By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Forty summers ago, I saw my first western on the big screen – Big Jake, a box office champion that particular summer. Big Jake starred John Wayne, his family and his stock company; it featured gorgeous landscapes and a morality tale about family values. The Duke’s grandson, Brendan Wayne, was born the following year and now has a small role (as the Sheriff Taggart’s Deputy) in the current box office champion, Cowboys & Aliens.

The film opens when an amnesiac cowboy named Jake (Daniel Craig) wakes up in the desert with a strange device attached to his forearm. Jake strolls into town and runs afoul Percy (Paul Dano), a spoiled brat son of a cattle baron, Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It turns out that Dolarhyde and Jake have a bad history together and are headed for a show down.

As a torch-bearing vigilante prepares a lynching, a strange light comes out of the sky. Within moments, the townspeople witness their neighbors get lassoed into the sky. Jake and Dolarhyde put aside their differences to rescue friends and families who have been abducted by sky demons.

With a title like Cowboys & Aliens, one does not need to look deeper for a theological subtext. The sky demons are aliens from outer space, with petty motivations. In fact, the science fiction aspect of this film is routine, yet the film excels when it remains a western.

The best thing about Cowboys & Aliens is the ensemble’s characters.  Character actor Sam Rockwell is given some rare moments to shine as an everyman bartender. Keith Carradine, as Sheriff; Clancy Brown, as Pastor; and Adam Beach, as ranch hand, are given genuine moments of character development.

While top-billed Daniel Craig recalls Clint Eastwood’s younger days, Cowboys & Aliens can be seen as Harrison Ford’s comeback film. Looking more like George “Gabby” Hayes than Indiana Jones, Ford creates a whole character. While gruff most of the time, Dolarhyde is given some quiet moments to shine with a boy who soon becomes an orphan.

While the showdown with the aliens gets a bit clunky toward the end, director Jon Favreau makes up for it by providing great visuals of cowboys riding across the range on horseback. Cowboys & Aliens succeeds as Saturday Matinee popcorn-eating entertainment, but I doubt it will have the durability of Big Jake.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Earlier this year, Superman talked about renouncing his U.S. citizenship, claiming to be a citizen of the world. A product of the DC Comic book universe, Superman seemed to forget that he was fighting for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.”

Perhaps seeking public relations leverage, Marvel Comics has unleashed Captain America: The First Avenger,  one of the most patriotic movies to be released in a decade. The American public rewarded Captain America with an impressive non-holiday box office gross of $65 million.

While this film is a stand-alone motion picture, it is part of the series of Marvel Comics movies released since 2008, (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor) that will lead to next Summer’s first blockbuster, in May 2012, The Avengers. Of all of the recent Marvel motion picture heroes, Captain America is easily the most likable.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is the runt of Brooklyn, who wants to serve America during World War II. Despite the protests of Colonel Chester Philips (Tommy Lee Jones), research Professor Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees a good heart in Steve Rogers and recruits the scrappy Dodgers fan for a special scientific experiment. With Howard Stark’s (Dominic Cooper) technical influence, the experiment is a success and Steve Rogers becomes known as Captain America.

First used as a propaganda tool, Captain America comes under the radar of the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a villain who takes up where Adolph Hitler left off. As the Red Skull plots the destruction of America, Captain America recruits the Howling Commandos and kicks some “Nazi” butt.

Given his work with The Rocketeer, October Sky and Jurassic Park III, director Joe Johnson is perfect to bring both the spectacle and sensitivity to this picture.

The acting ensemble has fun with this film. Jones’s fast-talking delivery has audiences howling with laughter. As Iron Man’s daddy, Cooper does a good impression of his fictional son (played by Robert Downey Jr.)

Yet, this film belongs to Chris Evans and thrives because of his sincere performance. Captain America is what a summer Saturday matinee blockbuster should be.

For those who cannot get into Harry Potter, Captain America or Cowboys & Aliens this weekend,  the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival presents the 10th Annual French Film Festival at Cinema Paradiso July 28-31. 954-525–FILM or www.fliff.com.

