Jun-30-2009
Harve Presnell, 75, American television and film (Paint Your Wagon, Fargo, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Patch Adams, Evan Almighty) actor, pancreatic cancer.
Jun-28-2009
Fred Travalena, 66, American comedian, impressionist, and actor (The Buddy Holly Story, Strange Hearts, An American Carol plus numerous television appearances), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Jun-27-2009
Gale Storm, 87, American film (Little Rascal and Three Stooges films, plus Tom Brown's Schooldays, Rhythm Parade, Swing Parade of 1946) and television (My Little Margie, The Gale Storm Show) actress and recording artist, after a long illness.
Jun-25-2009
Farrah Fawcett, 62, American actor (Myra Breckenridge, Logan's Run, The Cannonball Run, The Apostle, The Burning Bed), cancer.
Michael Jackson, 50, American singer and actor (Captain EO, The Wiz, Ghosts, Men in Black II, Miss Cast Away), cardiac arrest.
Jun-03-2009
David Carradine, 72, American stage, television, and film actor (Kung Fu, Kill Bill 1, Kill Bill 2), son of actor John Carradine, brother of actors Keith and Robert Carradine, hanging.
6/30/2009
My June 2009 Viewings
Recommended DVDs are marked with *. Most titles link to reviews.
Shooting Star 06/30/09 (C-)
* The Man from Elysian Fields 06/29/09 (B+)
* The Pink Panther 06/28/09 (B)
* In the Land of Women 06/27/09 (B+)
* Taking Chance 06/26/09 (A)
* Something the Lord Made 06/25/09 (A)
* Infamous 06/24/09 (B+)
* Trapped 06/23/09 (B)
* Hide and Seek 06/22/09 (B)
* Evening 06/21/09 (A-)
* The Reader 06/20/09 (B+)
* Passengers 06/19/09 (B+)
* The Gleaners and I 06/18/09 (B)
Mercury Rising 06/17/09 B-
Blue in the Face 06/16/09 C+
* Defiance 06/15/09 (A)
* A Thousand Years of Good Prayers 06/14/09 (B)
* A Simple Plan 06/13/09 (B)
* Holy Smoke 06/12/09 (B+)
* All the King's Men 06/11/09 (A)
* Smoke 06/10/09 (B+)
* Gran Torino 06/09/09 (A-)
* The Good Shepherd 06/08/09 (B)
* Yonkers Joe 06/07/09 (B)
Blind Date 06/06/09 (C)
* Mozart and the Whale 06/05/09 (B)
* Vicky Cristina Barcelona 06/04/09 (B+)
* Revolutionary Road 06/03/09 (B+)
* He's Just Not That Into You 06/02/09 (B)
* The Door in the Floor 06/01/09 (B)
Shooting Star 06/30/09 (C-)
* The Man from Elysian Fields 06/29/09 (B+)
* The Pink Panther 06/28/09 (B)
* In the Land of Women 06/27/09 (B+)
* Taking Chance 06/26/09 (A)
* Something the Lord Made 06/25/09 (A)
* Infamous 06/24/09 (B+)
* Trapped 06/23/09 (B)
* Hide and Seek 06/22/09 (B)
* Evening 06/21/09 (A-)
* The Reader 06/20/09 (B+)
* Passengers 06/19/09 (B+)
* The Gleaners and I 06/18/09 (B)
Mercury Rising 06/17/09 B-
Blue in the Face 06/16/09 C+
* Defiance 06/15/09 (A)
* A Thousand Years of Good Prayers 06/14/09 (B)
* A Simple Plan 06/13/09 (B)
* Holy Smoke 06/12/09 (B+)
* All the King's Men 06/11/09 (A)
* Smoke 06/10/09 (B+)
* Gran Torino 06/09/09 (A-)
* The Good Shepherd 06/08/09 (B)
* Yonkers Joe 06/07/09 (B)
Blind Date 06/06/09 (C)
* Mozart and the Whale 06/05/09 (B)
* Vicky Cristina Barcelona 06/04/09 (B+)
* Revolutionary Road 06/03/09 (B+)
* He's Just Not That Into You 06/02/09 (B)
* The Door in the Floor 06/01/09 (B)
Shooting Star (2007)
a.k.a. Heber Holiday
Sierra Young (Torrey DeVitto) is a spoiled, rude, obnoxious, alcoholic young actress. She's in the process of ruining filming of her latest movie with her unreliability and emotional outbursts so she's sent packing off to a celebrity rehab facility in the mountains of Utah.
Also appearing are K.C. Clyde, Erin Chambers, Jimmy Chunga, Thurl Bailey, Sean Bott, Aaron De Jesus, Brittany Peltier, Jackie Winterrose-Fuller, Michael Flynn.
This film was well on its way to earning an F from me for the horrendously bad acting in the first two-thirds, but the acting actually improved and the film did have a germ of a good idea.
Written and directed by McKay Daines.
Rated PG for some mild thematic elements and language.
My personal rating: C-
Sierra Young (Torrey DeVitto) is a spoiled, rude, obnoxious, alcoholic young actress. She's in the process of ruining filming of her latest movie with her unreliability and emotional outbursts so she's sent packing off to a celebrity rehab facility in the mountains of Utah.
Also appearing are K.C. Clyde, Erin Chambers, Jimmy Chunga, Thurl Bailey, Sean Bott, Aaron De Jesus, Brittany Peltier, Jackie Winterrose-Fuller, Michael Flynn.
This film was well on its way to earning an F from me for the horrendously bad acting in the first two-thirds, but the acting actually improved and the film did have a germ of a good idea.
Written and directed by McKay Daines.
Rated PG for some mild thematic elements and language.
My personal rating: C-
6/29/2009
The Man From Elysian Fields (2002)
.
Novelist Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) has run dry. His first novel, though critically acclaimed, didn’t make much money for him. He’s already groveled to his editor for an advance on nothing. He’s groveled to his former boss for his job back at an ad agency. He’s even groveled to his wealthy father-in-law. All to no avail. He’s depressed over the idea that he can’t support his devoted wife, Dena (Julianna Margulies) and baby.
One day, he talks to Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) who has a mysterious little office down the hall from Byron’s hidey-hole writing office. Turns out, Mr. Fox runs Elysian Fields, an elite male escort service catering to wealthy married women.
His first “date” is going to an opera with Andrea Allcott (Olivia Williams) who is utterly charmed by Byron. Andrea is married to the elderly, ill, and extremely popular novelist Tobias Allcott (James Colburn). Andrea is a lonely woman who truly loves her husband. Tobias doesn’t mind her having a lover. In fact, in short order, Tobias and Byron become friends, and Tobias solicits Byron to help him complete his last novel.
Others in the cast include Anjelica Huston plays Luther Fox’s own regular client; Michael Des Barres as Nigel Halsey, an aging escort; and Joe Santos as Dom, the restaurateur.
Directed by George Hickenlooper.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rating R.
My personal rating: B+
“If you don’t use success to enrich your life, then you’re just putting failure into Gucci shoes.”
Novelist Byron Tiller (Andy Garcia) has run dry. His first novel, though critically acclaimed, didn’t make much money for him. He’s already groveled to his editor for an advance on nothing. He’s groveled to his former boss for his job back at an ad agency. He’s even groveled to his wealthy father-in-law. All to no avail. He’s depressed over the idea that he can’t support his devoted wife, Dena (Julianna Margulies) and baby.
One day, he talks to Luther Fox (Mick Jagger) who has a mysterious little office down the hall from Byron’s hidey-hole writing office. Turns out, Mr. Fox runs Elysian Fields, an elite male escort service catering to wealthy married women.
His first “date” is going to an opera with Andrea Allcott (Olivia Williams) who is utterly charmed by Byron. Andrea is married to the elderly, ill, and extremely popular novelist Tobias Allcott (James Colburn). Andrea is a lonely woman who truly loves her husband. Tobias doesn’t mind her having a lover. In fact, in short order, Tobias and Byron become friends, and Tobias solicits Byron to help him complete his last novel.
Others in the cast include Anjelica Huston plays Luther Fox’s own regular client; Michael Des Barres as Nigel Halsey, an aging escort; and Joe Santos as Dom, the restaurateur.
Directed by George Hickenlooper.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rating R.
My personal rating: B+
6/28/2009
The Pink Panther (2006)
.
"You never cease to surprise me, sir."
"It's true. My surprises, they are rarely unexpected."
When Yves Gluant, the coach of the French soccer team (Jason Statham) is murdered with a poisoned dart at the end of a game and his huge diamond ring, the pink panther, is stolen, the Inspector General Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) finds the most incompetent detective in France to cover the case so the press will leave Dreyfus alone to solve the case himself so he can, hopefully, be given the highest award in all of France.
of course, Dreyfus' plan backfires with wonderfully comic adventures as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) actually does solve the case.
Also appearing are Jean Reno as Ponton, the detective Dreyfus assignes to report back on Clouseau's investigation; Emily Mortimer as Nicole, Clouseau's secretary; Henry Czerny as Yuri, the soccer team's trainer from Russia; Kristin Chenoweth as Cherie, the team's secretary; Roger Rees as Larocque, Gluent's business partner; Beyoncé Knowles as Xania, Gluent's girlfriend; William Abadie as Bizu, a soccer player who resented Gluent; and Clive Owen as 006.
Directed by Shawn Levy.
Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Rated PG for occasional crude and suggestive humor and language.
My personal rating: B
"It's true. My surprises, they are rarely unexpected."
When Yves Gluant, the coach of the French soccer team (Jason Statham) is murdered with a poisoned dart at the end of a game and his huge diamond ring, the pink panther, is stolen, the Inspector General Dreyfus (Kevin Kline) finds the most incompetent detective in France to cover the case so the press will leave Dreyfus alone to solve the case himself so he can, hopefully, be given the highest award in all of France.
of course, Dreyfus' plan backfires with wonderfully comic adventures as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) actually does solve the case.
