On a quick trip to Baltimore this week, I had an evening free so I spent $10 to see The Other Guys a new flick starring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson. For better entertainment value, I should have taken that ten bucks, thrown it out a window of a Manhattan high rise and watch folks scurrying to pick it up. Anything would have been more entertaining and a better use of my time and money than watching this disjointed and dismal movie. I’m surprised any one of the four afore-mentioned actors would attach themselves to this garbage. It’s understandable that Michael Keaton, whose best comedy movie days are far behind him, desperately needed a movie role (he plays Captain Gene Mauch) and signed on to this mess. The movie is described as “Two mismatched New York City (Ferrell and Wahlberg) detectives seize an opportunity to step up like the city’s top cops whom they idolize – only things don’t go quite as planned.” If only, the movie made a slight effort to give us that plot. Instead the only “mismatching” going on here was not the two main characters but “The Other Guys” from funny entertainment.
Yes, I admit it. I went to see Dinner for Schmucks and I did enjoy it. I have not really liked anything that Steve Carell (playing Barry) has done on the big screen-his talents seem suited perfectly for television. This, however, was quite clever and funny.
Paul Rudd (Tim) plays an ambitious executive who finds that his ability to rise in his company depends on the quality of the “idiot” he can bring to his boss’s monthly dinner. When he (literally) runs into Barry he knows he has found the perfect guest. Barry is a lonely IRS employee who spend his free time designing tableaux with dead mice he has found. Of course Barry is such a schmuck he messes things up for Tim and his girlfriend, while managing to cause a house fire at the home of Tim’s boss.
But funniest of all is Jemaine Clement, who plays an odd, and oddly popular artist. He may be best known to fans of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords. He is over-the-top funny.
I know this movie sounds really silly, but it’s a good summer flick.
Capsule review #4. Like probably every other book club in the country, mine had read Eat Pray Love a while ago, and really enjoyed the book. So of course I was anxiously awaiting the release of the movie.
I was actually a bit disappointed. Julia Roberts plays Elizabeth Gilbert with a lack of emotion and depth. The other big star, Javier Bardem, was a shallow depiction of a real person. I think the real problem with this movie was that there is too much in the book to fit into a two hour movie.
The part of the movie that took place in Italy had the most depth and interest for me; the rest seemed flat, slow moving and dull.
Capsule review #3. Very good acting by all the principles, particularly Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a 40 something, long married lesbian couple. Their two children are the products of artificial insemination by the same sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo.
When their son succeeds in connecting with his biological father, all of the relationships in this family are tested. It’s great to see a non-traditional family treated like any other. They don’t communicate as well as they should; they make stupid mistakes; they choose friends poorly.
Capsule review #2. Not the best movie ever. As with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the filmmakers have condensed and simplified the book, but it still works.
The actors playing the familiar characters have returned, and we do get to learn a bit more about them. So, if you’ve read the books and feel the need to see all the movies, go for it. If you’re not that into it, you don’t need to bother.
Inception is a good movie, and worth the ticket price. Christopher Nolan directs a well paced, thrilling heist movie set in dreams. Leonardo Di Caprio plays Cobb, a man who leads a team of people who enter dreams to access the hidden depths of others. He is assisted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, and Ellen Page as a new recruit. It is through the training of the recruit that the audience is introduced to the well defined rules that govern the abilities of those who enter dreams. This section is the only part of the film that drags, but it is necessary, because the rest of the film may have been unintelligible without it. Throughout the rest of the film explanations are necessary and given, but in a manner that serves the story, not the other way around.
This movie was fun as a mental exercise, in tracking of the events of the story and the how the rules impacted them. Leonardo Di Caprio is great, and Ellen Page is nice as the character she always plays, but I think the breakout star of this was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His role is pragmatic, physical, and stylish. Action stars in great suits have been an iconic since before the Green Hornet.
There’s plenty of questions left at the end, and it seems this movie has found a mystery making mystique similar to that occupied by Lost. If you are interested in an excitable discussion regarding fictional characters in a fictional universe, go and see Inception!
Meth cooking hillbillies and a log splitter-what could go wrong? Actually quite a bit. This story centers on 17 year old Ree Dolly, played by the highly talented Jennifer Lawrence. Ree lives with her mother and two younger siblings in rural Missouri. The family manages to get by with some help from their neighbors and relatives. Ree’s mother is severely depressed; she sits in her chair all day leaving Ree to tend to Ashlee and Sonny. She takes them to school (from which she has obviously dropped out), cooks for them, and teaches them to hunt and prepare squirrel.