By Dave Montalbano

After a decade, the cinematic Harry Potter series comes to a close.

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

My introduction to Harry Potter began 12 years ago when Deerfield Beach Percy White Youth Services librarian David Serchay called me when I was working at Sunrise Dan Pearl Library to check the shelf status of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. (Five years later, David went on a “set-up” date to go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with Bethany, who is now mother to David’s twin girls).

If the Beatles were the social myth of my childhood
and Star Wars the transitional myth of Generation X’s adolescence, then Harry Potter
and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry has become the cultural hero of the new millennium.

With a record-breaking box office revenue of $168 million, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 delivers upon its original promise. The production team was wise to divide this final movie into two parts, sustaining both narrative flow and the attention to detail.

Part 2 picks up directly from Part 1. The evil Lord Volde-mort (Ralph Fiennes) has obtained the invincible Elder Wand, while Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and his consorts, Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) bury a loyal ally. As the evil magician grows more powerful, Harry and his allies seek Voldemort’s Achilles heel. As war wages between wizards, beasts and dementors, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry becomes ground zero.

With the exposition out of the way, director David Yates is freed to direct three extremely well-done action sequences involving a heist, a dragon and a fire in a vault. These scenes are the ones that fans have been waiting for since the disappointing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The visual clarification is worthy of the action sequences from a John Ford/John Wayne classic.

Since the opening of the first film a decade ago to the current release, the Harry Potter franchise has enjoyed a quality ensemble of British actors. As the monstrous Professor Snape, Alan Rickman deserves kudos for balancing the contradictory motives of the menacing character. Of course, the series would have folded years ago if it were not for the sincere, consistent and empathetic performances from Radcliffe, Grint and Watson.

The closure from this final film is equal to the closure I felt concluding J.K. Rowling’s book. Let’s enjoy the waning days of Harry Potter mania and look toward our next social mythology.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

As Transformers departs the Museum of Discovery to make room for the final installment of Harry Potter, two more independent movies will be opening locally, The Trip, a funny flick, and Into Eternity, a serious documentary.

Into Eternity asks a simple question – how do you remove nuclear waste? Of course, the answers are not easy when one has to factor in that the contamination is poison to humans and that waste must NOT be touched for 100,000 years. Thus is the dilemma that is debated in this documentary from Denmark.

Writer/director Michael Madsen’s 75-minute documentary has visual echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain. We witness long, static shots of entering storage caves and machines lowering nuclear container into pools of H2O. Presented in subtitles and dubbed English, we listen to the pessimistic “experts” debate the disposal problem.

Dead pan arguments over the philosophical question “How do we explain this problem to future generations?” No answer is truly obtained, but Madsen provides a pointed commentary. As the debate becomes as absurd as the arguments in the war room reminiscent of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb,  the camera cuts to a reindeer pooping in the forest.

The Trip is a quasi documentary that involves a road trip and fine dining in the
English countryside. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon (British Television’s equivalent to Bing Crosby & Bob Hope) portray fictional versions of themselves. Coogan is given an assignment to be a food critic. Unable to take his girlfriend, Coogan takes his married friend and arch rival, Brydon.

As Coogan and Brydon enter each pub, there are multiple montages of gourmet food being prepared. While dining, the two men amuse themselves by doing impressions of celebrities like Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Richard Burton. When the two start getting on each other’s nerves, Brydon breaks into another impression.

This film is a repetitive six- day journey that contains very British references and pithy comments, as one character states, “Behind every joke is a cry for help.”

By Dave Montalbano

www.AdventuresofCinemaDave.com

Since Roots became a ratings-winner in the winter of 1977, miniseries dominated broadcast television until the assimilation of cable television.  Opening tomorrow in local theaters, Bride Flight has the feeling of the miniseries The Thorn Birds. This multilingual epic contains gorgeous cinematography featuring the New Zealand countryside.

