Rest in Peace - September 2008

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REST IN PEACE
Sep-29-2008
Richard Clayton, 93, American actor and talent agent (Burt Reynolds, James Dean), heart failure.

Sep-06-2008
Anita Page, 98, American actress (The Broadway Melody), natural causes.

Sep-01-2008
Don LaFontaine, 68, American voice-over artist, complications from pneumothorax.

My September 2008 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Cashback 09/30/08 (C)
Mean Creek 09/29/08 (C)
Stage Beauty 09/28/08 (B+)
Then She Found Me 09/26/08 (B)
Nanny McPhee 09/25/08 (B)
Son of Rambow 09/24/08 (C+)
Live Free or Die 09/23/08 (C)
Leatherheads 09/22/08 (C)
Murder in the First 09/20/08 (A)
The Wedding Gift 09/19/08 (B)
Evelyn 09/18/08 (B)
Tattoo: A Love Story 09/17/08 (B)
Zero Effect 09/16/08 (C)
August 09/15/08 (C)
Bird 09/12/08 (B-)
Billy Connolly: Live in New York 09/11/08 (C+)
Rosemary & Thyme 1:1 09/10/08 (C)
Outsourced 09/09/08 (B)
Married Life 09/08/08 (B)
Manhattan Murder Mystery 09/06/08 (C)
Psych 1:2 09/05/08 (B)
King of the Corner 09/04/08 (B-)
Once 09/03/08 (B-)
Focus 09/02/08 (A)
How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog 09/01/08 (B)

Cashback (2006)

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"I wanted to freeze time. I wanted to savor that moment, to live in that moment for a week. But I couldn't stop it, only slow it."
Art student Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) has insomnia after his first relationship break-up so he takes a job in a 24/7 supermarket. What follows is a surrealistic journey to find love.

A;so appearing are Emilia Fox, Shaun Evans, Michelle Ryan.

Written and directed by Sean Ellis.

Run time: 1 hour, 42 minutes

Rated R for graphic nudity, sexual content and language.

My personal rating: C

Mean Creek (2004)

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"I don't wanna be here!"
George Tooney (Josh Peck) is a bully. He's been beating up on Sam Merric (Rory Culkin) on a regular basis. When Sam finally tells his protective older brother Rocky (Trevor Morgan), a plan is hatched to teach George a lesson.

Rocky plans it all out with Sam and two of Rocky's friends, Clyde (Ryan Kelley) and Marty (Scott Mechlowicz). They invite George to take a trip with them on an Oregon river with the payoff being to get George to swim naked and then abandon him to find his own way home. But before the prank actually gets underway, Sam realizes that maybe George is a bully because he has no friends and Sam wants to call off the prank. But things have progressed too far to stop and a tragedy occurs.

Also appearing is Carly Schroeder as young Sam's girlfriend who comes along on the river trip.

Written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes.

Run time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Rated R for language, sexual references, teen drug and alcohol use.

My personal rating: B-

Stage Beauty (2004)

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"It is not a question of acting a man. I can act a man. There's no artistry in that. There are things that I can be as a woman that I cannot be as a man."
In seventeenth century London, woman are forbidden from acting on stage so all female roles are played by men who have been carefully groomed and developed for their cross-dressing performances. Bisexual Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is the most illustrious "leading lady" of his time. He's adored by his audiences and by King Charles (Rupert Everett) and Charles' vulgar mistress Nell (Zoe Tapper).

He's also secretly loved by his dresser, the beautiful Maria (Claire Danes). Maria has also carefully studied Ned's acting and she wants to act herself. When she has the opportunity to assume the identity of a man playing Othello's Desdemona, she jumps at the chance. She turns in such a brilliant performance that when King Charles discovers she is actually a woman, he declares that only real women should now be allowed to play women's roles.

This, of course, puts Ned in the very harrowing situation of losing his beloved work.

Also in the fine cast are Ben Chaplin as the Duke of Buckingham; Hugh Bonneville as Samuel Pepys; and Tom Wilkinson as Betterton, the theater owner.

Directed by Richard Eyre.

Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes

Rated R for sexual content and language.

My personal rating: B+

Then She Found Me (2007)

.What next?
April Epner (Helen Hunt. who also directed) is having a terrible week. Her husband Ben (Matthew Broderick) has left her after only 10 months of marriage. Her adopted mother (Lynn Cohen) dies. Her birth mother (Bette Midler) decides to contact with her for the very first time.

She hurts. She's vulnerable. She's mad. She also becomes smitten with the father (Colin Firth) of one of her students.

The cast also includes Robert LaPone (Patti LaPone's brother), Salman Rushdie, Ben Shenkman, with small cameos by Janeane Garofalo, Tim Robbins, and Edie Falco.

