33 - World War Z 3D (2013)

I learned several things about zombie's in director Marc Forster's World War Z:

• George A. Romero was wrong about zombies in Night of the Living Dead. They don't just shuffle. They can run. You've been warned.
• Oh, yah, and they are drawn to loud noises.
• All zombies must lose their dental programs because they have awful teeth.
• If the zombie apocalypse comes, you want to be with Brad Pitt. He is awesome and makes a great action hero.
• If you are hired to give the message of the film, you're probably don't have long to live.
• If you are fleeing from zombies, take the extra expense to have seating in first class. And be sure and buckle yourself in. It'll always be a bumpy ride.

The film jumps into the adventure after only a couple of scenes and from then it is non-stop chills and thrills. The movie is pure fun.

World War Z 3D, ****1/2

32 - Man of Steel 3D (2013)

In Man of Steel, Henry Cavill has lots of obstacles in his way portraying Kal-El/Clark Kent, ... (insert here all the names of the actors who has laid claim to the role). The main things that are in his favorite are incredible good looks, acting ability, a strong persona that commands attention on the screen, and an innovative script written by David S. Goyer (who created a television series I loved called FlashForward) from a story by Goyer and Christopher Nolan (one of my all-time favorite filmmakers) that reimagines a lot the Superman history.  Good action sequences were enhanced by the 3D.

I enjoyed the chemistry between Amy Adams and Cavill and thought they made a good time  whose futures I want to follow. Michael Shannon (General Zod) is someone whose work I enjoy no matter what role he takes.

Man of Steel 3D (2013) ****

31 - Before Midnight (2013)

One of my favorite film memories is my 1995 meeting and falling in love with Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) in Before Sunrise, one of my favorite romantic films. In 2004, with Before Sunset, we meet up with them again as they encounter each other while he, now married, travels on a book tour. The magic of their dialog surprisingly held up. After nine years, a divorce and remarriage and two daughters, we begin the film in Greece with Jesse saying goodbye to his American son who is returning home to Chicago. There are glimpses of the old magic, especially where Jesse and Celine join friends around a table discussing love and commitment. The scene alone is worth the price of admission.

But somewhere along the way, I have fallen out of love with the Julie Delpy free spirit. Two Days in Paris (2007) which she wrote seems a playing with the same kind of character, but although we are supposed to find her free-spirit charming, here it only became utterly grating. Even more grating was her rehash of the same script only pairing her with Chris Rock in Two Days in New York (2012). By the end of this film I found her whiny and dismissive, and I asked myself whether some things should not have a graceful end.

Before Midnight (2013) ***

30 - We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (2013)

Alex Gibney's documentary details the creation of Julian Assange's controversial website and the parallel story of Bradley Manning's part in "the largest security breach in U.S. history." As the story lays out the internet contribution and ideas of Assange, it becomes easy to agree with his attempt to create a vehicle to make the internet a transparent means of social change. I was reminded of many of the ideas discussed in The Gatekeepers. Both films focus on footage of civilians being killed in war--shocking and disturbing images. Assange offers many interviews explaining his viewpoint.

The more hidden character is Bradley Manning, presented as a deeply disturbed loner who buys into Assange's politics, and then, if I interpreted Gibney correctly, was easily manipulated by Assange into publishing the 1000s of documents he had downloaded while on duty in Afghanistan. We only know Manning from his emails, still pictures, and interviews of people who worked with him.

As the film progresses, I found Assange's ego made it difficult to feel any sympathy for him. Perhaps because we see Manning only collaterally, I found I did sympathize with him. The documentary is well worth seeing.

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks (2013) ****

29 - Stories We Tell (2012)

What is truth? If everyone we know gives their version of things that happen, do we ultimately end up with the truth?

Sarah Polley, in this fascinating documentary called Stories We Tell, sets out to tell the story of her mother and Sarah discovered that the father who raised her was not her biological father. She narrows the possibilities down to essentially two men. Using straight-on interviews with her two sisters, two brothers, friends of the family, and the two possible fathers, Sarah paints a vivid portrait of her actress mother. Throughout the film we have interviews and "home movies" to tell the complicated story.

"I want to tell my story," Sarah and both her fathers say. The stories often contradict each other.

For me the one of the real discoveries was that at the end we see Sarah filming many of the "home movies" with actors. While I thought we were immersed in truth, how much is that reality hampered when the "truth" isn't really the truth? I still haven't reached a conclusion about that. Certainly the documentary is a must-see on my list.

Stories We Tell (2012)

28 - Behind the Candelabra (HBO)

Based on Scott Thorson's "autobiographical novel," the film details the six-year relationship between Liberace and his much younger lover. Direct Steven Soderbergh relishes in the lavish lifestyle we expect to see and is not reluctant to throw in nudity--Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in bed and bath.

Debbie Reynolds appears in a fun cameo as Frances, Liberace's mother.

The Soderbergh/Douglas' version offers an interesting contrast to the more traditional approach of the Victor Garber Liberace - Behind The Music (1988), with Maureen Stapleton as his mother. Unfortunately both Douglas and Garber border on the "wax museum approach--almost there but not quite."

While the film doesn't reach the depth it tries to, it becomes an interesting couple of hours and proves the versatility once again of Matt Damon who is the real reason to watch the film.

