Stu's Reviews:
Movies
Ignore all typos, but don't ignore the opinions!
My rules of thumb: if it isn't funny, it better be damn good (mediocre and funny is OK); if it has subtitles, it better be fantastic.
All Time Favorites
American Splendor Independent
Annie Hall Comedy
Bananas Classics
Beaufort Foreign
Being John Malkovich Comedy
Best in Show Comedy
Big Night Drama
Bonnie and Clyde Classics
Boys Don't Cry Drama
Breaker Morant: Masterworks Edition Drama
Capturing the Friedmans Documentary
Chicken Run
Chinatown Classics
Citizen Kane Classics
A Clockwork Orange Classics
The Conversation Classics
The Deer Hunter Drama
Duck Soup Classics
Ed Wood Comedy
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Comedy
Everest: IMAX Documentary
Fargo Drama
A Fish Called Wanda Comedy
Forrest Gump Drama
Genghis Blues Documentary
Ghost World Independent
The Godfather: Part II Classics
The Godfather: Part III Drama
The Heart of the Game Documentary
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Music & Musicals
High Fidelity Comedy
Horse Feathers Classics
The In-Laws Comedy
Into the Arms of Strangers Documentary
The Italian Foreign
Late Marriage Foreign
The Lives of Others Foreign
Living Out Loud Drama
LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring: Action & Adventure
LOTR: Return of the King: Action & Adventure
LOTR: The Two Towers: Action & Adventure
Marat / Sade Classics
Maria Full of Grace Foreign
Melvin and Howard Drama
Monkey Business Classics
No End in Sight Documentary
Nowhere in Africa Foreign
Nurse Betty Comedy
Pan's Labyrinth Foreign
Psycho Classics
Raging Bull Drama
Ratatouille Children & Family
The Shawshank Redemption Drama
Sideways Comedy
Sleeper Classics
Sling Blade Drama
Sondheim: The Birthday Concert Musical Theater
Spellbound Documentary
The Sting Classics
The Straight Story Drama
The Sweet Hereafter Drama
The Tillman Story Documentary
Toy Story
Toy Story 3 Children & Family
True Romance Thrillers
Vera Drake Drama
West Side Story Classics
When We Were Kings Documentary
Winter's Bone Drama
The Wizard of Oz Classics
Wonder Boys Drama
Recent Short Reviews (reviews follow alphabetical
listing, worth watching in bold)
Adam's Apples
Adventureland
After the Wedding
Ahead of Time
Ajami
The American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1966
Amreeka
An Education
Animal Kingdom
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
Away We Go
Babies
Barney's Version
Beaufort
The Betsy
Big Fan
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
Black Swan
The Blind Side
Blindsight
Borat
Brazil
Brian Regan: Standing Up
Bridesmaids
Brief Encounter
The Brothers Bloom
Buck
Cairo Time
Catfish
Cedar Rapids
The Children of Chabannes
The Class
Colma: The Musical
The Company Men
Cool It
Crazy Heart
Crazy, Stupid Love
Drive
Easy A
Every Little Step
Everything Must Go
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
The Fighter
(500) Days of Summer
Flock of Dodos
Flying Down to Rio
Food, Inc.
Forbidden Lie$
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
GasLand
Get Him To The Greek
Get Low
Goodbye Solo
Gomorrah
Gran Torino
Great World of Sound
The Guard
The Hangover
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
Hiding and Seeking
The History Boys
The Host
Hot Tub Time Machine
The Hurt Locker
I Love You, Man
The Ides of March
The Illusionist
Inception
The In-Laws
Inside Job
In the Loop
In the Shadow of the Moon
Iron Man
It's Complicated
I've Loved You So Long
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Julie & Julia
Katyn
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
Kismet
Last Chance Harvey
Last Train Home
Lemon Tree
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
The Life and Work of Sally Mann
The Lincoln Lawyer
Live-in Maid
Living in Oblivion
The Making of West Side Story
Mamele
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Messenger
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
Mountains of the Moon
Moving Midway
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
Nine Lives
$9.99
No Man's Land
Of Gods and Men
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
The Pajama Game
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Paris
Please Give
Please Vote For Me
Prisoner of Paradise
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Rango
Ratatouille
Restrepo
The Secrets
The Secret of Kells
The Secret in Their Eyes
A Serious Man
The Shawshank Redemption
The Simpsons Movie
A Single Man
The Social Network
A Somewhat Gentle Man
Son of Rambow
Sondheim: The Birthday Concert
The Sorrow and the Pity
Source Code
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Season 1
Starting Out in the Evening
Steal a Pencil for Me
Stranger than Fiction
Sugar
Sunshine Cleaning
Sweetgrass
Sweet Land
Synecdoche, New York
Tell No One
Temple Grandin
There But For Fortune
There Will Be Blood
The Tillman Story
The Town
Toy Story 3
The Trip
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
True Grit
Two Lovers
Up
Up in the Air
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Waiting for "Superman"
Waitress
Water For Elephants
Wedding Crashers
Where the Wild Things Are
The White Ribbon
Win Win
Winter's Bone
Wondrous Oblivion
The Wrestler
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
You Kill Me
Zombieland
Adam's Apples
You rated this movie: 2.0
Part Ingmar Bergman and part Three Stooges, this absurdist parable I'm sure has an audience, but it's certainly not for me. A faith-filled, kind to the point of lunacy pastor battles a Hitler-loving evil-to-the-point-of-lunacy misfit. One unbelievable thing happens after another. The battle escalates (that's the plot). The pace is incredibly slow. If you like slow-going, foreign, sort-of-comedies with attempts at deeper meaning (Eling, The Band's Visit), this one might work for you.
You wrote this on 2009-07-06
Adventureland
You rated this movie: 3.0
Greg Mattola made a wonderful movie about a decade ago, The Daytrippers. It was subtle and intelligent. Then he made a raunchy coming of age comedy that I thought was unwatchable, but made a ton of money, Superbad. This third one is somewhere between the other two. Adventureland is a paint by numbers coming of age movie set in an amusement park. This kind of movie has been done so many times before - not the setting but a romantic comedy with people who should have pimples but don't because it's Hollywood - that it's hard for a new one to stand out. This one doesn't. If you were born in about 1965, this movie might work because of the nostalgia factor: the movie takes place with 20-somethings in 1987. Otherwise I'd skip this movie. It's a decently done and acted, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl tale that's ultimately forgettable. On a side note, a movie like this can live or die on its soundtrack. According to the music supervisor, the music budget for the movie was very low. It shows.
You wrote this on 2009-10-01
After the Wedding
You rated this movie: 2.0
I read somewhere recently that Danes were among the happiest people in the world. You'd never know it from this film, which has more close ups of grim faces and tears than I've seen in a while. That the characters are sad is not the principle reason this film isn't very good. This is a movie that sacrifices depth for plot. There is just too much going on to allow me to suspend my disbelief. Take one billionaire, one illegitimate child, one long lost affair, one dying person, one newly sprung affair, one wedding, one long lost child, hundreds of orphans in India and you have this messy soup of a movie. On the plus side, the cinematography is excellent and the actor who plays the billionaire is outstanding. But the script needed some serious doctoring before this movie was shot.
You wrote this on 2009-06-06
Ahead of Time
You rated this movie: 4.0
Ahead of Time is an inspiring account of a remarkable woman, Ruth Gruber, who marched to a very different drummer. The movie covers the time before Ruth Gruber was married. Brooklyn born, she attended NYU at 15 and received her Ph.D. in Germany (during the rise of Hitler) at the age of 20. She went on to become a journalist who not only covered the plight of Jewish refugees - most notably the refugees on the "Exodus" in 1947 - but also helped their cause. Amazingly, it's something she still does today in her 90s. The interviews show her to be a serene woman with guts, honesty and morality who never falls to cynicism and possesses a strong duty to both inform and help others. You walk away from a movie like this inspired to be a better person.
You wrote this on 2010-08-02
Ajami
You rated this movie: 3.0
The movie is good for what it is, a cinema verite type-look at the gritty underworld of Arab Israel. An average Israeli-Arab family gets pulled down into a life of crime after a shoot out in their family cafe causes them to owe a ridiculous amount of money to a Mafia-like syndicate. You can tell that a lot of non-actors are used and that much of the dialogue is improvised. Almost the entire movie is in Arabic. There is a lot of fast cutting and use of hand held cameras in poor lighting, all of which add to the realism. But ultimately, I as a viewer like tightly scripted, well-acted dramas focused on real people and where people aren't shot every 15 minutes. So if you like gritty crime movies, you'll probably like this one. If you have to turn your head when confronted with violence, however, you'll probably end up missing a good third of this movie.
You wrote this on 2010-09-19
The American Folk Blues Festival: 1962-1966
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you're a blues enthusiast, these DVDs are probably a must see. If you're just a casual music fan, then they'll bore. But for me, both the cultural context - those funny little German TV show sets trying to depict the back porch life in the American South - and most of all, the ability to see the musicians I saw as old men in the mid-1970s play live on a TV show in their prime is wonderful. On the negative side, the DVD just goes from one musician to the next without any effort to maintain continuity or give any feel for what the TV show was about. On the plus side, the quality of the video and audio is excellent. Clearly, coming to Europe was a treat for these musicians. They are dressed to the nines and look like they are in heaven.
You wrote this on 2011-01-19
Amreeka
Your rated this movie: 4.0
A very sweet, slice of life look at the immigrant experience made poignant by the tension of the beginning of the Iraqi War. A Palestinian mother and son come to small-town America with a lot of hope and very little money. Their timing, arriving during a time when the public views every Arab as a terrorist, couldn't be worse. Some of the story is predictable, the structure is a bit too episodic, and the emotional impact is sometimes blunted by sentimentality, but overall this story rings true. It reminded me a lot of another recent movie concerning immigration, Under the Same Moon, except here there is a little bit less tugging at your heartstrings and the emotions seem a bit more raw. The lead actress is superb, successfully conveying a tricky mix of sweetness and bitter awareness. For those who don't like subtitles, it should be noted that about 70 percent of the film is in Arabic. The included short – Make A Wish – is sad, but also well worth watching.
You wrote this on 2010-06-27
An Education
You rated this movie: 4.0
Ah the acting. Up and down it's great in this film. Alfred Molina is a superb craftsman. Carey Mulligan is a wonderful newcomer. The bit part by Emma Thompson is so, so much fun to watch. The script is pretty much paint by numbers, coming of age stuff, but the way it's done makes this a splendid movie. When I think about it, it's actually very difficult to carry off a film like this. The lead male is essentially a 30 something sexual predator. Somehow you have to make him bearable to watch and see him with the eyes of the 16-year-old girl. That takes careful acting and directing. Both are evident here. This wouldn't be possible to do in an American big budget movie. But in a quieter film, you can show nuances and assume the audience has a collective IQ greater than 90. All in all, this is a very carefully done and pleasing to watch coming of age story.
You wrote this on 2010-04-20
Animal Kingdom
You rated this movie: 3.0
Jacki Weaver is wonderful in her performance as the mama lion in this grim drama of an Australian crime family in decay. Overall, this movie has its compelling, if depressing, aspects. The feel of foreboding is palpable throughout and there are times when you feel like you're watching something Shakespearean in scope. But there are problems with the structure of the script. The most charismatic male character, the only one that you might feel warmly about, is barely on the screen. The lead male is a laconic teen and there is only so much interest an audience can have in someone so quiet and inarticulate. Those structural problems make this film less than arresting. If you like modern, edgy depressing crime dramas, you might like this one.
You wrote this on 2011-01-23
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
You rated this movie: 4.0
Being eccentric is one thing. Being talented is another. Anita O'Day was both in spades. No pop or jazz singer has ever had a more innate sense of rhythm. This documentary presents Ms. O'Day's wonderful musicality and eccentric free spirit personality in an unvarnished way. Ignore the talking heads in this movie; they're pretty worthless. Just listen to Anita O'Day talk about her life and sing. It will be time well spent. Ms. O'Day was a musical treasure.
You wrote this on 2009-08-11
Away We Go
You rated this movie: 3.0
No one, absolutely no one talks like the characters in this movie. That's the bad news. The writers no doubt know this. They are probably trying to create something that is intentionally unrealistic. But if that's so, it's an odd thing to do, because it serves to keep the audience at bay. The good news is that the dialogue is frequently very funny. But what makes this movie really work is the chemistry between the two lead actors, who are simply marvelous. I'd say that this movie works best as an actor's studio kind of character study rather than as a plot driven comedy. Lots of times during this movie I just wanted to have the lead actors forget the script entirely and just work off their emotions. They have their characters down so solid and they play off each other so well that the script sometimes - with all its quirky asides - intrudes into the emotional warmth of the film. If you like great comedic acting, this movie is worth a view. If you want a good story, this movie comes up short.
You wrote this on 2009-11-04
Babies
You rated this movie: 2.0
OK, there are a bunch of babies that a troupe of filmmakers took tons of footage of from pre-birth to the point where they start walking. The babies are cute, sure. The filmmakers have culled 80 minutes of the cutest footage. At about the 30-minute mark - which is when they show a baby obviously having a bowel movement - I thought, this is enough. I've seen enough cute baby footage for the day if not the month. All in all, this would make a great Youtube video. But a movie? Nope. This one is strictly for those who are baby crazy.
You wrote this on 2010-10-28
Barney's Version
You rated this movie: 4.0
Is this a great movie? No. It goes on for too long and the narrative seems dated, like something written in the 1960s. But all in all it's a charming yarn, well told, about 40 years of a garrulous, hockey loving, Jewish, Montreal man's life. It is essentially the life - embellished and twisted slightly - of the novelist Mordecai Richler, who essentially wrote the same novel about four times (this movie is based on his last novel). The performances here are stellar. I knew men like Mordecai Richler (sadly, they've all gone on to that great deli in the sky) and Giamatti is spot on with his acting. His interactions with Dustin Hoffman are pure movie gold. Minnie Driver chews up the scenery as well. If you're Jewish and of a certain age, you'll probably like this movie and find quite a few laughs. If you're a gentile or a gen x'er (or younger), you might, instead, yawn through the whole thing.
You wrote this on 2010-11-28
Beaufort
You rated this movie: 5.0
Without a doubt this is one of the best movies I will see this year. Take Hurt Locker (and the director of Hurt Locker undoubtedly saw and borrowed from Beaufort), add sharper dialogue, remove some clichŽs, maintain realism and you get this. Beaufort is a gritty, realistic look at modern war, which often is mired in ambiguity and pointlessness. There's an old Israeli movie about the 1948 War of Independence, Hill 24 Doesn't Answer, and in some ways Beaufort is an updating of that one. Here a group of very young men is stuck on a hill, symbolically an ancient fortress, being bombarded every day by Hezbollah. Their presence serves no purpose, they know it serves no purpose, and yet they must "soldier" on. Their interactions are emotionally both difficult to watch and captivating. You won't find a more intelligent war movie out there.
You wrote this on 2010-06-22
The Betsy
You rated this movie: 1.0
Someone asked me what was the worst movie I've ever seen. I didn't hesitate. It's this one. The Betsy is loosely based on the Ford family of car fame. Very loosely. What makes this film so bad? It's the contrast between the all-star cast - Olivier, Duvall, Jones and Down - and the story, which is absolute trash. You start watching this movie thinking that actors this good wouldn't deign to perform in a movie with a bad script. How awful can it be? The answer? Amazingly awful. What you should know is that at the time this movie was made, Laurence Olivier was in the twilight of his years. He decided that he needed to leave some money for his kids; he took any movie that would pay him a million bucks. This was one of them. The Betsy has all kinds of improbable plot twists. The mood on the set must have been awful, because people can't get their lines out with any sort of emotion. And then there is the dialogue itself. Oh lord. A third grader could have written better. Halfway through this piece of soap opera garbage, my wife turned to me with a look of pure boredom and said. I know what's going to happen next. What? I asked. The car. What about the car? It's going to get pregnant. My wife is funny. She really is. I love her so, so much. And she and I agree. This movie should never be seen by anyone with an IQ greater than an amoeba.
You wrote this on 2010-07-14
Big Fan
You rated this movie: 2.0
I don't know what to make of this movie. It's certainly not a comedy. The cinematography is very rudimentary and the plot and writing have a very 1960s feel. The question I have is why should I care about the lead character? He's emotionally stunted, living a bleak life. You can feel sorry for him, but aside from pity what am I as an observer supposed to feel? There was a book from the 1960's with a similar vibe, A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley. In A Fan's Notes, the main character - like the main character in this movie, he's a sports nut obsessed with a football player - had a working brain and insights. Here the main character is just a dope. This movie is depressing for depression's sake.
