The Dialog

By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

“The Master” is a literate but sterile drama, a wearing cinematic experience further burdened by a degraded view of human sexuality and excessive explicitness in its portrayal.

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s period piece, mostly set in the aftermath of World War II, follows the fortunes of beleaguered, alcoholic Navy veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix). After being demobilized, Freddie becomes a drifter. Unable to find a place for himself in society, either professionally or personally, he fails at one job after another and dabbles in casual romantic relationships.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Note to self: Never take on a dark supernatural force armed only with a baseball bat; whatever it is, it’s unlikely to be intimidated. We have actor Sebastian Stan to thank for that lesson. He plays Ben, half of the couple who are bewitched, bothered and, dare we say, driven batty by “The Apparition.” His live-in girlfriend Kelly (Ashley Greene), sad to say, reacts to their sinister situation in equally illogical ways.

At least Kelly can plead ignorance. She knows nothing of Ben’s past dabbling in the occult, nor of his participation in a parapsychology experiment that unleashed an otherworldly entity. So when that same pesky something-or-other starts opening locked doors and growing unsightly mold in the suburban investment property Kelly and Ben are minding for her parents, it’s hardly surprising that she’s perplexed.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Though the horror-themed animated adventure “ParaNorman” is obviously directed at children, it includes a smattering of sexual humor and, more significantly, a concluding plot twist that ought to put parents of faith on their guard. That’s all the more unfortunate since co-directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s frequently witty stop-motion celebration of the macabre has a basic message to convey that’s valuable for adults and kids alike.

The story focuses on Norman Babcock (voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee), an 11-year-old boy whose ability to communicate with ghosts, principally his beloved Grandma (voice of Elaine Stritch) but also deceased strangers whom he passes in the street, has caused him to be shunned and bullied by his unbelieving peers.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Can the Bourne franchise continue without Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne? If the mediocre extension “The Bourne Legacy” is all we have to go on, perhaps the answer is: Yes, but with considerably diminished results.

Based on a series of novels by Robert Ludlum, the popular, albeit violent, trilogy that began with 2002’s “The Bourne Identity” reached a satisfying narrative wrap-up, five years later, with “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Although fundamentally moral, “Hope Springs,” a skillful mix of comedy and drama that focuses on the problems of one long-married couple, is also significantly flawed.

Primarily, that’s because the frankness with which director David Frankel’s film approaches marital intimacy veers, at times, into intrusiveness. Additionally, in keeping with the under-refined values of contemporary society, his picture implies that virtually all methods of obtaining sexual gratification, at least between married partners, are acceptable.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Director Akiva Schaffer’s comedy and science fiction mix “The Watch” was originally titled “Neighborhood Watch.” But then real-life events intervened and gave us all the Trayvon Martin case to ponder.

Whatever else one makes of that incident, legally, politically or culturally, its status as a tragedy is undeniable. Thus the abbreviated title of the film is obviously both a necessary marketing stratagem and a gesture in the direction of good taste.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

An interesting sociological study could be made that less than a decade separated the Billboard chart appearances of the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and the Raspberries’ “Go All the Way.” Fast forward to 2008 and the campily costumed central figure of the concert film “Katy Perry: Part of Me” was having a breakthrough hit with a ditty called “I Kissed a Girl.”

Sensing a trend?

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Based on real events and aimed at intelligent, mature audiences, “People Like Us” (Disney) can, refreshingly, be read as emphasizing the first word in its title.

Thus, as directed and co-written by Alex Kurtzman (in collaboration with Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert), this low-key blend of comedy and drama features no explosions, car chases, aliens, comic-book superheroes or, for that matter, four-letter-word-spouting teddy bears. Instead it showcases some fine acting and delivers a thoughtful — if not always entirely plausible — examination of its main characters’ struggle to overcome a legacy of family dysfunction.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

The familiar Hollywood trope of the grown man who cannot grow up gets a fantasy twist in the sporadically funny, but excessively vulgar comedy “Ted.”

Given that the film represents the big-screen launch of television’s Seth MacFarlane, aka the “Family Guy” guy, devotees of that series will know pretty well what to expect from the start.

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By John Mulderig

Catholic News Service

Just what is there about male strippers that makes it awfully difficult to take them seriously? That’s a question moviegoers misguided enough to attend a showing of the sordid drama “Magic Mike” will have the better part of two hours to contemplate.

But, then again, perhaps they’ll have other things on their minds.

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