The film opens with the death of Frank (Rutger Hauer), whose funeral is attended by three diverse women of Dutch heritage. Bride Flight flashes back to 1953 when these three World War II survivors take a flight that wins a transcontinental race from Europe to New Zealand.

The three women are a diverse bunch. Esther (Anna Drijver) is a Holocaust survivor who masks her Jewish ethnicity. Due to an inconvenient pregnancy, Esther gives her child to the happily married, but barren, Marjorie (Elise Schaap).  Marjorie and Esther’s stories intertwine in tragic and humorous ways. The third bride is Ada (Karina Smulders), a woman who develops a crush on young Frank (Waldemar Torenstra), who is establishing a new wine business.

Slow paced with a rambling, but interesting narrative flow, Bride Flight should appeal to the audience weary of Transformers, Cars and Pirates.  This film is like reading an engrossing book while sipping red wine under the sunset.

Reading, or the lack of reading, is the fundamental concern of the documentary, Page One: Inside the New York Times. With the rise of computer usage, the New York Times has become known as “the dinosaur media”. Having relied on bloated advertising revenue streams, the major daily newspapers lost sight of it’s circulation figures.

This film documents this monster medium as it steps into the future. It concludes on an optimistic note, but it feels false, as if this is a propaganda puff piece for this once-respected newspaper institution. To director Andrew Rossi and writer Kate Novak’s credit, they do not flinch showing the tearful layoffs of employees who were devoted to their jobs and showing two reporters who misrepresented the stories they were covering.

But while the film shows the feud with the Tribune organization, it ignores the criticism from The Drudge Report and Fox News. In the midst of this, the one journalistic hero to rise from this film is Times columnist David Carr, who. the story centers around.

By Dave Montalbano

The Bucks Class of ’81 has been reminded of another milestone with the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon. X-Men: First Class featured the Cuban Missile crisis of Oct. ‘62, and now the third Transformers flick reveals the secret reason why President John F. Kennedy insisted that America land on the moon by the end of the decade.

Using planet Earth as the arena, the intergalactic feud between the good guys, Autobots, and the bad guys, Decepticons, continues. In the middle of this mess is Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeof) and U.S. Army Lt. Colonel William Lennox (Josh Duhamel), two characters who save the world in the previous two Transformers movies.

Sam and William are aligned with Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen), who awaits the second coming of his mentor, Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy). Feeling snubbed by this reunion, the menacing Megatron (Hugo Weaving) plots mass destruction, beginning in Chicago.

Heeding my criticism about attention deficit disorder editing, this new Transformers movie is easy on the eyes, making the action sequences the most thrilling of the three movies. The characters are less cartoony and there is a sense of danger in the science fiction violence. The humor is situational, with many in-jokes for science fiction aficionados. On a six-story IMAX screen, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is Saturday matinee popcorn-eating fun.

For those seeking similar entertainment minus the budget of a Spielberg production, Kurt Donath’s locally-made Lucky Streak and the Crime Fighters will be screened and discussed tomorrow at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 11:15 a.m. at the Florida Supercon (www.
floridasupercon.com). Lucky Streak (Darlene Dinges), teenage daughter of Amazing Grace (Rachel Galvin), joins crime fighters to foil Dr. Dragon’s plot for world domination. If one can get over theatrical acting, the dialog is quite funny. Anthony Espina’s musical score carries the film.

For those seeking to renew the roots of American culture, Boston’s on the Beach will present their 2nd Annual Red, White and Blues Festival on A1A off Atlantic Avenue, from July 1-4. Much like the late Don Cohen’s Riverwalk Blues Festival, Red, White and Blues will host a three-ring circus of musical performers, such as Joey Gilmore, Iko Iko and Matt “Guitar” Murphy.

Best known as Aretha Franklin’s henpecked husband from the two Blues Brothers movies, Murphy brings Blues authenticity to Delray Beach. Support this Blues legend this Saturday
at 4 p.m.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

With the Buck’s 30-year Class Reunion on the horizon on Aug. 19*, this columnist has been contemplating the crossroads of middle age. This is why a movie titled How to Live Forever takes on additional meaning.

