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