Men in Black 3
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Tagline: Back In Time
Was there really such a clamor for Men in Black 3? After all, it arrives on screens near you 10 years after the perfectly perfunctory sequel, which itself took five years to emerge from the shadows of the first (and inevitably best) installment.
Once again, we’re in the company of those Agents who could easily double up as solid Scrabble letters, J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones). But this time the usual buddy schtick is dispensed with as the plot forces them to confront the perils of time travel, which neatly throws Josh Brolin into the mix as the young K (perhaps that should be ‘k’) to Smith’s J, trying to save the earth from one of those alien invasions Hollywood scribes knock up in their sleep for fun.
TIME’s Mary Pols says that Brolin is “the only reason to see” the movie. “His Tommy Lee Jones voice is not that far removed from the George Bush voice he used in W., but he hits all those querulous notes just right. Posture, body language, Brolin nails it; his sideways glance is pure poetry of Tommy Lee-ness.” The Los Angeles Times is more enthused with the film as a whole, concluding that “1969 turns out to be a pretty good year for the men in black, making “3” campy fun if not quite a classic.” And Rolling Stone gives props to Smith as well as the new cast member: “It’s the unexpected spark between Smith and Brolin that makes MiB3 primo summer fun. Way cool.”
PHOTOS: Will Smith at the TIME 100 Party
Moonrise Kingdom
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Remember when Wes Anderson was being hailed as the new Martin Scorsese? You kinda had to take the claim seriously, considering that Marty himself was the lead cheerleader. But at the risk of angering Anderson fans, one could argue the filmmaker’s recent body of work hasn’t lived up to the early promise exhibited by Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. (We’re only referring to his live-action ouvre; Fantastic Mr Fox was indeed fantastic.).
But there appears to be a lot to like here, as the movie, set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness.
The ridiculously positive reviews (96% at the time of writing on Rotten Tomatoes) seem to back up the point that this is a serious return to form. “The director’s best film since 1998’s Rushmore, it has none of the self-conscious smugness of The Life Aquatic or the empty eccentricity of The Royal Tenenbaums,” notes USA Today. “Moonrise Kingdom breezes along with a beautifully coordinated admixture of droll humor, deadpan and slapstick,” is the view of the New York Times, while TIME’s Richard Corliss is a fan, remarking that “part of the considerable appeal of Moonrise Kingdom … is its notion that two of Anderson’s dolls want to bust out of his stylistic straitjacket.”
LIST: TIME’s Top 10 Films of 2011
The Intouchables
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You think that The Artist was the darling of French cinema? Mais non, for The Intouchables is not just the highest grossing film of the year in France but actually received more César nominations (their version of the Academy Awards) than Michel Hazanavicius’s Oscar-winning paean to the golden age of Hollywood. And if you need an encore, try this on for size: Since opening in November, the movie has made $340 million — a record for any foreign-language film not made or released in the U.S. (until now).
So what’s all the fuss about? It’s inspired by the true story of Abdel Sellou, an African-immigrant ex-con who looks after a wealthy aristocrat rendered a paraplegic after a paragliding accident. As our Richard Corliss points out, “it’s an opposites-attract, getting-to-know-you buddy comedy with a tender edge and a sweet center.” No wonder that The Weinstein Company is yet again banking on promoting the heck out of French foreign fare – it didn’t go too badly last time out.
And the critics are similarly charmed. The New York Times happily goes along with the ride, figuring out that resistance is futile. “It is possible to summarize the experience of watching The Intouchables in nine words: You will laugh; you will cry; you will cringe.” And the Wall Street Journal puts a typically sobering tone on proceedings, noting that, “the film fulfills its feel-good promise, as long as it’s seen as the fairy tale it was meant to be.” You sense that, for everyone involved, there will be a happy ending.
MORE: More About The Intouchables
NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: A stronger than usual week means that you might not be let down by any of these three movies. But Moonrise Kingdom gets our vote, though the ambitious among you should consider making it a double bill with France’s huge hit.