My December 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold

The Notebook 12/27/06 (B-)
Little Miss Sunshine 12/27/06 (C)
Big Love 1:5 12/27/06 (B)
Ushpizin 12/21/06 (C+)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont 12/20/06 (B)
A Home at the End of the World 12/15/06
The United States of Leland 12/15/06
A Prairie Home Companion 12/13/06 (B)
True Romance 12/07/06
The Perfect Storm 12/06/06 (A-)
Good Night, and Good Luck 12/04/06 (A)
Dummy 12/04/06 (C)

Big Love (TV Series)

The story of a Mormon family in a multiple marriage.

Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplethorn, Chloe Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Harry Dean Stanton, Amanda Seyfried, Daveigh Chase, Douglas Smith.

HBO-TV

My personal rating: B

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Not Shiny

A quirky family embarks on a road trip from Albuquerque to Los Angeles to get their young girl to a beauty pageant. Greg Kinnear is the motivational speaker father who pushes the girl to perfection while Toni Collette plays the hippy-dippy mother who urges the child to be natural and do as she wishes without putting pressure on herself.

Add an odd brother (Paul Dano) who is mute by choice and a X-rated grandfather (Alan Arkin) to the insanity.

I saw this with my mother and sister over Christmas. Mom hated it. Sis and I were so eager to see it since we'd both heard so much about it but we both sat there, scratching our heads, and wondered what it was we were missing about the "greatness" of this film. Granted, there were some funny bits but for the most part, the whole thing just didn't work for either one of us.

While young Abigail Breslin is being touted as the next Dakota Fanning, we couldn't see that either. She was a cute little girl who turned in what we thought was a quite ordinary performance.

I do appreciate what was done on a shoestring budget and, as I said, there were some genuine laughs, but I suspect my sister and I were expecting so much more, so much better based on the hype when this film hit theaters.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Rated R for language, some sex and drug content..

My personal rating: C

The Perfect Storm (2006)

Amazing Cinematography

A powerful film based on a true incident.

Fishing boat captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) has had a disappointing season and at season's end, he knows he and his crew can only make some decent money if they venture out further than they've ever gone before -- to the Flemish Cap -- in their boat, the Andrea Gail.

Diane Lane plays another captain and Billy Tyne's closest friend. John C. Riley and Mark Wahlberg play two of the crew members on Tyne's boat.

Amazing cinematography and special effects. Be sure to watch the bonus material on the DVD for more info on how the effects were accomplished.

Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

My November 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Christmas with the Kranks 11/30/06 (C+)
Big Love 1:4 11/30/06 (B)
Manny & Lo 11/27/06 (C+)
Big Love 1:3 11/27/06 (B)
The Human Stain 11/27/06
The Wire 1:1 11/21/06 (C)
Just Friends 11/20/06
Ladies in Lavender 11/17/06 (B)
Big Love 1:2 11/15/06 (B)
Henry & June 11/14/06 (C+)
Keeping the Faith 11/13/06 (B)
Cars 11/09/06 (C+)
Duma 11/08/06 (C)
Game 6 11/07/06 (B)
Cape of Good Hope 11/06/06
Big Love 1:1 11/03/06 (B)
The Comeback Disc 1 11/03/06
Birthday Girl 11/02/06

Keeping the Faith (2000)

There was this rabbi this priest and this chick ...

A New Age rabbi (Ben Stiller) and his best pal from childhood, a priest (Ed Norton, who also directed), find themselves in an interesting situation when their best old gal pal from school days (Jenna Elfman) returns to NYC to visit them.

A cute, upbeat film with several laugh out loud spots.

Anne Bancroft plays the young rabbi's mother in her final role. Serving as their advisors are Rabbi Lewis (Eli Wallach) and Father Havel (Milos Forman)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and language.

Cape of Good Hope (2005)

Debbie Brown, Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, Morne Visser.

Director: Mark Bamford.

My personal rating: B+

Birthday Girl (2000)

Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel.

Director: Jez Butterworth.