Also appearing are Jean Reno as Ponton, the detective Dreyfus assignes to report back on Clouseau's investigation; Emily Mortimer as Nicole, Clouseau's secretary; Henry Czerny as Yuri, the soccer team's trainer from Russia; Kristin Chenoweth as Cherie, the team's secretary; Roger Rees as Larocque, Gluent's business partner; Beyoncé Knowles as Xania, Gluent's girlfriend; William Abadie as Bizu, a soccer player who resented Gluent; and Clive Owen as 006.
Directed by Shawn Levy.
Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Rated PG for occasional crude and suggestive humor and language.
My personal rating: B
6/27/2009
In the Land of Women (2007)
.
"I pride myself on being this great listener, but whenever I meet somebody new I find I'm doing all the talking."
When Carter Webb (Adam Brody), a soft porn writer, finds himself dumped by his girlfried, Sofia Buñuel (Elena Anaya), he decides he needs to get out of LA for a while so heads off to Michigan to read to his quirky grandmother (Olympia Dukakis).
Despite his own despair, Carter finds himself drawn into the lives of the women who now surround him. Not only must he cope with his grandmother's senility, he befriends his grandmother's neighbor, Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan), who becomes his walking and talking companion. Sarah confesses to Carter that her husband (Clark Gregg) is having an affair and she is facing treatment for breast cancer. Sarah's angst-ridden teenage daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) seeks his advice in the romance department and falls in love with Carter. Sarah's pre-pubescent daughter Paige (Makenzie Vega) is quite smitten with Carter and struggling with her mother's diagnosis.
In spending time with these women, Carter grows into being a real man.
JoBeth Williams appears briefly as Carter's mother and Ginnifer Goodwin plays the waitress Carter meets upon his return to LA.
Written and directed by Jon Kasden, who in his debut film shows us he learned the lessons well from his father, writer/directer Lawrence Kasden.
Run time: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, thematic elements and language.
My personal rating: B+
When Carter Webb (Adam Brody), a soft porn writer, finds himself dumped by his girlfried, Sofia Buñuel (Elena Anaya), he decides he needs to get out of LA for a while so heads off to Michigan to read to his quirky grandmother (Olympia Dukakis).
Despite his own despair, Carter finds himself drawn into the lives of the women who now surround him. Not only must he cope with his grandmother's senility, he befriends his grandmother's neighbor, Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan), who becomes his walking and talking companion. Sarah confesses to Carter that her husband (Clark Gregg) is having an affair and she is facing treatment for breast cancer. Sarah's angst-ridden teenage daughter Lucy (Kristen Stewart) seeks his advice in the romance department and falls in love with Carter. Sarah's pre-pubescent daughter Paige (Makenzie Vega) is quite smitten with Carter and struggling with her mother's diagnosis.
In spending time with these women, Carter grows into being a real man.
JoBeth Williams appears briefly as Carter's mother and Ginnifer Goodwin plays the waitress Carter meets upon his return to LA.
Written and directed by Jon Kasden, who in his debut film shows us he learned the lessons well from his father, writer/directer Lawrence Kasden.
Run time: 1 hour, 37 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, thematic elements and language.
My personal rating: B+
6/26/2009
Taking Chance (2008)
Based on true events
”You’re his witness now. Without a witness, they just disappear.”
Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobi (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the body of 19-year-old Private First Class Chance Phelps, across the country to Phelps’ parents in Wyoming.
Quite detailed and very poignant.
Tom Wopat appears as Chance’s father and Ann Dowd as Chance’s mother.
Directed by Ross Katz.
Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: A
Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobi (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the body of 19-year-old Private First Class Chance Phelps, across the country to Phelps’ parents in Wyoming.
Quite detailed and very poignant.
Tom Wopat appears as Chance’s father and Ann Dowd as Chance’s mother.
Directed by Ross Katz.
Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: A
6/25/2009
Something the Lord Made (2004)
Based on true events
“Where you see risks, I see opportunities.”
Until sixty-some years ago, the concept of surgery on the heart was taboo because it was thought to violate the purity of the heart.
Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) was obsessed in treating traumatic shock. Just as obsessed as master carpenter Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) was in going to medical school.
However the Depression slowed all construction trade so Thomas needed to find a new job. This led him to get a job in Blalock’s laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He was hired to tend the dogs used for medical experimentation in and to mop the floors. But Thomas observed everything going on and quickly learned of Blalock’s passion. Thomas also read all the medical books he could in the lab’s library. Blalock saw potential in Thomas and soon moved him up to the position of lab technician even though he couldn’t yet get that official grade of job at the University.
Suddenly Thomas lost seven years worth of savings when his bank collapsed, he despaired of ever being able to become a doctor. He becomes even more involved with Blalock’s work and learns to walk out on Blalock when the doctor’s temperamental outbursts insult and degraded Thomas. But Blalock needs Thomas and he learns to be more respectful of Thomas -- and comes to truly respect him.
Years later when Blalock was offered the position of Director of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, he took Vivien Thomas with him.
Blalock’s methods of treating traumatic shock had saved hundreds of lives of American soldiers fighting in WWII. He was looking for the next horizon to explore. Blalock soon meets Dr. Taussig (Mary Stuart Masterson) who runs the Harriet Lane Clinic for Children. She inspires him to explore congenital heart abnormalities, specifically infants with Tetralogy of Fallot – blue babies – who are suffocating due to a blockage of the main coronary artery to the lung. Blalock was inspired anew.
First they needed to create a disease model in dogs to simulate the blue baby syndrome in babies. Then they needed to evolve a way to correct it. With Vivien Thomas’ keen insights and ability to develop specialized equipment (including the respirator), improvise surgical tools (miniature surgical clamps and canulas), and perfect techniques, Blalock and Thomas were finally able to perfect a method to save babies lives in 1944.
Among the medical residents at Johns Hopkins’ who were brave enough to assist in Blalock’s first heart surgery was Dr. Denton Cooley (Timothy Scanlan) who went on to become a pioneer in heart transplants.
Kyra Sedgwick plays Blalock’s wife Mary; Gabrielle Union plays Thomas’ wife Clara; Clayton Lebouef portrays Thomas’ brother who was a civil rights leader in the field of education: Charles Dutton plays Thomas’ skeptical father.
This is a significant film about improvement of the social and medical condition in this country.
Based on Vivien Thomas’ autobiography, Partners of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work With Alfred Blalock.
Directed by Joseph Sargeant. Made for HBO.
Run time: 1 hour, 57 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: A
Until sixty-some years ago, the concept of surgery on the heart was taboo because it was thought to violate the purity of the heart.
Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) was obsessed in treating traumatic shock. Just as obsessed as master carpenter Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) was in going to medical school.
However the Depression slowed all construction trade so Thomas needed to find a new job. This led him to get a job in Blalock’s laboratory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He was hired to tend the dogs used for medical experimentation in and to mop the floors. But Thomas observed everything going on and quickly learned of Blalock’s passion. Thomas also read all the medical books he could in the lab’s library. Blalock saw potential in Thomas and soon moved him up to the position of lab technician even though he couldn’t yet get that official grade of job at the University.
Suddenly Thomas lost seven years worth of savings when his bank collapsed, he despaired of ever being able to become a doctor. He becomes even more involved with Blalock’s work and learns to walk out on Blalock when the doctor’s temperamental outbursts insult and degraded Thomas. But Blalock needs Thomas and he learns to be more respectful of Thomas -- and comes to truly respect him.
Years later when Blalock was offered the position of Director of Surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, he took Vivien Thomas with him.
Blalock’s methods of treating traumatic shock had saved hundreds of lives of American soldiers fighting in WWII. He was looking for the next horizon to explore. Blalock soon meets Dr. Taussig (Mary Stuart Masterson) who runs the Harriet Lane Clinic for Children. She inspires him to explore congenital heart abnormalities, specifically infants with Tetralogy of Fallot – blue babies – who are suffocating due to a blockage of the main coronary artery to the lung. Blalock was inspired anew.
First they needed to create a disease model in dogs to simulate the blue baby syndrome in babies. Then they needed to evolve a way to correct it. With Vivien Thomas’ keen insights and ability to develop specialized equipment (including the respirator), improvise surgical tools (miniature surgical clamps and canulas), and perfect techniques, Blalock and Thomas were finally able to perfect a method to save babies lives in 1944.
Among the medical residents at Johns Hopkins’ who were brave enough to assist in Blalock’s first heart surgery was Dr. Denton Cooley (Timothy Scanlan) who went on to become a pioneer in heart transplants.
Kyra Sedgwick plays Blalock’s wife Mary; Gabrielle Union plays Thomas’ wife Clara; Clayton Lebouef portrays Thomas’ brother who was a civil rights leader in the field of education: Charles Dutton plays Thomas’ skeptical father.
This is a significant film about improvement of the social and medical condition in this country.
Based on Vivien Thomas’ autobiography, Partners of the Heart: Vivien Thomas and His Work With Alfred Blalock.
Directed by Joseph Sargeant. Made for HBO.
Run time: 1 hour, 57 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: A
6/24/2009
Infamous (2006)
.
"When you're talking to them, they seem like perfectly nice boys. To be frank, I'm much more concerned for my safety around Norman Mailer."
The story of author Truman Capote's (Toby Jones) quest for the story of Perry Smith (Daniel Craig) and Dick Hickock (Lee Pace) who murdered a farm family in Kansas In Cold Blood in 1959.
Capote's bevy of gossipy NYC gal pals include Sandra Bullock as novelist Nelle Harper Lee; Sigourney Weaver as CBS exec Bill Paley's wife Babe; Gwyneth Paltrow as singer Kitty Dean; Isabella Rossellini as Marella Agnelli; Juliet Stevenson as socialite Diana Vreeland; Hope Davis as Slim Keith. With Peter Bogdanovich as Capote's editor Bennett Cerf; Jeff Daniels as the Kansas Bureau of Investigation detective Alvin Dewey who was in charge of the case.
