By Dave Montalbano

cinemadave.livejournal.com

Opening tomorrow is the Oscar-nominated best foreign language film A Royal Affair, a good motion picture that works on so many levels: the story is fascinating – yet contemporary; the cinematic details support the narrative and the Danish-speaking actors provide enough non-verbal communication for American audiences to empathize with their characters, regardless of subtitles. This film is history, minus the boring academic lecture.

Caroline Mathilda (Alicia Vikander) is courted by Danish King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), an immature man who is actually insane. The two marry and she begins to breed. Enter Dr. Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen), a man of science, who becomes the King’s favorite adviser.

Under Dr. Struensee’s influence, reforms are made and people are happy. However, the Danish elite fear losing power and they challenge the King’s authority. While the King entertains himself in the brothel, Struensee and Caroline find comfort in each other’s arms.

Soon to be known as the new Hannibal Lechter and best known as the James Bond villain in Casino Royale, Mikkelsen creates a realistic sympathetic character. His Struenesse appears stoic, but Mikkelsen reveals the good doctor’s many shades of grey. As Caroline, Vikander matches Mikkelsen much like Ginger Rogers matched steps with Fred Astaire.

Despite Spike Lee’s ill wishes, Quentin Taratino’s Django Unchained has become a Golden Globe Awardwinning box office success. Even though this western suffers from his superfluous Taratino touches, it is the director/ writer’s most entertaining movie yet.

Clocking in at almost three hours, Django (Jamie Foxx) is a slave separated from his wife, Brumhilda (Kerry Washington), who lives on a Mandingo Plantation owned and operated by cruel Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his equally nasty manservant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson). After sharing adventures and life experiences with a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), Django learns enough life lessons to attempt to rescue his beloved.

Django Unchained is full of little interesting details with some creative violence and first rate performances from Jackson, Waltz and DiCaprio.

However, if one is seeking a good story with strong character motivations and a sense of history, go see A Royal Affair opening this weekend.

By Dave Montalbano

http://cinemadave.livejournal.com

Oscar nominations were announced this morning and it is business-as-usual for the Hollywood industry.

It is the earliest Oscar season and the ceremony will commence Feb. 24th. Expect to read about local Oscar parties that particular Sunday night.

To help launch the U.S. theatrical release of Nicky’s Family tomorrow, the Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Menemsha Films are bringing Nick Winton, the son of Sir Nicholas Winton, from London to speak with students at area schools and movie-goers. Nick will be joined by a survivor from The Florida Chapter of Kindertransport Association.

A lighter version of Schindler’s List, Nicky’s Family presents Sir Nick’s one-man crusade to rescue Jewish children from Nazis in Czechoslovakia. Now in their seventies and eighties, many of the 600+ survivors speak fondly of their mysterious benefactor.

As Sir Nick celebrates his 100th birthday, he is greeted by thousands of the Czechoslovakia offspring that he helped create. Given the dark history of the Nazi Holocaust, the optimism of Sir Nick reigns supreme in the modern day.

The sleeper hit of the holiday season, Parental Guidance is a Billy Crystal comedy in the vein of The Cosby Show and Everybody Loves Raymond that is familyfriendly. Crystal and Bette Midler portray the grandparents of three uptight children (Bailee Madison, Joshua Rush, Kyle Harrison Brietkopf) whose parents (Marisa Tomei, Tom Everett Scott) are overworked neurotic messes.

The comedy is broad and includes successful slapstick sequences. One of the funniest gags involves the three children’s first taste of sugar with drunken results. Yet, there is much heart with individual moments of personal pain. In particular is Joshua Rush’s transitional performance as the son with a speech disorder.

Bailee Madison and Maverick Moreno (He portrays “Cody,” Bailee’s first onscreen love interest) attended a recent Friday night screening at Muvico Broward 18.

It was a wonderful night with a big crowd that concluded with the community shooting a viral video.

You don’t need to attend the Orange Bowl or fly to Hollywood to be entertained. Just go outside and visit local venues in our neighborhood to have a good and rewarding time.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

In last year’s Flicks column, the Amazing Randi accurately predicted that the Mayan prediction was wrong and the world did not end in 2012.

Given that idle hands are the devil’s workshop, the 84-year-old magician has been producing his documentary, An Honest Liar, which is in its final phase of production in Broward County and will feature interviews with Bill Nye the Science Guy, Penn Jillette and Alice Cooper.

Given recent doomsday scenarios and fiscal cliffs, Edge of Salvation seems to be a timely independent movie. Director Luciano Saber will host the South Florida premier at Muvico Broward 18 on Sunday, Jan. 13 with cast members expected to attend the special screening.