Opening tomorrow, How to Live Forever is an upbeat documentary about sucking the marrow out of life, even when the opening segment features the Funeral Director’s Convention in Las Vegas.

The son of Oscar-winning cinematographer Haskell Wexler, writer/director/host Mark Wexler, has created a quirky documentary about the meaning of life. From nursing homes in rural America to the peaceful gardens of Okinawa, Wexler discovers that the meaning of life is to enjoy life.

Wexler learns many life lessons, samples exotic low calorie food and is given a lesson in “Laughing Yoga,” which is worth the price of admission.

The Today Show’s Willard Scott is involved, Phyllis Diller delivers some zingers about senior citizen birth control and writer Ray Bradbury discusses the importance of passion. While this documentary wraps up on a somber note (dealing with Mark Wexler’s grief over the loss of his artist/mother), the closing credits conclude on an upbeat, optimistic note.

If How to Live Forever is a pep rally for life, then Buck is about quiet confidence needed to live an authentic life. Buck Brannaman served as a technical advisor to Robert Redford’s last western The Horse Whisperer. Brannaman is a traveling cowboy who “helps horses with people problems.”

Brannaman should know about “people problems.” A roping rodeo prodigy by age 8, Brannaman was also a victim of child abuse from his backstage drunken father.  Through self-discipline and hard work, Brannaman broke the circle of domestic violence and raised a well-adjusted daughter who is following in his footsteps.

The reviews for Buck have been mixed, divided between urban and rural critics. The rural reviews grasp the concept of cowboy stoicism, while urban critics find Buck superficial. Being conscious of one’s perspective is the key to understanding the true drama of this great documentary that focuses on the importance of the quiet moments of one’s authentic life.

*DBHS Reunion – Class of ‘81: Special rate of $79 available at Hilton Deerfield Beach (free shuttle service to and from Deer Creek Country Club). Call 1-800-624-3606, ask for group rate, make reservations before July 20, 2011)

By Dave Montalbano

Two movies playing at our local cinemas are the commercially-hyped Super 8 and the critically-acclaimed Woody Allen movie Midnight in Paris. Both movies fulfill their dedicated audiences’ expectations.

Super 8, in part, is about some middle school students who produce a zombie film in small town Ohio, circa 1979, the year most Class of ’81 graduates earned their driver’s licenses. Production Assistant and model-maker Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is the troubled son of Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler), who is a recent widower. Deputy Lamb blames white trash Louis Dainard (Ron Eldard), whose daughter, Alice (Elle Fanning), is the leading lady of the boy’s Super 8 zombie opus.

To writer/director J.J. Abram’s credit, he has captured the joy of creative teamwork as the young people produce their movie inspired by George Romero. Discussion about plot, characters and audience empathy will make English teachers and film columnists hopeful towards the future of filmmaking. During the post-credit sequence, patient ticket buyers are rewarded with the punchline of the student’s masterpiece.

But, Super 8 splits between the teenagers’ movie making, Area 51 and a shadowy monster. The action sequences overall are well-directed with an important message about understanding and cooperation. Sadly, verisimilitude is lost when teenagers dodge train wrecks, tanks and explosions with nary a scratch.

Super 8 seems like an homage to producer Steven Spielberg’s earlier motion pictures like E.T: The Extra Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In turn, Spielberg was inspired by films like Earth Vs. The
Saucers and The Day the Earth Stood Still. There is no denying that Super 8 will have a positive influence on today’s young people.

Woody Allen wears his intellectual and artistic influences on his sleeve in Midnight in Paris, a witty romantic comedy about a rich couple who visit France before their wedding. On a midnight stroll in the streets of Paris, Gil (Owen Wilson) encounters Ernest Hemingway. Heming-way invites Gil to a party that includes Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody) – three idols who died a few generations ago.