You wrote this on 2010-01-15
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
You rated this movie: 3.0
A very Michael Moore-esque look at steroids and sports. The director plays a prominent role throughout the film. There are comic elements sprinkled here and there and old movie clips are used for sight gags. But ultimately, this is a serious polemic about how steroids are over-regulated and their dangers are over-hyped. The director puts together his case in an entertaining and convincing way. However, from my perspective as a baseball fan, he misses an important point. Steroids turned the game into a farce with balls being hit out of the ballpark at a ridiculous rate. For the casual fan, I suppose that watching Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds crush ball after ball was exciting. For me, it wasn't baseball anymore, but something more akin to a video game. I walked away from this film agreeing with the director's viewpoint, but also saddened. I note that in baseball, home run production is down from the McGwire/Bonds era, but continues to be well above historical averages. Players are undoubtedly still cheating. They just aren't getting caught.
You wrote this on 2009-05-31
Black Swan
You rated this movie: 2.0
The best I can possibly say is that the Black Swan is a beautiful mess. The beauty comes from Natalie Portman who really does a magnificent job playing the role of a crazy ballerina. The mess is the movie itself, which is often incomprehensible and just plain puerile in its depiction of what is necessary to pursue art. Every aspect of the movie aside from Portman's performance is very clumsy. There's a tremendous amount of handheld camera work that simply makes the viewer a little nauseated from the resulting shaky images. The score - aside from Swan Lake - is so loud and over the top in its orchestration that it takes you away from the film. The dialogue is something out of a high school made play. Basically, the movie is not intelligently made. Sometimes the scenes were so ridiculous that I found myself laughing. Did I say Portman was good? She's the only possible reason to see this disaster.
You wrote this on 2011-01-18
The Blind Side
You rated this movie: 3.0
Hokey feel good film based on a true story with the truth avoided here and there to pull your heartstrings even more. There's a cute boy, a steel magnolia mom, and a poor kid that shows a rich family what love is really about. Then there is football, too! Sandra Bullock is adequate in this role, nothing more. Tim McGraw shows he acts about as well as he sings (he does neither very well). But they are both very likable. The cute boy really is adorable and really does save this film. You can't really ruin a great story like this, but this movie almost does just that. I know this movie grossed a gazillion dollars. I don't quite understand just why. This is TV fare where almost every emotion is trivialized.
You wrote this on 2010-03-29
Blindsight
You rated this movie: 3.0
This was an interesting look at a group of blind kids climbing a mountain, but could have been a lot shorter. The conflict between the go for broke mountain climber and the nurturing teachers of the kids is set up well. But the film's narrative keeps being distracted by not-very-interesting background stories. As I watched I kept editing on the fly trying to make this into a better movie. This one is part "Everest" and part "Spellbound." But it could have been it's very own movie with some easy edits.
You wrote this on 2009-05-04
Borat
You rated this movie: 2.0
Borat is a shock comedy mixed with social commentary. But it isn't funny except for a few sight gags. Mostly it's revolting. For example, I don't see the purpose of the main character arriving at a dinner table after going to the restroom and asking the hostess what to do with the bag of sh*t in his hand. I don't think it's funny. I don't think it tells us much of anything about how we live. Every once in a while, there is an event in the movie that examines, in a new way, the uglier side of life. But those events are rare. And almost always Cohen pulls his punches to keep the movie a comedy. Cohen has a gift for being ingratiating and staying in character during open-ended situations. But he isn't willing to go the distance and be a true artist with his gift. Instead, he decides to hold back and go for cheap and mostly ineffective laughs. Why is this movie so popular? It's a social phenomenon like Blair Witch. Both are bad movies. In both cases, critics decided in mass to find something in these movies that just isn't there. And the public went along with gusto eager to be with it. Cohen is a talented character actor. But his skill at being a comic writer is poor. He could be a valuable social critic as well, but he's too busy trying to make money to care about loftier goals.
You wrote this on 2007-04-07
Brazil
You rated this movie: 4.0
A visual comic tour de force. The idea of combining a dystopic vision of the future with absurdist comedy is brilliant. Yes, the film is too long by a half hour and the romantic part of the plot is something cooked up by a 12-year-old boy, but everything else clicks. Visually, this film is stunning. The attention to detail shown in the creation of this future world borders on manic, which in this case is a good thing. Pay attention to the billboard and posters off to the side of many shots; they are funny as anything. This movie is Blade Runner with a brain. Recommended for fans of Stanley Kubrick, except this movie is funnier than anything he ever did (including Dr. Strangelove).
You wrote this on 2009-07-13
Brian Regan: Standing Up
You rated this movie: 2.0
On the plus side, Regan keeps it clean. He talks about his kids a bit, but mostly he talks about the impersonal aspects of life. He seems to be an observer of trends in TV and whatnot. I don't watch TV so a lot of his allusions went right over my head. He emphasizes popular culture and its foibles again and again. For me, there is no real heart here. And there is something antiseptic about the entire performance. Regan needs to start talking about real people and their behavior.
You wrote this on 2010-06-14
Bridesmaids
You rated this movie: 2.0
Just so you know how I feel about gross-out Apatow-type movies, I thought 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up were funny, Superbad was awful, The Hangover was a meh, and you couldn't pay me to see a Fokkers movie. This one, Bridesmaids, is, I guess, novel because it has a group of women doing disgusting things instead of men. Who cares, really? It's either funny or not. Bridesmaids is a lot like The Hangover except it doesn't have a decent premise and there are no funny cameo roles (they should have found a way to have Oprah do a funny bit; after all a lot of this was filmed in Chicago). Like The Hangover, an unlikely group of friends who don't have much chemistry on screen do a lot of stupid things. The dialogue is painfully bad, but I'm guessing that's because most people are doing improv. There's farting, defecation and vomiting humor. Hah, hah, hah. The Milwaukee scenes are authentic (I was born there). Kristin Wiig is naturally funny. If she had decent material, she could make a good comedy. But this one is a meh-minus, near awful and far too long. Also, the soundtrack was cheesy 80s junk. That was the worst decade in pop music ever; I don't need to be reminded just how bad it was. They spent 32 mil making what amounts to a series of hit and miss improv bits. How can so much money be spent on something you normally can see live in a little club in West Hollywood? They should have given the money to charity.
You wrote this on 2011-05-22
Brief Encounter
You rated this movie: 4.0
An iconic British movie that surprisingly still holds up. Brief Encounter is a fascinating window into another world and another time. The cinematography is excellent, the acting is performed with heart, the dialogue rings true, and despite the subject of the movie - an intense love affair racked with guilt - it never turns into bathos. Noel Coward said that out of all of the plays and scripts he wrote, this was the one he thought was the best. It's easy to see why.
You wrote this on 2009-10-02
The Brothers Bloom
You rated this movie: 3.0
Many movies have overindulgent, pretentious scripts that waste wonderful acting performances. That's what happens with this flick. The cast is fabulous, but the script is ridiculous; it skips along here and there leaving the actors to try to bring life to dull writing. Plus, and this is a personal gripe, the writer should stay away from Jewish ethnic kind of material like this because he just doesn't understand the culture at all.
You wrote this on 2009-10-07
Buck
You rated this movie: 4.0
The one knock on this movie is that it's a bit too Oprah-like in its pop-psychology treatment of real human emotions and hardship (the lead character even evokes Oprah one time), but all and all this is a captivating documentary about a remarkable horse trainer (a true Horse Whisperer) who travels the country giving seminars and demonstrations to other horse lovers. The scenery is always eye pleasing and the attendees of the seminars are sometimes as interesting as the Buck himself, a man who has a real story to tell. His seminars are not only about the benefits of being kind, yet strict, to horses, but also about the benefits of being kind to other human beings. This is a very heartwarming movie.
You wrote this on 2011-09-23
Cairo Time
You rated this movie: 3.0
Patricia Clarkson gets a star turn in a very romantic, low-budget movie about an American abroad. This is the kind of role that usually Meryl Streep gets to do. It's a very old fashioned film. I could imagine this very same film being done in the 1940s with Ingrid Bergman, in the 1950s with Grace Kelly and in the 1960s with Audrey Hepburn. The woman in love is very glamorous, waiting for her husband to get back to Cairo. The man in love is a friend of her husband, Egyptian born with a lot of time on his hands. Clarkson gets to wear fabulous clothes and even in the heat of Cairo always looks perfectly pressed and above it all, without even so much as a hair out of place. Siddiq is a tall and lanky hottie with a mysterious air. Curiously, there is not really much chemistry between the two on screen. They seem more like buddies than potential lovers. If you like old films like A Man and A Woman or A Brief Encounter, you might warm to this one, although I'd say it's a cut below the best of the romance film genre.
You wrote this on 2010-09-12
Catfish
You rated this movie: 2.0
Catfish was marketed as a hip thriller/docudrama. It isn't anything close to that. Instead it's a tale of a naive New Yorker who falls in lust/puppy love with a girl he meets on the internet. It's actually very corny in a way. It's also very sweet. Early on you realize where this film is going. The New Yorker is going to travel to see his beloved and find out the truth. The quality of the filming is absolutely awful and I'm glad I didn't waste the money to see all this grainy footage on a big screen. The people who marketed this film should be fined for completely false advertising. That all said, the unexpected sweetness of the film makes it kind of interesting. The overall story line is messy and basically this is an amateur project that doesn't deserve the hype (or professional reviews) it received. It's kind of like Blair Witch, a low budget, poorly thought out film that should never have made it to the big screen.
You wrote this on 2011-04-23
Cedar Rapids
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you're not from the Midwest you might not enjoy this comedy as much as I did. It's about a straighter than straight arrow from Wisconsin who attends his first convention of insurance salesmen. Of course high jinks ensure during the convention, which becomes a life-changing event for the main character. There are a lot of inside Midwestern jokes, the first being that Cedar Rapids, where the convention is held, is a major city. Then there is the big plot device: the salesman is trying to win the Two Diamond Award for his company. Only in the Midwest would modesty prevail and cause the creation a top award with a mere two diamonds. The lead actor, Ed Helms, is way over the top in his naivet? and doesn't seem to have any range. Helms ends up playing second banana to Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, and John C. Reilly all of whom are wonderful in this low budget affair. Reilly really does carry this move and for what it's worth, took the time to get a Stevens Point, Wisconsin accent down cold. While it starts out slow and is a bit too predictable and clichŽ in the beginning, Cedar Rapids does have a good number of belly laughs in the second half.
The Children of Chabannes
You rated this movie: 2.0
From 1939-1942, Jewish children from many places in Europe were hid and educated in a chateau in a tiny town, Chabannes, France. The father and uncle of the creator of this film were two of those children. Potentially, this film could be interesting and emotionally riveting, but the movie making comes up well short of professional expectations. This is a very rudimentary documentary and simply features one talking head after another mixed with some brief shots of the countryside around Chabannes. The talking heads aren't particularly articulate, and there are so few people interviewed that after about 40 minutes of hearing vague reminiscences, the viewer (me) starts to suffer from talking head fatigue. There is very little video from the time of the war, something that would have helped immensely. I just don't think the directors put together enough worthwhile footage to make a real movie.
You wrote this on 2011-06-20
The Class
You rated this movie: 2.0
Too long and too amorphous. American movies on education usually involve the same plot: amazing teacher inspires and transforms. In contrast, this movie has a very ordinary teacher who has his limitations in a class where education plays second fiddle to simply keeping students in their seats for 55 minutes. At first glance, such a premise for a movie has potential. But here it fails. The director chooses not to have a script but instead to have "situations" and see what the actors do with them. In this case, the actors are generally not professional - they are real students - and what they improvise is mundane. Perhaps if this movie were a good deal shorter - it's well over two hours in length - the director could have culled the more interesting improvisations into something that was more compelling overall. But as it stands this movie is long and dull
You wrote this on 2009-08-15
Colma: The Musical
You rated this movie: 3.0
Flawed, but charming. There's something that kept me watching this lower than low budget movie musical. It wasn't the music, which was melodically wanting. Rather it was the story, a tale of at loose ends Asian kids (two out of three of them at any rate) living in a dead end suburb (there's a pun there for those that know about Colma) that I often drive by on my way to San Francisco. Imagine The Three Sisters, except make them American teenagers - one of them gay and two of them male - and have them break out into song about their depressing lives and you'd get this. If that sounds inviting to you, then you'll like this movie. I happen to love the Three Sisters and Chekhov so the off key notes in the singing and soap opera-ish haphazard character development didn't bother me too much. There's enough humor and grit to make up for the deficiencies.
You wrote this on 2010-04-28
The Company Men
You rated this movie: 3.0
The Company Men is a well-meaning film, but it lacks any sort of arc and the characters are so down on their luck and low energy that sometimes you just want to turn your head and ignore them. The movie examines the lives of three men who are affected by a corporate downsizing in our Great Recession. Their lives go sour fast after they are let go, but it all happens in a predictable and telegraphed way. The mood is muted throughout and some of the characters are so depressed, Tommy Lee Jones in particular, that they are painful to watch. On the plus side, the drama rings true and isn't overhyped. On the minus side, the women are one-dimensional and play roles that make it seem like feminism and women's rights never took place. The dialogue is a little on the wooden side but is passable. The quality of the cast is excellent. Overall, I'd say this movie is a little flat and is missing key elements that would make the drama compelling.
You wrote this on 2010-11-06
Cool It
You rated this movie: 3.0
This movie is as eerie in its hagiographic approach to looking at Bjorn Lomborg as the treatment of Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth. Neither are saints. Both Gore and Lomborg are both polemicists who are not shy about slamming the other side. Both aren't particularly logical or truthful. Al Gore sees every severe storm event as a sign of impending Armageddon. On the other hand, Bjorn Lomborg spends half this film talking about how global warming isn't going to be that bad and the other half on a dizzying number of pie in the sky technological solutions - e.g., liposuction of CO2 in the atmosphere - to solve the global warming problem. But why go to such effort if the problem is as benign as Lomborg implies? Lomborg throws out numbers on how little we need to spend to solve global warming through geo-engineering and green energy; the accuracy of those numbers is highly doubtful. I think this film is worth watching because, ignoring all the hype, it does suggest that the problem of global warming is enormous. Lomborg is undoubtedly correct in stating that Gore-style conservation will not solve global warming. But his techno-evangelism rings hollow; we lack the will and resources to engage in his moonshot approaches that he even optimistically states will cost upwards of 100 billion dollars a year. In a lot of ways, both Gore and Lomborg fall into the same trap of assuming a we-can-do-it naive optimism despite all evidence otherwise. I wish the problem were as simple to solve as both Gore and Lomborg want us to believe.
You wrote this on 2011-05-03
Crazy Heart
You rated this movie: 4.0
More than anything this movie works as an acting vehicle. The story isn't much. The script is an average thing with more than a few contrivances and false notes. The only miscast part is that of Colin Farrell, who can't get his arms around being a modern country music star (he's kind of a Keith Urban mixed with Rue Paul). From an acting standpoint, the hardest part probably is trying to make plausible the idea that a very pretty young mom is going to fall for a washed up, drunk, limping 60-year-old country music has-been. Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal manage to carry it off. I've written country music for Nashville record labels so probably I was more curious than most about this movie. It fudges a bit on the "new country music," making it less slick than it is. But there are nice touches that you don't see in most movies about music. For example, Farrell actually does sing harmony in a duet although it does sound auto-tuned out the ying yang. Jeff Bridges plays his part a little softer and sweeter than any star musician probably has ever been. But he does have star quality that comes across clearly. He plays a kind of Kris Kristofferson character even better than Kris Kristofferson. He sings better than Kris, too. If you're interested a Blue Stater interested in Red State life or country music, you'll probably like this one. If you're from the South or Southwest, all the clichŽs might turn you off.
You wrote this on 2010-05-24
Crazy, Stupid Love
You rated this movie: 4.0
This movie is, more or less, a 19th century French bedroom farce updated to the present day US. Unlike those old French plays, celebration of bawdiness is eschewed in this flick and sexual desire is viewed as something bad and twisted. Also, there is a lot of moralizing. Still there are a lot of fun mix ups in this movie. A loves B. B loves C. A is B's son. B is being cuckolded by D. In the end, A, B, C, D, E, F, and G meet together in one big grand finale where all of the love triangles are exposed. There is a fair amount of careful plotting to make it all work, but in the end it's not the script that makes this movie enjoyable - it's just so, so - it's the acting. The performers shine here, particular Ryan Gosling, who plays a very critical role in driving the main plot. Perhaps the only miscast actor is Julianne Moore, who, while a wonderful actress, is just a little too naturally cool and distant for her role as an earthy, still sexy forty something. The comic timing shown by the actors is excellent, the dialog can be funny, and the soundtrack really helps add to this film. Finally, the pacing is just right, slowing down through some tricky plot arcs and speeding up when detail is unnecessary or would make the audience doubt the believability of the story. This movie is better and more sophisticated than typical Judd Apatow gross out films and unlike those films, thankfully has real scripted dialogue. Crazy, Stupid, Love is a fun date movie with some hardy laughs.
