Secret Agent Gal Movie Reviews

2012: Time for Change advocates "evolve to solve" strategies

Evolve to solve. Daniel Pinchbeck investigates how to survive and thrive during changing times in the wide-ranging documentary 2012: Time for Change.

Thoughtful and visionary, director Joao Amorim’s film transcends apocalypse hype by advocating action. It’s now screening nationwide and streaming via Netflix.

Pinchbeck walks his talk as he shares common sense ways to live consciously so that all can thrive on earth. The founder of the Evolver social movement and editorial director of Reality Sandwich interviews scholars and leaders around the world.

Animation is also used to investigate spiritual practices, sacred activism and new technologies to help us survive change with grace and ease.

Functional design, habitat restoration, ecological detoxification, intentional community, aquaponic agriculture, wind power, open source currency and diverse currency tools are among the ideas examined. The film is similar to the documentary Thrive and surpasses Armageddon dramas like Battle Los Angeles.

“Apocalypse” means “uncovering,” and doesn’t necessarily signal doom, according to Pinchbeck. “Focusing on what will happen in 2012 may just be the wrong question,” Pinchbeck told a meeting of the Left Forum in New York City. “We should just be really asking . . . . ‘What type of change can we bring about?’ It’s going to be up to individuals and then communities to make a profound shift.”

Archival footage of the “Leonardo da Vinci of the 20^th century,” design scientist R. Buckminster Fuller, is shown. Groundbreaking technologies for sustainable energy, health and farming have already been developed, says Pinchbeck. These advances have been suppressed by powerful special interests time and again, he maintains.

Futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard cites Fuller. “We now have the resources, technology and knowhow to make the world a 100% physical success for everyone without taking it away or destroying our environment,” she says.

Many cultural creatives have planted “seed ideas” to help humanity, Hubbard says. These are quietly growing and taking root. “The only way to get to the future [Fuller] was seeing was about completely transforming your consciousness, loving one another as yourself,” she says.

Hot button issues like water scarcity and depleted soil are reviewed. Michael Dorsey, Ph.D. of Dartmouth College notes that current economic and social systems do not deliver justice, environmental protection and human rights. “The system is broken,” he believes.

 “Water’s the next oil,” warns Maude Barlow, Senior Advisor on Water Issues to the United Nations. “Water scarcity has already reached a dire limit for two billion people in the world,” she says.

“As water becomes more corporately controlled, as water becomes more expensive because it’s controlled for profit, it’s going to be denied to people who can’t afford it. It’s already happening now in communities in the global south where water metering is going on,” according to Barlow.

The “Green Revolution” has led us to “an incredible amount of dependency on corporations to supply seed, to supply chemicals,” says Penny Livingstone-Stark, a permaculture designer. Monoculture farming, she says, serves to “disconnect people from their land, pollute water systems, deforest the earth.” Livingstone-Stark explains how using soil biology sustainably perpetuates living systems and increases crop yields.

Reclaiming our lost connection to nature is the key to healing individuals, societies and the planet, Pinchbeck concludes.

Policarpo Chaj, activist and executive director of Maya Vision, explains how past and future are cyclical in Mayan thought. The 2012 prophecy of earth changes and economic downturns is already happening, Chaj and other scholars say.

Filmmaker David Lynch, who has practiced Transcendental Meditation for almost 35 years, tells Pinchbeck that he overcame anger shortly after he began meditating. Looking within helped him “find infinite intelligence, creativity, bliss, energy, love, power,” he adds.

A weak link here is Pinchbeck’s use of a psychoactive root bark to jump start his self-discovery. Using a drug for self-empowerment seems counterintuitive and harmful.

British rock singer Sting, who co-founded the Rainforest Foundation and practiced Ashtanga yoga, notes that he also took the drug. Fasting and meditation are just as effective ways to connect with the Divine, Sting adds.

Pinchbeck sees an empowered “global tribe” replacing poor, suffering masses. His essay collection Notes from the Edge Times has just been published.   (4.5 out of 5 stars)

If you like 2012: Time for Change, you might enjoy:  I Am; Happy; Waste Land; 2012; Thrive.

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2012: Time for Change    2010  /  NR  /  1 hour, 40 min

Cast Overview:  Mitch Horowitz, Michael Dorsey, Ph.D., Gaspar P. Gonzalez, Penny Livingston, Maude Barlow, Bernard Lietaer, Joel Kovel, Michael D. Coe, Ph.D., Policarpo Chaj, Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Terence McKena, Steven Colbert, Sting, Dennis McKenna, Barbara Marx Hubbard, R. Buckminster Fuller

Director:  Joao Amorim

Genre:  Documentary, Spirituality, Science & Nature, Current Affairs, Animation

Mr. Popper's Penguins ***

 

Consider the penguin: fun-loving, wise, noble and cute.  In Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Jim Carrey celebrates the bird as a real estate tycoon dad who reconnects with his family. Carrey explores loyal, generous fatherhood with deft gags, one-liners, computer enhancement and a half dozen gentoo penguins.