Directed by Douglas McGrath.
Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality.
My personal rating: B+
The story of author Truman Capote's (Toby Jones) quest for the story of Perry Smith (Daniel Craig) and Dick Hickock (Lee Pace) who murdered a farm family in Kansas In Cold Blood in 1959.
Capote's bevy of gossipy NYC gal pals include Sandra Bullock as novelist Nelle Harper Lee; Sigourney Weaver as CBS exec Bill Paley's wife Babe; Gwyneth Paltrow as singer Kitty Dean; Isabella Rossellini as Marella Agnelli; Juliet Stevenson as socialite Diana Vreeland; Hope Davis as Slim Keith. With Peter Bogdanovich as Capote's editor Bennett Cerf; Jeff Daniels as the Kansas Bureau of Investigation detective Alvin Dewey who was in charge of the case.
Directed by Douglas McGrath.
Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Rated R for language, violence and some sexuality.
My personal rating: B+
6/23/2009
Lulu on the Bridge (1998)
.
The very strange tale of jazz saxaphonist Izzy Maurer (Harvey Keitel) who was shot in a club where he was performing by a suicidal man who went bizerk. In critical condition, Izzy loses a lung and knows his career as a musician is over.
On night, he stumbles across a murdered man in an alley and Izzy, in abject horror, grabs the man's valise and takes it home. A mysterious stone that glows blue in the dark and gives a sense of well being is in the valise along with a phone number. When Izzy calls the number to try to figure out what the stone is, he meets young Celia Burns (Mira Sorvino), an struggling actress. When they experience the glowing stone in the dark together, they fall in love.
Izzy's able to put in a good word for Celia before she audtions for a new film of Pandora's Box because his ex-wife Hannah (Gina Gershon) is the girlfriend of the film's producer Philip Kleinman (Mandy Patinkin). Celia wins the role and off to Ireland to begin filming with the director Catherine Moore (Vanessa Redgrave). Izzy is to follow in three days but instead, Izzy's is beaten up and his apartment is ransacked by thugs from Russia, China and Germany who are looking for the stone. He awakes in a dungeon and is later questioned by the mysterious Dr. Van Horn (Willem DeFoe) who knowa obscure facts from Izzy's past life. Meanwhile, Celia is in Ireland and Izzy hasn't arrived and she's frantic and depressed.
From there, well, things really go really unique and I'm still trying to assimilate what happened. It was sort of a rabbit hole adventure with an unexpected ending.
Others in the cast, mostly in tiny cameos, include Kevin Corrigan, Harold Perrineau, David Byrne, Lou Reed, Jared Harris.
In some ways, the ethereal nature of this film reminds me of one of my favorites -- All That Jazz.
Written and directed by Paul Auster.
Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Rated PG-13 for some violence, brief strong language and sensuality.
My personal rating: B
The very strange tale of jazz saxaphonist Izzy Maurer (Harvey Keitel) who was shot in a club where he was performing by a suicidal man who went bizerk. In critical condition, Izzy loses a lung and knows his career as a musician is over.
On night, he stumbles across a murdered man in an alley and Izzy, in abject horror, grabs the man's valise and takes it home. A mysterious stone that glows blue in the dark and gives a sense of well being is in the valise along with a phone number. When Izzy calls the number to try to figure out what the stone is, he meets young Celia Burns (Mira Sorvino), an struggling actress. When they experience the glowing stone in the dark together, they fall in love.
Izzy's able to put in a good word for Celia before she audtions for a new film of Pandora's Box because his ex-wife Hannah (Gina Gershon) is the girlfriend of the film's producer Philip Kleinman (Mandy Patinkin). Celia wins the role and off to Ireland to begin filming with the director Catherine Moore (Vanessa Redgrave). Izzy is to follow in three days but instead, Izzy's is beaten up and his apartment is ransacked by thugs from Russia, China and Germany who are looking for the stone. He awakes in a dungeon and is later questioned by the mysterious Dr. Van Horn (Willem DeFoe) who knowa obscure facts from Izzy's past life. Meanwhile, Celia is in Ireland and Izzy hasn't arrived and she's frantic and depressed.
From there, well, things really go really unique and I'm still trying to assimilate what happened. It was sort of a rabbit hole adventure with an unexpected ending.
Others in the cast, mostly in tiny cameos, include Kevin Corrigan, Harold Perrineau, David Byrne, Lou Reed, Jared Harris.
In some ways, the ethereal nature of this film reminds me of one of my favorites -- All That Jazz.
Written and directed by Paul Auster.
Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Rated PG-13 for some violence, brief strong language and sensuality.
My personal rating: B
Trapped (2002)
.
"My name is Joe and I'm going to help you through this thing."
Physician and research scientist Will Jennings (Stuart Townsend), his wife Karen (Charlize Theron), and their young daughter Abby (Dakota Fanning) are an idyllic little family living an idyllic life in Portland. Right after Will leaves on a business trip, Abby is snatched from the safety of their home by professional kidnappers Joe (Kevin Bacon) and his cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince). While Joe begins the negotiations for ransom with Karen, Joe's wife Cheryl (Courtney Love) is at the hotel where Will is staying and does the same with Will as Joe is doing with Karen.
But Abby has a medical condition that may be exacerbated by the stress she is under while being held captive. The Jennings are told to not get the police involved but can they work through this horrendous ordeal without outside help?
Directed by Luis Mandoki.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rated R for violence, language, and sexual content.
My personal rating: B
Physician and research scientist Will Jennings (Stuart Townsend), his wife Karen (Charlize Theron), and their young daughter Abby (Dakota Fanning) are an idyllic little family living an idyllic life in Portland. Right after Will leaves on a business trip, Abby is snatched from the safety of their home by professional kidnappers Joe (Kevin Bacon) and his cousin Marvin (Pruitt Taylor Vince). While Joe begins the negotiations for ransom with Karen, Joe's wife Cheryl (Courtney Love) is at the hotel where Will is staying and does the same with Will as Joe is doing with Karen.
But Abby has a medical condition that may be exacerbated by the stress she is under while being held captive. The Jennings are told to not get the police involved but can they work through this horrendous ordeal without outside help?
Directed by Luis Mandoki.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rated R for violence, language, and sexual content.
My personal rating: B
6/22/2009
Hide and Seek (2006)
.
"Best way to get over the past is to start something new."
When psychologist David Calloway's (Robert De Niro) wife Alison (Amy Irving) takes her own life in their NYC apartment, their nine-year-old daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) becomes nearly catatonic. David decides that they both need a change in order to move on so he and Emily move to a house bordering the woods in a small town in upstate New York.
Emily continues to be withdrawn and shuns David's attempts to spend time with her and provide her with interaction with others. She gloms on to an imaginary friend she calls Charlie and becomes even stranger when David befriends Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue), a young divorcee. Emily blames all manner of freak and horrible incidents on Charlie.
In the meantime, David realizes that the sheriff (Dylan Baker), the real estate agent (David Chandler), and the nearest neighbors (Melissa Leo, Robert John Burke) are also weird.
Long-time family friend Katherine (Famke Janssen), who was also one of David's students, is a sounding board for David and becomes Emily's confidant when Katherine comes to visit. Katherine sees how disturbed Emily is and wants to take the child back to NYC for evaluation. David wants two more weeks but soon finds other things that show that Emily is trying to punish him for her mother's death.
David tries to make sense of it all and find out who this Charlie really is but instead he must face his own demons.
Directed by John Polson.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for frightening sequences and violence.
My personal rating: B
When psychologist David Calloway's (Robert De Niro) wife Alison (Amy Irving) takes her own life in their NYC apartment, their nine-year-old daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) becomes nearly catatonic. David decides that they both need a change in order to move on so he and Emily move to a house bordering the woods in a small town in upstate New York.
Emily continues to be withdrawn and shuns David's attempts to spend time with her and provide her with interaction with others. She gloms on to an imaginary friend she calls Charlie and becomes even stranger when David befriends Elizabeth (Elisabeth Shue), a young divorcee. Emily blames all manner of freak and horrible incidents on Charlie.
In the meantime, David realizes that the sheriff (Dylan Baker), the real estate agent (David Chandler), and the nearest neighbors (Melissa Leo, Robert John Burke) are also weird.
Long-time family friend Katherine (Famke Janssen), who was also one of David's students, is a sounding board for David and becomes Emily's confidant when Katherine comes to visit. Katherine sees how disturbed Emily is and wants to take the child back to NYC for evaluation. David wants two more weeks but soon finds other things that show that Emily is trying to punish him for her mother's death.
David tries to make sense of it all and find out who this Charlie really is but instead he must face his own demons.
Directed by John Polson.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for frightening sequences and violence.
My personal rating: B
6/21/2009
Evening (2007)
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After she was gone, there would be no one who knew the whole of her life.
As Ann Lord (Vanessa Redgrave) lays on her deathbed, she recounts the story of her first true love and the events of 50 years ago that defined her life, to her two daughters, Nina Mars (Toni Collette) and Constance Haverford (Natasha Richardson). Much of what Ann tells her daughters is cryptic as Ann sees scenes of her youth and grapples with being called to death.
In flashback, we see the young Ann (Claire Danes) as she arrives at her good friend's family's summer mansion in Newport where her friend Lila Wittenborn (Mamie Gummer) is to be married in a few days. Present are Lila's uptight parents (Glenn Close, Barry Bostwick) and Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy), who has always been smitten with Ann, has a drinking problem, and is convinced that Lila is marrying the wrong man.
When Ann arrives at the seaside mansion, Buddy introduces her to Lila's first love, Harris Arden (Patrick Wilson), a doctor who the Wittenborn family has known most of his life because he is the son of the Wittenborn's maid. Ann is intrigued and is drawn to Harris, beginning the most passionate romance of her life.
Also in the cast are Meryl Streep as the mature Lila visiting the dying Ann; and Eileen Atkins as the dying Ann's night nurse.