My personal rating: C+

My October 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Moonlight Mile 10/31/06
Snatch 10/31/06
Noel 10/30/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 5:2 10/27/06 (B)
The Weight of Water 10/27/06 (C+)
Good Neighbors 1-3:4 10/26/06 (B-)
Levity 0/24/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 5:1 10/24/06
Over the Hedge 10/23/06 (C+)
Magnolia 10/20/06
The Break-Up 10/19/06
Dominick and Eugene 0/17/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 4:2 10/17/06 (B)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 4:1 10/16/06 (B)
Insomnia 10/13/06 (B)
CSI 3:6 10/13/06
Walking and Talking 10/11/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 2:2 10/10/06 (B)
Once Upon a Crime 10/09/06 (D)
A Map of the World 10/06/06
The Lake House 10/05/06 (C-)
Lucky Number Slevin 10/03/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 3:2 10/02/06 (B)

The Weight of Water (2003)

Melodramatic Tension

Photographer Jean Janes (Catherine McCormack) and her husband Thomas (Sean Penn) set out for a small island off New Hampshire coast so Jean can gather photos to go with a story being done by the magazine where she works. Jean and Thomas are to meet up with Thomas' handsome brother Rich (Josh Lucas) who will sail them around the island aboard a yacht.

Jean and Thomas are surprised to see that Rich has brought along his stunning new girlfriend Adaline (Elizabeth Hurley).

It quickly becomes clear that there's little holding Jean and Thomas together other than their daughter who is at home with her grandmother. Thomas is a sullen, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who has gone dry and feels inadequate. He's envious of his brother's good looks and good fortune, and quite smitten with Adeline.

None of this escapes the notice of Jean despite the fact that she is hot on the trail of unraveling a double murder that took place on Smuttynose Island about 130 years earlier. In the murder case, two Norwegian immigrants, sisters-in-law Karen (Katrin Cartlidge) and Anethe (Vinessa Shaw), were bludgeoned to death while Karen's sister Maren (Sarah Polley) escapes and tells the story that leads to the conviction of Wagner (Ciarán Hinds) who had previously rented a room in the house and had made sexual advances on all three women.

The contemporary story and the 1870s story unravel simultaneously as Jean investigates the murders and feels powerful energy telling her the real tale.

In truth, the two stories could have been interesting enough standing alone and by the last third of The Weight of Water the stories became so twisted together that it was difficult to parse each story individually.

While I didn't particularly dislike this film, I wish I could have liked it more. The ethereal filming techniques tended to be a bit heavy handed but the film direction while aboard the yacht in a fierce storm was thrilling. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, and brief language.

The Break-Up (2006)

Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Judy Davis, Ann-Margret, Vincent D'Onofrio.

Director: Peyton Reed

My personal rating: C+

Insomnia (2002)

A Real Sleeper

Nightmute, Alaska has a big murder case: Teenage girl found scrubbed clean in a dump pile. The local police need help which arrives in the form of seasoned L.A. cop Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and his younger parter Hap (Martin Donovan), both of whom are under investigation by the LAPD Internal Affairs.

The eager young local detective, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) is in awe of tough, on-target Dormer. She'd attended a seminar he conducted at one time and had studied many of his cases.

Dormer cuts right to the quick upon arriving in Nightmute and goes after the dead girl's abusive boyfriend but in the mix, he shoots his partner, Hap. Was it an accident or intentional?

While Ellie Burr follows up on this shooting, Dormer switches his focus on the eerie pulp fiction writer Walter Finch (Robin Williams).

Meanwhile, the ever-present Alaskan summer sun is driving Dormer crazy to the point that he isn't sure of anything himself.

I don't recall hearing about this film when it was released but I'm glad I found it now. Pacino, Swank and Williams are terrific.

Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity.

Once Upon a Crime (2003)

Even the dachshund couldn't save it

One thing's for sure. The dachshund needed more screen time. Definitely, lots more screen time. At least the movie would have had something fun to watch that way. But as it stands now, this movie deserves nothing more than the Pooper Scooper Award.

While in Europe, ditzy Phoebe (Sean Young) finds a dachshund who she chases away at first and then realizes there's a hefty reward for this pup. She tracks down the dog who is now with the annoyingly neurotic, unemployed actor Julian (Richard Lewis). Together these two misfits form an alliance to return the pup to his owner in Monte Carlo and claim the reward.

Chaos ensues onboard the train when Julian sells the dog to the gambling addict Augie Morosco (John Candy) but Phoebe and Julian again become in possession of the dog.

Once the train stops in Monte Carlo, an Ugly American (Jim Belushi) and his beautiful wife (Cybil Shepherd) become involved with Augie Morosco's gambling addiction and are sucked in.

Meanwhile, Phoebe and Julian go to the dog owner's mansion around midnight to return the pup and what do they find? A woman's body, of course!

So who killed the dog's owner? Was it really Phoebe or Julian? Or was it the Ugly American and his wife, or the gambler, or maybe it was the gigolo (George Hamilton) who was seen in the woman's garden late at night.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't care who killed the woman, and it turned out to be a vast contrivance anyhow, so why should I care? This film could possibly have had lots of honest laughs in it but there were really none to be found.

