Eberts - Roger Eberts Movie Yearbook 2013

Roger Eberts Movie Yearbook 2013 copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Roger Ebert. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4494-2311-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012936739

All the reviews in this book originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times.

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ROGER EBERT is the Pulitzer Prizewinning film critic from the Chicago Sun-Times, and the only film critic with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was voted an honorary member of the Directors Guild of America, and was given the American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award. His annual film festival, Ebertfest, which is organized by the University of Illinois, is in its fourteenth year. His Web site, rogerebert.com, receives more than 105 million visits a year.

Other Books by Roger Ebert

An Illini Century

A Kiss Is Still a Kiss

Two Weeks in the Midday Sun: A Cannes Notebook

Behind the Phantoms Mask

Roger Eberts Little Movie Glossary

Roger Eberts Movie Home Companion annually19861993

Roger Eberts Video Companion annually19941998

Roger Eberts Movie Yearbook annually19992007, 20092012

Questions for the Movie Answer Man

Roger Eberts Book of Film: An Anthology

Eberts Bigger Little Movie Glossary

I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie

The Great Movies

The Great Movies II

Your Movie Sucks

Roger Eberts Four-Star Reviews19672007

Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert

Scorsese by Ebert

The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker

Life Itself: A Memoir

A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies That Suck

With Daniel Curley

The Perfect London Walk

With Gene Siskel

The Future of the Movies: Interviews with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas

DVD Commentary Tracks

Citizen Kane

Dark City

Casablanca

Floating Weeds

Crumb

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

	A great film
	A good film
	Fair
	Poor
G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17: Ratings of the Motion Picture Association of America
G	Indicates that the movie is suitable for general audiences
PG	Suitable for general audiences but parental guidance is suggested
PG-13	Recommended for viewers years or above; may contain material inappropriate for younger children
R	Recommended for viewers or older
NC-17	Intended for adults only
141 m.	Running time
2010	Year of theatrical release

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

R , 105 m., 2012

Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln), Dominic Cooper (Henry Sturgess), Anthony Mackie (Will Johnson), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Mary Todd Lincoln), Rufus Sewell (Adam), Marton Csokas (Jack Barts), Jimmi Simpson (Joshua Speed), Erin Wasson (Vadoma). Directed by Timur Bekmambetov and produced by Bekmambetov, Tim Burton, and Jim Lemley. Screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, based on his novel.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is without a doubt the best picture we are ever likely to see on the subjectunless there is a sequel, which is unlikely, because at the end the Lincolns are on their way to the theater. Its also a more entertaining movie than I remotely expected. Yes, dear readers, I went expecting to sneer.

The story opens with young Abe witnessing the murder of his mother by a vampire. He swears an oath of vengeance, and some years later is lucky to be getting drunk while standing at a bar next to Henry Sturgess (Dominic Cooper), who coaches him on vampire killing and explains that it is a high calling, requiring great dedication and no distractions like marriage.

Theres an early scene in which Lincoln tries to shoot a vampire, but that wont work because theyre already dead. Then whatever can he do? Well, he tells Henry, I used to be pretty good at rail-splitting. This line drew only a few chuckles from the audience because the movie cautiously avoids any attempt to seem funny.

Lincolns weapon of choice becomes an ax with a silver blade, which he learns to spin like a baton twirler. That he carries this ax with him much of the time may strike some as peculiar. I was reminded uncannily of Buford Pusser, walking tall and carrying a big stick.

Against advice, Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) marries Mary Todd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and the story moves quickly to his days in the White House, where he discovers that the vampires are fighting on the side of the South. This seems odd, since they should be equal opportunity bloodsuckers, but there you have it. Still with him is childhood friend Will Johnson (Anthony Mackie), a free black man whose mistreatment helped form Lincolns hatred of slavery. Also still at his side is Joshua Speed (Jimmi Simpson), who hired Lincoln in his Springfield general store; Johnson and Speed join Lincoln in Civil War strategy sessions and are his principal advisers, roles overlooked by history.

The movie, directed by Timur Bekmambetov and written by Seth Grahame-Smith, based on his novel, handles all these matters with an admirable seriousness, which may be the only way they could possibly work. The performances are earnest and sincere, and even villains like Adam (Rufus Sewell), the American leader of the Vampire Nation, doesnt spit or snarl overmuch. The movie regrettably introduces but does not explain Vadoma (Erin Wasson), a statuesque woman who is several decades ahead of her time in her taste for leather fetish wear. Are vampires kinky? I didnt know.