affair -- with the jerk of an ex-husband (scene- and movie-stealing Alec Baldwin) who left her for a younger woman years ago. Their kids are understandably discombobulated -- and audiences (especially those old enough to be parents of grown kids themselves) will be amused, especially when Steve Martin (as a buttoned-down architect) shows up to revive that wild-and-crazy comic persona he inhabited during the disco era.
If you can't wait for football: "The Blind Side"
This heartwarming crowd-pleaser focuses on future NFL tackle Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), a gentle giant who rises from virtual homelessness to football stardom with an assist from the force-of-nature Southern belle (sassy Sandra Bullock) who takes him under her wing. (And if you can't wait for rugby, you can find similar uplift in another fact-based sports drama, "Invictus," with Morgan Freeman as South African president Nelson Mandela, who recruits rugby star Matt Damon to help unify their divided nation through sport.)
If you want to count your blessings: "The Road"
Things are tough all over, but at least you're not wandering through a post-apocalyptic landscape trying to survive -- with your humanity intact -- the way a father (Viggo Mortensen) and his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) do in this adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Or you could ponder "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," whose title teen (Gabourey Sidibe) endures the unendurable with spirit intact. Or consider the predicament of "A Serious Man" (Michael Stuhlbarg), whose seemingly rational life unravels before his eyes in Joel and Ethan Coen's seriously funny exploration of life's cosmic jokes.
And if that's not enough to make you thank your lucky stars, keep this in mind: It's only a movie.
Contact movie critic Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.
HAPPY NEW YEAR -- ON DVD
You don't need to hit the multiplex to celebrate New Year's Eve in style, cinematically speaking, thanks to favorites new and old.
Of course, not every movie with a New Year's Eve connection features a happily-ever-after romance. In "Ocean's Eleven" -- the 1960 Rat Pack version, that is, led by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. -- New Year's Eve is prime time for the ultimate Vegas casino heist. In "The Godfather: Part II" (1974), there's a fateful midnight kiss: the kiss of death Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) gives his weakling brother Fredo (John Cazale), accompanied by these deathless words: "I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart." And in the 1950 classic "Sunset Boulevard," washed-up silent screen star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) welcomes struggling writer William Holden to her bizarre mansion for a New Year's Eve party -- where they're the only guests.
"Sunset Boulevard" writer-director Billy Wilder made another classic, 1960's Oscar-winning "The Apartment," which introduced a classic New Year's Eve sequence: running through the streets to get to Mr. Right, now that Ms. Right has figured out who her Mr. Right really is. In "The Apartment," it's Shirley MacLaine, deserting married jerk Fred MacMurray for lovelorn Jack Lemmon. (Some 29 years later, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan shared a similar New Year's Eve rendezvous in "When Harry Met Sally ...")
Which brings us to more fun couples to share New Year's Eve with, from William Powell and Myrna Loy (as the irrepressible Nick and Nora Charles) in "Another Thin Man" (1936) to Hugh Grant and Rachel Weisz in "About a Boy" (2002).
Another Grant, however, ranks atop my list of all-time New Year's Eve favorites: Cary Grant, in what may be the perfect New Year's Eve movie, 1938's "Holiday." Grant plays an ebullient go-getter who realizes, during a swanky party announcing his engagement to a rich society girl, that he has fallen for her down-to-earth sister (Katharine Hepburn) instead.
Alas, they really don't make 'em like that anymore. But, thankfully, we can still watch 'em -- and offer a champagne toast to the golden days of the silver screen.