Director Eugene Levy missed the mark all the way around. He needs to study timing and pacing and story and chemistry in such mad romp comedies as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Not rated by MPAA (Motion Picture Assoiciation of America.

My personal raiing: C-

The Lake House (2006)

Contrived, Cliched, and Tedious

lu·gu·bri·ous:
adj.
Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree, The Lake House.

I like time travel films. I really do. But this film did nothing for me except annoy and fatigue me. In fact, it put me asleep seven times when I tried to see it through to the end over three different days.

I can buy the time warp premise that Kate (Sandra Bullock) and Alex (Keanu Reeves) live in the same house two years apart and develop a relationship via letters left to and from each other in the lake house's mailbox. I can buy the concept that they shared the same dog, Jack (brilliantly played by a sadly uncredited rag-a-muffin pup, perhaps the best acting of the whole film).

I wanted to like this Alejandro Agresti film because I generally enjoy Bullock and Reeves. I really did want to like it. But the plodding, stilted dialogue, ever-brooding facial expressions, limpid body language, aching sorrow, mostly ponderous musical score, and lack of chemistry between Kate and Alex put me off. Way off.

Rated PG for some language and a disturbing image.

---

viewed Oct-2006

My September 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Loverboy 09/29/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 3:1 09/22/06 (B)
Lovely & Amazing 09/22/06 (B)
Kinky Boots 09/15/06 (C)
Akeelah and the Bee 09/13/06 (B+)
Friends with Money 09/08/06 (C+)

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

A girl from south LA sets her mind to go to the National Spelling Bee.

Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong.

Written and directed by Doug Atchison.

Rated PG for some language.

My personal rating: B+

My August 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

The Hudsucker Proxy 08/29/06 (A)
To Die For 08/24/06 (B)
Wild Things 08/21/06
Tape 08/16/06 (B)
The Deep End of the Ocean 08/16/06
The Libertine 08/10/06 (C-)
Iris 08/10/06 (C+)
Monk 4:4 08/07/06 (B)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 2:1 08/07/06 (B)
The White Countess 08/01/06
The Confession 08/01/06

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Capra-esque

When giant Hudsucker Industries' president, Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning), leaps 44 stories to his death during a board meeting, the company's second-in-command, Sid Mussberger (Paul Newman), spawns a plot to prevent the general public from buying up Waring's 83 percent interest in the company while also driving down the stock value so he can buy up controlling interest in the organization.

Enter one innocent yet ambitious young Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a new Hudsucker mailroom clerk who is assigned to deliver an important missive to Mussberger's own hands.

In his anxiety of being in the top floor executive office, poor Barnes turns into a total doofus who first raises Mussberger's ire and then becomes Mussberger's vision of the perfect proxy -- a new president for the company who Mussberger can control and ultimately use to manipulate the stock to suit his plan.

With young Barnes as president, the stock does go down and fiesty reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) sets about to expose him in a wonderful reincarnation of all the Katherine Hepburn/Rosalind Russell fast-talking, dazzle-'em journalist style from the films of the 1930s.

Will good prevail and redemption be feasible?

Ranks right up there with It's a Wonderful Life!

A fun and stylish film by brothers Ethan and Joel Coen.

Unrated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

To Die For (1995)

The Dark Side

Cue Suzanne!

Though she's far from the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) certainly is the most determined, cunning, cold, calculating and aggressive wannabee ever. She has lived her whole life to be a television news reporter.

Enter the darkly handsome Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), a restaurateur in his Italian family's business, who sets his sights on the beautiful but shallow Suzanne. After their marriage, Suzanne immerses herself in the serious business of gaining recognition in TV by going to work as a clerk at the cable access station in her hometown, the tiny Little Hope, NH.

The self-absorbed manipulator bowls over her boss Ed (Wayne Knight, Seinfeld's Newman) and becomes the self-important weather girl for the small station, but she knows her real break will come only if she does something significant.

She then interviews students in Mr. Finlaysson's (Buck Henry) class about what teenagers are thinking for a series she is producing. Meanwhile, she's decided that her husband Larry will ultimately be an impediment to her success. He'd prefer she stay home and raise children but he doesn't prohibit her cable station duties and is proud to watch her reports on TV at the restaurant every night.