You wrote this on 2011-08-28
Drive
You rated this movie: 2.0
Drive starts out as a very spare noir-crime film. There's a girl, there's a guy - who earns his living as a getaway driver - in trouble and there is a lot of seedy scenery. Unbelievably, the movie is transformed into a "thriller" when the guy in trouble develops almost superhuman powers to save the girl. The dialog is very terse and people mostly just look at each other with their mouths closed. The soundtrack is also minimalist except for the intrusion of a couple of overproduced pop songs. The plot is incomprehensible. There is a tremendous amount of blood. On the plus side, the visuals of LA can be stunning on the big screen and Ryan Gosling, who is a wonderful actor, tries his best to save this film. He can't do it. Drive is a mess. If you're a twenty something who doesn't read books and loves superhero comics, you might love this movie. If you're over 40 stay away. As an aside, I went to see this movie mostly because relatives told me that I look, talk and act like Albert Brooks, who plays a key role in this film. I do it's true. But neither he nor I are capable of playing mobsters convincingly.
You wrote this on 2011-09-24
Easy A
You rated this movie: 2.0
A John Hughes kind of teen-age comedy that's completely unbelievable. There are no American high schools like the one depicted here. There are no teenage girls - a kind of Juno except smarter and even more resilient and willful - like the main character, Olive. No one talks like Olive's parents either. Every once in a while, something funny does happen, but generally, the comedy is pretty lame. This is really a standout cast, but unfortunately this movie wastes their talent. Then there are the holes - huge ones - in the plot, such as it is. Maybe if you're a teen this movie will work as a light piece of comic fantasy. But if you're over 25, I think you'll be as bored as I was watching this turkey.
You wrote this on 2011-01-20
Every Little Step
You rated this movie: 4.0
There's a picture within a picture effect with this movie. It's a sweet little engaging documentary about auditions to be in a revival of a show that's about auditions, A Chorus Line. There's also a lot of looking back to the original A Chorus Line. The original musical was kind of like the first reality TV show. It was a polished version of people's deep emotions. Here we get things a little rawer, since we see the actual performer's lives, with modest filtering, on the screen. What makes this movie more interesting than most stories about the musical theater is that because A Chorus Line is a dance musical, we get a lot of wonderful dance sequences along the way. The physicality of the dancing breaks up the tendency to just focus on talking heads. Plus the effort to look back at the original musical is done very sweetly. I'd recommend this film if you're interested in musical theater and dance. It's probably true that it's a bit esoteric for a general audience.
You wrote this on 2010-02-12
Exit Through the Gift Shop
You rated this movie: 3.0
We watched this one on April Fools day. It's fun and quirky, a pseudo-documentary whose heavy handed message is redeemed by a marvelous performance by Thierry Guetta. Shepard Fairey lays it on thick as a put upon pure artist. Some of this story is undoubtedly true. Probably most of it isn't. In the end, the real and the fake blend together nicely. I wouldn't call this a terribly intelligent movie - it's kind of a warmed over Werner Herzog - but it does have its fun gags.
You wrote this on 2011-04-02
Everything Must Go
You rated this movie: 2.0
Everything Must Go is well meaning and well acted, but the script is an absolute dog. The source for this movie is a Raymond Carver short story (very short, about 1000 words), Why Don't You Dance. That story is a little gem. A man sets up everything he owns on his front lawn just like it once was inside. A young couple assume he's having a garage sale and start to offer money for his things. The young couple drink with the man, who obviously is an alcoholic. They dance to the music on the man's record player. That's it. Story over. In the movie this spare story is expanded into a morality tale. The man hits rock bottom. His marriage is over. His job is gone. Now he must recover and redeem himself. Yeesh. Talk about not leaving well enough alone. Some of the dialogue is so awful I couldn't help but wince. On the plus side, Will Ferrell does a fine job, as do Rebecca Hall and Laura Dern. There are also some funny asides that involve physical comedy. But all and all, Raymond Carver is rolling over in his grave. This isn¹t a very smart movie.
You wrote this on 2011-10-01
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control
You rated this movie: 3.0
The four portraits of the individuals - all of them very creative and very eccentric - contained in this documentary are inherently interesting. But what is done to try to sew these portraits together is distracting and off-putting. There is a lot of fast cutting between interviews and stock footage of circuses and whatnot that make the viewer (me) physically queasy and dizzy. Then there is the music, which tends to follow the disturbing frenetic style of the old Hitchcock movie Psycho. All of this gives the movie an air of pretentiousness, hipness and unpleasantness to what in other aspects is a perfectly watchable and intriguing documentary. I would have liked this movie a lot more had the director not chosen to be so neurotic and quirky in stitching the narrative together.
You wrote this on 2011-05-30
The Fighter
You rated this movie: 3.0
The script here is junk, a Hollywood stretching of truth and pulling of heartstrings in an effort to make the movie a real life Rocky clone. There are clich?s, visual and verbal, ever other minute. But the acting here is fabulous and makes this film well worth watching. Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, and Amy Adams are jaw-droppingly good in their roles. The director gives all of them enough time in their scenes to thoroughly show off their chops. Although this is a boxing movie, there isn't a whole lot of violence and blood, and there are nice comic touches to keep things from getting too ponderous.
You wrote this on 2011-05-01
(500) Days of Summer
You rated this movie: 2.0
The script is painfully trite. The cinematography is painfully predictable. It's almost as if they gave a bunch of precocious eighth graders a few million dollars and said make a movie. I kept watching - they're in love and wow they go through a tunnel of love; they're not in love and wow it's raining - and thinking oh my this is one long clich?. What saves this movie from complete boredom is the acting. The lines they have to recite are complete bathos, but these actors are excellent at finding some way to change the rhythms of speech to make it watchable. The leads obviously know what they are doing. But the creators of this movie don't understand the human heart worth beans. To be fair, it's very hard to do romantic comedy. Usually it's forced and unbelievable. This one is forced, unbelievable and just plain infantile.
You wrote this on 2010-03-06
Flock of Dodos
You rated this movie: 3.0
If you aren't a scientist or someone already very interested in the battle between intelligent design types and scientists on the issue of biology instruction in public schools, this movie will probably bore you. It's a more than a bit dry and nerdy. But if you are a scientist or someone who understands that evolution is a robust and well-tested theory, this film will provide some insight as to why intelligent design has made some political headway even though it has no scientific basis. The interviews with both the creationists and the scientists are off and on insightful. The cartoon asides are a distraction. This isn't a well-made film, but it has significant educational value.
You wrote this on 2010-01-20
Flying Down to Rio
You rated this movie: 2.0
They say they don't make movies like they used to. In this case, that's a good thing. This movie is a complete mess. The story line goes everywhere and nowhere. This is sort of a screwball comedy, but really it's just screwed up. The leads, Gene Raymond and Delores Del Rio, are complete stiffs. I'll give this movie an extra star because of Astaire and Rogers, who are fun in their sidekick roles and dance a bit, too. If they'd have danced more I'd have given it three stars. I'd only recommend this movie to plane buffs; there are a lot of scenes with wonderful old planes flying around. Don't like planes? Don't watch this movie.
You wrote this on 2010-05-06
Food, Inc.
You rated this movie: 4.0
The approach in the movie is a bit scattershot, but Food, Inc. does get its points across more or less. I think it would have been far better to focus on one aspect of the impact of corporate control on the quality and cost of our food supply. For me, the key issue is that the government provides so many subsidies to farmers to grow corn that we've created a topsy-turvy world where the food that is unhealthy for America - loaded with sugar and starch - is what is cheapest to the consumer. There are all kinds of financial incentives to eat the kind of food that promotes obesity and diabetes. I wish the movie-makers had focused on this one issue. That said, overall the movie is well made, and clearly more money was put into this movie than most documentaries. It lifts the veil on the food we eat. What you see in this movie is truly eye opening. It will likely change the way you eat for the better.
You wrote this on 2009-11-23
Forbidden Lie$
You rated this movie: 4.0
I've never seen a better real life portrait of a con artist. Norma Khouri, the subject of this documentary, is a captivating sociopath who has managed to invent so many tales about her life that you have to wonder if she knows the difference between her personal truth and fiction. What a life she's led: stealing money from old ladies, writing a bestseller where she fabricates a story about an honor killing of a best friend in Jordan, and making life miserable for her father and husband. Now we see her try to con a filmmaker into believing all of her lies have some kernel of truth. It's fascinating to see Ms. Khouri at work for 100 minutes even if you'd never want to meet her in person.
You wrote this on 2011-03-19
Frost/Nixon
You rated this movie: 4.0
Ron Howard is excellent at making simple, straight ahead movies like this. The principals choose not to mimic Nixon and Frost, but rather try to convey their emotional state. Nixon wasn't as regal as Langella and Frost isn't really the playboy Sheen makes him out to be. I think that this was the right approach given that you can watch the actual debate and see the real Nixon and Frost anytime. This really is a theater piece, though. It's a verbal and emotional boxing match between two people trying to regain their former luster through the use of the media. Some of the emotional impact of this battle is lost by taking it from the stage and putting it on the screen. But overall, this is a well-scripted, tight drama about the most complex and flawed president of my lifetime and maybe of the entire history of the United States.
You wrote this on 2009-06-02
Frozen River
You rated this movie: 4.0
Really a fine indie, slice of life film about what it's like to be down on your luck. The people here aren't sanitized like you find in Hollywood movies. The lead actress isn't afraid to look bad without makeup and her desperation is palpable. The interplay between her and her son and her partner in crime evolve over time in a very realistic way. No, this isn't a date movie, but it is a well-told yarn with some real grit.
You wrote this on 2009-05-04
GasLand
You rated this movie: 2.0
This movie is well done for what it is, agitprop that glosses over details to rail against hydro-fracking. But because the director and creator isn't well versed in science, he misses a lot of key points about the real environmental hazards associated with gas drilling. He is obsessed with "fracking" and how bad it must be. But his data are sketchy at best and a lot of people he interviews to "prove" his point seem like they are just plain crazy. When the director has people claim that fracking is causing brain tumors and pancreatic cancer, you just have to shake your head. Also, and this is really unconscionable, the director keeps showing water being lit on fire as "proof" of the deleterious effects of fracking. What he doesn't say is that the gas in those water supplies wasn't the result of fracking. It's biogenic methane. That's very dishonest filmmaking. The director needed to take some classes in science before he undertook this film project If you're a rabid environmentalist, you'll love this film. If you know about drilling for gas and oil, you'll think that the director wasted an opportunity and let his hysteria get in the way of a good story.
You wrote this on 2011-09-05
Get Him To The Greek
You rated this movie: 3.27
One day Judd Apatow will be tried in an international court of law for killing movie comedy. Charlie Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Bob Hope and Woody Allen will go up to the witness stand and disect his crimes against comic humanity: his aliterate scripts that don't produce any memorable lines, his reliance on vomit (huge chunks of it are apparently funnier than small ones) and diarreah, his constant reshooting of improv scenes (because none of his actors is particularly good at it) in order to find something sort of funny. He will be sentenced to comedy hell and have to endure an eternity of whoopie cushions and pies in the face. In the meantime, we have comedies like Get Him To The Greek. It's about as good as a Judd Apatow comedy gets. Get Him To The Greek is a buddy/road movie carried by the charming performance of Jonah Hill. I don't quite know how he does it, but somehow even though he can't recite a script line worth a damn, Hill is pretty funny. He's a big fat, incoherent version of Bob Hope, one that has smoked too much dope and eaten too many brownies along the way. His buddy in this comedy, Russell Brand, doesn't quite carry his share of the load. Brand isn't at all convincing as a rock star. He mimics the rocker Jarvis Cocker not very well, but he's quite good at conveying the destructiveness of drug addiction. Sean Combs is surprisingly pretty good as a third banana; he's at ease with making fun of himself. Ultimately, a comedy like this has to compete against many decades worth of great buddy/road movies, the king of the hill being The In-Laws. It doesn't come close. There will be no gold riots or atonal music as a result of this one. Sigh.
Tags: Best comedy to have a Nobel Prize winner in a cameo, Elisabeth Moss is probably the only real actor in this movie and she nails it, repeatedly saying the line "you're funny" isn't funny or memorable, a skinny Jonah Hill probably would be the comic equivalent of a shorn Samson
You wrote this on 2011-10-22
Get Low
You rated this movie: 4.0
A very sweet engaging film even if there are a few holes in the plot. The cinematography is absolutely wonderful, but it's the acting here that shines. Robert Duvall picks up a Boo Radley type role forty years after he played that part in To Kill a Mockingbird and does an absolutely wonderful job. Sissy Spacek gets to play the older, wiser love interest. Bill Murray plays Bill Murray and that's just fine with me. If you'd look at the script, you'd be tempted to say there's no much here. But it's all in the nuance and phrasing. These are actors who can take ordinary lines and make them come to life. Get Low is a quiet film that just gets better and better as it moves along.
You wrote this on 2011-03-23
Goodbye Solo
You rated this movie: 4.0
This film never tries to do more than be about a relationship between two ordinary men, bound by loneliness, who are ultimately at cross purposes. The script is understated throughout, and I have no idea how the people who put this thing together found Elvis Pressley's old buddy Red West, but he is spot on in his part. If you tend toward TV shows and movies full of action and heightened emotion, this film will bore you. But if you like quiet stories where the arc is subtle and the emphasis is on character, this thoughtful film will impress.
You wrote this on 2009-09-20
Gomorrah
You rated this movie: 2.0
I've lived in Italy and if you're Italian I'm sure this movie resonates. But this style of film, a mish mash of sketchy interwoven stories, is not what I want in a movie. Crash, Traffic, and a few others that I've seen as of late use this technique as well. It seems to be a new style. But I find it unsatisfying to watch. It's as if these films are made for someone with ADD. This one has a tremendous amount of blood as well. On the plus side, the visuals are excellent and the movie does leave you with the profound impression of just how much the Mafia controls Italy.
You wrote this on 2009-12-10
Gran Torino
You rated this movie: 3.0
This movie - a star turn for a well-known man's-man kind of actor playing a crotchety old guy with a heart of gold - was essentially done 15 years ago by Paul Newman (in the film Nobody's Fool). That old film was better than this one in a lot of ways. More subtle. The emotions rang true. That said, Clint Eastwood gives life to this clunky, predictable script. OK, he hams it up a little too much, but you can tell he's having fun. Though Eastwood is old, he can still put on a good show and surprisingly remains a very physical actor. The man must have amazing genes.
You wrote this on 2009-07-18
Great World of Sound
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you don't like low budget, low-key, serious subject films, I'd stay away from this movie. But if you like independent movies, this is definitely worth a look. The camera work is very rudimentary and the actors are no people you've ever seen. The movie looks like it was filmed around Charlotte and done very quickly. But the script is solid as is the story. The lead character - a quiet, thoughtful, feckless young man - is trying to get ahead in the world, but clearly lacks certain life skills. His sidekick is a David Mamet kind of do-anything-to-make-it salesman. How these two play off each other is a delight to watch. How they each deal with the unsavory nature of their employer and the music business is the fulcrum for this movie. Not every aspect of this movies plot is believable, but the interactions between the characters are always dead on realistic and the acting is high quality throughout. Special props to the assembly of wannabe musical stars that were assembled for this film.
You wrote this on 2011-02-21
The Guard
You rated this movie: 4.0
My kind of comedy. The Guard is a tightly scripted buddy/cop movie with a fairly standard get the bad guys plot used as an excuse to create one zinger after another. There are a lot of belly laughs that play off the cultural clash between the tighter than tight, Afro-American FBI agent and his temporary partner, an Irish, hard drinking, outlandish, sardonic country cop. A film like this depends on good chemistry and interplay and I'm happy to say that even the bad guys have excellent comic timing in this film. Even the wonderful and usually serious actress Fionnula Flanagan gets to ham it up for laughs. If you like old-fashioned comedies with witty banter, The Guard is a wonderful night of entertainment.
You wrote this on 2011-08-19
The Hangover
You rated this movie: 3.0
Essentially this is a clone of a Judd Apatow type of comedy that isn't quite as good as 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. A group of men with zero maturity do their boy thing in Las Vegas. Unlike most comedies, the good stuff isn't in the beginning. The first 12 minutes could have been cut easily without any loss to the film's coherency. At about the 50-minute mark, I was ready to turn off my TV because the good jokes were so far and few between. But then it finally starts to click. There are some real belly laughs in the second half. The key to this movie is that the character types are softened just enough - the jerk isn't quite a complete jerk because he is optimistic, the nerd isn't quite a complete nerd because he has kindness, the nebbish isn't quite a nebbish because he is aware of the world - that halfway into the movie you start to like them. That said, you never understand how they could be friends. This film is far from perfect, but all in all is a decent enough Judd Apatow copycat film.
You wrote this on 2010-01-13
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
You rated this movie: 2.0
This is a football movie, plain and simple. The underdog ties the game at the last minute. A bunch of former players talk about the game between the highlights. There are vague references to Vietnam and the sexual revolution - Meryl Streep gets a little cameo mention - but that's not what this movie is about at all. If you like football/sports movies where the underdog gets a "moral victory" or if you've gone to Harvard or Yale this movie probably appeals. But if your answer is no to both, this is a boring ESPN style kind of look at a good football game from 40 years ago. Maybe the most interesting part of it is that one of the interviewed players, who was a friend of George W. Bush, comes across as a bit of a sociopath and a first-rate jerk. It's kind of amusing to watch him rant.
