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he instead writes: “Get Jack Reacher.” After arrivingin the city, Reacher gradually comes to suspect thatBarr may have been set up, and begins to work onthe case with Helen (Pike), Barr’s defense attorney.Often dark and, at times, quite brutal, writer/directorChristopher McQuarrie’s Jack Reacher is occasionallypredictable and slow-moving, but mostly the film isvery suspenseful, enthralling stuff. (12/28/2012)HHH– Louis BlackAlamo Lake Creek, CM Cedar Park, Hill CountryGalleria, CM Round Rock, Southpark Meadows, GalaxyMoviehouse, Gateway, Metropolitan, Tinseltown NorthJ Les MiséraBLesD: Tom Hooper; with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway,Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Helena Bonham Carter, SachaBaron Cohen, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, Daniel Huttlestone, ColmWilkinson, George Blagden, Isabelle Allen. (PG-13, 157 min.)The quality-assurance boast of monster-hit stagemusical Les Misérables (based on Victor Hugo’s 1862novel) might as well be “Successfully Wringing TearsSince 1985!” A lot of hysteria attends director TomHooper’s extravagant adaptation … and I loved it.Jackman is commanding as the former convict JeanValjean, who hides his past to become a devoted factoryowner. Soon, the closing-in of his onetime jailer,Inspector Javert (Crowe), forces a spiritual crisis andanother flight from the law. When Les Misérablesis good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad,it’s usually because Russell Crowe has openedhis mouth. Shot to shot, Hooper’s vision careensbetween grotesque hyperrealism and tinny movieartifice. It is a little pitchy, this seesaw between gritand gloss, but it’s those wobbles in performance, theso-called mistakes, that make Les Misérables humanand heartfelt and – ultimately – a potent piece of cinema.(12/28/2012)HHHHn– Kimberley JonesAlamo Lake Creek, Alamo Slaughter Lane, Arbor, BartonCreek Square, CM Cedar Park, Hill Country Galleria, CMRound Rock, Southpark Meadows, Highland, GalaxyMoviehouse, iPic, Lakeline, Metropolitan, TinseltownNorth, Violet Crown, WestgateJ Life of piD: Ang Lee; with Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu, AdilHussain, Gérard Depardieu. (PG, 125 min.)Demonstrating a delicate mastery of 3-D, Ang Leehas made a movie that had me in its visual thralleven before the opening credits were through. Soon,however, the magical spell lifts and the film clunkstoward Earth as a man nicknamed Pi (Irrfan Khan)promises to tell a character called the Writer (RafeSpall) a story that will make him “believe in God.”Setting aside the story’s fuzzy theological concerns,Life of Pi, which is adapted from Yann Martel’s bestsellingnovel, is extraordinarily accomplished. Thestory is gripping, and when adrift with teenage Pi(Suraj Sharma) and the Bengal tiger on the open sea,the film is at its most wondrous: a ravishing spectaclethat treads judiciously on the infinite line betweenwhat’s possible and impossible. Life of Pi, ironically,soars when it confines itself to land and sea; whenit grasps for the celestial, the film goes beyond itsreach. (11/23/2012)HHH– Marjorie BaumgartenBarton Creek Square, Hill Country Galleria, CM RoundRock, Southpark Meadows, Gateway, Metropolitan,Tinseltown North, Westgatefilm listingsLinCoLnD: Steven Spielberg; with Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, DavidStraithairn, Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Hal Holbrook,James Spader, John Hawkes, Gloria Reuben, Lee Pace, Tim BlakeNelson, Jared Harris. (PG-13, 149 min.)Adapted from historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’sTeam of Rivals: The Political Genius of AbrahamLincoln, Spielberg’s film stitches together historylesson and TV procedural in its detailing of Lincoln’sstruggle to abolish slavery. First and certainly foremost:Master shape-shifter Daniel Day-Lewis deliversa monumental performance. He inhabits the characterbodily and temperamentally, too, as he shiftsto present different angles on the storied president,from formidable politician to keen wit, devoted father,and unhappy husband. On the subject of the latter:Lincoln, for all its grand-canvas ambitions, is at itschewiest when dramatizing Lincoln’s relationship withhis nervous wife Mary (Field). But the bygone mannerof speaking – formal and florid – doesn’t come easilyto all the actors, and the result is like an inferiorShakespeare production: The mouths are moving, butthe eyes don’t always connect with the meaning. Noworries, Spielberg’s gonna spell it out for you anyway.(11/16/2012)HHH– Kimberley JonesArbor, Barton Creek Square, CM Cedar Park,Hill Country Galleria, CM Round Rock, Metropolitan,Tinseltown NorthMonsters, inC.D: Lee Unkrich, David Silverman, Peter Docter; with the voices ofBilly Crystal, John Goodman, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, SteveBuscemi, Bonnie Hunt. (G, 92 min.)This collaboration between animation behemothsDisney and Pixar is wildly entertaining and hasnow been retrofitted for 3-D. In the film, Goodmanand Crystal supply the voices of goodhearted monsterson a mission to scare the bejesus out oftots (screams = energy to the power company inMonstropolis), and their interplay is both wacky andcharming. The film is a funky little tone poem on thenature of friendship and reconciliation – with monsters.The animation is top-notch. (11/02/2001)HHHHn– Marc SavlovHill Country Galleria, Metropolitan, Tinseltown NorthnaayakD: V.V. Vinayak; with Ram Charan Teja, Kajal Agarwal, Amala Paul.(NR, 160 min.)Not reviewed at press time. Ram Charan Teja playsdual roles in the Telugu action film in which a youngman helps his uncle fight an inspirational battleagainst an evil man. – Marjorie BaumgartenTinseltown Southnot fade awayD: David Chase; with John Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill, JamesGandolfini, Bella Heathcote, Molly Price, Meg Guzulescu, LisaLampanelli, Dominique McElligott, Brad Garrett. (R, 112 min.)You can take the boy out of episodic TV, but youstill can’t take him out of New Jersey. In his debutfeature film, writer/director David Chase, the creatorof The Sopranos, again draws from his northern NewJersey stomping grounds in this period piece aboutcoming of age in 1960s America. While Chase’sstory – about a garage band that hardly makes itout of the driveway – has its pleasures, they areBULLOCK MUSEUMThe biggest screen in Texas!1800 N. CONGRESS AVE. (512) 936-4649Shows subject to sell out, change, or cancellation without notice.SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS ®NOMINATIONMARION COTILLARDWINNERBEST ACTRESSHOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDSa u s t i n c h r o n i c l e . c o m JANUARY 18, 2013 T H E A U S T I N C H R O N I C L E 61