back to the '70s with the x-men: days of future past

I have been a casual watcher of the X-Men films through the years. I really liked the first one, which came out in 2000, directed by Bryan Singer, and starring and launching the film career of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Wolverine was the anchor for a story that helped introduce to non-comic book fans like myself a host of interesting characters: Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Storm (Halle Berry), Rogue (Anna Paquin), etc. The idea of "mutants" who have special powers that set them apart from humans resonated - as do most outsider, misfit tales. And let's face it, a lot of what the mutants could do was pretty cool. Professor X can read minds, Magneto can control anything made of metal, Mystique can shape-shift into anyone at any time, Wolverine is seemingly invulnerable and he has those pesky adamantine steel claws.

The Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Professor X (James McAvoy), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in front of Cerebro

The second and third films of that first set were not quite as good, although X2 (2003) featured Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, who was super-cool and fun to watch. What came as a real surprise after the rather dismal X3 (2006) was a really fun and decent reboot, X-Men: First Class, in 2011. All of the main characters were brought back in an origins story that told how Professor X (James McAvoy) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and friends came to be. So what would be better than another story based on that timeline with that cast? Well, how about mixing both together, with Jackman's ever-popular Wolverine (who in the meantime had starred in two off-shoots of his own, 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine and 2013's The Wolverine) as an anchor?

Something that must have sounded crazy but brilliant (money-wise) on paper turned out to be crazy but fun to watch at the theater. For X-Men: Days of Future Past original X-Men director Bryan Singer came back, and it was great to see a lot of the old gang back together again, especially the recent internet-sensational bromance of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The story starts, like so many sci-fi/fantasy epics do these days, with a post-apocalyptic future. Creepy shape-shifting robots called Sentinels are flying around the world, charged with hunting down and killing off all the mutants. Professor X and a few key mutants (recognizable to comic book geeks, but unfortunately not really introduced properly to the rest of us) are holed up and trying to come up with a plan to stop this war on mutants before they all perish. It's a shame we don't really get to see who's who, because Ellen Page seems to have a fairly big job to do, being able to send Wolverine back in time, but only in the credits or online did I identify her as a mutant named Kitty Pryde. I did recognize Iceman (Shawn Ashmore), and his ice-making ability, from the earlier films.

Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage, above) learns a valuable lesson: don't mess with Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence)

But back to the plot. The assignment? Stop Mystique from killing Sentinel inventor Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) in 1973, which seems to be the jump-start event of their current perilous situation. And who better to go back in time than Logan, or as we know him, Wolverine, with his whole invulnerable situation.

The X-Men and their movies have always had a sense of humor, so things get off to a good start by plonking the surly Wolverine in the middle of brightly-colored, toe-tapping '70s background soundtrack. I couldn't help but be instantly reminded of Austin Powers's similar journey in his Goldmember film, and wished that some of the time-bending humor was able to be sustained until the oh-so-serious  film finish. As usual, a lot of the exploding buildings and robots leave one on the cold (and bored) side, including an inexplicable and tedious CGI sequence of Michael Fassbender lifting and moving a baseball stadium. Doesn't (young) Magneto have better ways to terrorize? But there are some pretty wonderful things happening too, especially concerning a young and super-fast moving mutant (Evan Peters) enlisted by Wolverine to help break Magneto out of the Pentagon. I checked online later and learned he in named Quicksilver. All I know is his character was great and I'm sure will be back for the next one, X-Men: Apocalypse, which is due in 2016 and supposed to take place in the 1980s. Cue up the Prince, punk, and new wave soundtrack in 3, 2, 1 ...

Quicksilver (Evan Peters) steals every scene he is in, super-speed or not

Folks who lived through the '70s or love the decade will be rewarded with clever cultural reference points. The Kennedy assassination - did Magneto curve the bullet trajectory? Richard Nixon's White House. Mystique pulls off a mutant rescue-op in war-torn Saigon. Fans of the entire series will be happy to catch a glimpse of some of their favorite mutants (and villains) from earlier films. Peter Dinklage's villain was interesting - not your typical comic book mad scientist. Surely he's a bad guy for experimenting on mutants, but does he really want to wipe them all out? Or maybe rather to become one? Maybe a comic book fan could help answer that question.

Although I found it hard to connect with the dystopian future scenes, and I suspect, like most movie-goers, enjoyed the time travel to the past far more entertaining, X-Men: Days of Future Past did keep its focus primarily on the characters, the X-Men, and the appealing actors who portray them. And that's who we really all came to see, no matter what decade.

arthur christmas is a treat

Animated movies have been so popular over the past few years that Hollywood is churning them out with greater frequency. But a little bit of computer animation goes a long way (at least for me.) So many seem to just be capitalizing on children's love of bright colors and the inevitable fast food kid's meal tie-in (Happy Feet 2). I have been resisting them, preferring to take the kid to live-action family fare. But I'm not a Grinch, so last week we went to see Arthur Christmas, which was actually quite good.

Arthur composes a letter from Santa

Director Sarah Smith has assembled some great vocal talent:

James McAvoy as Arthur, Santa's younger son, who is clumsy and sweet and deemed to be not much good at anything. His job is reading and answering children's letters to Santa. He loves everything about Christmas.

Hugh Laurie as his brother Steve, who hopes to succeed their father, Santa, and soon. Santa's hyper-efficient older son, he has streamlined and updated Santa's Christmas Eve operation, replacing his sleigh with a spaceship, and coordinating thousands of elves delivering presents from his control center at the North Pole.

Arthur and Steve at mission control

Bill Nighy as Grandsanta, who isn't happy about being put out to pasture

Jim Broadbent as an out-of-touch Santa, who leaves everything to Steve

Imelda Staunton as his wise wife, Mrs. Santa

Ashley Jensen as Bryony, a gift-wrapping elf extraordinaire

Bryony can wrap anything, even a bicycle

Michael Palin, Robbie Coltrane, and Joan Cusack all voice elves, too

What was really fun about Arthur Christmas was the quirky characters and Wallace and Gromit style of animation that I've come to know and love (Aardman Animations upcoming The Pirates! Band of Misfits also looks great). The plot is simple, as it should be in a kids' movie. A little girl  has been overlooked in the massive operation helmed by Steve and figure-headed by Santa — the delivering of a Christmas present to every child all over the world on Christmas Eve. Arthur, who reads and answers all the letters to Santa, remembers the little girl's letter and her request for a pink bicycle. He is very upset — even one child should not be missed, and he tries to convince his family to deliver her gift before Christmas Day.

Grandsanta takes Arthur out in Santa's sleigh

Steve and Santa are willing to write it all off as a good percentage of error, but that doesn't work for Arthur. He, Grandsanta, and Bryony set out to deliver the present — in Santa's old sleigh, with real reindeer, who have all been living in the barn since being replaced by Steve's spaceship. A series of amusing misadventures ensue.

Not only do we get that age-old question answered — how can Santa manage to deliver all of those presents in one night — but we are introduced to the multigenerational Santas, a supremely dysfunctional family. That's three very good kids' movies we've seen this holiday season: The Muppets, Hugo, and Arthur Christmas, which is sweet and silly and highly original.