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.