Run time: 1 hours, 50 minutes

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

My personal rating: B

Nanny McPhee (2005)

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"There is something you should understand about the way I work. When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go. It's rather sad, really, but there it is."
Widower Cedric Brown (Colin Firth) has a real problem. His seven unruly children have driven off one governess after another with their rudeness, bad manners, and lack of respect. But enter one homely, warty Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson, who also wrote the script) and things begin to change as if by magic.

Also in the cast are Kelly Macdonald, Thomas Sangster, Eliza Bennett , Angela Lansbury, Celia Imrie, Imelda Staunton, Derek Jacobi, and the voice of Phyllida Law (Emma Thompson's real life mother).

Directed by Kirk Jones.

Run time: 1 hours, 37 minutes

Rated PG for mild thematic elements, some rude humor and brief language.

My personal rating: B

Son of Rambow (2007)

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"This has been my best day of all time."
Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), an English schoolboy, is a member of a righteous religious sect that has strict moral codes that forbid music, television, movies and forbids contact with people outside of the sect. One summer in the early 1980s, young Will meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter), a school terror who makes bizarre home movies. Lee recruits Will to be the stuntman in a little film modeled after the Rambo movies.

Their ambition leads them to a series of adventures and the growth of a solid friendship.

Written and directed by Garth Jennings.

Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rated PG-13 for some violence and reckless behavior.

My personal rating: C+

Leatherheads (2008)

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"You're the kind of cocktail that comes on like sugar but gives you a kick in the head. The only thing you hate worse than a guy making a play is when a guy 'doesn't' make a play."
Lexie Littleton (Renée Zellweger), a sharp reporter for the Chicago Tribune, is dispatched by her editor to expose Carter "The Bullet" Rutherford (John Krasinski), who purports to be a WWI war hero who plays on one of the early pro football teams, the Duluth Bulldogs. But Jimmy "Dodge" Connelly (George Clooney, who also directed) is the captain of the team and it isn't long before Dodge and Lexie are exchanging barbs a la Hepburn and Tracy in numerous films of the past.

Run time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

My personal rating: C

Murder in the FIrst (1995)

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James Stamphill: "Did you kill Rufus McCain?"
Henri Young: "I was the weapon, but I ain't no killer."
When 17-year-old Henri Young (Kevin Bacon) robs a small grocery store of $5 so he and his little sister can eat, little does he know that the petty robbery was a federal crime because the store also served as a U.S. Post Office. With his sister sent ot an orphanage, Henri is sent off to serve his term at the federal prison in Leavenworth and is later transfered to Alcatraz.

Henri quickly becomes involved in an escape plot but is betrayed by a fellow prisoner. As punishement, Henri is sent to solitary confinement but instead of serving the standard 19 days, he spend three years alone in a dark, dank, tiny dungeon with no real human contact. The isolation drives Henri insane. Upon release from solitary, he attacks and kills the snitch by stabbing him repeatedly with a spoon.

Young attorney James Stamphill (Christian Slater) is assigned to defend Henri. While it's clear that Henri killed the betrayer, Stamphill's tactic is to convince the jury that the brutality Henri endured in solitary caused him to become a murderer.

Others in the cast include Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, William H. Macy, Kyra Sedgwick.

Kevin Bacon is, once again, brilliant.

Directed by Marc Rocco.

Run time: 2 hours, 2 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: A-

The Wedding Gift (1993)

Wide-Eyed and Legless

Diana (Julie Walters) and Deric Longden (James Broadbent) are devoted to each other. Their long marriage has been good and they simply adore each other.

But Diana is suffering from a mysterious disease, one that is now rapidly debilitating her and that will claim her life soon. She doesn't want Deric to be left alone and so she works toward finding him his future wife.

Thora Hird appears as Deric's dithery mother and Sian Thomas plays the blind novelist who befriends both Diana and Derik.

Based on the true stories written by Deric Longden and directed by Richard Loncraine.

Aired on BBC.

Run time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Not rated by MPCC.

Personal rating: B

Evelyn (2002)

Based on a true story.

"The law and justice are two entirely different matters."
Desmond Doyle's (Pierce Brosnan) wife abandons their family right after Christmas. Despite the fact that he is unemployed and is a hard drinker, Doyle loves his children and is a good father to his children Evelyn (Sophie Vavasseur), Dermot (Niall Beagan) and Maurice (Hugh Macdonagh).

The Catholic Church and the Irish courts decide that without a woman in the household, Doyle is unfit to raise his children so they are taken away to different church-run orphanages.

Even though a judge assures Desmond that when he is employed again the children will be returned to him, jobs are hard to come by in 1950s Ireland. Meanwhile the children endure many abuses in the orphanages and Desmond is unable to raise any money despite his efforts.