It will be business as usual for corporate Hollywood this year as X Men, Die Hard, Scary Movie and Paranormal Activity can add the number “5” to their sequels. Only The Lone Ranger and Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim present any originality for 2013.

Sadly, it will be in early 2013 that we will be seeing some of the best movies of 2012 as Oscar season begins. Many will be surprised by the omissions from my list (Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty); there was not enough time to screen them all.

The Best of 2012

Skyfall

A Royal Affair

Robot & Frank

The Avengers

Prometheus

ParaNorman

Lincoln

The Life of Pi

The Dark Knight Rises

Cabin in the Woods

Honorable Mention

Queen of Versailles

Men in Black 3

The Hunger Games

The Haunting of Whaley House

Follow Me, the Yoni Netanyahu Story

The Expendables 2

Deadfall

Dark Amazon

Arbitrage

The Amazing Spider-Man

Since 1999, it has been my pleasure to remain the longest standing film columnist in Broward County. Thank you, Dear Reader, for sharing my Adventures in the Florida Motion Picture World. With Megacon, PBIFF, Spooky Empire and FLIFF on the horizon, I predict more adventures for 2013.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

As has been tradition for over a decade in this column, I name my Class Acts & Backstage Angles from this year.

PBIFF, MegaCon, Spooky Empire, Museum of Discovery and Science IMAX Theater and FLIFF are consistently successful, thanks to diligent individuals. However, the term “Angel” takes on certain poignancy this year given the loss of my DBHS classmate [fallen firefighter] Bill Elliott, Observer’s Senior Sales Advisor Karen Rice and my father.

I must acknowledge the Angels who helped ease my father’s transition on Columbus Day, especially VITAS staff from North Broward Hospital (I donated my book, “The Adventures of Cinema Dave in the Florida Motion Picture World,” to their waiting room library).

I am thankful for comforting e-mails that the Hunters sent me during some dark hours and am proud to be a contributor to their upcoming album, Manhattan Blues. I am thankful for witnessing a moment of silence before the first screening of The Dark Knight Rises after the Colorado shooting.

Whether it was devotion to their craft (Mucklebones Traveling Museum) or helping animals (K9 for Love Homestead Dogs Rescue), Class Acts quietly made this world better.

Local favorite Jack’s Hamburgers celebrated their 40th birthday with a month of parties for their community. Some Class Acts & Angels were just fun to be around, like 13-year-old actress Bailee Madison, who exhibited textbook Dale Carnegie style during FLIFF.

Class Acts of 2012:

• Caroline Williams – actress (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Hatchet 3)

• Peter Wein – host (“Peter’s Living Room,” WEI Network .com)

• Oliver Robbins – actor (Poltergeist)

• Stefan Ruzowitzky – director (Deadfall)

• Mucklebones Traveling

Museum – Spooky Empire exhibit

• Bailee Madison (& family) – actress (Parental Guidance, Bridge to Terabithia)

• June Lockhart – actress (Lost in Space, Lassie)

• Steve Hunter (and Karen) guitarist, (Manhattan Blues)

• Linda Hamilton – actress (Beauty and the Beast, The Terminator)

• Demmie Grimm – CosPlay actress extraordinaire

• Actresses Carroll (Giant, Baby Doll) & Blanche (Ruth Madoff Occupies Wall Street) Baker

• Peter Gererson, Donald Comiter – doctors

Next week’s column will feature my Top 10 list for 2012 and movies and events to look forward to in 2013. In the meantime, thanks, dear readers, for all of your kind words and support during such a challenging year.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Based on the best-selling book by Yann Martel, The Life of Pi has been honored by The Golden Globes with three nominations – Best Picture, Best Score and Best Direction. Given his previous work (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Director Ang Lee is the perfect director to tell this simple story with amazing visual symbolism.

As a child growing up in India, Pi lives in zoo run by his parents. When finances dwindle, Pi’s family is forced to relocate the animals to Canada via boat. During rough weather, the ship sinks and the only survivor is the vegetarian Pi and the carnivorous tiger. In order to survive, the man and the beast must learn to share a small lifeboat for 227 days while cast adrift on the Pacific Ocean.

At 127 minutes, The Life of Pi opens at a leisurely pace with much humor. As the drama unfolds, the humor remains with a touch of danger. Like a good episode of The Twilight Zone or an O. Henry short story, the conclusion raises more questions about the nature of reality.

Based on Stephen Rebello’s excellent book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of “Psycho,” Hitchcock recycles the story, but puts emphasis on Hitchcock’s (Sir Anthony Hopkins) inspirations and psychic relationship with serial killer Ed Gein (Michael Wincott).

This film suffers from some historical errors, but director Sacha Gervasi captures the spirit of a typical Hitchcock flick. The film is a roller coaster ride from scares to laughs, though the domestic drama is a bit heavyhanded.