Based on a novel by Susan Minot. Directed by Lajos Koltai.
Run time: 1 hour, 57 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, sexual material, a brief accident scene and language.
My personal rating: A-
As Ann Lord (Vanessa Redgrave) lays on her deathbed, she recounts the story of her first true love and the events of 50 years ago that defined her life, to her two daughters, Nina Mars (Toni Collette) and Constance Haverford (Natasha Richardson). Much of what Ann tells her daughters is cryptic as Ann sees scenes of her youth and grapples with being called to death.
In flashback, we see the young Ann (Claire Danes) as she arrives at her good friend's family's summer mansion in Newport where her friend Lila Wittenborn (Mamie Gummer) is to be married in a few days. Present are Lila's uptight parents (Glenn Close, Barry Bostwick) and Lila's brother Buddy (Hugh Dancy), who has always been smitten with Ann, has a drinking problem, and is convinced that Lila is marrying the wrong man.
When Ann arrives at the seaside mansion, Buddy introduces her to Lila's first love, Harris Arden (Patrick Wilson), a doctor who the Wittenborn family has known most of his life because he is the son of the Wittenborn's maid. Ann is intrigued and is drawn to Harris, beginning the most passionate romance of her life.
Also in the cast are Meryl Streep as the mature Lila visiting the dying Ann; and Eileen Atkins as the dying Ann's night nurse.
Based on a novel by Susan Minot. Directed by Lajos Koltai.
Run time: 1 hour, 57 minutes.
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements, sexual material, a brief accident scene and language.
My personal rating: A-
6/20/2009
The Reader (2008)
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"It doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't matter what I think. The dead are still dead."
When 15-year-old Michael Berg (David Cross) falls ill on the streets of post-war Neustadt, Germany, while on his way home, a kindly woman more than twice his age helps him. Once home with his family, Michael is quarantined for three months with scarlet fever. After his recovery, he returns to find the woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), to thank her. The two quickly become enmeshed in a routine where he reads from classic books to Hanna and then they two have passionate sex. As abruptly as Hanna came into Michael's life, after a few months she disappears without work to him.
Michael is left confused, but nearly 10 years later, when David (now played by Ralph Fiennes) is a law student, his professor takes select students to watch the trial of several Nazi prison guards who were accused of atrocities toward 300 Jewish woman who perished on their way to Auschwitz. Hanna is one of the defendents. She is convicted and goes to prison.
Many years later, Michael, now a successful attorney but emotionally withdrawn, comes across the books he had read to Hanna when he was a teenager. He again reads them aloud into a tape recorder and sends the tapes to Hanna. What follows is Hanna's best effort at restitution and Michael's reconnection with his own daughter (Jeanette Hain).
Kate Winslet won the Oscar for best actress for this role plus numerous other best actress awards from SAG and various film festivals.
Directed by Stephen Daldry.
Run time: 2 hours, 4 minutes.
Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity.
My personal rating: B+
When 15-year-old Michael Berg (David Cross) falls ill on the streets of post-war Neustadt, Germany, while on his way home, a kindly woman more than twice his age helps him. Once home with his family, Michael is quarantined for three months with scarlet fever. After his recovery, he returns to find the woman, Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet), to thank her. The two quickly become enmeshed in a routine where he reads from classic books to Hanna and then they two have passionate sex. As abruptly as Hanna came into Michael's life, after a few months she disappears without work to him.
Michael is left confused, but nearly 10 years later, when David (now played by Ralph Fiennes) is a law student, his professor takes select students to watch the trial of several Nazi prison guards who were accused of atrocities toward 300 Jewish woman who perished on their way to Auschwitz. Hanna is one of the defendents. She is convicted and goes to prison.
Many years later, Michael, now a successful attorney but emotionally withdrawn, comes across the books he had read to Hanna when he was a teenager. He again reads them aloud into a tape recorder and sends the tapes to Hanna. What follows is Hanna's best effort at restitution and Michael's reconnection with his own daughter (Jeanette Hain).
Kate Winslet won the Oscar for best actress for this role plus numerous other best actress awards from SAG and various film festivals.
Directed by Stephen Daldry.
Run time: 2 hours, 4 minutes.
Rated R for some scenes of sexuality and nudity.
My personal rating: B+
6/19/2009
Passengers (2008)
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“Isn’t it common for people who are going through this to be disoriented, to be unsure of what he saw, even delusional?”
Therapist Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway) is asked to work with the handful of survivors of a commercial airplane crash. She feels strongly that “accurate reconstruction of the events is essential to the healing process.”
Upon visiting the hospital right after the survivors were brought in, she finds Eric Clark (Patrick Wilson) sitting naked on the gurney in a rather euphoric state. Later, in a group therapy session, sans Erik, she talks with descriptive Dean (Ryan Robbins), the cynical, fatalistic and bitter Shannon (Clea DuVall), the stunned Janice (Chelah Horsdale), and the suspicious Norman (Don Thompson), and finds that their accounts of the events vary.
In further contact with Eric outside the group, she discovers that he knows things about her, like how she takes her coffee and that she has a sister, that he otherwise would have no way of knowing. Claire begins exploring the link between post traumatic shock and extrasensory perception.
Norman soon tells Claire that he feels he is being followed by someone from the airline who wants to silence the survivors in an effort to cover-up what really happened to cause the crash. Survivors begin disappearing. Mr. Arkin (David Morse), an airline employee, visits Claire and she becomes certain that a cover-up is in the works.
Others in the cast include Dianne Wiest as Claire’s sweet but nosy neighbor; Andre Braugher as Claire’s advisor Perry; and Andrew Wheeler as the mysterious man.
A most uncommon transcendent thriller. Worth a second viewing to pick up the red herrings.
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
Run time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Rated PG-13
My personal rating: B+
Upon visiting the hospital right after the survivors were brought in, she finds Eric Clark (Patrick Wilson) sitting naked on the gurney in a rather euphoric state. Later, in a group therapy session, sans Erik, she talks with descriptive Dean (Ryan Robbins), the cynical, fatalistic and bitter Shannon (Clea DuVall), the stunned Janice (Chelah Horsdale), and the suspicious Norman (Don Thompson), and finds that their accounts of the events vary.
In further contact with Eric outside the group, she discovers that he knows things about her, like how she takes her coffee and that she has a sister, that he otherwise would have no way of knowing. Claire begins exploring the link between post traumatic shock and extrasensory perception.
Norman soon tells Claire that he feels he is being followed by someone from the airline who wants to silence the survivors in an effort to cover-up what really happened to cause the crash. Survivors begin disappearing. Mr. Arkin (David Morse), an airline employee, visits Claire and she becomes certain that a cover-up is in the works.
Others in the cast include Dianne Wiest as Claire’s sweet but nosy neighbor; Andre Braugher as Claire’s advisor Perry; and Andrew Wheeler as the mysterious man.
A most uncommon transcendent thriller. Worth a second viewing to pick up the red herrings.
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia.
Run time: 1 hour, 34 minutes
Rated PG-13
My personal rating: B+
6/18/2009
The Gleaners and I (2000)
Les glaneurs et la glaneuse
This most uncommon documentary begins with the definition of gleaner and images of some of the most famous paintings of gleaners of bygone times -- peasant women stooping to gather the leftover grain and produce left in the fields after farmers complete their harveest.
Filmed with a hand-held digital camera by Agnès Varda who also narrates and interviews various rural gleaners -- poor, well-off, gypsies, and charity volunteers -- in the French countryside, the farmers whose fields they pick, and legal experts opining on the laws of ownership.
I found particulary interesting the bits about those who glean the tons of left-over potatoes -- those that never made it into the harvest trucks, the overly large, the damaged, and the odd shaped potatoes -- because I worked the Idaho potato harvest in 2001 driving a 10-wheel, 11-ton 1958 Ford side-load truck in the fields to receive the fresh potatoes spewed up by the digging machines. Some days people waited along the side of the road with burlap bags ready to comb the field after the mechanical harvesting was done. On occasion, I even gleaned the fields for potatoes that I then baked when I got back to my quarters after driving a rickety, bumpy old truck for 12 to 18 hours. It was the food of the gods to me.
Varda then moves from the countryside into Paris to examine the modern urban gleaners who "harvest" their daily food from dumpsters and the sweepings after market. She also explores those who salvage non-edible cast-offs left at the curb: refrigerators, ovens, trinkets, dolls, bicycles, and other items that can be rehabbed back to functionality, sold, used in art, and for other purposes.
The DVD includes a one-hour follow-up filmed two years after the original film showing some of those interviewed, their reactions to the film, and what they are doing now.
Subtitled.
Run time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: B
This most uncommon documentary begins with the definition of gleaner and images of some of the most famous paintings of gleaners of bygone times -- peasant women stooping to gather the leftover grain and produce left in the fields after farmers complete their harveest.
Filmed with a hand-held digital camera by Agnès Varda who also narrates and interviews various rural gleaners -- poor, well-off, gypsies, and charity volunteers -- in the French countryside, the farmers whose fields they pick, and legal experts opining on the laws of ownership.
I found particulary interesting the bits about those who glean the tons of left-over potatoes -- those that never made it into the harvest trucks, the overly large, the damaged, and the odd shaped potatoes -- because I worked the Idaho potato harvest in 2001 driving a 10-wheel, 11-ton 1958 Ford side-load truck in the fields to receive the fresh potatoes spewed up by the digging machines. Some days people waited along the side of the road with burlap bags ready to comb the field after the mechanical harvesting was done. On occasion, I even gleaned the fields for potatoes that I then baked when I got back to my quarters after driving a rickety, bumpy old truck for 12 to 18 hours. It was the food of the gods to me.
Varda then moves from the countryside into Paris to examine the modern urban gleaners who "harvest" their daily food from dumpsters and the sweepings after market. She also explores those who salvage non-edible cast-offs left at the curb: refrigerators, ovens, trinkets, dolls, bicycles, and other items that can be rehabbed back to functionality, sold, used in art, and for other purposes.