You wrote this on 2010-01-24
Hiding and Seeking
You rated this movie: 4.0
There is a spirit of kindness and warmth present in this film that isn't at all typical of documentaries like this, which focus on personal examinations of the Holocaust from survivors and children of survivors. The narrator of this story, like me the child of survivors, is on a mission to make his Chassidic sons more aware of and charitable toward the outside world. The discoveries he and his family make while visiting Poland are a little bitter but mostly sweet. I don't think this movie changed my views of the nature of Polish anti-Semitism, but it did open my eyes to the idea that there are equally valid viewpoints that focus on the need to seek kindness wherever it can be found. For those interested in the Holocaust and its emotional effects and especially for those who are the children and grandchildren of survivors, I highly recommend this film.
You wrote this on 2009-12-17
The History Boys
You rated this movie: 4.0
Perfectly decent and droll British comedy. Eight boys, smart but rough-hewn public schoolers, cram with their teachers to try to get into Oxford. That's a tall order in class-conscious England. Along the way, the teachers reveal themselves emotionally to the students and the students, each very different culturally and in personality-type, bond together. There are some laugh out bits in the script. The gay aspects are handled with respect and humor. The ensemble cast does a decent enough job although I'd say the teachers and the headmaster are far better actors than the young men. The History Boys was probably better on stage. It certainly was longer, which probably allowed for the plot to develop. Here the plot lurches more than a bit. The movie is a low budget affair; so don't watch expecting great cinematography. But still, it's well worth a view if you like British comedies.
You wrote this on 2011-01-08
The Host
You rated this movie: 1.0
Painfully dumb. A monster attacks Seoul. A family of misfits saves the city. That's it in a nutshell, folks. What happens along the way involves dreadfully bad movie making. First there is a virus associated with the monster. Then there isn't. The plot is nonsensical with an ungodly number of loose threads. One constant thread is that Americans are evil father figures in Korea. The first fifteen minutes of the movie are kind of fun. The family that saves Seoul is introduced with all of their funny quirks. After those fifteen minutes, it's all downhill and a big snooze.
You wrote this on 2007-08-23
Hot Tub Time Machine
You rated this movie: 1.64
You know those times when you get a DVD and in the middle of the movie you find out that it's damaged? It's so frustrating because you can't get to the ending. With Hot Tub Time Machine, it would have been great if that had happened to me. I could have popped it out of my DVD player and saved myself forty five minutes of boredom mixed with irritation. Instead I just hit fast forward at about the 40 minute mark and saved myself 60 minutes of painful dialogue. I have a thing for dumb comedies. But this movie is absolutely brain dead. It's kind of like Wizard of Oz in a way. Imagine John Cusack as Judy Garland. Imagine a hot tub as a Kansas house. Imagine shorted out electronics as a tornado. Replace Oz with a 1986 ski resort. Imagine the Tin Man, the Lion and the Scarecrow as frat boys. Throw in a lot of f-words and allusions to blow jobs. Voila! You have this stinker. If aliens ever get a copy of this thing they will be convinced that Earth is absent of intelligent life.
Tags: John Cusack probably has never looked so bored acting in a movie, a flick that fully attests to the fact that the 80s really did have the worst pop music ever, this movie does for hot tubs what Fargo did for woodchippers
You wrote this on 2011-10-15
The Hurt Locker
You rated this movie: 4.0
This is one of the better war films made in the last few decades. It's a gut-wrenching look at the lives of three soldiers doing the most perilous of work in Iraq. Visually, the movie is fabulous, giving you a "like you're right there" look at the day-to-day work of disarming bombs. The movie avoids most of the clichŽs that are typical in war epics. The dialogue is sparse and realistic. Where the film comes up a bit short is in its credibility. It deliberately overdramatizes the lives of the soldiers in an effort to heighten tension. But instead I think it serves to pull the viewer away because some of what happens isn't believable. A slightly toned down, less action-driven, film would have been even more effective. That said, overall Hurt Locker is a very good and carefully made movie, one that I highly recommend to anyone concerned about the effects of war on people's lives.
You wrote this on 2010-02-22
I Love You, Man
You rated this movie: 3.0
Not a bad flick with quite a few funny gags. The script holds together well. Jason Segel does a nice turn as the slob in this odd couple. Paul Rudd is the weak link in this movie. He's not someone really designed for a lead comedic role. Rudd is a classic second banana and putting so much weight on his character makes the film creak a bit. But all in all it's a fun time, a good second date kind of movie. It's innocuous and light and will make you laugh more than once or twice.
You wrote this on 2009-08-23
The Ides of March
You rated this movie: 3.12
The acting here is so good up and down that watching everyone deliver their lines is like watching a great fireworks show. But then there is the script, which is dark, cynical and would be thoroughly depressing if it were at all believable. The movie depends on a plot twist that isn't at all supported by logic. Plus there is no way the political candidate portrayed by Clooney - who comes off as a better looking Dennis Kucinich - would be elected as governor of Pennsylvania, much less be a viable presidential candidate. Watch this one for the performances - Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman are all on top of their game and the others aren't far behind - and not for the story, which has a lot of holes and not one smidgen of heart. Because it's so over the top in its darkness, this story probably works better as a theatrical play than it does as a movie.
Tags: Ms. Wood does Raleigh proud and I bet her mom and dad are getting verklempt, those close ups are so tight that I felt tempted to reach out and pick a few blackheads, rich people don't sweat 900 dollars sorry, I will always love Marisa Tomei, this cast could recite a phone book for 90 minutes and I'd probably be captivated, Cincinatti really does look that depressing but once you get to know it it's pretty nice honest
You wrote this on 2011-10-06
The Illusionist
You rated this movie: 2.0
I thought The Triplets of Belleville was unique and delightful, but I found this latest film by Chomet, The Illusionist, to be dull. Here Chomet took a never produced Jacques Tati script and turned it into an animated feature. But take away Jacques Tati from his movies, and you're left with bathos. That's what happens here, where a magician tries to woo a girl with fancy gifts that he can't afford and more or less pretends that he's capable of conjuring them up. The humor of the Tati movies is rarely present and in animation form just doesn't work. On the plus side, The Illusionist is visually beautiful. But a movie needs a captivating story with fully developed characters. Neither is present here.
You wrote this on 2011-05-15
Inception
You rated this movie: 2.0
If I were 12 years old I'd think this movie was boffo. But I'm not. I'm an adult. And as an adult, I thought this movie was dopey and about as exciting - despite all the crashes, bullets, blood and mayhem - as watching paint dry. The dialogue is so wooden that I found myself laughing. The soundtrack borrows so much from Beethoven (7th symphony), Mahler (Das Lied von der Erde), and Wagner (Die Walkure) that Hans Zimmer should be arrested for grand musical theft. If I had known you could do this, I'd have become a film composer myself! Then there are the holes in the plot. For example, the lead character, DiCaprio, will do anything for a chance to go home to the US to see his kids, who live with his parents. But the guy is wealthy. Why doesn't he just fly them to whatever country he lives in? He has a gazillion airline miles undoubtedly; what's he saving them for? Mix a little bit of The Matrix with that old chestnut of a movie Fantastic Voyage, and you get this sci-fi hokum minus Raquel Welch's boobs and curves. On the plus side the acting is leagues above The Matrix. DiCaprio does a good job with what he's given, as does Gordon-Levitt in his trusty sidekick role. Just like in almost all sci-fi, the women are silly caricatures of real people. Christopher Nolan started out with Memento, a clever low budget psychological thriller. With Inception, he spent 200 million dollars. The result is an overblown mess that seemed far, far longer than two and a half hours in length.
You wrote this on 2010-07-31
The In-Laws
You rated this movie: 5.0
Oh my. I saw this recently after a 20-year hiatus and it still is funny as anything. In a screwball comedy like this, it's important to have the actors play it as if everything is as normal as can be. Peter Falk and Alan Arkin are completely on their game. The script is pure Jewish shtick mixed with 30's screwball comedy (the screenwriter wrote his dissertation on movies of the depression, a Ph.D.!). My wife and I still recite funny lines from this movie when they jibe with our real life experiences. For instance, we'll say "it's a Z!" as a code phrase for something so obvious that it's funny to mention it. When a movie's script invades your day-to-day life for 30 years, you know the movie is special.
You wrote this on 2009-05-05
Inside Job
You rated this movie: 4.0
Inside Job is a left-wing diatribe about the banking industry and the 2008 collapse of financial markets, but it is well done and more right than wrong. For a documentary, it's a high budget production. In plain and simple language it describes, through the use of talking heads, the boom and bust cycling we've created through the progressive deregulation of Wall Street. What's telling is that time and time again, the movie is interrupted with a little flash card that tells of yet another person who refused to be interviewed for the film. The absence of key players - like Larry Summers - leaves a gaping hole in the film, but if I were on Wall Street or a prof in a business school, I wouldn't have gone before the camera either. For those who followed the collapse of 2008 there is a lot that you already know; for me, the most interesting tidbit that I didn't know about was that many profs in economics departments and business schools were paid kings ransoms by Wall Street and other business interests to write reports extolling the virtues of deregulation and to lie about the health of very sick and corrupt companies. Not only has Wall Street bought Congress over the last 30 years; they've also bought the professorate. Inside Job swings a bit wildly and paints a far too bleak picture - you'd never know that China quickly recovered from 2008 on the basis of this movie - but it does land quite a few solid blows. I'm sure the right wing will find this movie impossible to watch, especially since they have fabricated the narrative that the collapse of 2008 was all due to Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac; but the narrative here is much closer to the truth.
You wrote this on 2011-05-10
In the Loop
You rated this movie: 4.0
Everyone talks at a mile a minute in this movie, which has more dialogue than I've probably seen in any flick made in the last 40 years. Much of what they say is hilarious. No there isn't much of a plot in this movie; it's about a bunch of political maneuvering related to a war more than vaguely like the US/UK-Iraq conflict. But I didn't really care because the dialogue was so snappy and fun. It reminded me a lot of A Fish Called Wanda that way. If you want a well-plotted story heavy on a lot of "action," ignore this movie. But if you like silly, witty, banter heavy British comedies - from the Lavender Hill Mob on up - this movie will be a lot of fun. Warning for the over-the-top use of four letter words.
You wrote this on 2010-02-06
In the Shadow of the Moon
You rated this movie: 4.0
I don't know if this movie will resonate if you're young, but for the 45 and up crowd, this is an E ticket of a movie (look up E ticket in google if you're under 45 ;)). The historical footage is fabulous and I'll knock off one star only because there are a bit too many shots of talking heads. Not only does this film recreate the magic of the first lunar landing, but also it really does invoke a time when snark wasn't even a word. There were a lot of dark sides to the sixties, but the Apollo missions were the best of the best. If you're an engineer, you'll love this movie even more. The discussions with the astronauts that participated have that engineering lingo mixed with terseness that you'll find as comfortable and warm as that sweater from your college years that you'll never give up. Kennedy supplied the dream of the Apollo missions. But engineers built the spacecrafts and engineers flew them. This movie reminds you of both those facts in a good way.
You wrote this on 2010-04-10
Iron Man
You rated this movie: 2.0
Dreadful stuff. The plot is incomprehensible. The soundtrack screams at you 100 percent of the time and is as annoying as a car alarm at 2 AM in your neighborhood. The banter isn't witty, it's just plain dumb. The low point of the movie is when the hero - after having been held captive for months on end - comes back to the US and his first request is for an "American cheeseburger." That burger turns out to be something from Burger King. Are you kidding me? The best that this billionaire hero can do for a burger is Burger King? Product placement is king I guess. Twenty minutes into the story you realize that the bad men don't wear black hats but shave their heads bald. Stay away from bald men is I guess the moral here. Stay away from this turkey of a movie unless you're an adolescent computer game playing male between the ages of 12-14.
You wrote this on 2008-12-11
It's Complicated
You rated this movie: 3.0
It's not that complicated. The movie is silly, chick flick fluff, a superficial look at relationships with some nice sight gags. One of those sight gags, at about the 90 minute mark, is so good that I'm giving this movie three stars. The flip side is that you have to wait 90 minutes to get to it. It's Complicated is too long by 30 minutes and everyone is so cleaned up and shiny that the movie is wholly unbelievable. Yes, Meryl Streep is wonderful and Alec Baldwin is surprisingly good at doing physical comedy. Without those two quality performances, this movie would have been a true snooze. Imagine Kathryn Hepburn and Cary Grant trying to carry a screwball comedy with wooden dialogue and you'd get something close to this. The score by Hans Zimmer is painfully bad and repetitious; it's pure elevator music. I can only guess that the writer/director wanted the music to be painfully bad and so that's what Zimmer delivered. They paid a fortune, as well, for some of the songs in the background (Beach Boys, Tom Petty, etc.). I'm guessing the music licensing budget was well over a half million; the money would have been better spent hiring a script doctor.
You wrote this on 2010-05-29
I've Loved You So Long
You rated this movie: 2.0
This is really a French soap opera. It's well acted and it has a patina of sophistication, but it's basically an overheated, unbelievable piece of mawkish trash. If it was in English and if the main characters watched TV instead of reading books all of the time this movie would have had very little critical success. The packaging is very nice. What's inside the packaging is cheap chocolate. Let's see now. A woman gets out of prison after serving 15 years for murder and moves in with her well-to-do sister professor and her family in a pretty part of France. Who did she murder? Oh my! Why did she murder this person? Oh my! There are a lot of tears and hugs and along the way; someone blows their brains out (off camera, thank god). As sand flows through the hourglass, so go the days of our lives. Or something likes that.
You wrote this on 2009-03-10
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
You rated this movie: 4.0
I may hate the actor. But I do love the acting. Joan Rivers is one big neurotic tic, but she's also funny as hell, smart as a whip, and quick as a Ferrari. She is fascinating to watch, too, and this is the best documentary Vie seen in quite some time. You get to see Ms. Rivers warts (and there are plenty of them) and all as she successfully keeps her career afloat at an age when most entertainers happily retire to villas in Palm Springs. I'm not particularly a fan of Joan Rivers kvetchy, crude comedy style - I think she's a kind of rougher and not quite as smooth version of her idol Phyllis Diller - but I've got to admit that she knows her way around a joke better than just about anyone today. You can't take your eyes off her; she is indefatigable, fierce, and undeniable. This film captures the essence of show biz ambition better than any I've seen. I kept shaking my head thinking how on earth does anyone keep up this ridiculous level of determination, drive and workload at any age, much less at the age of 75. She may be a walking advertisement for the horrors of too much plastic surgery, but she is also a testimony to the fact that success is 5 percent inspiration and 95 percent perspiration.
You wrote this on 2011-02-02
Julie & Julia
You rated this movie: 4.0
A very sweet and entertaining movie. I'm not generally a fan of Nora Ephron movies, but I found this one to be a whole lot of fun. It's a wonderful date movie for grown-ups, full of warmth and laughs. Meryl Streep is a treasure as per usual. Amy Adams has the emotions of a just turned 30 striver down to a T. Then there is Stanley Tucci who plays a Fred MacMurray kind of character even better than Fred MacMurray did way back when. The dialogue is snappy of course. There is also of course no doubt that happiness will be in store for all the characters in the end (and for the movie-goer as well).
You wrote this on 2009-09-05
Katyn
You rated this movie: 3.0
This is a well-intentioned movie about a very important subject that somehow feels strained and a bit contrived. It feels more like a TV-mini-series in its obviousness than a smart movie. The bad guys are bad. The good guys are good. When a good guy turns bad, he shoots himself out of guilt. Then there is something else that's a little bit eerie here in the movie's construction. Whether intentional or not, the Nazis come off as more humane than the Soviets. It's as if, all things considered, the people would prefer the Nazi's mix of anti-Semitism and fascism over the Soviet's brand of communism if they had to decide which was the lesser of two evils. This aspect of the movie was hard to take. A truly compelling movie awaits to be made on the impact of the Soviets on Poland during WWII and the decade beyond. This one is a bit too cartoon-like in its character development.
You wrote this on 2009-08-27
The Kids Are All Right
You rated this movie: 3.0
So so dramedy with terrific performances that's been getting great reviews mostly, I think, because it's politically correct. The film is formulaic with a new age twist: the couple is gay, and the fly in the ointment that drives the plot is the sperm donor to the couple's children. The script does try to be true to the emotions of the characters and if it didn't have a star-filled cast, I'd say this effort would make for above average cable TV. But it doesn't quite cross the bar for a stand-alone movie. Julianne Moore plays a role quite unlike anything she's played before and is quite simply marvelous. Annette Benning, who I'm sure couldn't wait to grow out of the comically bad haircut she was given for her role, matches Moore line for line. Mark Ruffalo does a solid job with a role the doesn't have any substance; the script gives him a wooden part, a pheromone laden, new age, aging hottie. Even the actors playing the kids' parts are solid. But the script ultimately is more shallow drama than it is true comedy. When, toward the end, Julianne Moore, gives a monologue about the difficulty of relationships, I groaned and thought this is just cheap, new age Chekhov. If you're a TV watcher of HBO-type dramas and comedies who watches MSNBC to affirm your political views, you'll probably like this one. If you think all TV is boring (me), or watch FOX to affirm your political views (not me), you'll think that this one was just OK.