Merry Christmas!

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Skyfall will depart the Ft. Lauderdale Museum of Discovery IMAX Theater this week to make room for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D.

While mainstream movies are a major box office draw, the museum has not lost sight that science documentaries are better on the IMAX six-storey screen. Before The Hobbit has its Friday afternoon opening, the documentary The Last Reef 3D: Cities Beneath The Sea will be screening. This film is full of 3D razzle dazzle involving sharks, manta rays and dolphins with an environmental message about preserving reef ecosystems.

It opens with a historical surprise. With the atom bomb tests in the Pacific Ocean, the bikini atoll was basically untouched by human hands. Sixty-six years later, the Reef Ecosystem is thriving stronger than the rest of the reef ecosystems worldwide.

With the most advanced 3D camera technology, the production crew filmed the most biologically diverse reefs near Palau, the Bahamas, Cancun and French Polynesia. While it’s fun to poke at the 3D jellyfish and 3D Man of War, the camera technology thrives when it finds micro organisms that serve the symbiotic relationship between man, sea creatures, the reef and the green planet.

While the 27th annual Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival concluded last month, Cinema Paradiso continues with their unique movie programming. This weekend, they are showing The Fitzgerald Family Christmas, produced, written and directed by Ed Burns. After Saturday’s 5 p.m. show, Burns will host a Q & A via Skype computer for those in attendance at Cinema Paradiso.

Ticket buyers are asked to bring either two canned food items or one new unwrapped toy per person to any one of seven daily screenings of the film. All items will be donated to the Children’s Diagnostic & Treatment Center in Ft. Lauderdale, which serves over 10,000 children and youth annually with medical care, case management, social services and other types of intervention to children and adolescents with chronic illnesses and development disabilities.

As Chanukah concludes this weekend and Christmas shopping and parties begin, schedule an escape to the movies. Info: www.fliff.com

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

I had no interest in seeing Rise of the Guardians until I heard about Guillermo Del Toro’s involvement.

Visually, this film is full of Del Toro details that reference his mentors, H.P.Lovecraft, Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood.

Yet as a narrative, Rise of the Guardians seems to be stitched together by two or three short stories involving Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost.

Frost (Chris Pine) is the central character. He is commissioned to become a guardian in an effort to help children keep their innocence. Like any hero who reads Dr. Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces,” Jack refuses the responsibility. The master antagonist, this time it is a character named Pitch (Jude Law), who threatens the dreams of children and Jack Frost rises to the occasion. Sad to say, midway through one of the many animated action sequences, I lost interest.

One Christmas movie I never lose interest in is March of the Wooden Soldiers, based on the Victor Herbert Operetta starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Until the last decade, this holiday classic used to play on television in rotation with Miracle on 34th Street and Bells of Saint Mary’s. While grownups might feel that children are prejudiced to black & white movies, please expose them to this classic.

Laurel and Hardy are toymakers for Santa Claus. Instead of creating 600 one-ft. wooden soldiers, Laurel reverses the order and creates 100 6-ft. soldiers. While Santa Claus finds this mistake amusing, the pair lose their jobs.

To make matters worse, they are trying to help pay Little Bo Peep’s mortage from the evil Barnaby. Things become more dire when Barnaby unleashes the Boogey Men upon Toyland, Little Bo Peep’s community.

The conclusion is a wild epic, which involves a cameo from an unbilled Mickey Mouse. Yes, the special effects are not as slick as Rise of the Guardians, but March of the Wooden Soldiers has so much more heart. Do yourself a favor, pick up March of the Wooden Soldiers from your local library!

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Each year since President Obama was first elected, a “Twilight” movie has been released. The box office revenue generated has been more revenue than the president’s taxation policies. With this kind of economic incentive, one wonders if author Stephenie Meyer had secretly written a continuation of her vampire/werewolf middle school Gothic romance. When word “leaked” that a “twist” ending had been added to Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, one feared another four Twilight movies by 2016.

Fortunately, Breaking Dawn: Part 2 does present closure to the Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) saga. In the last flick, the newlywed Bella was on the verge of dying during the birth of her child. Thanks to the timely action of her husband, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), Bella becomes a vampire. This upsets the vampire status quo and an international civil war rages in the forests of Washington state.

As a series of five movies, the Twilight saga improved with each production. To the producer’s credit, they fulfilled fan expectations. It will be fascinating if, in the year 2022, the fan base will feel the same affection to Team Jacob, Team Edward or Bella Swan.

After The Devil Wears Prada and the Anna Wintour BioPic The September Issue, one can grow weary of the narcissism of the fashion industry. Then the documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel” is released, revealing what a joke the industry really is.