Finally he's had enough and must battle in court to get his children home where they belong.

Also appearing are: Julianna Margulies, Bosco Hogan, Alan Bates, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn.

Directed by Bruce Beresford.

Run time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Rated PG for thematic material and language.

My personal rating: B

Tattoo: A Love Story (2002)

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A Walk On the Wild Side
Sara (Megan Edwards), a prim, no-nonsense school teacher, doesn't care for the unconventional. She's very organized, tidy, and somewhat judgemental. When she first meets Virgil (Virgil Mignanelli), she is actually repulsed. Virgil, a talented tattoo artist who rides a Harley, has extreme tattoos. At first that prevents Sara from getting to know him but in some odd way, she is attracted to him. As their friendship develops, Sara discovers what a kind, caring and gentle giant Virgil actually is.

Sara needs to make some decisions about herself and her future with her fiancee Brett (Stephen F. Davies). Should she continue on the straight-laced path or should she allow the real Sara to shine by bucking her own image of herself and the expectations of others?

A tender tale lovingly told.

Written and directed by Richard W. Bean.

Rated R for language, drug material and some sexual content.

My personal rating: B

Zero Effect (1998)

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Daryl Zero: "I can't possibly overstate the importance of good research. Everyone goes through life dropping crumbs. If you can recognize the crumbs, you can trace a path all the way back from your death certificate to the dinner and a movie that resulted in you in the first place. But research is an art, not a science, because anyone who knows what they're doing can find the crumbs, the wheres, whats, and whos. The art is in the whys: the ability to read between the crumbs, not to mix metaphors. For every event, there is a cause and effect. For every crime, a motive. And for every motive, a passion. The art of research is the ability to look at the details, and see the passion"
Sleazy tycoon Gregory Stark (Ryan O'Neal) is being blackmailed. All efforts to find out who is doing it have failed so Stark hires the reclusive, antisocial, paranoid, genius detective Daryl Zero (Bill Pullman) to solve the case. With help from his assistant Steve Arlo (Ben Stiller), Zero sets up a sting operation to find the blackmailer. But in doing so, he breaks his cardinal rule in all detective work: He becomes emotionally involved.

Also appearing is Kim Dickens.

Written and directed by Jake Kasden.

Run time: 1 hour, 56 minutes

Rated R for language.

My personal rating: B-

Bird (1988)

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The Yardbird
Though this is a long film, it's a remarkable account of the troubled life of the legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker (Forest Whitaker).

Diane Venora plays Parker's common-law wife and mother of his children; Michael Zelniker plays bandleader Red Rodney, Samuel E. Wright plays Dizzy Gillespie, Keith David plays musician Buster Franklin.

Directed by Clint Eastwood.

Run time: 2 hours, 41 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

Billy Connolly: Live in New York (2005)

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Stand-up comedy is hard work. Billy Connolly, who I consider to be the Scots' George Carlin, wasn't having a particularly keen night in February 2005 in the Town Hall club in NYC. The crowd was rancourous, Connolly seemed a little off, and all of it just seemed to make him irritated.

There were some strokes of genius to be enjoyed but overall, I wouldn't recommend this DVD to those who have never seen Connolly doing stand-up before.

Run time: 1 hour, 32 minutes

Not rated by MPAA.

My personal rating: C+

Outsourced (2006)

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"I'm Purohit Narsimacharaya Virajnarianan. But you can call me Puro"
When the US-based novelty company Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton) works for decides to downsize and outsource customer service phone banks to India, Todd is glad to at least have a job temporarily but is angry that he's being sent to India to set up the phone banks and train the staff on how to handle calls, including how to "talk American."

What Todd finds is people eager to please, a fascinating and very different culture, and romance. Ayesha Dharker appears as Asha, Todd's new eyes on the world.

Co-written and directed by John Jeffcoat.

Run time: 1 hour, 41 minutes

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

My personal rating: B

Married Life (2007)

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Keeping Secrets
Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) seems to be the perfect 1940s husband. He's apparently devoted to his wife Pat (Patricia Clarkson). But Harry has a secret. When he has dinner with his best friend Richard Langley (Pierce Brosnan), Harry 'fesses up to being involved in an affair with Kay Nesbitt (Rachel McAdams). When the voluptuous Kay joins Harry and Richard for dinner, Richard becomes quite smitten with her, too.

Wanting to spare Pat the embarrassment and onus of divorce, Harry decides he must kill her. But Richard knows a secret about Pat, too.

David Wenham also has an important role.

Co-written and directed by Ira Sachs.

Run time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a scene of sexuality.