But once Suzanne has made up her mind about something, the cogs turn quickly. Suzanne seduces the pensive young student Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), befriends and promises great things in the future for the frumpy and lonely young Lidia (Alison Folland), and lures their friend Russell (Casey Affleck) into a dastardly plot to annihilate Larry.

The story is told with many cut-aways to the perfectly coiffed and attired Suzanne in the television studio telling her side of the story with counterpoint comments from Larry's loving sister Janice (Illeana Douglas) who has always been suspicious of Suzanne's motives and selfishness.

Does Suzanne succeed in her plot? Does she become a mega news celebrity? Awwww, come on! I can't tell you that! :)

Directed by Gus Van Sant. Adaptation to screen by Buck Henry. Music by Danny Elfman.

Rated R for strong sexual content, and for language.

Tape (2002)

Powerful Character Studies

One has to be in the right mood to watch Tape. It's intensely psychological and, at times, disturbing. It takes a little getting used to the method used to make this film but ultimately, it's the best way to tell this particular story. Completely filmed in one room with a cast of three and no background music, it has the feel of an amateur film despite the fact that it was directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, The Newton Boys and others).

The story plays straight through without flashbacks or lapse of time between scenes, and the camera is mostly hand-held making for some jumpiness and ping-pong shots back and forth between characters. Once you move beyond these stylistic elements, you can get into the story.

Vince (Ethan Hawke) has come back to Flint, Michigan, to see the debut of his old high school pal's first film at a local Film Festival. He's staying in a seedy motel room awaiting the arrival of his pal Johnny (Robert Sean Leonard).

After 10 years, the reunion is exciting and the fellows have some fun joking around, but it doesn't take long to see that Vince and Johnny have gone in very different directions. Vince is a hard-drinking, cokehead drug dealer while Johnny is a USC film grad set on making a name for himself as a film director.

Vince is dead set on getting Johnny to confess to an indescretion Vince is sure Johnny committed in the waning days of high school. He plays significant head games on Johnny for an hour or so and then calls and invites over their high school friend Amy (Uma Thurman) who is an assistant district attorney in Flint.

Vince wants Amy to hear the tape of Johnny which Vince secretly captured during their earlier conversation. To tell more than this would give away the story but this is a fascinating character study of three very different people.

Rated R for language and drug content.

My July 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Twilight 07/28/06
Monk 4:3 07/28/06 (B)
Songcatcher 07/21/06 (A-)
On a Clear Day 07/17/06
Monk 4:2 07/11/06 (B)
The Matador 07/10/06 (B)
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 07/05/06 (C-)

The Matador (2006)

Juicy Bits

Denverites Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Bean (Hope Davis) have had some rough times with the death of their young son, the loss of a significant job, attempting to start up a new business, and, at last, a lightning-struck tree crashing into their kitchen just as Danny is leaving for an important business trip to Mexico City. He must go. He must land this contract if his business is to be viable.

While drinking a margarita in an stark, sterile hotel bar in Mexico City, Danny meets Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) and is at once both fascinated and repulsed by this man. Julian is as smooth as they come but it's revealed over the course of the next day that he has no permanent home, no family, no friends, travels worldwide from one bar and bordello to another, and makes his living as a hit man (or as Julian prefers to call himself: "a corporate fatality facilitator").

While attending a bullfight, Danny gets an idea of what Julian's work entails. He's intrigued but also realizes the danger and wrongness of it all.

Six months pass. Julian is having problems with his job. He's distracted and failed an assignment in Manila. He's lost his edge and focus. He's burned out. But he needs to keep working and convinces his "contractor" to use him again. Again he fails.

Julian suddenly shows up in the middle of a wintery night at Danny and Bean's front door. Danny's told Bean all about him and at first they are apprehensive but they invite Julian to stay anyhow as they get more and more involved with him and this dangerous life he's lived.

When Julian reveals to Danny that there is now a contract on Julian's life, Danny knows that as Julian's only friend, he must help save the man's life. The tale takes some interesting turns from there and ended up being a good story.

It's really more of a character study of Julian -- and well done on many levels. I've never really been a fan of Pierce Brosnan. I've seen him in some things in the past but just tended to avoid most of his films as I didn't care for him much as an actor beyond that certain look and sophistication. But this is an all-together different kind of role for him and one that makes me hope he gets offered more juicy parts in the future.

Directed by Richard Shepard.

Rated R for strong sexual content and language.

