Tuesday Releases: Lawless & ParaNorman

November 27, 2012 / Leave a Comment

NOVEMBER 27TH, 2012

LAWLESS // “Lawless” is the perfect Prohibition-era film, with everything it takes to make a phenomenal period piece, including backwoods sets, the gangster get-ups, and vehicles and distilleries of the times. Shia LaBeouf and Jason Clarke are excellent in their roles as two of the three brothers, but it’s Tom Hardy and Jessica Chastain who exemplify what it is to bring unforgettable presence to a role. Gary Oldman and Mia Wasikowska also deliver memorable performances in perhaps underutilized roles, while Guy Pearce’s zany villain almost reaches a point of caricature, but inserts a much needed focal point. The violence of the film gets rough at times yet pays itself off by jumping back on course with the driving plot. Based on the novel written by an actual Bondurant, and adapted by the team of John Hillcoat and Nick Cave (“The Proposition”), “Lawless” hits the same marks we’re used to from a Prohibition film, but with a flair and depth that puts it above and beyond anything in its genre.

PARANORMAN // As visually evocative as it is ambitious, “ParaNorman” has a likeable enough protagonist to hold anyone’s attention, while trudging through a “Monster House”-like horror story. With far too many lessons sown in, by the end of the film, you’re basically being slapped with morals. Also, “ParaNorman” fails to grasp a distinct genre, floating between appropriate for kids and not.

THE APPARITION // Besides a good enough showing from actor Tom Felton and some eye-candy from the could-be talented Ashley Greene, “The Apparition” fails to become much bigger than itself, losing its unique content to an isolated and under-utilized presence. With more static shots of an everyday house and neighborhood (including tons of power-lines, for some unexplained reason) than anything else, this horror film holds very few scares and those that are present are complete rip-offs of films like “The Ring”, “The Grudge”, and “Paranormal Activity”.