The DVD includes a one-hour follow-up filmed two years after the original film showing some of those interviewed, their reactions to the film, and what they are doing now.
Subtitled.
Run time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: B
6/17/2009
Mercury Rising (1998)
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"Let's go down."
Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is a rouge FBI agent who specializes in deep undercover work. After he dresses down another agent who jumped the gun and ruined Jeffries' collar on a case he's worked on for a long time, Jeffries is called back to Chicago and put on grunt duty by his superior, Lomax (Kevin Conway). He's called in to help find Simon (Miko Hughes), a a nine-year-old autistic boy, whose parents (John Carroll Lynch, Kelley Hazen) have been murdered and he finds a much deeper plot than anyone could have expected.
It seems that young savant Simon has decoded a government encryption code which two moronic programmers (Robert Stanton, Bodhi Elfman) hid in a puzzle in a commercially sold puzzle book. When Simon calls the phone number given in the encryption, they know they'd in deep doo-doo but let their boss, Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin). Kudrow orders that the boy be found and killed to keep the code secret, thus the slaughter of Simon's parents. But the assassin (L.L. Ginter) isn't clever enough to find the boy hiding in a hidey-hole in the closet. Jeffries finds the boy, however, and begins to unravel the reason why the boy is being hunted.
The rogue and the savant go on the run with the typical Bruce Willis bravado and extraordinary action.
Others in the cast include Chi McBride as Jeffries' only FBI buddy, and Kim Dickens as the woman Jeffries recruits to help him.
Directed by Harold Becker.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
My personal rating: B-
Art Jeffries (Bruce Willis) is a rouge FBI agent who specializes in deep undercover work. After he dresses down another agent who jumped the gun and ruined Jeffries' collar on a case he's worked on for a long time, Jeffries is called back to Chicago and put on grunt duty by his superior, Lomax (Kevin Conway). He's called in to help find Simon (Miko Hughes), a a nine-year-old autistic boy, whose parents (John Carroll Lynch, Kelley Hazen) have been murdered and he finds a much deeper plot than anyone could have expected.
It seems that young savant Simon has decoded a government encryption code which two moronic programmers (Robert Stanton, Bodhi Elfman) hid in a puzzle in a commercially sold puzzle book. When Simon calls the phone number given in the encryption, they know they'd in deep doo-doo but let their boss, Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin). Kudrow orders that the boy be found and killed to keep the code secret, thus the slaughter of Simon's parents. But the assassin (L.L. Ginter) isn't clever enough to find the boy hiding in a hidey-hole in the closet. Jeffries finds the boy, however, and begins to unravel the reason why the boy is being hunted.
The rogue and the savant go on the run with the typical Bruce Willis bravado and extraordinary action.
Others in the cast include Chi McBride as Jeffries' only FBI buddy, and Kim Dickens as the woman Jeffries recruits to help him.
Directed by Harold Becker.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
My personal rating: B-
6/16/2009
Blue in the Face (1995)
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"I don't know anyone in New York who doesn't say 'I'm leaving'. I've been thinking of leaving New York for... uh... thirty-five years now."
The bunch who made the film Smoke had so much fun together that they promptly went into improv mode and filmed it. Basically this is a series of incidents that mostly revolve around Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) who runs a little Brooklyn smoke shop.
Others in the cast include Mira Sorvino, Lou Reed, Michael J. Fox, Jim Jarmusch, Lily Tomlin, Jared Harris, Giancarlo Esposito, Madonna, Roseanne, José Zúñiga, RuPaul.
Based on situations created by and directed by Paul Auster and Wayne Wang.
Run time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Rated R.
My personal rating: C+
The bunch who made the film Smoke had so much fun together that they promptly went into improv mode and filmed it. Basically this is a series of incidents that mostly revolve around Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) who runs a little Brooklyn smoke shop.
Others in the cast include Mira Sorvino, Lou Reed, Michael J. Fox, Jim Jarmusch, Lily Tomlin, Jared Harris, Giancarlo Esposito, Madonna, Roseanne, José Zúñiga, RuPaul.
Based on situations created by and directed by Paul Auster and Wayne Wang.
Run time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
Rated R.
My personal rating: C+
6/15/2009
Defiance (2008)
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"We are the Bielskis and we WILL be back!"
Based on a true story.
1941. West Belarus. The SS is rounding up Jews, executing 50,000 and sending another million to camps where they will surely be killed.
Two young men, Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), return from from Horodyszcze to their father's farm to find their parents both slaughtered and their young brother, Aron (George MacKay), hidden in a secret crawl space. They set off to hide in the forest and are found by their older brother Tuvia (Daniel Craig) who is traveling to the family farm.
Before long, others in the Lipiczanska Forest, women, children, and old men begin showing up and surrender to the leadership of the Bielski boys. They go in search of food and weapons and in the process, they gather more and more survivors who have been brutalized and are on the run.
"This is the one place in all of Belarussia where a Jew can be free."
For two long years, the Bielski brothers guided nearly 1,200 others in the community in the woods.
A powerful story of courage.
Co-written and directed by Edward Zwick.
Run time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
My personal rating: A
Based on a true story.
1941. West Belarus. The SS is rounding up Jews, executing 50,000 and sending another million to camps where they will surely be killed.
Two young men, Zus (Liev Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell), return from from Horodyszcze to their father's farm to find their parents both slaughtered and their young brother, Aron (George MacKay), hidden in a secret crawl space. They set off to hide in the forest and are found by their older brother Tuvia (Daniel Craig) who is traveling to the family farm.
Before long, others in the Lipiczanska Forest, women, children, and old men begin showing up and surrender to the leadership of the Bielski boys. They go in search of food and weapons and in the process, they gather more and more survivors who have been brutalized and are on the run.
"This is the one place in all of Belarussia where a Jew can be free."
For two long years, the Bielski brothers guided nearly 1,200 others in the community in the woods.
A powerful story of courage.
Co-written and directed by Edward Zwick.
Run time: 2 hours, 17 minutes
Rated R for violence and language.
My personal rating: A
6/14/2009
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007)
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"But I am only trying to help.
A gentle, tender and revealing story of family relationships.
Yilan (Feihong Yu) hasn't seen he father (Henry O) in 12 years and it is with trepidation that she meets him at the airport when he arrives from China.
Mr. Shi admits that he'd not been a good father. He was away for work much of the time and just never spent the time to care about his only child. Yilan had a much better relationship with her now deceased mother.
Their conversation is stained at best. And Mr. Shi tries to tell her how she should cook and carry on her life. Each day when Yilan goes off to work as a librarian at Gonzaga University, Mr. Shi snoops in her room and finds things that don't make him happy. He also takes walks, exploring the town, and meets a mature Iranian divorcee (Vida Ghahremani) who lives with her son. Together talk in fragmented English, Mandarin, and Farsi and reveal their own stories.
Will Yilan accept her father and will he accept her as she is? Can the two make peace?
From stories by Yiyun Li and directed by Wayne Wang.
Some subtitles.
Run time: 1 hour, 23 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: B
A gentle, tender and revealing story of family relationships.
Yilan (Feihong Yu) hasn't seen he father (Henry O) in 12 years and it is with trepidation that she meets him at the airport when he arrives from China.
Mr. Shi admits that he'd not been a good father. He was away for work much of the time and just never spent the time to care about his only child. Yilan had a much better relationship with her now deceased mother.
Their conversation is stained at best. And Mr. Shi tries to tell her how she should cook and carry on her life. Each day when Yilan goes off to work as a librarian at Gonzaga University, Mr. Shi snoops in her room and finds things that don't make him happy. He also takes walks, exploring the town, and meets a mature Iranian divorcee (Vida Ghahremani) who lives with her son. Together talk in fragmented English, Mandarin, and Farsi and reveal their own stories.
Will Yilan accept her father and will he accept her as she is? Can the two make peace?
From stories by Yiyun Li and directed by Wayne Wang.
Some subtitles.
Run time: 1 hour, 23 minutes
Not rated by MPAA.
My personal rating: B
6/13/2009
A Simple Plan (1998)
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"Do you ever feel evil?"
Feedstore accountant Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton), his dim-witted brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jacob's nearly as dim-witted friend Lou Chambers (Brent Briscoe) came across a crashed small plane, a dead pilot, and more than four million dollars in cash in a wintery Minnesota nature preserve. They hatch a "simple plan" to take the money and stash it, allow the coming snow storm to cover their tracks, and lay low until someone else finds the plane and dead pilot.
Though the vow secrecy to each other, Hank shares the information with his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) who starts nosing around at the library for information. And when a farmer turns up dead with his ski-mobile, the conspirators panic and begin trying to figure out ways to be sure they aren't suspected of stealing the money.
Things only get more complicated from there.
Also appearing are Becky Ann Baker as Lou's wife; Chelcie Ross as the sheriff; Gary Cole as Neil Baxter who comes to town searchng for the plane; Bob Davis and Peter Syvertsen as FBI agents; and Bill Paxton's own father, John Paxton, as a feed store customer.
With foreboding Danny Elfman music.
Based on a novel by Scott B. Smith and directed by Sam Raimi.
Run time: 2 hours, 1 minute
Rated R fpr violence and language.
My personal rating: B
Feedstore accountant Hank Mitchell (Bill Paxton), his dim-witted brother Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), and Jacob's nearly as dim-witted friend Lou Chambers (Brent Briscoe) came across a crashed small plane, a dead pilot, and more than four million dollars in cash in a wintery Minnesota nature preserve. They hatch a "simple plan" to take the money and stash it, allow the coming snow storm to cover their tracks, and lay low until someone else finds the plane and dead pilot.
Though the vow secrecy to each other, Hank shares the information with his pregnant wife Sarah (Bridget Fonda) who starts nosing around at the library for information. And when a farmer turns up dead with his ski-mobile, the conspirators panic and begin trying to figure out ways to be sure they aren't suspected of stealing the money.