When Mr. Popper’s world-traveler father dies, a refrigerated gift from Antarctica arrives at his Park Avenue penthouse. Young Popper rarely saw his dad, but remembers his voice over amateur radio. “This is Bald Eagle calling Tippy Toes,” their talks would begin. He grew up hungry for success and missing his father.

Suave, wheeler dealer Popper has a testy relationship with his ex-wife (Carla Gugino) and is less than popular with his two kids (Madeline Carroll and Maxwell Perry Cotton). His dedicated assistant Pippi (Ophelia Lovibond, charming and delightful) has a gift for witty tongue-twisters using the letter “p.” 

Popper’s latest acquisition hinges on the whims of wealthy Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury, stately and elegant), who is reluctant to sell Tavern on the Green, a landmark restaurant located on the only piece of commercial real estate within Central Park. Clark Gregg appears as a persistent zookeeper.

 

As the frozen penguin thaws, Popper is stunned to discover that his dad sent him the real deal. A frenzied call to the Antarctic leads to more mayhem.  Soon five more icy cartons arrive. David Krumholtz (the genius mathematician sleuth of Numb3rs) is archly amusing as a meddlesome neighbor.

The bosses (Philip Baker Hall, Jeffrey Tambor and William Charles Mitchell) pontificate as Popper seeks a partnership. Desmin Borges plays an enterprising doorman. Dominic Chianese (The Sopranos) delivers a great line: “Pull yourself together. Your house is full of penguins.”

Mark Waters’ film is not the first penguin-inspired look at fathers. In the documentary March of the Penguins, emperor penguins huddled against harsh Antarctic storms, warming precious eggs and nurturing fledglings while awaiting the return of foraging females.

Even The King’s Speech featured a papa penguin when the Duke of York (Colin Firth), dressed in white tie and tails, waddled over to his daughters to tell a bedtime story. Unable to fly with his two “herring wings,” he swam from the South Pole to England to join them. When kissed by the future princesses, he turned into an albatross “with wings so big that he could wrap them both around his two girls together.”

Carrey (Liar, Liar; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) proves himself again as comedian and serious actor as shrewd Popper rediscovers his own heart. The star’s Jimmy Stewart impression invokes another great family man on the big screen.

Carrey’s goofy genius and graceful physicality are a joy to watch. In one scene he does a soft shoe routine with Captain, Nimrod, Stinky, Lovey, Pecky and Loudy. It’s reminiscent of Dick Van Dyke’s dance with a line of cartoon penguins in Mary Poppins.

The birds raise a ruckus when they escape and track down Popper attending a posh soiree at the Guggenheim Museum. In another flight of fancy, the agreeable dad (“Yepsolutely!”) converts his swank apartment into a winter wonderland with ice skating, luge track and freezer nesting box. 

Writers Sean Anders, John Morris and Jared Stern create interesting dialogue, most memorably for Popper and earnest Pippi. “Punctuality is a particular priority for this prospect,” she chirps.

 

Florian Ballhaus’ cinematography features Central Park’s skating rink, the Flatiron Building and other famed Manhattan locales. Another location was Tavern on the Green, which filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Now called The Scene @ Tavern on the Green, it’s a visitor’s center offering free events and workshops.

Waters also helmed the teen features Freaky Friday and Mean Girls.  Mr. Popper’s Penguins is loosely based on the Newbery Award-winning 1938 children’s book by Richard and Florence Atwater.

If you like Mr. Popper’s Penguins, you might enjoy:  Just Go With It; Cedar Rapids; Bridesmaids.

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Mr. Popper’s Penguins     2011  /  PG  /  1 hour, 35 min

Cast Overview:  Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury, Maxwell Perry Cotton, Madeline Carroll, David Krumholtz, Ophelia Lovibond, Clark Gregg

Director:  Mark Waters

Genre:  Comedy, Animation, Romantic Comedy

The Illusionist ****

 

Oscar nominated for Best Animated Feature, The Illusionist is a moving storybook for grown-ups, a bittersweet tale about showmanship and heartbreak.

French comedian and screen legend Jacques Tati wrote the original screenplay for his daughter, but it was never produced.  She turned it over to Sylvain Chomet, Oscar-nominated creator of The Triplets of Belleville. Chomet drew these scenes by hand, and wrote the film’s song Chanson Illusionist. 

A gentle farce, The Illusionist stars a tall, stately magician with a traveling show. Playing to nearly empty theaters, the gentleman (who looks like Tati) maintains his dignity and droll humor. Rock groups like the Britoons (fancifully skewered here) already command top billing and big bucks in the late 1950s.