My June 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Monk 4:1 06/03/06 (B)
Failure to Launch 06/30/06 (D)
Moonlighting 3:4 06/27/06 (B)
Syriana 06/23/06 (B)
The Sisters 06/20/06 (C)
Moonlighting 3:3 06/20/06 (B)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 06/16/06 (B-)
Rumor Has It 06/13/06
Hostage 06/12/06
The Family Stone 06/07/06 (B-)
Smoke Signals 06/01/06 (B)

Failure to Launch (2006)

Failure. 'Nuff Said!

in·sip·id
adj.
1) Lacking flavor or zest; not tasty.
2) Lacking qualities that excite, stimulate, or interest; dull.
3) Failure to Launch

I just sorta want to slap a few people silly for their participation in this shallow, stupid film! Sue (Kathy Bates) and Al (Terry Bradshaw) haven't the spines to tell their 37-year-old son Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) to take responsibility for himself and move out of their home. Instead, they do everything to enable him to stay on despite their complaints and commiserating with their middle-aged peers who also are whining wimps.

Seems old Tripp wants to be a child all his life. He can't establish a meaningful relationship with a woman -- heck, he can't establish a meaningful relationship with himself!

His parents hire Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), a professional who specializes in building men's confidence and getting them to move out into the world on their own. She creates a whole romantic milieu for him -- and you can about imagine what happens in the end. Shallow begets shallow!

In all fairness, I must say that I fast fowarded through the last quarter of this film just 'cause I couldn't stand it any longer but wanted to see if there was some -- any -- redeeming quality about it. There wasn't.

Of course, if your ambition in life is to see about 30 seconds of Terry Bradshaw's bare behind bouncing around a room, then by all means, fritter away your time and money on this one.

Directed by Tom Dey.

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity and language.

Smoke Signals (2005)

Poignant

I love little films. And Smoke Signals is a tender little film that was easy for me to love.

Despite his bitter resentment, 20-year-old Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) feels obligated to take his first trip away from northern Idaho's Coeur d'Alene Restervation to retrieve the ashes of his long absent father, Arnold, who died in Arizona.

Though Victor and his mother Arlene (Tantoo Cardinal) have no money, his nerdy childhood friend and budding tribal storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) offers his savings to Victor for the bus trip to Arizona if Thomas can tag along. After all, Victor's father (Gary Farmer) had rescued baby Thomas from the home where Thomas' parents perished and Thomas felt Victor needed a companion for this emotionally difficult journey.

In the process, Victor learns much about himself and also about the complexities of his father and what drove Arnold to abandon his family long ago.

This little film, directed by Chris Eyre, was developed under the auspices of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and was written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans.

I enjoyed seeing the traditions of the culture, the patterns and rhythm of speech, and the frequent drumming and vocalizations of Native America. The film is also imbuded with rich humor.

Rated PG-13 for some intense images.

---

viewed Jun-06

My May 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Moonlighting 3:2 05/30/06 (B-)
Transamerica 05/26/06 (A-)
The Producers (1968) 05/23/06 (B)
Seducing Doctor Lewis 05/22/06 (A-)
Last Holiday 05/16/06 (B)
Capote 05/12/06 (A)
The Producers (2005) 05/10/06 (C-)
Moonlighting 3:1 05/08/06 (B-)
The Ice Harvest 05/01/06 (B)

Seducing Dr. Lewis (2005)

Small Film Big Quirks

A failing French-Canadian fishing village (population 120) must find a doctor to practice in their town if they are to have any chance at wooing a big company to build a plant in their tiny community.

They succeed in luring a young doctor from Quebec to spend a month to see if he will decide to stay on. Aware of the quirks and foibles and assorted oddities of the village, they set about to change their ways to impress him.

That means these hulky former fisherman who love hockey have to aquire a taste for cricket -- or at least learn enough about it to help seduce Dr. Lewis (David Boutin). Some of those scenes, directed by Jean-François Pouliot, are hysterically funny.

They put the young doctor up in the "best" home in town -- the "modern" home owned by the bank clerk (who is often reminded that he can be replaced by a bank machine from the big city). The bank clerk and his family find other lodging for the month and the village women monitor the doctor's phone calls to his girlfriend and best guy friend to find out what the doctor likes (beef stoganoff) and what he doesn't like so they village people can either make sure he finds things he likes in the village or things are changed to suit him.

It's utterly charming and I highly recommend it! But I'll warn you -- don't take your eyes off the screen because there are so many wonderfully subtle things you don't want to miss.

Since this is a French-Canadian film, the dialague is in French with English subtitles. But it's worth the effort. I promise.

Not rated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

---

viewed May-2006

Last Holiday (2006)

The Thoroughly Engaging Ms. Latifah

This remake of a 1950s Alec Guiness film, brings us a woman instead of a man who is diagnosed with a fatal illness and given only weeks to live.

Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifa) quits her job, liquidates her 401-K, and leaves New Orleans for a huge fling at a posh resort in the mountains of Europe that she'd read about in magazines. There she emerges from her dowdy appearance into a smashingly attractive, self-confident woman, determined to enjoy her last days to the hilt. And she does!

A cute film despite its predictability -- and Queen Latifah is so utterly charming and adorable it's hard to dislike.

Costars include: L. L. Cool J, Alicia Witt, Giancarlo Esposito, Gérard Depardieu, Michael Nouri, Timothy Hutton.

Makes me want to see the original version now.

Directed by Wayne Wang.

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference.

Capote (2006)

Capote Inhabits Hoffman!

I was bowled over by Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Capote. He was masterful and had every detail of Truman Capote's quirky mannerisms and fine nuances. He truly deserved his Oscar for this role!

The film covers the seven-year period of Capote's life when he was researching and writing In Cold Blood.

Clifton Collins, Jr. is thoroughly convincing as the disturbed young murderer, Perry Smith, while Chris Cooper plays the role of Alvin Dewey (the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who was primarily responsible for breaking the case) with a certain remoteness and sharp eye on Capote's motives.

Catherine Keener is fascinating as Capote's dear friend Harper Lee (whose own novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is soon to hit the market) as she accompanies Capote on some of his research trips to Kansas and lends him an ear back in NYC.

Directed by Bennett Miller.

Like actor Chris Cooper, this film struck close to me personally as we were both children and teens during this seven-year period and lived in the Kansas City area. We both well remember when the Clutter family was murdered in their farmhouse in rural Kansas, all the news coverage, the capture of the murderers, their trial, appeals, and eventual execution.

Rated R for some violent images and brief strong language.

My personal rating: A.

My April 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Six Feet Under 5:5 04/27/06 (C+)
Shopgirl 04/26/06 (B-)
Breakfast on Pluto 04/24/06 (B-)
Six Feet Under 5:4 04/24/06 (C+)
Mrs. Henderson Presents 04/20/06 (B)
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio 04/18/06 (B-)
Bee Season 04/17/06 (C)
Six Feet Under 5:3 04/14/06 (C+)
Six Feet Under 5:2 04/12/06 (C+)
Six Feet Under 5:1 04/04/06 (C+)
French Kiss 04/03/06 (C+)

Shopgirl (2006)

A Certain Tenderness

Wealthy, middle-aged Ray (Steve Martin) becomes the suitor of a young store clerk, Mirabelle (Claire Danes), who feels isolated and purposeless selling gloves in an expensive clothing store.

Eventually she longs for more commitment than Ray can give her and meets the penniless but sincere Jeremy (Jason Schwartzman). She wonders if it's time to give up one man for the other.

This is a bittersweet story flawed with some slow pacing and a fairly predictable ending, but there were some warm and rich sequences. I enjoyed it considerably more than the similar Lost in Translation.

From a novella by Steve Martin and directed by Anand Tucker.

Rated R for some sexual content and brief language.

My personal rating: B-.

Mrs. Henderson Presents (2006)

Sweet, Charming and Poignant

Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) is an unconvential socialite widow who launches into creating a live theatre venue in London in the 1930s. She hires a manager for the theater (Bob Hoskins) and off they go, approaching WWII.

It doesn't take long for their Windmill theatre to become a nude review -- but all done very tastefully -- frequently patronized by the young men going off to war.

Dame Judi was marvelous in this film. Hoskins was even better! Apparently Hoskins worked for years to bring this true story to the screen. He remembers Mrs. Henderson's live review from when he was a boy in London during the War.

Christopher Guest is charmingly funny as Lord Crommer who must grant Mrs. Henderson a permit to operate.

At the end of the film, many of the surviving women who worked at The Windmill -- now in their mid-80s and older -- appear.

Directed by Stephen Frears.

Rated R for nudity and brief language.

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2006)

A Little Sweet A Lot of Sappy

I'd listened to the abridged version of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio on audiobook last year and was eager to see the film. It didn't disappoint and it fleshed out the whole true biography even more.

Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore) becomes very resourceful in supporting her large family in the 1950s. Her husband (Woody Harrelson) is an alcoholic and makes meager wages, but Mom writes jingle after jingle in the hey-day of jingle-writing to win money, cars, food, a freezer, whatever her family needs or can sell for fast and much needed cash.

