Film & TV

“Despicable Me 2” is the rare sequel that actually bests its inspiration. That may be because the entire creative team from the first movie is back. Directors Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud are, once again, working from a screenplay by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, and the story is fully developed and exciting. Too often, sequels feel like little more than a rushed attempt to cash in on previous success, but “Despicable Me 2” actually furthers the story of Gru, his orphan girls and those adorable, little minions. 

Watching a Peter Mettler film is no ordinary experience.  You may as well be strapping yourself in place for a ride to through the Milky Way, plunging into the core of a live volcano or simply winessing the inexorable march of an ant colony with their grasshopper prey. The End of Time, the latest in a trilogy by this Canadian filmmaker, is part of a mid-career retrospective, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.  The trilogy began with Picture of Light (1996), followed by Gambling, Gods & LSD (2002).  

Superhero films have more clout than ever before, and Marvel Entertainment has a lot to do with that. The media giant has done a remarkable job transitioning its comic book characters to the screen with movies that balance keen storytelling and astonishing visuals. The company’s latest success is “The Wolverine,” a new chapter in the ongoing saga of Logan (Hugh Jackman), a nearly immortal mutant armed with razor-sharp, retractable claws and an indestructible metal-plated skeleton.   

In “World’s End,” Pegg stars as Gary King, a substance-abusing, middle-aged man whose adult life has not lived up to his teenage dreams. One of Gary’s greatest regrets is that he and his pals failed to complete the Golden Mile pub crawl in their hometown of Newton Haven. Although Gary’s old friends, who are now largely estranged, have settled into typical adult lives, he convinces them that they should relive their glory days and attempt to complete the crawl. 

 The Graduate established that the old generation of Hollywood been had usurped by a new generation, Apocalypse Now served as a harsh reminder that the freedoms and economic prosperity of the ‘60s had started to fade away. Soon, Reagan would dismiss public pessimism brought about by the war in Vietnam as the “Vietnam Syndrome.” Coppola’s film was one of the last great reminders (in mainstream movies) that all good things must come to an end. During the past three-plus decades since the release of the latter film, U.S. cinema has not seen such a prolific time period, as the existence of original directors post-1980 has been more of an exception than a rule. 

Baumbach co-wrote the screenplay with Gerwig, and the latter – an underused actress – does a fine job in the title role. It, no doubt, helps that Gerwig had such intimate familiarity with the material because the film is more concerned with the things going on in Frances’ head than those taking place in her life. Baumbach opted to shoot the movie digitally and release it in black and white, a move that results in a classic, arty feel, even though the characters and events are decidedly contemporary. 

The plotting is ridiculous, just as it was in “Olympus Has Fallen,” but Emmerich does a far better job with the over-the-top material. He recognizes and embraces the silliness of the story, turning “White House Down” into a bracing action film that is often funny and always entertaining. Tatum, of course, has a great deal to do with this. His natural charisma and impressive physique allow him to be witty and heroic simultaneously, and he is particularly good when playing across from Foxx. 

Halloween is a day of masks, of costumes and façades, a festival of gargoyles and monsters, a day when fantasy distinctly blends with reality. For filmmaker Federico Fellini, every day was Halloween – masks that hide our true emotions, a circus, a magic performance, a sideshow, the lines of illusion and reality constantly blurred. His films employed the talents of beautiful actors like Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, while also exploiting the looks of the strange and the grotesque.