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One of the reasons why recent superhero flicks have succeeded where BATMAN & ROBIN failed is because they played the material straight and avoided too many post-modern flashes. Now we get a new superhero adaptation that attempts to find the balance between post-modern and a straight superhero story. Diehard Green Hornet purists might find the film too juvenile, but the character seems the right one for this kind of treatment.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen, FUNNY PEOPLE) is a party boy, living off the millions of his father James (Tom Wilkinson, MICHAEL CLAYTON), the owner and editor-in-chief of The Daily Sentinel. Their relationship isn’t warm; James has always been very hard on his son. But when James suddenly dies, Britt inherits the paper. He meets his father’s mechanic Kato (Jay Chou, CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER), a brilliant inventor and martial arts master. He agrees with Britt that his father was a jerk, so they go out to steal the head off James’ statue and in the process thwart a mugging. This spurs Britt to decide they need to become superheroes, but make everyone believe their criminals in order to keep the bad guys guessing.

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This high school comedy was inspired by THE SCARLET LETTER. It’s certainly not surprising to see a classic being adapted for modern teens. What is surprising is that it took this long for Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic to be given this kind of teen treatment. The best surprise is how funny and smartly it was done.

Olive (Emma Stone, SUPERBAD) tells an innocent lie, which gets her in a great deal of indecent trouble. She wants to avoid a weekend away with her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka, TV’s PHIL OF THE FUTURE) and her crazy hippie parents, so she tells her that she has a date with a college guy. When Rhiannon asks her about the date on Monday, she ends up getting trapped into admitting that she lost her virginity to cover up her weekend in her room singing greeting card songs. As these things go, the news travels fast and Olive develops a new reputation quick.
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This tragic tale of an elite family doesn’t blaze new dramatic territory that similar films like THE LEOPARD have done before. But the quiet direction of Luca Guadagnino and subtle performance of Tilda Swinton make many moments truly special. Unexpected moments take on the intensity of a Hitchcock thriller and when you think that sex scenes have become rote, this film makes them erotic again.

Emma (Swinton, MICHAEL CLAYTON) is the Russian bride of Tancredi Recchi (Pippo Delbono), the next in line to take over the Recchi family textile business. At his birthday party, patriarch Edoardo Recchi Sr. (Gabriele Ferzetti, L’AVVENTURA) reveals that he is stepping down and putting not only Tancredi in charge, but also his grandson Edoardo Jr. (Flavio Parenti). The ill, old man knows that his grandson has respect for tradition and that Tancredi plans to simply cash in and sell the company.
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Hoping Sucker Punch is a knock out and not a wild swing.

Well the new year is here and it’s time to start getting excited for what 2011 will have in store for us movie-wise. As always, we have to endure the winter dumping ground and the summer sequel parade for the serious fall films. This spring already has some intriguing films for us. Here’s hoping that this is better than the last.
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Banksy punked the art world.

In 2010, were docs real or just a street artist prank? Did catfish swim in fiction or was it honest and frank? Audiences friended the Facebook flick and Lisbeth Salander was one badass… I shouldn’t call her that. An Arab teen ruled the thugs and the Pat Tillman debacle got swept under the rug. Dream thieves blew our minds and a poor teen was stuck in a cold bind. A mother fought to save her son from jail and clones lived in a world that’s pale.

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