Ree’s father has been arrested on various drug related charges and is awaiting trial. He has put up the Dolly’s house and property for his bond, and has disappeared. Ree has ten days to find him or the property will be forfeited and the family will be homeless.
Winter’s Bone take Ree from one dangerous situation to another in her quest to find her father. She receives help from some people, but is mostly thwarted by her own relatives and neighbors.
This movie has a constant undercurrent of violence, and I was constantly on edge, wondering how things could get worse for Ree. Jennifer Lawrence really carries this entire movie splendidly. It is only playing in smaller independent theaters so you really have to seek it out, but it’s definitely worth the effort.
The geniuses at Pixar have done it again. Toy Story 3 is not just a really good animated movie. It’s a really good movie! In addition to the fine animation, TS3 is a movie with a good story and great characters.
Most of the characters are familiar to anyone who has seen the previous movies in the Toy Story franchise, but there are a few newbies. Most notably there is the villain, a pink strawberry scented stuffed toy named Lots-O’-Huggin Bear. And of course there is Big Baby. What house with children has not had a soft-bodied baby doll with vinyl limbs and eyes that open and close? The new toys are residents of the Sunnyside Day Care Center.
As Andy prepares to leave for college, he cleans out his room. His toys are either consigned to the attic or placed in the box to be donated to Sunnyside. While the toys are apprehensive about their destination, the family is very busy and some of the toys end up in the wrong place. The toys that end up in Sunnyside at first seem quite happy as they believe that in day care they will be played with constantly.They soon realize that the toys in Sunnyside are subject to the whims of Lots-O’, who forces all the new toys into the toddler room, where the children do not know how to play properly with the toys.
Will the toys be able to escape from Sunnyside and end up in Andy’s attic where they belong? With Woody (still Andy’s favorite and the calm and reasonable leader of all the toys) in charge we can hope that things will work out just fine.
TS3 is not just for kids. There are subtleties that will be lost on the youngest viewers. Many adults will be nostalgic for toys that have not so popular lately. I will say that this movie is for nearly everyone, except perhaps for some sensitive young children who might be frightened by some of the scarier moments. I saw TS3 in 3D, but I don’t think it’s necessary. If you get motion sickness from 3D or just don’t like wearing the glasses, you won’t miss anything by seeing Toy Story 3 without the 3D. It’s more important to see this movie. And if you don’t shed a tear or two, there is something wrong with you!
Well, the girls are at it again. Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha are groomed, dressed, shod and bejeweled and ready to prove to us that New York City is the true center of the universe and shopping is the only activity with meaning. What fun! Or not.
Sex and the City 2 is overly long and with a rather silly plot. After attending the wedding of Anthony and Stanford the girls head for Abu Dhabi. They are the guests of a sheik who has opened a new luxury hotel and hopes that Samantha is the right publicist to promote it. Unfortunately the girls, who seem so sophisticated in New York, act like bumpkins in the United Arab Emirates. They are surprised that even moderate Muslims are upset and shocked by their dress and behavior. Samantha particularly would like to convert this uptight conservative society to her free and easy ways. Not gonna happen!
I knew that SATC2 would be a silly movie, but I had hoped for fabulous outfits and scenery. Sadly, most of the clothes in this movie are ridiculous and outrageous. The scenes in the Middle East were filmed in Morocco, with very little fabulous desert scenery, and even fewer great New York scenes. The best thing about this movie is the soundtrack.
It’s almost shocking that this fine movie has received such a limited release. The cast is stellar: Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Samuel L. Jackson, Cherry Jones, Jimmy Smits, Kerry Washington, and a host of other accomplished actors. The writing and the acting are superb. The story is intelligent, moving and believable.
The plot centers on Karen (Bening), a middle-aged single woman who lives with and cares for her elderly mother. At the age of 14, Karen gave birth to a baby girl who she gave up for adoption. We meet 37 year old Elizabeth Joyce (Naomi Watts) as she is interviewing for a position with a law firm led by Paul (Samuel L. Jackson). Meanwhile Lucy (Kerry Washington) and Joseph are looking to adopt a baby through an agency and are being interviewed by Sister Joanne (Cherry Jones).
Through the years, Karen has been keeping a journal consisting of letters written to her unknown daughter. When her mother dies, Karen is finally free to pursue a relationship with Paco (Jimmy Smiths) who she has met at work. Paco encourages her to try and find her daughter. Meanwhile, Lucy and Paul are hoping a young woman will approve them as adoptive parents of her unborn child.
The lives of these characters intersect in unpredictable ways. There is a tremendous amount of sadness in this movie, as well as redemptive and transformative moments. If you get the opportunity, go see Mother and Child.