Things only get more complicated from there.
Also appearing are Becky Ann Baker as Lou's wife; Chelcie Ross as the sheriff; Gary Cole as Neil Baxter who comes to town searchng for the plane; Bob Davis and Peter Syvertsen as FBI agents; and Bill Paxton's own father, John Paxton, as a feed store customer.
With foreboding Danny Elfman music.
Based on a novel by Scott B. Smith and directed by Sam Raimi.
Run time: 2 hours, 1 minute
Rated R fpr violence and language.
My personal rating: B
6/12/2009
Holy Smoke (1999)
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"Something has touched you, hasn't it?"
When two young Australian women visit India they visit a temple and experience the cult activity surrounding a guru. Ruth (Kate Winslet) is completely mesmerized but her friend Prue (Samantha Murray) is terrified and can't persuade Ruth to leave. When Prue returns to Australia, she immediately informs Ruth's parents (Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson). They are aghast. Mum flies to India to try to get Ruth to return with her using the ruse that her Dad is quite ill and needs to see her. Ruth agrees to go for a brief visit.
Enter a "cult exiter," one PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel), a brash American complete with aviator glasses and alligator boots, who has been hired by the family to deprogram Ruth. But he's about met his match in the iron-willed Ruth and everyone's life is changed by the experience.
Also appearing are Sophie Lee, Daniel Wyllie, and Paul Goddard as Ruth's siblings; Pam Grier as PJ's assistant.
Written by sisters Jane Campion and Anna Campion, and directed by Jane Campion.
Run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Rated R for strong sexuality and language.
My personal rating: B+
When two young Australian women visit India they visit a temple and experience the cult activity surrounding a guru. Ruth (Kate Winslet) is completely mesmerized but her friend Prue (Samantha Murray) is terrified and can't persuade Ruth to leave. When Prue returns to Australia, she immediately informs Ruth's parents (Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson). They are aghast. Mum flies to India to try to get Ruth to return with her using the ruse that her Dad is quite ill and needs to see her. Ruth agrees to go for a brief visit.
Enter a "cult exiter," one PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel), a brash American complete with aviator glasses and alligator boots, who has been hired by the family to deprogram Ruth. But he's about met his match in the iron-willed Ruth and everyone's life is changed by the experience.
Also appearing are Sophie Lee, Daniel Wyllie, and Paul Goddard as Ruth's siblings; Pam Grier as PJ's assistant.
Written by sisters Jane Campion and Anna Campion, and directed by Jane Campion.
Run time: 1 hour, 55 minutes
Rated R for strong sexuality and language.
My personal rating: B+
6/11/2009
All the King's Men (2006)
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"You only get a couple of moments that determine your life. Sometimes only one. And then it's gone. Forever."
Loosely based on the life of the legendary governor of Louisiana, Huey Long, this is the story of a Southern populist politician, Willy Stark (Sean Penn), and his rise from poverty to power while fighting corruption and with overriding concern for the common man.
Despite the poverty of rural Louisiana. Willy Stark, a farmer's (Frederic F. Forrest) son, and all eight of his siblings were college educated. His first public office was that of treasurer of Mason City where he battled against kickbacks from a construction company bidding on a new schoolhouse. His stance made him a pariah and he vowed to leave politics behind and continue his job as a door-to-door salesman. But when three children die in an accident at the schoolhouse because a fire escape collapsed during a routine fire drill, Stark's cautions were finally recognized.
At the urging of lobbyist Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini), Stark is soon running for governor of Louisiana but while campaigning, he realizes that he's just been set up by Duffy to split the cracker vote so another candidate can win handily. From that moment on, Stark makes a commitment to step up his campaign and win against the upper class.
The story is mostly told from the viewpoint of Jack Burden (Jude Law), a journalist from an aristocratic family. Jack began covering Stark's campaign but once Stark became governor, Jack went to work for him.
When the influential Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins) supports a group of politicians in their request of impeachment, Stark tells Jack to find some dirt in the life of Irwin -- a man who was a father figure to Jack. What follows is the story of deceit exposed with tragic effects for several involved.
From a novel by Robert Penn Warren. Screenplay and directed by Steven Zaillian.
Run time: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Rated PG-13 for an intense sequence of violence, sexual content and partial nudity.
My personal rating: A
Loosely based on the life of the legendary governor of Louisiana, Huey Long, this is the story of a Southern populist politician, Willy Stark (Sean Penn), and his rise from poverty to power while fighting corruption and with overriding concern for the common man.
Despite the poverty of rural Louisiana. Willy Stark, a farmer's (Frederic F. Forrest) son, and all eight of his siblings were college educated. His first public office was that of treasurer of Mason City where he battled against kickbacks from a construction company bidding on a new schoolhouse. His stance made him a pariah and he vowed to leave politics behind and continue his job as a door-to-door salesman. But when three children die in an accident at the schoolhouse because a fire escape collapsed during a routine fire drill, Stark's cautions were finally recognized.
At the urging of lobbyist Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini), Stark is soon running for governor of Louisiana but while campaigning, he realizes that he's just been set up by Duffy to split the cracker vote so another candidate can win handily. From that moment on, Stark makes a commitment to step up his campaign and win against the upper class.
The story is mostly told from the viewpoint of Jack Burden (Jude Law), a journalist from an aristocratic family. Jack began covering Stark's campaign but once Stark became governor, Jack went to work for him.
When the influential Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins) supports a group of politicians in their request of impeachment, Stark tells Jack to find some dirt in the life of Irwin -- a man who was a father figure to Jack. What follows is the story of deceit exposed with tragic effects for several involved.
Also in the superb cast are Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo as siblings Anne and Adam Stanton, children of a now deceased governor, niece and nephew of Judge Irwin, and best childhood friends of Jack Burden; Patricia Clarkson as Stark's jealous mistress Sadie Burke; Jackie Earle Haley as Stark's friend and bodyguard Sugar Boy; Kathy Baker as Jack's mother; and Talia Balsam as Stark's wife.
T Bone Pickens served as the executive music producer so the soundtrack is filled with fabulous Howlin' Wolf, Jimmy Reed. Lightning Hopkins, Hank Williams, Keb' Mo', and T Bone music plus a smattering of Mozart, Beethoven and others.From a novel by Robert Penn Warren. Screenplay and directed by Steven Zaillian.
Run time: 2 hours, 8 minutes
Rated PG-13 for an intense sequence of violence, sexual content and partial nudity.
My personal rating: A
6/10/2009
Smoke (1995)
.
The families we make when we are adrift.
The families we make when we are adrift.
Smoke swirls and drifts and seeps into place we can't even see. And so does this film.
Auggie Wren (Harvey Keitel) runs a corner smoke shop in Brooklyn. Several people swirl into his shop and his life -- people whose lives are in fragile times, just as his is.
When one of his regular customers, writer Paul Benjamin (William Hurt), inquires Auggie's camera, Auggie makes a revelation. In my favorite scene of the film, and the one that sets the whole tone, Auggie explains the photo albums covering each day of many, many years to Paul:
Auggie: "I guess you could call it a hobby. But I do it every day, rain or shine, sleet or snow."
Paul: "So you're not just a guy who pushes coins across a counter."
Auggie: "Well, that's what people see but that ain't necessarily who I am."
Paul, as he looks through the first album: "They're all the same."
Auggie: "That's right. More than 4,000 pictures of the same place. The corner of Third Street and Seventh Avenue at 8 o'clock in the morning. Four thousand straight days in all kinds of weather. It's my project. What you'd call my life's work.
Paul: "Amazing. I'm not sure I get it though. What was it that gave you the idea to do this project?"
Auggie: "I don't know. Just came to me. It's my corner, after all. I mean, it's just one little corner of the world. But things take place there, too, just like everywhere else. It's a record of my little spot."
Paul: "It's kind of overwhelming."
Auggie: "You'll never get it if you don't slow down, my friend."
Paul: "What do you mean?"
Auggie: "I mean, you're going to fast. You're hardly even lookin' at the pictures.
Paul: "They're all the same."
Auggie: "They're all the same. But each one is different from every other one. You got your bright mornings and your dark mornings. You got your summer light and your autumn light. You got your weekdays and your weekends. You got your people in overcoats and galoshes. And you got your people in t-shirts and shorts. Sometimes the same people. Sometimes different ones. Some times the different ones become the same ones. And the same ones disappear. The earth revolves around the sun and every day the light from the sun hits the earth at a different angle."
Paul: "Slow down, huh?"
Auggie: "That's what I'd recommend. You know how it is. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Time creeps on its petty pace."
Others in the cast include:
Harold Perrineau Jr. as Rashid Cole, an African-American teenager who saves Paul from being hit by a truck and becomes almost like a son to Paul;
Stockard Channing as Ruby McNutt, Auggie's girlfriend from nearly 20 years before, who appears to inform Auggie he has a daughter who is pregnant and a drug addict;
Forest Whitaker as Cyrus Cole who didn't know he had a son;
Ashley Judd as Auggie's troubled daughter;
and Clarice Taylor as Granny Ethel.
This is a sensitive, ephemeral and cerebral tale, touchingly presented in a way that I think I will never forget.
Outstanding music by the Jerry Garcia Band, Louis Prima, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and others, plus my two favorites, "Downtown Train" and "Innocent When You Dream" written and performed by Tom Waits.
Written by Paul Auster and based on his short story "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story." Directed by Wayne Wang.
Run time: 1 hour, 62 minutes
Rated R for language.
My personal rating: A
6/09/2009
Gran Torino (2008)
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"Me, I finish things."
After Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood, who also directed) loses his wife, he's left alone to live with his vast prejudices and his growl whenever he sees things he doesn't like -- which is often. Walt worked in the Ford plant for fifty years and is disgusted that his own son (Brian Haley) drives a foreign car and wants Walt to move to a retirement community. Walt's more than annoyed that his own old neighborhood has been taken over by Hmongs and gangs have a stranglehold in the area.