You wrote this on 2010-08-21
The King's Speech
You rated this movie: 4.0
A very sweet, uplifting movie about how class distinctions can be immaterial and how a man can overcome painful obstacles to achieve success. Colin Firth plays the Duke of York, soon to be King George. Geoffrey Rush is the man who by chance has the difficult job of teaching the Duke how to speak publicly without a stutter. The film is played very simply as a story of friendship between the unlikeliest of pairs. Firth does an outstanding job. Rush perhaps overacts a bit, but is both arresting to watch and amusing. The movie plays loose with verisimilitude, but it's probably necessary to do that in order to bring a contemporary audience into the drama. You can tell that the actors had a lot of fun making this movie; there's just an ease of comfort that makes the film sing. The Kings Speech isn't the deepest film in the world, but it is an excellent one for thoughtful older audiences. I can't imagine someone over the age of 40 not liking this film. I expect that it will take off at the box office when it's released and win its share of awards.
You wrote this on 2010-11-18
Kismet
You rated this movie: 4.0
They don't call the era of MGM musicals the golden age for nothing. Howard Keel is tremendous as a singer and comic actor and he ain¹t bad to look at either. Ann Blyth hits all the notes as the ingenue and she ain't bad to look at, too. Minelli wanted to film this movie in Baghdad, but MGM wouldn't give him the money so he created a very colorful, theatrical set, almost a visual parody of a Muslim city. Of course, if they tried to make this film – loaded with slurs and cliches about Arabs and Muslims – today there would be an uproar. Plus the whole cast looks like it was imported from Norway, it's so pale skinned. If you can forgive all that – and I can – this movie is a whole lot of fun with a bunch of wonderful songs, wonderfully performed, all hung together by a silly plot.
You wrote this on 2011-09-23
Last Chance Harvey
You rated this movie: 3.0
I had no idea that Dustin Hoffman was that short! I've stood next to Emma Thompson. She's about 5'6". She seems to tower over Hoffman even barefoot. He's no more than 5'4". So I learned that one tidbit from this movie. I also learned that Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are consummate actors. Actually, I knew that already. Finally, I learned that even in a bad movie, these two can shine. Whoops. I knew that already too! Last Chance Harvey was written expressly for these two actors. It's a star vehicle. You get what you expect with a movie like this: a thin plot and lots of room for these actors to show their chops. I thought Emma Thompson and I would have made a lovely couple by the way. Just standing next to her for twenty seconds at the Venice airport - we both lost all of our luggage - I could feel the chemistry between us. And unlike Mr. Hoffman, I'm taller than her. My wife, though, says I'm too good for Ms. Thompson. Flattery will get you everywhere.
You wrote this on 2009-06-21
Last Train Home
You rated this movie: 4.0
Last Train Home is a very poignant, sad, and gritty look at the modern peasant class of China. Capitalism has brought many of them out of poverty, but the flip side is that it has dislocated tens of millions of families. The parents work in factories in far off cites in the East. The children stay in the countryside reared by their grandparents. Aside from once a year visits during the Chinese New Year, parents and children are separated both physically and emotionally. This documentary looks in an unvarnished way at the lives of one peasant family over a roughly two-year period. The parents yearn for something better for their children, but since they aren't present, are powerless to effect change. Last Train Home is an eye opener about where China and its people are today. On paper and in fact there has been incredible economic progress. But in terms of real lives lived, the impact of Chinas economic growth has been a double-edged sword.
You wrote this on 2011-05-18
Lemon Tree
You rated this movie: 3.0
The film is very sincere and has the kernel of a good idea, but the execution is rather lame. A lemon tree grove in the occupied territories becomes a metaphor for Israeli-Palestinian relations. And as the song about the lemon tree goes - and that song is played in the background at least twice - things are impossible to eat/resolve. So much for the good part of this movie. The actual drama is artificial and unbelievable, and the characters are too broadly drawn. On another level, this film seems to argue that all men are jerks and if only women were in charge, the Middle East would be in harmony. If only things were so simple. Ultimately, this movie is simple-minded and poorly thought out.
You wrote this on 2009-12-13
A Life Apart: Hasidism in America
You rated this movie: 4.0
I grew up with one foot in the Hasidic world. I know the culture fairly well. The creators of this movie must have worked very, very hard to get some of this footage. This movie is about as sympathetic a portrayal of the Hasidic community in New York as you'll likely find. It emphasizes the warmth, the spirituality and the strong family ties of the Hasidim and tries to avoid making judgments. The movie allows the Hasidim to show their best face and extol the joy and contentment in their lives. It dabbles a bit in showing those that have left the community, but does so with a soft focus approach. If you want to understand a bit about the better side of Hasidism, this movie is a good place to start.
You wrote this on 2010-02-08
The Life and Work of Sally Mann
You rated this movie: 4.0
This biography gets into the emotions of what its like to be a Southern artist in a New York driven art world as well as can be possibly expected. Sally Mann made a huge splash with her glass negative, box camera, portraits of her children and husband in the 1990s. They were a potent mix of honeyed nostalgia and the creepy. But at heart, Ms. Mann isn't avante garde, detached, and edgy, characteristics that have driven the New York art world for decades. She is an artist ultimately as grounded in the real world and in the land around her as much as the 19th century photographers whose equipment and techniques she uses. New York has been far less interested in her later work and the question this documentary explores well - by filming Ms. Mann and her family over a roughly 9 month period - is how important is an audience to an artist? We get to see Mann struggle with rejection and after swallowing a good deal of pride, make the effort to find an alternative audience for her new work. Recommended for those interested in the creative process and especially those interested in art photography.
You wrote this on 2011-07-20
The Lincoln Lawyer
You rated this movie: 4.0
The Lincoln Lawyer is a very old fashioned legal drama that borrows from plot devices seen way back when in Perry Mason. Aside from the fast cutting and the staccato, terse dialogue you would think that this film was made in the 1980s. I kept thinking that this movie was a lot like a film with Jeff Goldblum, Into The Night, which was fast-paced, feel-good entertainment with a creaky plot and a lot of one-liners. The Lincoln Lawyer avoids special effects and car crashes and instead relies upon a good yarn to carry the day. A slick lawyer with a heart of gold tries to do the right thing is the story in a nutshell. Of course there are serious obstacles along the way. The cast is first rate - Marisa Tomei gets to play someone normal for the first time in a long time - as is the soundtrack. I wish Hollywood made more movies like this.
You wrote this on 2011-04-25
Live-in Maid
You rated this movie: 4.0
Netflix's rating algorithm said I wouldn't like this movie. It was wrong. This is a well-written character study about the interaction between two middle age women who have been uneasily tied together for 30 years. It's an eye-opening look at another culture, but the theme here crosses cultural boundaries easily. The story is believable. The acting is solid. A sad film with heart that doesn't try to do too much. Highly recommended. Chick films in the US could learn a thing or two from this movie.
You wrote this on 2008-12-11
Living in Oblivion
You rated this movie: 2.0
Oh this movie is a major abuse of talent. The narrative is obvious. I kept waiting to laugh, hoping to laugh, and then just hoping for a smile to come from the script. None arrived. There are a lot of quality actors on the screen with nothing to do. If you're a moviemaker, this script might be interesting as an insider kind of farcical look at the movie business. But if you aren't or don't really care about the movie business and just want a good and funny story, this movie will almost certainly disappoint. It's too obvious to be interesting. If it weren't for the high quality actors, I'd file this one under visual and verbal torture.
You wrote this on 2009-08-05
The Making of West Side Story
You rated this movie: 4.0
Four gay Jewish New York guys walk into a bar. No that's not the opening to a joke. That's a slightly stretched version of how one of the greatest Broadway musicals was made. I love this musical and if you are a musician, lyricist or composer, you'll likely find this documentary fascinating. Probably, music lovers will find this view into the world of studio recording compelling as well. The movie gives you a portrait of Leonard Bernstein during a time after his drug craziness when he became a real human being again. The real joke in this movie deals with the casting of Jose Carreras as the New York, white trash, tenement dwelling, and romantic lead. Huh? Boy does he ever struggle with the words. Plus, he is simply a voice with little or no musical skills. There are two different versions of him singing Maria that define this movie. The first version is painfully bad. Carreras comes back the next day and suddenly, bam! Not only is the voice there, but there is some rhythm and emotion. Human beings are not machines. And Leonard Bernstein plays the role of flawed king here with perfection. Except it really isn't a role. It was his life.
You wrote this on 2009-07-24
Mamele
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you don't know Yiddish, this film may be hard to watch because the subtitles are sometimes illegible. But if you do know the language, this is a fun movie on a number of fronts. You can see the origins of the 50s-80s TV sitcom in this movie very clearly. There is the same snappy dialogue, the same irony, the same zany ridiculous plot, and all of it is couched in a family full of outlier characters. Molly Picon is fabulous. If she had been born forty years later, she could have been a wonderful sitcom TV star. The songs - kind of Bollywood-like - that are interspersed throughout the film are fun and well written, too.
You wrote this on 2009-11-16
The Men Who Stare at Goats
You rated this movie: 3.0
This movie doesn't quite know if it's trying to be Ishtar or The Magnificent Seven. It's more or less a buddy movie with the addition of ESP and New Age philosophy in an Army setting. If that sounds nonsensical to you then you won't at all like this flick. The script is a horrible mess although some of the gags are funny. Most of the gags are head scratchers, though. What makes this movie watchable is the cast, which does a wonderful job trying to make something entertaining out of a whole lot of nothing. I'm giving this movie an extra star because of the extra feature on the DVD, which interviews the real people involved in using ESP and New Age ideas in the Army (yes, this is based a bit on a true story). Their real life tales were far more interesting than the actual movie.
You wrote this on 2010-04-03
The Messenger
You rated this movie: 3.0
If being sincere and well meaning were all you needed to make a good movie, The Messenger would get five stars hands down. But you also need a decent script, and this one comes up way short, save from a very good monologue at about the 90-minute mark. Two men go door to door delivering the news about loved ones lost in battle to wives and parents. The visits are true to life, but they also become repetitive and ultimately nothing much happens in the way of character development. On the plus side, the movie has a naturalistic feel and is respectful of both the military and those who face the horrible grief of losing a child. Woody Harrelson takes a Hollywood let's ham it up approach, but the other principal actors - Ben Foster and Samantha Morton - are much more low key and effective. Neither Foster nor Morton have the faces or bodies of typical lead actors, which makes the film much more believable. These are ordinary people dealing with extraordinary events. I just wish the writers would have somehow found a way to insert a real plot. Instead, the movie is well intentioned, but desultory in structure.
You wrote this on 2010-07-01
Midnight in Paris
You rated this movie 4.0
I hadn't seen a woody Allen movie in a while and maybe the last movie of his that I liked was Zelig. I'd given up. He was ponderous and predictable. But then this movie came out and people said he'd rebounded. I didn't believe it at first. Now that I've seen this movie, I'd have to agree. It's both charming and funny, a well-constructed light comedy that made me laugh more than a few times. Owen Wilson plays the Woody Allen lead role, which is a funny bit of casting that adds to the laughs. When Wilson, sent to the past, starts kvetching about the absence of antibiotics, you laugh at both the line and about the fact that some beach boy goy is saying it. Here Wilson is miserable, dealing with an unsuitable fianc? (she's basically an materialist airhead with a hot body), rabid right-wing future in-laws, and a novel in progress that's lifeless. To escape he goes backwards in time at midnight. The people and situations he runs into in his time travel are a hoot. The movie doesn't try to do too much. It's effective comedy that harkens back to 1930's screwball movies where the characters are all wealthy, live lavishly, and don't apparently ever work. I kept expecting Edward Everett Horton to make a cameo appearance in a tux. If you liked the old Allen comedies of the 1970s, you'll probably like this movie as well.
You wrote this on 2011-07-21
Moneyball
You rated this: 3.46
I was curious as to how they were going to make an interesting movie from the book Moneyball, which is all about the value of baseball statistics. Now I know. You probably can¹t. The acting here is first rate. Pitt and Hill have good chemistry. The visuals are well done (and you can spot me in the film as an extra behind Pitt and Hill at about the 12 minute mark). All and all this is a very carefully made movie. But the script is a downer. The main character, Billy Beane, is portrayed as an unhappy, tortured soul who spends a lot of time looking back at the mistakes in his life (a broken marriage and his failure as a ballplayer are most prominent). As a result, it¹s hard to root for him to succeed. There are a tremendous number of scenes where there isn't any dialogue at all and the camera just dwells on pensive faces. The deliberate pacing makes the movie a bit of a snooze. I liked the choices for the subsidiary acting roles. Hoffman does a fine job and the faces picked for the time-weathered baseball scouts are fantastic. But overall, I¹d say this movie is for baseball fans only.
Tags: egads two hours of us pretending to watch a fly ball go up and down for less than two seconds of final footage, Brad Pitt really is the lost son of Robert Redford, I'd like to see Hoffman lose 120 pounds to play the part of Apolo Ohno in his next movie now that would be acting, the biggest part of movie magic here was making the Oakland Coliseum look ravishingly beautiful
You wrote this on 2011-10-03
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and
the Pentagon Papers
You rated this movie: 3.0
From a movie making standpoint this film is not up to snuff. It's just one talking head after another. If you are old enough to know this story, there's not a whole lot new here, although one of the Nixon tapes aired is jaw dropping. If you're young though, I'd recommend the film as an accessible entryway into a very interesting time in American history. Without Ellsberg, we would have never found out that the government was lying to us about Vietnam. Tens of thousands of additional American lives would have been lost without purpose. But the moviemakers should have found some way to make a real story about the life of Daniel Ellsberg. What we get here instead is a mishmash of events. While interesting, it's one of the more artless movies I've watched in some time.
You wrote this on 2011-01-14
Mountains of the Moon
You rated this movie: 2.0
A very cheesy, long, disjointed buddy movie with some gay undercurrents thrown in. If I had seen this on a big screen, I might have given this movie an extra star because the African scenery would likely have been captivating. But on a TV screen, you're left with the script and acting to focus on. The script is out of some B grade epic you might see on AMC in a hotel room. The acting is overheated. This film is pretty much a disaster from the opening fight scene between the explorers and the African tribesmen. I'm sure the real story of these two adventurers is interesting. But the movie? Yawn.
You wrote this on 2010-12-12
Moving Midway
You rated this movie: 4.0
You won't find another movie as steeped in the real heart of Carolina. I don't know if this movie will appeal to a general audience. I do know it will appeal to many who have spent time in the South and especially those who spent time in the Carolina Piedmont. A sweet story about Southern family and the changing tides of time. The people portrayed here are Southerners through and through. When they desperately speculate that their family must have treated their slaves well because everyone in the family is so kind, I felt like I knew these people. Even the construction of the movie has a Southern feel; laid back and quiet in his approach, the director lets the story simply show itself little by little. Watch this one after some bar-b-que, sweet tea, and banana pudding. Wash it all down with some bourbon while you watch and you'll feel right at home.
You wrote this on 2009-07-01
Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian
You rated this movie: 2.0
There have been a lot of movies like this as of late. I think it started with Shrek. You mix camp with a cheesy sentimental plot, and then add a lot of popular culture references. If you liked Shrek, you'll probably like this one too. But for me - I saw this one on an airplane - it's tedious and predictable. I don't understand the appeal of Ben Stiller. This is the only movie I've seen where I haven't liked Amy Adams, who looks bored in her part. When the bad guy has a speech defect for comic relief, you know you're in for an infantile comedy.
You wrote this on 2009-10-07
Nine Lives
You rated this movie: 2.0
Dreadful, 100 percent chick flick that even my wife - who picked this one - didn't like. There are nine short films here, each about a different woman. One of them - which features Kathy Baker - is actually quite good. As for the rest, they are completely unbelievable and sophomoric. The dialogue is mawkish. Visually, the film, I guess, is unique because each short film is done with a single shot. The camera moves around in an unsettling way. OK, so what? There are top-notch actresses here trying so hard to make all this stuff interesting. I felt sorry for every one of them for picking this project. This film is pretentious, aliterate hoo hah. The one good thing is that next time we watch a film, it's my turn to pick! I'm thinking...zombie movie.
You wrote this on 2010-07-12
$9.99
You rated this movie: 3.0
I watched this movie with my wife, who tends to like cerebral mood pieces as long as they aren't too unrelentingly depressing or violent, and my sister-in-law, who likes feel good mega-sellers like The Blind Side. My wife lasted about 10 minutes before she went off to knit in another room. She commented that the animated characters looked depressingly ugly and disturbing. My sister-in-law kept watching, but would look at me with a slightly wan exasperated look every now and then and say, "I don't get it." As for me, I kept watching and thought this isn't bad, the dialogue is quite good, and the story is inventive if a bit sophomoric. This is the kind of movie that comes from the mind of someone who hasn't gotten past college philosophy classes. The story is laden with dyspepsia and is a mash up of Israeli mood with Australian daily culture. There are a number of stories intertwined here and all of them take place in one apartment building. There's a battling young couple, a soccer crazy kid and his dad, another dad with his two grown sons, a supermodel and her lover, and an old lonely man who receives a strange visitor. The mix of magic realism and animation works well. But overall, it's all too depressing, so much so, that I didn't have any urge to watch the two extra shorts on the DVD. I can't say this was enjoyable but over the 78 minutes, there were about 30 minutes worth of inventive and interesting material.
