New Movies: ‘Life of Pi,’ ‘Red Dawn,’ ‘Hitchcock’

Kristen Meinzer and Rafer Guzman, our Movie Date team, review three of Thanksgiving’s box office releases.  

The Kristen and Rafer had mixed feelings about “Life of Pi,” based on the novel by Yann Martel. It’s  a fantasy adventure film that’s expected to be an Oscar contender, and it’s directed by Ang Lee and stars Suraj Sharma.

“The shipwreck is unbelievable, the tiger is unbelievable, it’s visually just such a stunning, beautiful movie,” Kristen says. But she says she could have done without the narration of the older Pi. “The framing device was condescending,” she says. “It took me out of the story.”
Rafer agrees with this assessment. “There’s something about this movie that seems kind of sugary sweet,” he says. “That narrative device somehow saps the energy out of it.”

“Red Dawn” is a remake of the  1984 film  of the same name. This time, the high school guerrilla fighters are battling the North Koreans instead of the Russians. It stars Chris Hemsworth and Adrianne Palicki.
“It is not as terrible as it looks,” Rafer says of the remake of Red Dawn. “But if you’re a fan of the original Red Dawn, you know the Russian-invasion scenario nightmare, I think you’re going to be pretty disappointed.” The new movie, Rafer says, is less about the frightening prospect of World War III, and more about the “hotness” of the cast.  
“Hitchcock” is a biopic about the making of the classic film  Psycho, starring Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren.  “Hitchcock” comes highly recommended, with a talented cast. “I really loved this movie,” Kristen says.   
TRIVIA!
Can you name any of the actors in this photo of the cast of the original “Red Dawn”?