When the neighbor boy Thao (Bee Vang) attempts to steal Walt's 1972 Gran Torino to fulfill a gang initiation, Walt reluctantly takes the boy under his wing to make him a man. He also befriends Thao's sister Sue (Ahney Her) and becomes somewhat of a guardian angel to the two of them.
The old man can still pull out a Dirty Harry move or two, too. A touching, often very funny, film. Of all of Eastwood's incredible films, I consider this one truly his legacy.
Also appearing are Christopher Carley as the priest Walt's wife asked to watch out for the old man; John Carroll Lynch as the barber. Eastwood's 22-year-old son Scott, who goes by the name of Scott Reeves, also has a brief appearance as Sue's boyfriend.
Run time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
Rated R for language throughout, and some violence.
My personal rating: A-
After Korean War vet Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood, who also directed) loses his wife, he's left alone to live with his vast prejudices and his growl whenever he sees things he doesn't like -- which is often. Walt worked in the Ford plant for fifty years and is disgusted that his own son (Brian Haley) drives a foreign car and wants Walt to move to a retirement community. Walt's more than annoyed that his own old neighborhood has been taken over by Hmongs and gangs have a stranglehold in the area.
When the neighbor boy Thao (Bee Vang) attempts to steal Walt's 1972 Gran Torino to fulfill a gang initiation, Walt reluctantly takes the boy under his wing to make him a man. He also befriends Thao's sister Sue (Ahney Her) and becomes somewhat of a guardian angel to the two of them.
The old man can still pull out a Dirty Harry move or two, too. A touching, often very funny, film. Of all of Eastwood's incredible films, I consider this one truly his legacy.
Also appearing are Christopher Carley as the priest Walt's wife asked to watch out for the old man; John Carroll Lynch as the barber. Eastwood's 22-year-old son Scott, who goes by the name of Scott Reeves, also has a brief appearance as Sue's boyfriend.
Run time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
Rated R for language throughout, and some violence.
My personal rating: A-
6/08/2009
The Good Shepherd (2006)
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"It isn't about dedication and loyalty, it's about belief in what we do."
Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), a quiet, unassuming man and member of the secret Skull & Bones Society at Yale (nominally the WASP future leaders training grounds), was a member of OSS, a intelligence service, during WWII. The OSS became the CIA when the Cold War began and Wilson soon rose to the top -- the head of CIA counterintelligence.
When he suspects that Castro was tipped off to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Wilson goes in search of the traitorous mole and in the process he explores the many failures, disappointments and betrayals in his own life.
Also appearing are Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Robert De Niro (who also directed), Keir Dullea, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci, and John Turturro.
Run time: 2 hours, 47 minutes
Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language.
My personal rating: B
Edward Wilson (Matt Damon), a quiet, unassuming man and member of the secret Skull & Bones Society at Yale (nominally the WASP future leaders training grounds), was a member of OSS, a intelligence service, during WWII. The OSS became the CIA when the Cold War began and Wilson soon rose to the top -- the head of CIA counterintelligence.
When he suspects that Castro was tipped off to the Bay of Pigs invasion, Wilson goes in search of the traitorous mole and in the process he explores the many failures, disappointments and betrayals in his own life.
Also appearing are Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Robert De Niro (who also directed), Keir Dullea, Michael Gambon, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, Joe Pesci, and John Turturro.
Run time: 2 hours, 47 minutes
Rated R for some violence, sexuality and language.
My personal rating: B
6/07/2009
Yonkers Joe (2009)
.
The Eye in the Sky
Joe Duma (Chazz Palminteri) will gamble on anything -- cards, dice, horses, whatever -- and is always trying to find a way to con the win. He's a distant man, even toward his partner in crime girlfriend Janice (Christine Lahti), but most especially toward his young adult son Joey (Tom Guiry) who has Down syndrome.
When the director (Roma Maffia) of the group home where Joey has lived for a long time informs Joe that Joey can no longer remain in the home because of his violent outbursts, aggression, and profanity, Joe is simply at a loss about what to do with Joey. He's never really bonded with the boy and Joey's mother abandoned them long ago. Joe doesn't want the Joey around but is forced to take him until he can raise substantial money to put him in an expensive facility that can deal with the aggression and anger issues. Joe really needs one big scam soon and it's not going to happen in the casinos of Atlantic City.
When Joe's gambling buddy Stanley (Michael Lerner) arranges a deal with a couple of wealthy men in Miami (Arthur J. Nascarella, Saverio Guerra) to bankroll a big scam in Las Vegas, Joe, Joey, Janice, Stanley and a couple other gambling cronies (Linus Roache, Michael Rispoli, Frank John Hughes) head West.
But Joe ends up winning a whole lot more than money.
Written and directed by Robert Celestino.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rated R for language including sexual references.
My personal rating: B
Joe Duma (Chazz Palminteri) will gamble on anything -- cards, dice, horses, whatever -- and is always trying to find a way to con the win. He's a distant man, even toward his partner in crime girlfriend Janice (Christine Lahti), but most especially toward his young adult son Joey (Tom Guiry) who has Down syndrome.
When the director (Roma Maffia) of the group home where Joey has lived for a long time informs Joe that Joey can no longer remain in the home because of his violent outbursts, aggression, and profanity, Joe is simply at a loss about what to do with Joey. He's never really bonded with the boy and Joey's mother abandoned them long ago. Joe doesn't want the Joey around but is forced to take him until he can raise substantial money to put him in an expensive facility that can deal with the aggression and anger issues. Joe really needs one big scam soon and it's not going to happen in the casinos of Atlantic City.
When Joe's gambling buddy Stanley (Michael Lerner) arranges a deal with a couple of wealthy men in Miami (Arthur J. Nascarella, Saverio Guerra) to bankroll a big scam in Las Vegas, Joe, Joey, Janice, Stanley and a couple other gambling cronies (Linus Roache, Michael Rispoli, Frank John Hughes) head West.
But Joe ends up winning a whole lot more than money.
Written and directed by Robert Celestino.
Run time: 1 hour, 46 minutes
Rated R for language including sexual references.
My personal rating: B
6/06/2009
Blind Date (1987)
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"I just have this chemical imbalance almost like an allergy to alcohol. It just makes me crazy!"
Walter Davis (Bruce Willis) is a serious workaholic. He's been so enmeshed in his career that he's not bothered with other relationships. When he's required to bring a date to an important business dinner, he's at a lost until his brother Ted (Phil Hartman) and sister-in-law (Stepahnie Faracy) arrange a blind date with a friend of hers. However, he is cautioned to not let her drink alcohol.
Not paying heed to the warning, he offers Nadia (Kim Basinger) champagne before going to the restaurant. Big mistake. She twirls out of control and does several things that embarrass him and even compromise his job. As though that isn't bad enough, her ex-boyfriend David Bedford (John Larroquette) is stalking her and making Walter's life absolutely crazy.
Also appearing are George Coe as Walter's boss; William Daniels as the judge; Alice Hirson as David's mother; Joyce Van Patton as Nadia's mother.
Bruce Willis' first credited film.
Directed by Blake Edwards.
Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
My personal rating: C
Walter Davis (Bruce Willis) is a serious workaholic. He's been so enmeshed in his career that he's not bothered with other relationships. When he's required to bring a date to an important business dinner, he's at a lost until his brother Ted (Phil Hartman) and sister-in-law (Stepahnie Faracy) arrange a blind date with a friend of hers. However, he is cautioned to not let her drink alcohol.
Not paying heed to the warning, he offers Nadia (Kim Basinger) champagne before going to the restaurant. Big mistake. She twirls out of control and does several things that embarrass him and even compromise his job. As though that isn't bad enough, her ex-boyfriend David Bedford (John Larroquette) is stalking her and making Walter's life absolutely crazy.
Also appearing are George Coe as Walter's boss; William Daniels as the judge; Alice Hirson as David's mother; Joyce Van Patton as Nadia's mother.
Bruce Willis' first credited film.
Directed by Blake Edwards.
Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.
Rated PG-13.
My personal rating: C
6/05/2009
Mozart and the Whale (2005)
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"After everything she told me, and checking on your excellent record in college, I'm wondering why you choose to drive a taxi for a living."
"At my interview with IBM after I graduated college, they asked me what my plans were, and I said, 'Probably go to McDonalds for a 12-piece McNugget and two cheeseburgers, and then do my laundry.'"
"Did they laugh, at least?"
"They smiled and said they'd call me. They didn't."
Donald Morton (Josh Hartnett) is a numbers savant with Asperger's syndrome who runs a support group for others with the same or similar disorders. When Isabelle Sorenson (Radha Mitchell), a music savant, joins the group, it's clear to see the romantic sparks fly. But can they endure and survive the unique challenges that their difficult conditions present?
Also appearing are Gary Cole, Sheila Kelley, Erica Leerhsen, John Carroll Lynch, Nate Mooney, Rusty Schwimmer, Robert Wisdom, and Allen Evangelista.
Inspired by a true story. Directed by Petter Næss.
Run time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some thematic material.
My personal rating: B
"At my interview with IBM after I graduated college, they asked me what my plans were, and I said, 'Probably go to McDonalds for a 12-piece McNugget and two cheeseburgers, and then do my laundry.'"
"Did they laugh, at least?"
"They smiled and said they'd call me. They didn't."
Donald Morton (Josh Hartnett) is a numbers savant with Asperger's syndrome who runs a support group for others with the same or similar disorders. When Isabelle Sorenson (Radha Mitchell), a music savant, joins the group, it's clear to see the romantic sparks fly. But can they endure and survive the unique challenges that their difficult conditions present?
Also appearing are Gary Cole, Sheila Kelley, Erica Leerhsen, John Carroll Lynch, Nate Mooney, Rusty Schwimmer, Robert Wisdom, and Allen Evangelista.