You wrote this on 2010-06-13
No Man's Land
You rated this movie: 4.0
This movie is a very play-like/theatrical look at the nature of human conflict. The humor is mordant, as it should be. The infantile hostility that suffuses the major characters at the expense of any humanity or rational behavior subsides and rises unexpectedly, which creates the drama that defines this film. This is the kind of movie Hollywood never makes because it requires too much intelligence.
You wrote this on 2009-07-03
Of Gods and Men
You rated this movie: 4.0
Wonderfully shot and appropriately meditative, Of Gods and Men examines the life or death decision of a group of French monks living in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria during a time when foreigners were routinely murdered by an insurgent group of terrorists. Should these men of God go and abandon their life's work or should they stay despite the obvious danger? Personally, these are the kinds of decisions that make me queasy given that my father's family faced a similar decision and in the end believed wrongly that God would somehow intervene and save the righteous. Whenever I hear the phrase ÒGod will help usÓ I wince and think you've got to be crazy. Still, despite my lack of sympathy for people of faith, I found this film mostly captivating if a bit too long. I think this was because I was able to get beyond the religious aspects and focus on the monks as human beings deciding fundamentally about the purpose of community and the purpose of life irrespective of religion. The acting is excellent; every actor has a wonderfully expressive face. This is one of the better art house films that I've seen in the last two years.
You wrote this on 2011-07-30
Pandora and The Flying Dutchman
You rated this movie: 3.38
If you can get the restored version of this movie, it's probably worth a view. The colors are bright and the scenery is beautiful, as is Ava Gardner (more on her later). Albert Lewin, an English professor type with a MA from Harvard, oddly was indulged by MGM to direct and write a handful of literary (read heavy with dialogue; pretentious themes) movies. This one was based on the Flying Dutchman legend and was filmed in a gorgeous coastal town in Spain. The script is a bit odd and heavy handed, but it's serviceable. The key problem with this film is that its lead, Ava Gardner, really can't act and for this script to work you need someone who can show real emotion and emotional growth. Ava Gardner is about as wooden as they come with her lines. But, but, but she's absolutely gorgeous! It seems that in every scene she's wearing a new amazing dress (how they kept some of those spare, diaphanous things from falling off her body is testimony to a skilled film crew, no doubt). Most of the scenes are simply about the camera lingering on her face and curves. She really does light up the screen. She just should never talk. What a glamourpuss she was, one of the best of all time. I'd say this film works best as a wonderful Ava Gardner fashion show and is visually a lot of fun even when Ms. Gardner isn't included in the scenery. Just don't expect anything in the way of real drama and you'll have a good time watching this flick.
Tags: That black dress must be held on by glue, Ava is so bad an actress that she couldn't convince me she was born in the US but I can see why the bullfighter fell in love with her on the set, there are flames on my car, oh my what big tires you have, is James Mason supposed to look weary or is he just bored and how would I know the difference
You wrote this on 2011-10-01
The Pajama Game
You rated this movie: 4.0
John Raitt is a major hunk and has the voice of an angel. There are some classic songs here. The dance numbers are a lot of fun. That's the good side of this musical. The bad side is that there isn't any chemistry between Raitt and Day. The book is hokey and dated. Plus most of the songs are indeed completely innocuous and forgettable. Still in the balance this is an enjoyable piece of nostalgia if you like musical theater (and I do). The Pajama Game was made in what was truly the golden age of the American musical and the American songbook. This musical isn't up there with the best of that era (like West Side Story and Oklahoma), but it's better than about 90 percent of what has been produced on Broadway. The Hollywood version appears to stay close to the theatrical one and sticks with people who actually sing their own parts. It's a good bet that if you're a theater buff, you'll appreciate the details in this well made, if flawed, musical.
You wrote this on 2011-02-05
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
You rated this movie: 3.0
If you can get the restored version of this movie, it's probably worth a view. The colors are bright and the scenery is beautiful, as is Ava Gardner (more on her later). Albert Lewin, an English professor type with a MA from Harvard, oddly was indulged by MGM to direct and write a handful of literary (read heavy with dialogue; pretentious themes) movies. This one was based on the Flying Dutchman legend and was filmed in a gorgeous coastal town in Spain. The script is a bit odd and heavy handed, but it's serviceable. The key problem with this film is that its lead, Ava Gardner really can't act and for this script to work you need someone who can show real emotion and emotional growth. Ava Gardner is about as wooden as they come with her lines. But, but, but she's absolutely gorgeous! It seems that in every scene she's wearing a new amazing dress (how they kept some of those spare, diaphanous things from falling off her body is testimony to a skilled film crew, no doubt). Most of the scenes are simply about the camera lingering on her face and curves. She really does light up the screen. She just should never talk. What a glamourpuss she was, one of the best of all time. I'd say this film works best as a wonderful Ava Gardner fashion show and is visually a lot of fun even when Ms. Gardner isn't included in the scenery. Just don't expect anything in the way of real drama and you'll have a good time watching this flick.
Paris
You rated this movie: 3.0
Three stars simply because of Juliette Binoche, who plays the world's most gorgeous soccer mom. I saw this on a plane on a 6" screen on the seat in front of me, so if there was great cinematography, I of course missed that. In terms of the story there's really not much there. The writer/director is by and large unsuccessful at weaving together all the little vignettes that make up this movie. The two male leads that play brothers are way too old for their parts. The male lead who has a heart problem is kind of painful to watch because he doesn't say much and just looks like...he's sick. There is a lot of smooching, always a plus in my book. These people really do know how to smooch, too. So maybe three stars for that. But all and all, this one is light and inconsequential.
You wrote this on 2010-05-21
Please Give
You rated this movie: 4.0
One of the more thoughtful movies I've seen this year with also some of the most terse and sharp dialogue. Nicole Holofcener is on the literate side of movie making. Characters and motivation matter to her much more than visuals. In many ways, I would describe her as a female and American version of Mike Leigh. It's not a style that will suit every moviegoer, but it works for me. The ensemble cast works together well. I wouldn't say that any of the performances stand out save for one, that of the cranky and unintentionally funny grandmother. But everyone holds their own and there are some difficult roles here to carry convincingly. Perhaps more than most Holofcenter movies, this one has more than a trifle of a story. There's a real arc to the plot. Please Give is a satisfying, quiet, true to life film about relationships in urban America today.
You wrote this on 2010-06-05
Please Vote For Me
You rated this movie: 4.0
A very enjoyable documentary that affords an eye opening look at Chinese culture. A third grade class in an upper crust (for China) school gets to be the first class ever to elect their class monitor. Three children are selected as possible candidates by the school: one shy girl, one eight year old glad handler beaming with confidence and with the gift of gab (who seemed to me to be a pint sized version of Bill Clinton), and a strong silent type (the son of the local police chief). The dirty tricks of these oh-so-young politicians and the parental meddling are surprisingly very funny. Each candidate rides an emotional roller coaster until the votes are cast. But this film is also very educational, showing clearly the strong emphasis on the we rather than the I in Chinese culture, an emphasis that conflicts a bit with the doting of parents upon their government mandated only children. If you're at all interested in Chinese culture or in elementary school education, I highly recommend this film.
You wrote this on 2010-12-30
Prisoner of Paradise
You rated this movie: 3.0
The life examined in this documentary would likely make a wonderful novel or fictionalized drama. A larger than life figure with an ego to match, Kurt Gerron had to face a tragic choice: should he help the Nazi's and use his great talent to direct a film glorifying life in a concentration camp or should he sacrifice his life by saying no. But in this biography, we never quite get inside the head and heart of Gerron. He's a distant figure, and because the creators of this film decided to strictly stick with what little facts are known, we get a factually correct but ultimately thin and unsatisfying movie. The visuals are solid and there is, thankfully, minimal use of talking heads. But ultimately, this film is too clinical to allow for emotional engagement.
You wrote this on 2010-08-02
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
You rated this movie: 3.0
It's an honest and sometimes insightful look at life for a Catholic family in the 1950s, but this one doesn't quite shine. The filmmakers for some reason decided to keep the ethnic aspects out of this story and make the family more generically American. As a result, a lot of potential pithiness gets left unexplored, and the movie has an overall blandness. I happen to love Julianne Moore as an actress, but she's just too ethereal and beautiful for this part. A young Kathy Bates-type would have been far better. Woody Harrelson, tries, but really can't wrap his arms around his part and his attempts to try and look fat and out of shape just end up making him look a little goofy. This film needed a little more grit and grime to be engaging and believable.
You wrote this on 2010-05-07
Rango
You rated this movie: 4.0
Just for a meter of where I stand on CGI movies, Toy Story 1 and 3 were grand as well as Ratatouille and Chicken Run. Shrek was a definite no. Now on to the review. Rango isn't quite a Toy Story 1 or Ratatouille in terms of inventiveness, but it is a fun, if quirky, ride of a movie. You have to suspend your disbelief enough to make Jimmy Stewart (the movie borrows heavily from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence) into a lizard sheriff in the Old West. Then you have to like faux existential dilemmas. If all that is too much silliness for you to bear (and no kid under 10 will likely find this movie very much fun) then you wont like this movie. But if you're a Rocky and Bullwinkle kind of fan, I'd give this one a go. The sight gags are very funny. The animation is amazingly detailed. The movie never takes itself too seriously and stays away from being sappy. You can also have a lot of fun trying to identify from which old movie they stole each scene. I'd call this one a good date movie for a couple that loves silliness mixed with a little fractured philosophy or a family movie if your kids are in the 10-14 range.
You wrote this on 2011-03-06
Ratatouille
You rated this movie: 5.0
This is the best animated film I've seen in quite some time. It may be that I've never seen a better one. First off, the quality of the animation is incredible, especially the panoramas of the city of Paris. This is just beautiful visualization, folks. Then there is the story, which is inventive with many surprises along the way. I was caught up in the story of the rat who wanted to be a chef (I can't believe I just wrote that sentence, but it's true). After the credits ended, my first impulse was, "I want to see this again." Ratatouille is just fantastic entertainment from start to finish.
You wrote this on 2007-08-05
Restrepo
You rated this movie: 4.0
War is hell and this documentary films that hell with visceral poignancy. Restrepo doesn't try to make judgments about the Afghanistan War and its purpose. Rather it's a documentary in the truest sense, recording in great detail what it's like to be an American soldier in action. There is no effort at trying to make these soldiers look heroic although they are clearly brave, serious, and skilled men. I'm old enough to remember similar footage from Vietnam shown nightly on the evening news and its effect on turning Americans against the war. That footage was the reason the military has been against allowing film crews like the one here access to subsequent conflicts. There is no way you can make real battle scenes look heroic even in a just and good war. In the case of Afghanistan where the goals of war are at best ambiguous, this film - not by design - provides a counterweight to the military and presidential rhetoric as to what exactly we are achieving. A group of brave men are stuck in an outpost on the edge of a valley controlled by the Taliban. They do their jobs to the best of their ability. But the rationale for having these people risk their lives is dubious. This is ultimately a very tragic film.
You wrote this on 2011-09-30
The Secrets
You rated this movie: 2.0
Yentl goes lesbo. That's this movie in a nutshell with the qualifier that the lesbo part is very arty and tasteful. There are many movies and plays (far too many) where the acting is leagues above the script. That's the case here. The dialogue is incredibly stilted (in Hebrew or in English, take your pick). The characters are stock "types" and move around the plot like chess pieces. Ultimately, this film isn't very intelligent. If the production values weren't so low budget and the actors weren't speaking in Hebrew, this would be standard Hollywood faire: take a serious subject and trivialize it making sure you have very pretty people playing the parts (the "fat" girl in the movie is maybe 10 pounds overweight) who take their clothes off now and then. While watching this movie, I felt sorry for the actors, who somehow had to breathe life into this thing.
You wrote this on 2009-06-18
The Secret of Kells
You rated this movie: 3.0
If a movie were all about visuals, I'd rate this one as excellent. But a movie needs a story as well, and this is where The Secret of the Kells falls short. It's probably an adequate tale for a 10 year old. An adult watching this thing (or at least an adult like me) will end up bored and will wince over the clunky transitions in plot. On the plus side, the animation is quite beautiful. Also, I learned about the Book of Kells and this movie gave me a hankering to see the actual book one day. But the fictional back-story as to how the Book of Kells was actually created is a snooze. This is the kind of movie you can watch with your kid and he'll probably like it. As you watch your mind will probably wander off more often than not.
You wrote this on 2011-03-16
The Secret in Their Eyes
You rated this movie: 3.0
This is a real hodgepodge of a film that tries to blend a bunch of genres into one. Part buddy movie, part hot Latin romance, part political crime whodunit, I think there is way too much going on here to make this a coherent and satisfying film. Still it's all very watchable, if a bit too long. A crusty retired cop with a warm heart tries to write a novel about an old crime case, and unexpected things happen along the way. Much of the film is in flashback mode, and is filled with jokey/serious cop/judge banter that seems borrowed from American crime TV shows. Then there is the longstanding unrequited love between the cop and his former boss that weighs heavily throughout the film. I think that the acting manages to overcome the overcooked script. Some of the performances shine and the strong Latin influences allow this movie to rise above most in the cop/buddy movie genre. If you like foreign crime films, you might find this one interesting. If you're more of a mainstream film goer, I'd stay away.
You wrote this on 2010-11-29
A Serious Man
You rated this movie: 2.0
Beevis and Butthead do Job. This is a very non-serious movie, a sophomoric look at a story that has been examined by many serious people for many, many years. Right from the start, something is very wrong. It opens with a non sequitur, a pseudo-Yiddish fable set somewhere in the Jewish Pale. The lead has no command of the Yiddish; he's just mouthing a transliteration. The Chassidic rabbi speaks with a Lithuanian accent. The tale is something out of Zombieland. The movie then fast-forwards to the American Midwest, circa 1967. This is a territory I know well. I lived this life. In an episodic way, the Coen Brothers try to create a dream-like, modern, satiric look at Job. Ignoring all the Jewish self-loathing in this movie, making a satire of Job is a lousy idea. It isn't funny. Neither is this movie. The Coen Brothers are very hit and miss type of filmmakers. They do best when they keep it light. This one is a definite miss.
You wrote this on 2010-02-27
The Shawshank Redemption
You rated this movie: 5.0
This is an old-fashioned kind of story, the kind of movie that could have been made with James Cagney and Spencer Tracy way back when. Like movies of old, the script is dialogue heavy, but unlike movies of old, this one decides its OK to let the mood stew. The narrative keeps you interested and sure your heartstrings are pulled, but that's more than OK. Very sweetly made movie with excellent visuals and acting and a nice little twisteroo at the end. If your date doesn't like this one, it's time to move on to another potential partner. He or she must not have a heart.
You wrote this on 2009-05-04
The Simpsons Movie
You rated this movie: 2.0
I like the TV show the Simpsons, really do. But these guys can't make a movie. They don't have a clue. If you are going to try, you need a coherent plot and apparently the writers don't know about this. There is no plot whatsoever. Instead, the writers try to make their TV show into a movie by stretching the boundaries of their characters. Homer gets meaner and more self-centered. Bart develops a strong need for fatherly love. Lisa falls for a boy. The little tike - sorry forgot her name - comes to the rescue time and time again. As a result, the movie not only lacks a plot, but also ends up being worse than most of the segments on TV. It's not funny, boring beyond belief and is one of two - the other being Superbad - of the worst comedies I've seen in the last 12 months. If they try to make a sequel someone should poison them.
You wrote this on 2008-02-03
A Single Man
You rated this movie: 4.0
A bit heavy handed with pretentious visuals, A Single Man is saved by its dialogue, which is often very sharp, and by some wonderful acting by the principles. Colin Firth hits all the right notes as a man who has lost the love of his life. Julianne Moore is splendidly over the top as an aged beauty. The interaction between these two actors is fabulous. The background music, mostly Eastern European sounding waltzes, seems out of place. The dream sequences were so overdone that they took me away from the story. Those criticisms aside, if you want to see real grown-ups interact like real adults who have experienced loss, this movie will likely appeal.
You wrote this on 2010-08-18
The Social Network
You rated this movie: 4.0
It's not the deepest movie in the world, but the Social Network is a lot of fun. Adam Sorkin borrows from Hamlet and Greek tragedy to create a tale of greed in the digital age. Not all of the settings or dialogue ring true, but the pace is so fast that the clunky scenes fly right by. There's a lot of comic shtick along the way to keep the movie from getting too dreary. The director borrows action flick techniques to keep the audience alert. Finally there are the performances in the ensemble cast, which are solid except for Justin Timberlake. Unfortunately Timberlake isn't a very good actor, but he isn't on the screen that long so he doesn't detract that much. I'd put this one up there with Network and Wall Street and below Clockwork Orange as a social commentary movie with some pizzazz.