Hired for the second act, we see the illusionist wait in the wings with his petulant rabbit, scarves, umbrella and cigarettes.  By the time he takes the stage, only a grandmother and her cranky grandson remain to watch him.  In a rare success, he later performs at a pub in Glasgow, Scotland. The locals greet him with warm applause and belly laughs. His life is about to change.

Alice, a teenager who mops floors at the pub, is enchanted by his magic. The two exchange kind gestures. Each speaks a different language. Taking pity on the raggedy girl, he buys her a pair of red Mary Janes. Starry eyed Alice secretly stows away on his boat when he sails to Edinburgh.

 

Enchanted, the illusionist modestly insists that he sleep on the sofa while Alice take the bedroom at the boarding house. An ever-so-gentle flirt who cooks and cleans, Alice is soon enticed by the city’s pretty shop windows. Her sponsor takes on some very odd jobs so he can buy her expensive outfits.

With sleights of hand, Chomet treats us to life’s comedy. The origin of Alice’s rabbit stew worries the illusionist during dinner.  Alice unknowingly saves the life of a suicidal vaudevillian living above them when she brings him a bowl of stew. With sparse dialogue, the film’s detail and sound evoke a charming sense of worlds old and new.

Self-discovery unfolds. Managers with fat wallets and trapeze artists with broad smiles waltz past. Yet the film’s hero turns wise, not bitter. In this way The Illusionist works as an homage to the mostly silent French comedian.

If you like The Illusionist, you might enjoy:  Coco Before Chanel; An Education; Mademoiselle Chambon.

The Illusionist  2010  /  PG  /  1 hour, 22 min

Cast:  The voices of Jean-Claude Donda and Eilidh Rankin

Director:  Sylvain Chomet

Languages:  English, French, Gaelic

Genre:  Animation

Avatar *****

 

The awe is back. Avatar, the Oscar-winning sci-fi fantasy thriller from director James Cameron, transforms science fiction cinema.

Impressive 3D technologies and motion capture techniques keep audiences spellbound for two and a half hours, after which they leave theaters feeling 10 feet tall.

Avatar immerses us in heaven (a phosphorescent land of brilliant orange flowers, shimmering trees and floating jellyfish) and hell (fierce, flying dragons and massive rhino-like Hammerheads). Over 500 plants and creatures appear.

Avatar's reverence for nature, with its theme of oneness and unity, reaches across time and culture. Indigenous wisdom here turns out to be quite advanced. Thus Avatar surpasses The Matrix and Star Wars, along with Cameron's previous films Titanic, The Terminator and Aliens.

Over 2,000 people worked for three years on Avatar, with a budget approaching $300 million. Cameron first envisioned the masterpiece 15 years ago, but had to wait for computer technology to catch up.

Strong, quiet hero Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic ex-Marine has been asked to become an avatar, a genetically grown being resembling the Na'vi who inhabit planet Pandora.

The Na'vi are exquisitely blue with silver-white speckles, golden cat-like eyes and moving ears. They are slender, sport long tails and stand 10 feet tall. Jake is to mingle with the Na'vi as a spy. He is ordered to sway them to allow strip mining of a precious metal (unobtainium).

The Na'vi live within a huge tree that sits right over a rich deposit. Col. Miles Quaritch (gung-ho Stephen Lang) and his mercenaries seek to expel the Na'vi for a corporation that funds the scientific research of Dr. Grace Augustine (always superb Sigourney Weaver).

After some personality conflicts and information-filled dialogue, the film alights as Jake lies down in his Matrix-like pod. Here his mind controls a handsome, new avatar that in effect allows Jake to walk again.

With terrifying CGI creatures in pursuit, Jake is separated from a scouting party. Soon he's rescued by noble Neytiri (graceful Zoe Saldana). Neytiri is the daughter of Eytukan (Wes Studi) and the shaman Moat (CCH Pounder).

 

Neytiri scorns the alien Jake. "You have a strong heart, no fear, but stupid." Since she has received a sign from the Atokirina, delicate floating spores with pure hearts, Jake's fate is to be decided by Eytukan.

Jake is trained to become one with the Na'vi. Before long he's leading their efforts to resist the aliens he once worked for.

In one of the best scenes of the film, Jake tames a flying dragon who becomes his ally. Also stirring is the extended shock and awe battle as Quaritch makes his last stand against Jake and the Na'vi.

Avatar catapults Worthington (Clash of the Titans) and Soldana (Star Trek [2009]) into stardom. Weaver worked for Cameron previously as the heroine of Aliens. Giovanni Ribisi (Lost in Translation) is excellent as a murderous corporate lackey.

Avatar won Oscars for Art Direction, Cinematography and Special Effects.

If you like Avatar, you might enjoy: Inception; Hereafter; 127 Hours.

Avatar 2009 / PG-13 / 2 hrs, 30 min

Cast Overview: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang, Joel Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, CCH Pounder, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi

Director: James Cameron

Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Sci-Fi Action, Sci-Fi Adventure