Inspired by a true story. Directed by Petter Næss.
Run time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some thematic material.
My personal rating: B
6/04/2009
Vicki Cristina Barcelona (2008)
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"Speak English!"
Twenty-something friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) go to Spain for the summer before Vicky's impending wedding to Doug (Chris Messina). Originally they are to stay with Vicky's parents' friends (Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn) but they are swiftly enchanted by a sexy Spanish artist, Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem) who whisks them away to the island of his birth and woos both of them. Little do the women know that the recently divorced Gonzalo continues to have a tempestuous relationship with his artist ex-wife Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz, who won the Oscar for this role) and it's about to explode again.
Written and directed by Woody Allen.
Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking.
My personal rating: B+
Twenty-something friends Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) go to Spain for the summer before Vicky's impending wedding to Doug (Chris Messina). Originally they are to stay with Vicky's parents' friends (Patricia Clarkson, Kevin Dunn) but they are swiftly enchanted by a sexy Spanish artist, Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem) who whisks them away to the island of his birth and woos both of them. Little do the women know that the recently divorced Gonzalo continues to have a tempestuous relationship with his artist ex-wife Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz, who won the Oscar for this role) and it's about to explode again.
Written and directed by Woody Allen.
Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking.
My personal rating: B+
6/03/2009
Revolutionary Road (2008)
.
"You been to Paris?"
"I've never really been anywhere."
"Maybe I'll take you with me then. I'm going back the first chance I get. I tell you. People are alive there. Not like here. All I know, April, is I want to feel things. Really feel them, you know. How's that for an ambition?"
"Frank Wheeler. I think you're the most interesting person I've ever met."
When Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) first met, they were full of hope and aspiration. He was a free spirit with dreams of returning to Paris where he'd spent some time during WW II. She, a budding actress. But when an unexpected pregnancy pushes them to marriage, they assume the expected roles for young couples in the 1950s.
Frank settles into a corporate job where his father had worked in NYC while April became a stereotypical Connecticut housewife. They get caught up in quiet desperation and over time, it reflects in their marriage. They grow short tempered and irritable with each other. But when they finally resolve to give up the expectations of others and move to Paris as they both had once dreamed, complicating situations get in the way.
Also appearing are Kathy Bates as their real estate agent Helen Givings; Richard Easton as her husband Howard; Michael Shannon as their mentally unstable son; David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn as their neighbors Shep and Millie.
Directed by Sam Mendes.
Run time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity.
My personal rating: B+
"I've never really been anywhere."
"Maybe I'll take you with me then. I'm going back the first chance I get. I tell you. People are alive there. Not like here. All I know, April, is I want to feel things. Really feel them, you know. How's that for an ambition?"
"Frank Wheeler. I think you're the most interesting person I've ever met."
When Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet) first met, they were full of hope and aspiration. He was a free spirit with dreams of returning to Paris where he'd spent some time during WW II. She, a budding actress. But when an unexpected pregnancy pushes them to marriage, they assume the expected roles for young couples in the 1950s.
Frank settles into a corporate job where his father had worked in NYC while April became a stereotypical Connecticut housewife. They get caught up in quiet desperation and over time, it reflects in their marriage. They grow short tempered and irritable with each other. But when they finally resolve to give up the expectations of others and move to Paris as they both had once dreamed, complicating situations get in the way.
Also appearing are Kathy Bates as their real estate agent Helen Givings; Richard Easton as her husband Howard; Michael Shannon as their mentally unstable son; David Harbour and Kathryn Hahn as their neighbors Shep and Millie.
Directed by Sam Mendes.
Run time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity.
My personal rating: B+
6/02/2009
He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
.
The Rule Or the Exception
A complicated comedy about the twists and turns of love and relationships. Set in Baltimore and focused more or less on a group of gal pals, their expectations of men, the men who don't want commitment and don't even call back, the disappointments, the deceit, the dissection of everything that was said between the opposite sexes.
The cast of characters includes:
Gigi (Gennifer Goodwin) who has been told since childhood that the boys who treat her shabbily really like her a lot and so she her philosphy is "We are all programmed to believe that if a guy acts like a total jerk that means he likes you."
Conor (Kevin Connolly), a real estate agent. meets Gigi on a blind date and leaves Gigi feeling as though he'll call her again.
Anna (Scarlett Johansson), a yoga instructor, is seeing Conor. She is somewhat unenthusiastic about him but continues to tease him.
Ben (Bradley Cooper) flirts shamelessly with Anna in the grocery store and promises to help Anna get started in the singing career she wants to have. In a moment of guilt, he admits to Anna that he's married but they agree to be friends and he assures her he can help her career.
Neil (Ben Affleck) is Ben's best friend and is commitment-phobic. He doesn't feel the need at all to marry his girlfriend of seven years.
Beth (Jennifer Aniston) is Neil's girlfriend and she desperately wants to marry him and is annoyed by his lack of commitment.
Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is Neil's wife and a firm believe in settling down and getting married. She initially set Gigi up with Conor. She advises Gigi against stalking Conor when he doesn't call her.
Alex (Justin Long) owns a bar and becomes Gigi's dating "shrink."
Mary (Drew Barrymore), an ad rep at an alternative newspaper, is trying to learn the lingo of the electronic era in the dating scene. "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting."
Paige (Brooke Bloom) is Beth's younger sister who is preparing for her wedding.
Also appearing in cameo roles are Kris Kristopherson and Luis Guzmán.
Directed by Ken Kwapis.
Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language.
My personal rating: B
A complicated comedy about the twists and turns of love and relationships. Set in Baltimore and focused more or less on a group of gal pals, their expectations of men, the men who don't want commitment and don't even call back, the disappointments, the deceit, the dissection of everything that was said between the opposite sexes.
The cast of characters includes:
Gigi (Gennifer Goodwin) who has been told since childhood that the boys who treat her shabbily really like her a lot and so she her philosphy is "We are all programmed to believe that if a guy acts like a total jerk that means he likes you."
Conor (Kevin Connolly), a real estate agent. meets Gigi on a blind date and leaves Gigi feeling as though he'll call her again.
Anna (Scarlett Johansson), a yoga instructor, is seeing Conor. She is somewhat unenthusiastic about him but continues to tease him.
Ben (Bradley Cooper) flirts shamelessly with Anna in the grocery store and promises to help Anna get started in the singing career she wants to have. In a moment of guilt, he admits to Anna that he's married but they agree to be friends and he assures her he can help her career.
Neil (Ben Affleck) is Ben's best friend and is commitment-phobic. He doesn't feel the need at all to marry his girlfriend of seven years.
Beth (Jennifer Aniston) is Neil's girlfriend and she desperately wants to marry him and is annoyed by his lack of commitment.
Janine (Jennifer Connelly) is Neil's wife and a firm believe in settling down and getting married. She initially set Gigi up with Conor. She advises Gigi against stalking Conor when he doesn't call her.
Alex (Justin Long) owns a bar and becomes Gigi's dating "shrink."
Mary (Drew Barrymore), an ad rep at an alternative newspaper, is trying to learn the lingo of the electronic era in the dating scene. "I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting."
Paige (Brooke Bloom) is Beth's younger sister who is preparing for her wedding.
Also appearing in cameo roles are Kris Kristopherson and Luis Guzmán.
Directed by Ken Kwapis.
Run time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language.
My personal rating: B
6/01/2009
The Door in the Floor (2004)
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"Everything in fiction is a tool: pain, betrayal, even death. These are, you know, these are like, uh, different colors on a painter's palette. You need to use them."
Despite moving to a waterfront home on Long Island, children's book writer and illustrator Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his wife Marion (Kim Bassinger) still cannot deal with their grief for their two teenage sons who died in a tragic accident. Little Ruthie (Elle Fanning), even though she was born well after the boys' deaths, is obsessed with them because her father constantly tells her stories about the boys when they were little and shows Ruthie the many framed photos of the boys that line the halls and walls of their home.
It's difficult for Marion to be a good mother for Ruthie because Marion, too, is obsessed with the boys and is often in near catatonic depression. When hard-drinking, womanizing Ted announces that he wants a trial separation for the summer, he hires Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), one of the boys' classmates from Exeter, to be his assistant. His plan is to use Eddie as a pawn to further corrupt the marriage. As he hoped, Marion takes Eddie as a lover.
Also appearing are John Rothman as Eddie's father; Bijou Phillips as the nanny Alice; Mimi Rogers as Evelyn Vaughn, one of Ted's models; and Louis Arcella as Evelyn's gardener.
Based on the first third of John Irving's novel, Widow for a Year, and directed by Tod Williams.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for strong sexuality and graphic images, and language.
My personal rating: B
Despite moving to a waterfront home on Long Island, children's book writer and illustrator Ted Cole (Jeff Bridges) and his wife Marion (Kim Bassinger) still cannot deal with their grief for their two teenage sons who died in a tragic accident. Little Ruthie (Elle Fanning), even though she was born well after the boys' deaths, is obsessed with them because her father constantly tells her stories about the boys when they were little and shows Ruthie the many framed photos of the boys that line the halls and walls of their home.
It's difficult for Marion to be a good mother for Ruthie because Marion, too, is obsessed with the boys and is often in near catatonic depression. When hard-drinking, womanizing Ted announces that he wants a trial separation for the summer, he hires Eddie O'Hare (Jon Foster), one of the boys' classmates from Exeter, to be his assistant. His plan is to use Eddie as a pawn to further corrupt the marriage. As he hoped, Marion takes Eddie as a lover.
Also appearing are John Rothman as Eddie's father; Bijou Phillips as the nanny Alice; Mimi Rogers as Evelyn Vaughn, one of Ted's models; and Louis Arcella as Evelyn's gardener.
Based on the first third of John Irving's novel, Widow for a Year, and directed by Tod Williams.
Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rated R for strong sexuality and graphic images, and language.
My personal rating: B
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