It's a well done little film and had the added treat of showing the real Evelyn Ryan's children -- now AARP-eligible! -- in the last scenes as they reminisce about their Mom.

Director Jane Anderson used an interesting technique for enriching the story by having the Evelyn Ryan character weave throughout story as somewhat of a spectator/narrator.

Laura Dern appears as Evelyn Ryan's trusted friend.

Rated PG-13 thematic elements, some disturbing images and language.

My personal rating: B-

Bee Season (2005)

As a wife withdraws into herself and the marriage falls apart, a man helps his 11-year-old daughter prepare for a spelling bee.

Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche, Flora Cross, Max Minghella, Kate Bosworth.

Directed by Scott McGehee, David Siegel

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, a scene of sensuality and brief strong language.

My personal rating: C

My March 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Loggerheads 03/31/06 (C)
Moonlighting 1&2:6 03/29/06 (B)
The Squid and the Whale 03/28/06 (B-)
Elizabethtown 03/23/06 (C-)
The 40-Year-Old Virgin 03/22/06 (C)
Where the Truth Lies 03/09/06 (B-)
The Simian Line 03/08/06 (C)
North Country 03/03/06 (B)
Walk the Line 03/02/06 (B)
Sweet and Lowdown 03/01/06 (B+)

North Country (2006)

Righting Wrongs

Based on a true story, North Country tells the story of one formerly abused woman who has the courage to fight a large corporation and bring about the first class action suit for sexual harassment.

The setting is a mining town in northern Minnesota where women have been working as miners for a long time but the men perceive the woman as a threat to their jobs. The prevailing attitude is "women don't belong here" and the men take every opportunity to harass and embarass the women.

The women have silently endured the problem in an effort to just do their jobs and collect their pay which is much better than any other job they could get in that area. That is, until Josey (Charlize Theron) moves back to town and is determined to make a future for herself and her two children after she leaves an abusive relationship.

Josey is an embarassment to her father (Richard Jenkins) due to her having two illegimate children, her desire to work at the mine, and her outspokenness about the wrongs perpetrated against women at the minew where he also works. Sissy Spacek plays Josey's loving and encouraging mother.

But Josey is determined to stop the wrong and is aided by Glory (Frances McDormand), the only female union rep at the mine, and a local lawyer (Woody Harrelson) who is not only sympathetic to the women's plight but also views this as a precedent-setting case.

Directed by Niki Caro.

Rated R for sequences involving sexual harassment including violence and dialogue, and for language.

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viewed Mar-2006

My February 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Separate Lies 02/27/06
Love Liza 02/27/06
The Weather Man 02/23/06 (D)
Word Wars 02/23/06 (C+)
Nine Lives 02/17/06
Sleepers 02/14/06 (A-)
The Hollywood Sign 02/09/06
Lemon Sky 02/02/06 (B-)

The Weather Man (2006)

The Forecast Is Bleak

The Weather Man should be retitled to Angst in Chicago -or- How Many Pained Facial Expressions Can Nicolas Cage Make?

I was in hopes this would be a good film but it was just too painful to watch a couple of good actors wasted in this rubbish.

Nicolas Cage plays a weatherman in Chicago but he isn't really trained for it and doesn't really like his job. He's lost his wife (Hope Davis) and has unrealistic expectations that it can be made right again. His two young teenage children are seriously messed up. He's a vast disappointment to his father (Michael Caine).

He is regularly pelted with fast food as he walks down the Chicago streets. He's in serious need of anger management therapy. He's chronically depressed and at a loss as to what he can do to make himself and those around him happy. And he just landed a job as the weatherman on a national morning news show out of NYC.

I was tempted to just give up on it several times but stuck with it to the end hoping the film would redeem itself. It didn't. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate dark humor and love movies with a warp but this doesn't pass either test.

Directed by Gore Verbinski.

Rated R for strong language and sexual content.

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viewed Feb-2006

Sleepers (1997)

Quality Cast, Gripping Story, Terrific Music

Four young boys are growing up in the mid-1960's in NYC's Hell's Kitchen. The boys -- Shakes (Joseph Perrino), Michael (Brad Renfro), John (Geoffrey Wigdor) and Tommy (Jonathan Tucker) -- aren't really bad boys, just kids living in a rough neighborhood. They fall under the influence of the 'hood's Mafia leader, King Benny (Vittorio Gassman) but also have a solid friendship with their neighborhood priest, Father Bobby (Robert De Niro).