You wrote this on 2010-10-03
A Somewhat Gentle Man
You rated this movie: 3.0
An offbeat and comic twist on the "thug decides to go legit" premise, A Somewhat Gentle Man has enough originality to keep things interesting even though it's a low budget affair and not all of the Norwegian humor translates well to American taste. The movie is a bit slow going and understated for the first half hour, but it picks up its pace for the rest of the way. If you're put off by subtitles or don't like your humor dry, this movie will bore, but if you like Harold and Maude kind of quirk, you'll find it at least a bit amusing. The lead actor does a splendid job. The cinematography is very rudimentary. Sometimes the drama is a bit ponderous, but the movie intermittently inserts comic set pieces to keep things upbeat in a dry sort of Norwegian way. I can easily imagine this film being re-made and "Hollywood-ized" with some hunky guy like Christian Bale. But then the quirk would be gone and the zany elements are what make the movie worth watching.
You wrote this on 2011-06-16
Son of Rambow
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you like Hollywood comedies with lots of bathroom kind of humor, this one won't appeal. But it is a very sweet and charming comedy in the British tradition of dialogue heavy comic movies. While it's a movie about children, it's not at all a kids movie. There are definite holes in the plot, but that's true in most comedies. I'd say it's very akin in its feel and humor to the movie Hott Fuzz. Like that movie, this one is loaded with wry and ironic humor. The kids in the movie have great chemistry and there are plenty of laugh out loud scenes. Skip this one if you're a fan of things like Something About Mary and Adam Sandler (yawn). But if you like quiet, fairly sophisticated comedy with heart, you'll love this one.
You wrote this on 2008-09-16
Sondheim: The Birthday Concert
You rated this movie 5.0
If you are interested in musical theater, this concert is an absolute must see. The show was put together with consistent care, quality, and humor, something that is rare in reviews like this. Then there are the performances given by an all star cast that more often knocks these Sondheim songs out of the park. I was crying with joy as I watched, some of these performances are that good. Mandy Patinkin is stunningly artful, as is Donna Murphy. Then there is Elaine Stritch, who even at 80 plus, exudes 130% star power; she must have made a pact with the devil. The best is saved for last, when five women - Murphy, Peters, McDonald, Lapone, and Stritch - sit in front of the audience and take their turns playing, in a fun way, a game of can you top this. I have never seen a better review show. I probably will never see a better one in the next 20 years. This is top-notch musical theater magic.
You worte this on 2011-07-20
The Sorrow and the Pity
You rated this movie: 4.0
The big kahuna of documentary movies and probably the one that made documentaries a part of regular movie watching. I was too young to see this film when it first came out. If I were French, I think this movie would be an incredibly emotional and moving film and would undoubtedly give it five stars. I don't know that much about French history, though, and I think that some of the subtleties of this movie are a bit over my head. Still, this is a very moving film. It strips away the myth of French resistance to German occupation in a way that no book ever could. The personal stories told are sometimes very funny in that sardonic French way, but mostly they are chilling. This is a movie well worth watching if you're interested in government and how people willfully shape their national identity with a mixture of facts, distorted facts and fiction.
You wrote this on 2010-05-07
Source Code
You rated this movie 3.0
Warning: I'm not really a fan of thrillers and generally can't stand sci/fi either, but the reviews for this one touted its quality so I decided to give it a look. Jake Gyllenhaal is miscast as an action hero – going back in time to save the world from massive destruction – in this sci/fi thriller. He's too mousy for this kind of role. Vera Farmiga, who has an arresting look, is also miscast as a special unit military officer. She's too exotic. Jeffrey Wright gets a turn as a Dr. Strangelove kind of character and seems to have fun with it. Source Code is a paint by numbers thriller that's certainly more logical and watchable than a similar recent movie, Inception, Like Inception, this one features an in your face, ear blasting score. The plot is a mix of The Matrix with Speed, but is more like that latter, and even features a Sandra Bullock lookalike, Michelle Monaghan. It isn't very thrilling. The dialogue is hackneyed. It's predictable and has no intelligence. But relative to other contemporary movies of this type, Source Code is probably a cut above. Bonus points for having some nice opening shots of Chicago.
You wrote this on 2011-08-05
Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Season 1
You rated this movie: 3.0
Surprisingly shallow. I love Elvis Costello as a songwriter, but he looks completely out of his depth as an interviewer. The questions are not very intelligent. Costello tries to appeal by mugging for the camera. It's very amateurish on his part. And when he tries to sing some of the other performers' songs - he doesn't really have a decent voice - it's like bad karaoke. The good parts are the performances and commentary from the performers. Despite the goofball approach of Costello, they manage to say insightful things.
You wrote this on 2010-01-04
Starting Out in the Evening
You rated this movie: 3.0
Frank Langella plays a Bernard Malamud type of character - a Jewish novelist at the end of his life with a devotion to his work and a strong moral backbone - with restraint, dignity, power and only a small touch of charm. It's a wonderful performance. Lauren Ambrose, his by turns fawning and menacing young follower, is less convincing, perhaps because she has to play a character who is ultimately unlikable. The movie does not start out well. At first, you can't figure out whether you're watching a cheesy kind of movie like Educating Rita or one about a twisted relationship like Fatal Attraction. A young woman insinuates herself into an old novelists life, hounding him to get material for her masters thesis. The dialogue between them hits false note after false note. The young woman is so obnoxious and off balance emotionally that you just want her to go away. But then the movie settles down and finds its pace. This is a very old fashioned kind of movie, an attempt to subtly portray relationships clouded by ambition. The second half of the movie is quite compelling as Langella keeps drawing you in, wanting you to know more about this solid, flawed man who will never achieve - despite hard work and having given up so much for his art - the greatness that he once thought would be his. If you like literary fiction, you might be inclined to like this movie. If you aren't a book lover, though, you'll probably be bored.
You wrote this on 2010-07-04
Steal a Pencil for Me
You rated this movie: 4.0
I grew up listening to one horror story after another about the Shoah. Most of my family died in Belzec and in a killing field in the Ukraine. Steal a Pencil is in contrast a sweet love story under the most horrible conditions imaginable. What makes this movie work is the presence of truly compelling characters. Both the husband and wife are completely charming and bring life to what is a rather paint by the numbers documentary. For me, the complication of the couple's love - he was already married when they met - made the story even more interesting. The movie - aside from the love story aspect, which is wonderful - brought home what I've noticed in my parents and their friends. They survived because of luck. They also survived because they were remarkable people with an incredible will to live.
You wrote this on 2009-07-09
Stranger than Fiction
You rated this movie: 3.0
Bad casting and bad directing have ruined a very clever script. Like Eternal Sunshine and Being John M., this is a great idea for a new age left of center movie. But Will Ferrell doesn't have the acting chops to carry it off. Hess a broad comic, not someone capable of nuance, and in this picture he is so subdued that it's like watching a block of wood. The direction is too clean with a lot of allusions to computers and software that just muddy things. Steve Carell would have been an excellent choice for the lead, but my guess is that they chose Ferrell for his box office draw. The highlight of the movie is watching Dustin Hoffman in a supporting role. He's so good and funny with his lines that while watching him you realize just how enjoyable this film would be if the lead actor were up to the challenge.
You wrote this on 2007-04-24
Sugar
You rated this movie: 3.0
This almost is a very good movie, but it's flat in a number of ways. First, because the film is a character study, the lead actor has to be top notch. He isn't. It's as if he was plucked from a pool of amateurs and he drags down the film. Second, it's very hard to carry off something which is not about success, but personal failure. You need to be pitch (yeah, that's a bad pun) perfect. Here, the lead character abruptly changes course in the middle of the film, and everyone, including both the audience (me) and the other characters are at a loss to understand just why. Overall, I'd say this is a very sincere attempt to look at the consequences of failed dreams and aspirations. But sincere does not automatically mean compelling. The script needed more of an arc. The acting needed to be much better.
You wrote this on 2009-10-11
Sunshine Cleaning
You rated this movie: 2.0
This isn't a comedy. It's a lightweight quirky predictable drama, very TV-like except for the odder moments involving clean up of biohazards. The performances are decent enough. The script though goes down a well-worn path and more than occasionally degrades into bathos. This film lacks basic intelligence. Sometimes movies like this can make up for a bad script with a high energy level. That doesn't happen here. A quirky setting can only get you so far in terms of maintaining interest. I'm surprised this movie didn't go straight to DVD.
You wrote this on 2009-11-11
Sweetgrass
You rated this movie: 3.0
The word of the day is sheep as in thousands of sheep. For 100 minutes you get to watch sheep and nothing but sheep travel to a Montana alpine meadow and back for grazing, a distance of 300 miles. The only sounds in the movie consist of baahing and the occasional word or two from a handful of cowboys (sheepboys?) on horses (yes the horses make noises, too, I forgot), but those cowboys don't say much because, well, they're cowboys! There is no narration. There is no music (a cowboy will hum a tune now and then). Sweetgrass is a documentary in the truest sense of the word. The mic-work is amazing, though, so turn up the sound way loud and this movie just might be compelling. It certainly is unique.
You wrote this on 08-03-2011
Sweet Land
You rated this movie: 4.0
OK, the script is kind of clunky with occasional off-putting dialogue and a plot arc that is a bit haphazard (also the camera work can get too precious), but Sweet Land's heart is in the right place and this film does have quite a few good things going for it. You should know that I tend to like independent, small films like this - no aliens, no space ships, no car crashes, no special effects, quiet with real people - especially if they take place in the Midwest. So I'm probably inclined to like this movie about a mail order bride from Germany coming to Minnesota farm country during WWI. Elizabeth Reaser does a fine job as the mail order bride, a sophisticate who clashes with the plain ways of the farm community and who has to endure discrimination because of her German origins. She's a little too beautiful (actually way too beautiful) to be completely believable, but she is nice to look at. Ned Beatty is a great bad guy. Alan Cumming is fabulous in a comical role, as per usual. The cast really is first rate and works well enough together to nearly fully overcome glitches in the script. File this one under heartwarming, sincere period-pieces. Yes it's a chick flick, but it's suitable for most guys.
You wrote this on 09-30-2011
Synecdoche, New York
You rated this movie: 3.0
The movie is literally a dream sequence. If you buy into that - you get your first clue at about the 20-minute mark that this is a dream, not reality - then this movie can be a lot of fun. But if you don't, if you want realism or something that is close to realism in turns of logic and plot progression, then you won't find this movie enjoyable at all. Visually, this movie is wonderful, but what makes it stand out is the acting. There's just one fabulous acting performance after another by the women in this film who each get supporting roles. I can't think of another movie that has assembled such a strong female supporting cast.
You wrote this on 2009-03-17
Tell No One
You rated this movie: 2.0
This one is part mystery thriller and part soap opera. No one needs to watch a soap opera. Mysteries on the other hand can be fun. The problem with the mystery part is that it's impossible to tell "who done it." In the end, one of the characters has to deliver a five-minute monologue solving the mystery. Sorry. That's not how mysteries are done. You have to lay a few clues along the way. The protagonist has to get closer and closer to the truth. Then there is the satisfaction at the end when the final veil is removed. Here, the final veil is an inch thick sheet of lead. So I can't say I liked this movie very much except everyone was good looking and easy on the eyes. Even the Telly Salvalas-like cop was decent looking. But no he doesn't suck on Tootsie Pops. The French don't do that kind of stuff it seems.
You wrote this on 2009-05-04
Temple Grandin
You rated this movie: 3.0
If you've seen Temple Grandin, watched her on PBS, or read her books, this film will likely disappoint. But if her life is new to you, you probably can look past the flaws in the script and direction and find this movie engaging. Temple Grandin has indeed lived an amazing life and I encourage anyone to read her books, which are fascinating, or go see her lecture if you get the chance. She is inspiring to the max. This biopic though is a bit simplistic and saccharine; it reminds me a lot of those Hallmark made for TV movies of the 1970s. Claire Danes gives a credible performance, but perhaps is a bit over the top in her portrayal. The script creaks with platitudes. The director chooses to add artsy visuals that take the viewer away from the story. It's hard to make this story boring, but the filmmaker almost manages to do just that by using a heavy hand throughout.
You wrote this on 2010-10-05
There But For Fortune
You rated this movie: 3.23
At a young teen, Phil Ochs was one of my songwriting
heroes. It wasn't his
politics. It was his irreverance
and how prolific he was. I spent
several hours with him when I was seventeen; it was one of the scariest and
saddest days of my life. I really
wanted to see this movie, but while it's a well put together documentary, There
But For Forture is, when all is said and done, disappointing.
This movie is a sweetened biopic of the bipolar life of Phil
Ochs. The arc of this film focuses
on the protest movement of the 1960s and 1970s and Phil Ochs' role in that
movement. There But For Fortune
touches on Phil Ochs' mental problems, but ultimately tries to push the viewer
into believing that if the Left had succeeded in 1968, if Allende hadn't been
overthrown in Chile with CIA help in 1973, Ochs wouldn't have been so bitterly
disappointed and his life might have turned out far better. I don't think so. The truth is that Ochs' mental problems
were always in the background.
Ochs suffered from true delusions of grandeur even when the
Left was on the rise. He was, by
accounts of people that I've talked to who knew him, a difficult personality,
one with magnificent highs and awful lows. When I met him he was full blown manic. I truly doubt that without any
political failures from the Left, his mental illness would not have come to the
fore. This movie would almost lead
you to believe that Nixon and Kissinger were ultimately responsible for Ochs'
descent into madness. I didn't
like Nixon or Kissinger, but I'm not going to blame them for the tragedy of
Phil Ochs.
For me, the life of Phil Ochs is a story of the toll that
bipolar disorder can take on an individual and his family. Phil Ochs' highs helped him produce a
wonderful catalog of music and propelled him to fight for the causes that he
believed in. But it was likely and
sadly only a matter of time before his devils would take over. That's likely the real story. In this biopic we get, mixed with the
excellent footage of Phil Ochs live, a romanticization of the 1960s and its
protest movement. If this
documentary would have focused on Phil Ochs the man more and tried less to make
heroes out of Tom Hayden and Abbie Hoffman, it would have been a far better and
more emotionally compelling film.
I know people like to find cause and effect with many phenomena including mental illness. I've known two people with bipolar disorder. Neither suffered any real major external stresses. They were both lovable, intelligent, eccentric people who, seemingly out of nowhere, went absolutely mad in their twenties. Phil Ochs probably followed the same path.
You wrote this on 2011-10-21
There Will Be Blood
You rated this movie: 2.0
Daniel Day-Lewis is a wonderful actor. Paul Thomas Anderson is a horrible screenwriter. The dialogue is trite and dreadful. The arc of the plot is wobbly. Events occur randomly. There is scene after scene that do nothing to advance the plot or character development. I would describe Mr. Anderson as aliterate based on this script. He has no idea how to tell a compelling story with any nuance. As I watched, I was actively rewriting the dialogue and cutting scenes in my head to keep from being completely bored. There's no doubt about it. This movie is a stinker. I don't understand the laudatory reviews from the critics across the board except for two things. First, Daniel Day-Lewis can be interesting to watch even in a stinker of a movie like this. Second, I've spent a fair amount of time working in the area where this movie was filmed and the cinematography does a wonderful job of capturing the subtle beauty of the landscape. In a nutshell, it's Titanic with an oil well replacing the ship.
You wrote this on 2008-06-09
The Tillman Story
You rated this movie: 5.0
This is a very difficult film to watch, but it's also very well made and intelligent. It's a very intimate portrayal of a family that has lost a loved one through war, and refuses with strength, tenacity and dignity to let that loss be used as a phony symbol of heroism for the military. The family opens up emotionally and intellectually to such a degree that if you have half a heart you'll end up in tears. The questions this film examines, but certainly doesn't answer in a cut and dried way, are profound. What is the purpose of war? What does it mean to serve your country honorably? What would constitute a healthy relationship between the military and the public? Why do we insist on making myths of our battles? The film and the Tillman family have a very clear-eyed view of what went on during Pat Tillman's time of duty. It's agonizing to watch up close, but also very enlightening and in a strange way, cathartic.
You wrote this on 2011-02-16
The Town
You rated this movie: 3.0
Jeremy Renner. Those are the two words that make this movie worth watching. Renner lights up the screen and does James Cagney better than Cagney. Rebecca Hall and Chris Cooper do fine jobs as well with what little they have to work with. All three really do a great job of chewing up the scenery. But the movie? It's not very intelligent and is both incredibly predictable and unbelievable. The head of a bank robbing gang wants to retire. But his financier wont let him. He's going to do one last job and get out. That's the gist of this movie. How many times have we seen something like this before? Along the way, the gang leader falls in love with a bank manager's assistant (but you can't understand why she would fall for him at all). The FBI agent in charge of nabbing the gang not only does the thinking, but the legwork as well, chasing after random tips with lightning speed and chasing after the gang with a gun so big that it could take down the John Hancock Tower. Then there are the two women in the movie. Talk about stereotyping. The blonde one with a Boston accent and big boobs is evil. The brunette with a patrician accent and small boobs is an angel. Hollywood can do better than this. But getting back to Jeremy Renner. He's the Gene Hackman of this era. He can take a bad movie and turn it into something that shines. That's exactly what he does here.