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Behind the Candelabra (HBO) ***

27 - Star Trek Into Darkness 3D (2013)

Part of the fun of the Star Trek franchise is to see the twists and reimaginings necessary to make another prequel of the original series. This episode felt even more satisfying than the last: mind-boggling special effects, great action sequences, strong and well realized characters.

By now, Chris Pine has become blended into my concept of the early Kirk and  Zachary Quinto has merged with Spock. Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones), and Jon Cho (Sulu) remind us of the predecessors/future beings. Simon Pegg doesn't so much as channel Scotty as create his own parallel being who offers much needed humor to his character. Benedict Cumberbatch makes a worthy villain.

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D (2013) *****

26 - The Great Gatsby - 3D (2013)

I went to see The Great Gatsby with great trepidation. I was not one of the fans of the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version, but I am a great fan of Leonardo DiCaprio and Carrie Mulligan. While I liked Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, I couldn't picture that style as the framework for Gatsby.

Well, I totally bought into the film.

Whereas Redford and Farrow only convinced me that their acting range was actually quite limited, DiCaprio gave a very nuanced role that brought out both Gatsby's mystique and his hidden lower class origins. Mulligan's Daisy was funny, blissfully unaware of the damage she did in others lives.

In previous versions, the character of Nick has been nondescript at best. Here I found Toby McGuire's character interesting in his own right.

In Moulin Rouge, some of the magic of the film were the panoramas of Paris and the famous windmill. Here, the early part of the film gradually clarifies images from 1920s New York into the modern film. The party becomes one of the memorable moments in the film, showing outlandish expense lavishly spent on Gatsby's attempt to seduce Daisy and her husband to come across from the bay and join him on his Long Island estate.

Gatsby's pink suit from the book is beautifully rendered in a subtle pink/mauve tone with sets off DiCaprio's blonde hair.

I worried that I would hate the music since it sounds very modern. Actually it was felt to have reinterpreted the 1920s jazz sound and never felt discordantly modern.

The Great Gatsby 3D (2013)  *****

25 - The Sorceror and the White Serpent (2011)

Also called The Emperor and the White Snake or "Bai she chuan shuo"

I like Chinese fantasy films with elaborate fights and lots of special effects. Seeing the trailer on YouTube, I found this fun film online.

Here a master monk searches out evil demons to destroy. His assistant gets kidnapped by a demon and eventually changes into one. White and green serpent demon sisters see a handsome young doctor gathering herbs and the white serpent falls in love with him. She makes an attempt to keep their love forever.

The effects are pretty good and the eventual battle between good and evil allos for philosophical musings along with good special effects.

The Sorceror and the White Serpent (2011) ***

24 - Iron Man 3 - 3D (2013)

Iron Man 3 was the most fun I've had with any of the Iron Man films. Robert Downey Jr. is a highly personable actor and makes the perfect comic book hero here: witty, charming, intelligent. He keeps our interest in every scene. Gwyneth Paltrow becomes his perfect foil. The Drew Pierce and Shane Black plot is highly convoluted, but filled with action, special effects and humor.

The film was obviously intended for a Christmas release: there are constant references to the holiday,  sets are decorated for it, and at one climatic moment Christmas fireworks are talked about and Tony Stark says of the bad guys, "Let's send these guys to church." I'm glad to they hold release so the film could stand on its own rather than being compared to the other holidays films of 2012.

I would not be surprised to see this on the list of Christmas through Hollywood's eyes.

Iron Man 3 - 3D ****1/2 (Enjoy it  in 3D)

23 - The Gatekeepers (2012)

The Gatekeepers is a sobering documentary interviewing six former heads of the Israeli Shin Bet. One of the points the filmmaker makes is that many people who might be viewed as terrorists are actually viewed as "Freedom Fighters" by their side. The filmmaker uses straight news footage paired with dramatic recreations.

Fascinating film.

The Gatekeepers (2012) ****

22 - Renoir (2013)

A beautiful film to  look at--beautiful actress, great scenery in the south of France, interesting storyline about the infirm painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his family in shambles. Set in 1915, as the First World War depletes the men from the area, Renoir lives in a house of only women--except for his sons--Renoir is stricken with rhumatoid arthritis and has to be carried everywhere. His hands are so crippled that the paint brushes must be tied to his hands so he doesn't drop them. His eyesight is going as his pictures become more and more impressionistic. One son has lost an arm and lives away, his second son Jean has lost part of his leg bone, and youngest son Coco lives at home, considering himself an orphan--"my mother died and my father might as well have."

Into this environment comes Andree Heuschling (stunning Christa Theret), a beautiful model with a questionable background who seeks to be Renior's new model (who she says was sent by Renoir's dead wife). She quickly falls in love with son Jean when he returns from war. Jean's fascination with movies is shown in various early silent showings. In real life, Jean Renoir became a renowned director with Andree as his wife and leading lady. He eventually ended up doing films in Hollywood. One very humorous scene between Jean and his older brother (who is a stage actor) has the brother saying, "There will never be a great French film director. We are not made for it."

The scenes of the countryside, the Mediterranean in the distance, the flood of light, the beautiful women who pose for Renoir or become the servants who carry him to enjoy a painting moment sitting in the river. All of these are a joy to watch.

Renoir (2013) ****