When they're 14, a foolish prank costs an innocent man his life and they're sent away to reform school where they immediately become targets for the loathesome Sean Nokes (Kevin Bacon), a brutal guard who is the ringleader of a group of guards who molest and beat the boys.

Thirteen years later, all grown up, Tommy (Billy Crudup) and John (Ron Eldard) are Hell's Kitchen thugs while Shakes (Jason Patric) is a low-level newspaper employee and Michael (Brad Pitt) is an assistant district attorney. Their childhood friend Carol (Minnie Driver), now a social worker, is still loyal to all of them.

When Tommy and John encounter the despicable Sean Nokes dining at a local bar and grill, they take the opportunity to exact revenge upon him by murdering him in cold blood -- with four witnesses present.

Shakes and Michael conspire and hatch a plan to not only get Tommy and John off but also to take revenge on the other guards who Sean Nokes lead to ravage the boys when they were young.

While Michael arranges to take on the case to prosecute Tommy and John, King Benny hires an alcoholic, loser attorney (Dustin Hoffman) to defend the boys.

Will the plan work? Will Father Bobby aid the cause?

A masterful ensemble of actors. Directed by Barry Levinson who is known for his films about male bonding (Diner, Tin Men, Avalon, Rain Man). Fabulous music from the '60s and '70s. Haunting sets and cinematography

Bruno Kirby appears as Shakes' alcoholic father.

I highly recommend this one if you can handle the intensity. Be warned that it is long but can easily be viewed in two sections -- when the boys are young and then when they've grown up.

Two-disc set.

Rated R for language, graphic violence and two scenes of strong sexual content.

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viewed Feb-2006

Normal (2003)

Acceptance

What a tender, brave film.

Small town folks Irma (Jessica Lange) and Roy (Tom Wilkinson) Applewood, a devoted couple, have just celebrated their 25th anniversary when Roy faces the reality that he's has been hiding a huge secret all his life. He's a trans-sexual who desperately wants gender reassignment treatment and surgery.

In the process of coming to terms with this, they need to deal with their pubescent daughter (Hayden Panettiere), grown son (Joe Sikora), Roy's judgemental coworkers at the farm implement plant, and the intolerant rural church congregation who previously had adored and respected Irma and Roy.

The amazing nuances in Wilkinson's protrayal of Roy transforming himself into Ruth are incredibly powerful as is Lange's Irma who was at first shell-shocked, then confused and angry, and finally to the ultimate acceptance and return to loving this human being who she has shared so much with all her adult life.

The simplicity of the cinematography allows the story to be perfectly told through the very skins of Lange and Wilkinson.

Directed for HBO by Jane Anderson.

My personal rating: A

My January 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratins.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Broken Flowers 01/30/06
Bowfinger 01/27/06 (B-)
Junebug 01/23/06 (B+)
Strangers in Good Company 01/16/06
A Love Song for Bobby Long 01/11/06 (A-)
Me and You and Everyone We Know 01/09/06
Fever Pitch 01/05/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 1:2 01/03/06 (B)

Junebug (2005)

A Poignant and Bittersweet Story of Family

Chicago art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) has the opportunity to sign up a Southern primitive artist so she and her new husband George (Alessandro Nivola) take the trip as a chance for Madeleine to also meet George's family for the first time.

Though the sophisticated Madeleine is very sweet and not the least bit uppity, she isn't quite prepared for the doings and expectations of this Southern family.

George's mother Peg (Celia Weston) is a strong and judgemental woman while his father Eugene (Scott Wilson) is mostly withdrawn into silence and shadow. George's bubbly, young, and very pregnant sister-in-law Ashley (Amy Adams) is an enthusiastic, loving, supportive, optimistic little button who is thrilled to have another younger woman in the house to talk with.
Ashley's husband, George's brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie), is unmotivated and bitter about being stuck living with his parents, being married and expecting a baby any day.

I appreciate that director Phil Morrison did not portray the Southern family as bumpkins nor the worldly Madeleine as snobbish. They all end up learning valuable life lessons from each other in one way or another.

Rated R for sexual content and language.

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viewed Jan-2006

My December 2005 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Surviving Christmas 12/30/05
The Ugly Dachshund 12/28/05 (B-)
Good Neighbor 1-3:3 12/27/05 (B)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 1:1 12/20/05 (B)
Bewitched 12/19/05 (D)
Super Size Me 12/13/05 (C)
Cheaper by the Dozen 12/06/05 (C)
The Pledge 12/06/05
Mr. and Mrs. Smith 12/02/05 (B)
March of the Penguins 12/02/05 (B-)