You wrote this on 2010-12-18
Toy Story 3
You rated this movie: 5.0
An old fashioned yarn that somehow miraculously borrows from movies like Stalag 17 (which Chicken Run also did) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in a way that's both fun and suitable for kids over six or seven (I think the little ones might be scared to death), Toy Story 3 had my wife crying over the pull at your heartstrings ending. That's right, a grown woman was crying during a kids movie, she was so emotionally involved with the characters. The Toy Story series, which sank a bit with Toy Story 2, ends on a high note with the third installment. Here the characters have to come to terms with their purpose: should they be loyal to their grown owner Andy or should they be used for enjoyment by someone young who loves toys. Along their journey, both emotional and real, there are chase scenes galore, pathos and humor. The quality of the animation is absolutely superb. We saw the movie in 3D - which was well done - but 2D would be just as good because the story and emotional lives of these little toys carries the day.
You wrote this on 2010-06-29
The Trip
You rated this movie: 2.0
Tedious beyond belief. Stephen Coogan and Rob Brydon reprise their personas from Tristram Shandy, but this one isn't funny at all. The duo travels around northern England visiting one fancy restaurant after another. That's essentially the plot. There is no script. Instead we hear them banter on and on. Most of the banter involves them offering competing impressions of Michael Caine or singing an Abba song over and over. Then there are impressions of Robert DeNiro, Woody Allen, and Al Pacino to add to the mix. This isn't a movie, just a way too long series of the improv sketches, actually the same sketch done at each new restaurant. Every once in a while I chuckled. Mostly, I was hoping that both of these actors would get food poisoning.
You wrote this on 2011-06-27
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
You rated this movie: 4.0
If you're a reader of literary fiction who likes movies like A Fish Called Wanda and Best of Show, you'll have quite a few belly laughs here. If you aren't a literary type or don't like British humor, skip this one. I thought this movie was very, very funny. It all starts with the idea of Steve Coogan being the handsome romantic lead. That's a good sight gag in and of itself. Coogan and Brydon are great together with their British banter, which mostly dwells on self-deprecation and insecurity. There is no plot here. A group is filming a movie version of Tristam Shandy and things don't go well is pretty much what this movie is about. But the sight gags - which I won't talk about in detail because I don't want to spoil them - and funny lines are well worth a rental. It's short, sweet and intelligent comedy, a cut below the best, but still a whole lot of fun.
You wrote this on 2010-06-24
True Grit
You rated this movie: 3.0
Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon do a fine job in a problematic film that is too suffused with nihilism to be fun to watch. The Coen Brothers certainly know how to make a movie. The visuals here are fantastic and aim for a mythic approach to the classic Western genre. But the overall story here is a glum one. Sorry I don't want to see a 14-year-old girl with true grit have her idealism ground into dust. If you like dark-spirited depressing movies that turn a genre known for championing virtue on its head, this movie will be worth your time. It is very well made. But if you want to see a better twist on the Western genre, I recommend a classic like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence instead. That movie is a lot more intelligent and arresting than this one. Basically, the Coen Brothers have been making the same movie for over 25 years now. They've never gone beyond sophomore college nihilism. But I have. So have most other people. This may be the last Coen Brothers movie I bother to watch.
You wrote this on 2010-12-25
Two Lovers
You rated this movie: 2.0
Oh god, this film is infantile. It's essentially a remake of an old 1950's film, Marty, except it's given a Jewish veneer, is more hackneyed and it's miscast. Joaquin Phoenix is 10 years too old for this part. Paltrow is a stiff in the role of the drug popping shiksah. Shaw is much, much too pretty to be the ugly duckling no one wants. Then there is the script, which is one clich? after another. Finally there is the dialogue, which is completely unbelievable. The money used to make this film would have been much better spent on a donation to a worthy charity. The best part of the DVD is the extra feature where there is an interview with the director; he's so pretentious that he's inadvertently funny.
You wrote this on 2009-08-31
Up
You rated this movie: 4.0
Visually this movie is fabulous. The animation and organic use of 3-D (they aren't trying to get you to jump out of your seats, but simply enjoy the visuals better) are both wonder-inspiring and artful. However, the story, once you get past the amazing opening which could be a first rate short feature on its own, is only passable. There is a lot of little kid logic used to move the plot along. Then there are the cute to be cute elements that seem to be added in a very synthetic way. I felt a bit manipulated by the story and the characters, both of which I thought were a bit too stock and predictable. But let's get back to the visuals. They are easily worth the price of admission. This is a well-made film.
You wrote this on 2009-06-02
Up in the Air
You rated this movie: 4.0
This one has a very 1930s style adaptation of a novel feel, and I mean that in a good way. The book has less of a moralizing thread and no lovers angle, but this is Hollywood so that gets added in the film version. The performances are all first rate and the detail is spot on from the selection of clothing to the details of the main character's hometown in Wisconsin (now that brought back memories for me as a native Cheesehead). In a lot of ways, this movie follows the formula of an early movie by Reitman, Thank You For Smoking: a nihilistic but charming male lead with a loathsome but high paying job is challenged by recent experience to develop some humanity. This version is a slicker and better-crafted version of the formula. The dialogue is snappier. The acting is sharper. I'd call this a good date movie for people with a strong streak of cynicism.
You wrote this on 2009-12-27
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
You rated this movie: 2.0
Bardem, the weird guy with the pneumatic gun in No Country for Old Men, propositions two American tourists in Spain. Apparently if you give a guy with very odd features a six-day beard, he's irresistible. That's the plot and moral of this story I guess. Once again, Scarlett Johansson shows that she can't act, but I agree she does look good. Whenever Patricia Clarkson and Penelope Cruz come on screen, the movie instantly improves. But the script is laughably weak. A voice over narrator constantly tells you what the characters are thinking. And who really cares what they are thinking, because none of the characters are particularly interesting. This is really amateurish stuff in terms of a story. Woody Allen stopped making decent movies a long time ago, about the same time he outed himself as a lecher and married his wife's adopted daughter. He had a great 10-20 year career. But there is no reason to see his movies anymore. They have no believability. They are incredibly pretentious.
You wrote this on 2009-05-13
Waiting for "Superman"
You rated this movie: 2.0
Waiting for Superman is well done for what it is, a one-sided polemic that bashes most teachers (and their unions) and champions charter schools. It's a high budget documentary that mixes animation with talking heads and cute children to try to pull at your heartstrings. Going beyond the movie-making aspects, however, this film greatly distorts the reality of education in America. We don't do well with education today, it's true. But the fault can't be solely placed on big bad teacher unions. The data show that charter schools are not a panacea, either. Focusing on parents who truly want their children to achieve and ignoring the preponderance of parents who either have a laissez faire attitude about education, are unable/unwilling to create a positive home life for their children or are simply antagonistic to teachers and believe their children can do no wrong makes this movie a fantasy. The film promotes the idea that students and schools can excel regardless of home environment if only they had excellent teachers. This magic teacher theory is promoted in the movie by a talking head from Stanford. I note that Stanford tried, with great fanfare, to implement its ideas with a charter school in nearby, poor, East Palo Alto. The effort was a disaster and Stanford's license was revoked by the city. So much for magic teachers. So much for the solutions contained in this movie. Ultimately, this film is dishonest and blatantly manipulative.
You wrote this on 2011-06-04
Waitress
You rated this movie: 2.0
This movie is quirky in a fun way and the idea behind it is very good. However, the script is terrible and the choice of actresses for the lead roles is strange. If you've spent time in the rural South, you'll find yourself disappointed by the stilted language and clichŽ dialogue. The movie is unconvincing in most ways, especially the acting; the lead roles are played as caricatures of real people. There's another recent indie comedy about Southern rural life, June Bug that does all of this much, much better. I think this movie received kind reviews from critics because the reviewers think the South is full of stupid, nice people who talk as if they've never left the fourth grade. It's also probably true that some kind reviews are the result of sympathy: tragically, the woman who made this movie was murdered in New York City before the movie was distributed to theaters. This movie sputters a lot. It needed to be 20 minutes shorter, have the script rewritten by a pro, and have some actresses who can convincingly play rural women.
You wrote this on 2007-07-04
Water For Elephants
You rated this movie: 3.0
If this had been made in the 1970s, this movie would have probably been a hit. It's shot beautifully, there are some pretty people smooching, there is a love triangle, a talented elephant and a nice twisteroo in the plot that truly surprises. This is a big, warm-hearted story with a happy end. But in today's movie environment, the pace is a bit too slow, the sex is too tame, and the love triangle isn't very edgy. Being an older type, I appreciate the slowed down pace and just smooching is just fine with me. Resse Witherspoon is a bit too much of an All-American girl, though, for this part, which really does need someone with rougher edges. Also, her love interest needs to have a bit more testosterone. All and all, Water For Elephants is enjoyable if a bit wan, perfect if you're a bit bored, and want to veg, and see an old fashioned movie.
Wedding Crashers
You rated this movie: 2.0
Basically this is a buddy movie and it works best when Vaughn and Wilson do their buddy thing. The movie is front loaded with laughs and sight gags and at about the 50 minute mark runs out of gas in a hurry. There is no real plot and most of the characters, especially the women, are painfully wooden. If I were an actress and handed this script, I would pass. Poor Jane Seymour gets a part that is devoid of any value whatsoever. She must have needed the cash. This is TV fare, except for the addition of swear words and T&A. Rent it for the first 40 minutes of gags and then turn it off and find something else to do.
You wrote this on 2006-02-08
Where the Wild Things Are
You rated this movie: 2.0
Maurice Sendak is a genius. His art is wonderful. His small, slim books are full of pithy observations. In contrast, this film uses a big screen and a big budget to trivialize. Visually this film is extremely appealing and creative. Once you get past the visuals, though, it's more irritating than enlightening. The story, such as it is, goes nowhere. The soundtrack is annoyingly hip. Throughout the film, there is a certain glibness and a lack of emotional depth. I don't think Dave Eggers or Spike Jonze understand the art of Maurice Sendak very well. I should also note that this movie is not at all suitable for children under the age of 10.
You wrote this on 2009-11-16
The White Ribbon
You rated this movie: 4.0
Normally, I don't like long dark subtitled movies, but this one is very well crafted. It reminded me of a cleaner version of Werner Herzog movies of 30 or so years ago. The pacing is deliberately slow and the film is in black and white, but somehow I found myself interested the whole way through. A bleak town in early 20th century German has dark secrets. Will they be uncovered? The language is sharp and the cinematography is alluring and occasionally intentionally repelling. This is a very quiet and compelling film with memorable performances by some child actors. If you like long, art house films, you'll probably like this one. If you want some happy Hollywood blockbuster, you'll likely hate this film.
You wrote this on 2010-09-24
Win Win
You rated this movie: 4.18
For my money, Nicole Holofcener and Tom McCarthy are the best indy movie writer/directors out there. They both manage to make interesting, fairly literate, character driven stories about real people on tiny budgets. Usually neither is at all shy about creating central characters who have an unappealing side. In Win Win though, McCarthy strictly goes for the sweet and sentimental. Every character is pretty much nice through and through with a heart of gold. The lead, a down on his luck lawyer played with warmth by Paul Giamatti, is a stinker in one way: he has abused the trust of a client in order to pay his bills. But you know in the end that somehow he is going to right this wrong. Ultimately because the main plot arc is highly predictable, this movie can only work if the little side stories are interesting. They are. The dialogue gets a bit clunky now and then, but overall it's much better in quality than what you hear in most movies. The acting is first rate. The collection of interesting faces assembled makes this seem like an American version of a Mike Leigh movie.
Tags: oh Burt Young I can never forget your opening in Chinatown everytime I see your face I think of the line "She's no good!", another movie that shows beyond a doubt that New Jersey can be pretty, one day I really really want to see Paul Giamatti play a six-pack abbed action hero You wrote this on 2011-10-19
Winter's Bone
You rated this movie: 5.0
Dark and gritty, Winter's Bone takes you to a bleak and emotionally intricate world, the hardscrabble life of the Ozarks. A teen-age girl, already burdened with the job of taking care of her younger siblings and her sick mother on a subsistence farm, is placed in dire straits by the irresponsible and dangerous acts of her father. The girl's journey is the stuff of Greek tragedy. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes give fine, nuanced and entirely believable performances in a movie that is riveting, the most powerful I've seen in years. I walked out of the theater emotionally stunned, as did my wife. The story is simple and the budget for this movie obviously was small, but Winter's Bone slowly takes you in and never lets go. I'm sure not many will see this film. It's subtle, somber and not at all designed for the mass-market. But if you like serious well-made films that are far from the standard stuff of Hollywood, you'll find Winter's Bone to be an unforgettable tale, exquisitely told.
You wrote this on 2010-07-10
Wondrous Oblivion
You rated this movie: 3.0
The script is a bit off, but there are other attractive elements to this movie. Basically, the writer tries to do too much here. You have a lonely housewife theme, a Holocaust theme, a coming of age theme, a country split by racism theme all thrown into a thin soup. Because it's a comedy, everything works out in the end, but it is all very superficial. That said, the soundtrack is a lot of fun and the cinematography is excellent. This one reminds me of another British coming of age film, Son of Rambow, but that one didn't try to add the weight that this one does and was a better film as a result.
You wrote this on 2009-05-04
The Wrestler
You rated this movie: 3.0
The plot is run of the mill stuff, the pacing is clunky, and the dialogue is hackneyed, but then there is Mickey Rourke. Oh my. Rourke makes this movie well worth watching. He carries the film. I haven't seen a movie of his in 20 years or more, but this performance is a once in a lifetime thing. Somehow he is able to make a complete loser and narcissist both likable and sympathetic. Both physically and emotionally Rourke is able to create something real out of what is really on paper a cartoon of a character. This is acting magic, a world-class movie performance. And there is no doubt that Mickey Rourke should have won an Oscar for this role.
You wrote this on 2009-05-16
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
You rated this movie: 4.0
I'm a bit biased toward this movie because the Yiddish speakers are solid (a very rare thing in film), but even if I ignore that one positive element this movie still is enjoyable. The child who plays the female lead is fantastic, and the male child lead is pretty good as well. The movie throws together soccer, Judaism, and Brazilian politics into a soup. It's a bit of a mess and sometimes the plot is manipulative, but overall I bought the idea that I was viewing Brazil circa 1970 through the eyes of a young boy. If you like films with Jewish themes, particularly foreign ones, you'll probably like this one. It reminded me quite a bit of an Argentinean movie, Lost Embrace, although that one contained a lot of humor. This one is in contrast almost always serious.
You wrote this on 2009-10-27
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
You rated this movie: 3.0
Potentially a great idea for a documentary, the execution here is just so so. There isn't enough footage of Gertrude Berg to hold interest and instead the viewer gets talking head after talking head going on and on about their experiences with her or their reminiscences of watching or listening to her shows. The focus is on Bergs career, but we get far too little insight into the heart and mind of Gertrude Berg. As a result, the movie comes off as a laundry list of accomplishments rather than a real look at a human being. In the end, you're left with the impression that Berg, while a talented writer/actress, was a boring, methodical workaholic. Maybe she was, in fact, boring, but I doubt it. I'd call this movie a missed opportunity.
You wrote this on 2010-10-02
You Kill Me
You rated this movie: 2.0
The premise of this movie - alcoholic hit man goes on the wagon and finds love in SF - isn't bad. The execution is awful, though. You Kill Me looks like a low budget affair, but that's not really the problem. It's just plain lazily put together and cast. For example, the hit man - Kingsley - is supposed to be from a Polish gang. But none of the actors, including Kingsley, even try a little to sound Polish. None of them look Polish either. The love interest - Tea Leoni - is usually good at offbeat comedy and she co-produced this movie as well. But here, she simply looks lost in her role. That's not surprising because her role is completely nonsensical: she has to, somehow, fall head over heels in love with an ancient, alcoholic, laconic, bald hit man. There are a couple of funny set pieces - one takes place on the Golden Gate Bridge - but other than that, this movie is a complete zero.
You wrote this on 2011-06-08
Zombieland
You rated this movie: 4.0
This is the best zombie film I've seen in a few years. Then again, it's the only zombie film I've seen in a few years. OK, enough joking. This is really a comedy, not really a scary film at all. And it's a very funny comedy. It uses three classic film story lines - a dystopic end of the world adventure, a buddy travel adventure, and a zombies invasion - and melds them into one in a fairly seamless way. The acting is solid. The zombies are as funny as anything. From the first scene on, this film is on the right track, and many of the jokes are laugh out loud funny. I'd say that this is a slightly better version of another zombie comedy (not a big genre I know), Shaun of the Dead.
You wrote this on 2010-02-14