My personal rating: B

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

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"Claustrophia and a dead body -- this is a neurotic's jackpot!"
Manhattanites Larry (Woody Allen) and Carol (Diane Keaton) Lipton live down the hall from an elderly couple, Paul (Jerry Adler) and Lillian (Lynn Cohen) House. When Lillian turns up dead of an apparent heart attack and Paul is quickly ready to move on with his life without any explanation about Lillian's death, Carol turns detective using all she's learned over the years from books, films and tv shows. Larry discourages her and tells her to mind her own business but Carol has a lot of time on her hands since their son Nick (Zak Branff) left for college.

In time, Larry, too, becomes emeshed in the mystery and they recruit friends Ted (Alan Alda) and Marcia (Anjelica Huston) Fox to help solve the mystery. Also appearing are Joy Behar, Ron Rifkin, and Aida Turturro.

Typical Allen-esque witty lines:

"My life is passing before my eyes. The worst part about it is that I'm driving a used car."

"I can't get that Flying Dutchman theme out of my head. Remind me tomorrow to buy up all the Wagner records in town and rent a chainsaw."

"I can't listen to that much Wagner, ya know? I start to get the urge to conquer Poland."

"New York is the city that never sleeps! That's why we don't live in Duluth. That, plus I don't even know where Duluth is. Lucky me."

"I'd like to French pastry myself to death, right now."

"There's nothing wrong with you that a little Prozac and a polo mallet can't cure."

Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman; directed by Woody Allen.

Run time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Rated PG for mild language, and for elements of violence in a comic murder mystery.

My personal rating: B

King of the Corner (2004)

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The Middle-Age Tight Rope
Leo Spivak (Peter Riegert, who also wrote and directed this film) is adrift. His aged and curmudgeonly father Sol (Eli Wallach), his rebellious daughter (Ashley Johnson), and his wife's (Isabella Rossellini) loss of patience with him is creating a crisis in his life. But thanks to an odd meeting with an unconventional rabbi (Eric Bogosian), Leo is finding a sense of balance and a new chance at life.

Also appearing are: Rita Moreno, Jake Hoffman, Beverly D'Angelo, Peter Friedman, Penny Fuller, Steve Landesberg.

Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Rated R for some language and sexual references.

My personal rating: B-

Once (2006)

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"During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen."
A Dublin busker (Glen Hansard) meets a Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova) who sells flowers on the street. By the end of the week, the pair is making beautiful music together, in more ways than one.

Written and directed by John Carney.

Run time: 1 hour, 25 minutes

Rated R for language.

My personal rating: B-

Focus (2001)

During WWII, Lawrence Newman (William H. Macy) holds a responsible job in personel in a NYC office. But as the war goes on, his superiors begin to suspect that Newman is a Jew and he's gradually demoted and eventually loses his job as a result.

Newman and his infirmed mother (Kay Hawtrey) have lived in the same Brooklyn neighborhood for a long, long time. They are well liked by their neighbors. Newman doesn't reveal to his neighbors that he's lost his job.

As he's applying for a new job, he again meets up with Gertrude Hart (Laura Dern) who is now in charge of hiring for another company but who was rejected by Newman as an applicant for a secretarial job at Newman's former company. Newman was told not to hire her because his superiors thought she was Jewish. Gertrude and Newman strike up a romance and get married, and continue to live in the same house with his mother.

Before the end of the war, Newman notices the growing anti-semitism in his neighborhood. The residents are all refusing to buy newspapers from the Jewish shop owner (David Paymer) on the corner even though for years he was an accepted member of the community. The storekeep, Finkelstein, is being threatened. About the time the neighbors decide that Newman and Gert are Jews, too, Newman goes to the defense of Finklestein and the neighors go all out to intimidate the Newmans and Finkelstein, even to the point of violence. Newman's neighbor Fred (Meat Loaf Aday) leads the effort to drive out what he feels is not acceptable in the neighborhood.

It's a struggle for survival and dignity in the midst of chaos and prejudice.

Based on a novel by Arthur Miller. Directed by Neal Slavin.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, violence and some sexual content.

My personal rating: A

How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog (2000)

Insomniac Peter McGowan (Kenneth Branagh) is a once successful playwright who has now had 10 years of failure on stage. His wife Melanie (Robin Wright Penn) wants a child but Peter doesn't. His mother-in-law Edna (Lynn Redgrave), who lives with them, is slipping into senility. His neighbor's dog barks constantly keeping him from sleeping well. He has a new neighbor with a little girl, Amy (Suzi Hofrichter) who Melanie feels can change Peter's resistence to having a child. To top it all off, Peter has a doppelganger (Jared Harris) roaming the neighborhood and causing Peter much grief.

This is a smart and quirky comedy for adults with highs and lows that, by the end, leave a rather satisfied feeling.

Peter Riegert and Peri Gilpin also appear.

Written and directed by Michael Kalesniko.

Rated R for language.

My personal rating: B