With gorgeous cinematography capturing the hues and colors of Monet, Midnight in Paris shares much in common with Super 8. Both films pay homage to nostalgia, while imploring their respective audiences to enjoy the manna of the day.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

The Bucks 30-year class reunion has been set, starting with an informal get-together at Bru’s Room on Friday, Aug. 19. The formal/informal reception is confirmed for August 20 from 7-11 p.m. at Deer Creek Country Club, with dinner, open bar and music.

This is quite an achievement, considering that the world almost ended before my classmates and I were born. The Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK assassination weighs heavily upon our prenatal and post-natal years.

The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important plot point in the recent box office champion, X Men: First Class.

Given that X-Men: First Class is a reboot/origin story, producer Lauren Shuler Donner and Bryan Singer acknowledge the preconceived notions of the fan base. Like the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962; the audience knows the final results, the suspense derives from the mystery of the moments.

In this case, we learn why old friends Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto  (Michael Fassbender) become arch-enemies. We learn how the Xavier School of Gifted Youngsters works in partnership with the American government. We uncover the reason why Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) likes to walk around naked in her scaly blue skin.

Much like the original X-Men, this science fiction parable opens in stark seriousness; Erik Lehnsherr (the future Magneto) is dragged into the gates of Auschwitz. Lehnsherr’s metal manipulation ability comes into the focus of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a German scientist who believes that mutants are the next step of human evolution. Adopting the methods of the Nazis, Shaw tortures Lehnsherr, who spends the rest of the movie plotting revenge.

Shot in the style of a Sean Connery/James Bond adventure, X-Men: First Class is entertaining from beginning to end. It contains a globetrotting narrative that avoids a major pet peeve of this columnist; this showdown culminates during daylight in wide open spaces.

Since 1997, it seems as if most big-budgeted summer releases save their climatic scenes for nighttime in claustrophobic settings.

The success of the X-Men franchise is its multidimensional characters. From the first X-Men, sides of good and evil were easily drawn. Director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn reverses these expectations and finds a way to find a satisfying conclusion. A clever cameo links all five movies.

Granted, there is free drama on TV, as the Miami Heat strive to reclaim their NBA Championship. But take time to see X-Men: First Class at a matinee price.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

With the financial success of The Hangover Part II, Bridesmaids and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the movie industry is feeling confident that people are returning to the movie theaters, unlike last Memorial Day weekend, which pronounced the extinction of the community movie-going experience as we know it.  For the next two months, moviegoers can enjoy the traditional summer blockbuster fare.

Off the beaten track at the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery, one can find Born to Be Wild 3-D, a charming documentary about animal foster care in Borneo.  On the six-story IMAX screen, one can watch as two courageous women take in orphan orangutans and elephants.

The visuals are pure poetry.  We see elephants playing soccer.  Older orangutans teach the younger orangutans the value of swinging from trees and vines.  The most violent portion of this documentary is uttered from the lips of Morgan Freeman, who explains that these animals are orphaned because of the greed of poachers. Of all the movies released in 3-D this year, Born to Be Wild 3-D may be the most heart tugging.

Starting tonight and continuing through Sunday, the Ft. Lauderdale Interna-tional Film Festival Cinema Paradiso Theater presents its 2nd Annual Carrabba’s Italia Film Festa, featuring food, wine and 12 Italian films.

Among the highlights is Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning masterpiece La Strada, starring Anthony Quinn and Giulietta Masina as carnival gypsies.  As a free Saturday Matinee, the theater will be screening Roberto Benigni’s Pinocchio, dubbed with the voices of Jim Belushi, Glenn Close and John Cleese.

This festa  will also present recent award-winning and critically-acclaimed motion pictures from the boot-shaped peninsula:

20 Cigarettes/20 Sigarette was recently honored at both the Venice and Dubai International Film Festivals. Anti-War protestor Aureliano Amadei is given the opportunity to go to Iraq as an assistant director. Ironically, Amadej becomes a victim of a suicide-truck bombing.

Martino’s Summer/L’Estate di Martino is a reflective drama featuring the terrorist attacks upon Italy during the Jimmy Carter Summer of 1980. Starring Treat Williams, this drama involves ghosts, surfing and personal redemption.