With an archive of interviews conducted by George Plimpton, this documentary features the “Forrest Gump” of fashion design, Diana Vreeland. Born in Paris, Diana and her sister witness the coronation of Britain’s King George V. The family moves to Colorado and Diana befriends former cowboy and carnival huckster, Buffalo Bill Cody. As a teenager during the Roaring Twenties, Diana parties with Josephine Baker, returns to Europe and finds Adolph Hitler’s mustache amusing.

Given her personal contacts with the hoi polloi, Diana gets a job writing for “Harper’s Bazaar,” before transitioning to “Vogue” in the early 1960s. Eventually, Vreeland was named consultant to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, cementing her image as a Manhattan elitist.

Given the footage that is revealed and her place in reporting current events, this film provides an entertaining history lesson about the 20th Century.

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

While filming two of her classic westerns, The Big Country and How the West was Won, actress Carroll Baker wrote about her harrowing experiences driving a wagon buckboard with two teams of energetic horses. These experiences prepared her for her recent battles with Hurricane Sandy.

“After the hurricane and not having access to food and water, I never thought I would be so happy to be on an airplane!” said Carroll.

Her daughter, Blanche, added, “It was only after takeoff that we could see an overview of how bad it was in New York.”

Arriving in Ft. Lauderdale with just the clothes on their backs, Carroll and Blanche went shopping on Las Olas before their weekend of personal appearances for the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF). While mom was receiving the Lifetime achievement award, daughter, also an actress, screened two movies: Hypothermia and Ruth Madoff occupies Wall Street.

Both have worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blanche in Deal and Carroll in Kindergarten Cop. Carroll compared actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood with today’s crop.

“They were not as casual as today’s actors. They had perfect manners and took the craft seriously. When shooting Kindergarten Cop, I had to get hit with a bat. I had padding on my stomach … somebody kept checking and adjusting the back. Eventually, I felt hands on my bottom and I turned around … it was Arnold! Gable and Stewart would never do or consider a thing like that.”

In her autobiography “Baby Doll,” Carroll wrote about her “second nervous breakdown” in the late 1960s and talked about her recovery.

“I got out of the pressure of Hollywood. I wanted to get the children out of Beverly Hills before the age of 8. I could see the drugs in the schools already. I was a single mom. I moved to Rome, which saved me,” she said.

An adolescent at the time, Blanche admitted that, “It was a bit of a culture shock, moving to and from Italy. Now knowing what I know, she put us first.”

Ten years later, Blanche earned an Emmy Award for the miniseries, Holocaust, costarring Meryl Streep.

The strongest memories I will remember from FLIFF will be the bond I witnessed with Bailee Madison, Steven Bauer and Blanche Baker with their Moms on the Red Carpet. Happy Thanksgiving!

By Dave Montalbano

AdventuresOfCinemaDave.com

Produced on the 50th Anniversary of Doctor No, the James Bond franchise knew they had to raise their game after their last movie, Quantum of Solace, became a critical and box office disappointment. A movie franchise does not survive a half century if it does not know how to adapt to popular culture while retaining some sense of tradition. Skyfall accomplishes 007’s mission.

After another spectacular pre-credit action sequence, James Bond (Daniel Craig) and his supervisor M (Judi Dench) are contemplating the future of espionage, for computers and drones are eliminating the need for field work. Yet, as an agency becomes more reliant upon technology, British Secret Service fails to notice an obvious internal threat in the guise of Silva (Javier Bardem), a cyberterrorist with a grudge.

While the Bond-M-Silva triangle drives the narrative, it is the character motivations of Eve (Noamie Harris), Q (Ben Wishlaw) and Mallory (Ralph Fiennes) that create tension and misdirection for the plot. Skyfall is a globetrotting narrative, but this 007 film puts the United Kingdom front and center.

As a stand-alone movie, Skyfall will please any ticket buyer. Unlike the manic action sequences from Quantum of Solace, Skyfall provides both breathtaking and unique action sequences, fully enhanced by the MODS IMAX 5-storey screen. Tension is exploited due to James Bond’s poor health from the opening credit sequence.

However, James Bond fans will rejoice with the details that the Eon (Everything Or Nothing) producers provide, including the gags involving successful ingredients for a vodka martini and the care and maintenance of a 1963 Aston Martin.

The theme song provided by Adele is the best Bond Theme Song since Timothy Dalton was Bond 23 years ago. Skyfall is pure escapist entertainment for the holiday season.

This Sunday, the Geek Fest Comic Con and Expo of Florida will commence on the Florida Atlantic University campus in Boca Raton. Vendors like C.J.s Comics will provide early opportunities for Christmas shopping for the comic book, anime and sci-fi fans. There will be a FREE costume contest with grand prize of $250 cash, a trophy and swag. For more info visit www.geekfestflorida.com.