My August 2009 Viewings

Good Bye Solo (2008), B-, 8/31/09
Winchell (1998), B, 8/30/09
Purpose (2002), B-, 8/29/09
The Golden Boys (2007), B, 8/28/09
Shall We Dance? (2006), B, 8/27/09
Country (1984), B+, 8/26/09
Sunshine Cleaning (2009), B+, 8/25/09
Bobby (2006), B+, 8/24/09
Gray Gardens (2009), B, 8/23/09
When Do We Eat? (2005), B, 8/22/09
Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997), C+, 8/21/09
Do the Right Thing (1989), B, 8/20/09
Liam (2001), B+, 8/19/09
Factory Girl (2006), B, 8/18/09
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008), B-, 8/17/09
Rosenstrasse (2003), B+, 8/16/09
I Love You, Man (2009), F, 8/15/09
The Big White (2005), B-, 8/14/09
Things To Do (2008), B, 8/13/09
11:14 (2005), B+, 8/12/09
Hush (1998), B, 8/11/09
Incendiary (2008), B, 8/10/09
10th & Wolf (2006), C+, 8/9/09
The Edge of Love (2008), B+, 8/8/09
Garbo Speaks (1984), B, 8/7/09
Obsessed (2009), B, 8/6/09
The Ice Storm (1997), C, 8/5/09
Merchant of Venice (2004), A, 8/4/09
The Soloist (2008), A, 8/3/09
Shattered Glass (2003), B+, 8/2/09
Fragments (2008), B, 8/1/09

Good Bye Solo (2008)

."Who told you that you could get into my life?"
Elderly William (Red West) rides with a Senegalese taxi driver in Winston-Salem, NC, and ends up hiring the driver, Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane), for a longer trip than originally planned. But William is depressed and Solo suspects the old gent is going to off himself. They stike up a most unlikely friendship.

Others appearing are Diana Franco Galindo as Solo’s young stepdaughter Alex; and Carmen Leyva as Solo’s Mexican wife Quiera.

Written and directed by Ramin Bahrani.

Run time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

Winchell (1998)

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"The man who is hated by everyone knows who his friends are. And the man who is loved by everyone has more enemies than most."
American’s insatiable appetite for scandal and dirt isn’t a new thing. From the 1930s into 1970s, columnist/radio personality Walter Winchell (Stanley Tucci) dished more dirt than nearly any other gossip monger. With the aid of his sidekick/ghostwriter Herman Klurfeld (Paul Giamatti), they got the scoops the country craved.

Based on Klurfeld’s book Walter Winchell: His Life and Times, the story begins with a brief view of Winchell as a child who loved the newspaper reports of his own nearly fatal accident, his efforts to promote gossip during his time in the Army, and the beginnings of his scurrilous efforts to affect a story.

But he spoke loudly about more than celebrity stews. Winchell stood up to his publisher, William Randolph Hearst (Kevin Tighe) by refusing to cease writing and talking about the scourge of Hitler in the ‘30s; faced up to the McCarthy Red Hunt; and generally fought for the common man all his life.

Also appearing are Glenne Headly as Winchell’s mistress Dallas Wayne; Megan Mullally as Winchell’s wife June; Xander Berkeley as Winchell’s editor; Christopher Plummer as FDR; Paula Cale as Klurfeld’s wife; Jason Huber as Winchell’s nemesis Ed Sullivan; Paul Mazursky (who also directed) as Winchell’s father; and Victoria Platt as Josephine Baker.

Wonderful music of the era.

Run time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Rated R for language and one strong sexual scene.

My personal rating: B

Purpose (2002)

.Love and money in the internet age
John Elias (John Light) has a brilliant new concept for the internet in the booming late 1990s. He’s a bright college student and he’s scared but determined to make this work, even though he really knows nothing about business. His realistic father (Peter Coyote), a successful business man, discourages Peter because he feels the young man isn’t ready for this. His college professor Ben Fisher (Paul Reiser) gives him some encouragement.

John’s seed capital comes from the crazy, crusty old cowboy Tom Walker (Hal Holbrook) with a weird sense of humor.

He hires a college friend, the arrogant, amoral, and cunning Robert Jennings (Jeffrey Donovan), as the business side due to Jenning’s father’s connections. John is quickly led down the path of celebrating big before the release of product and all the speed bumps, ditches, and unexpected curves of business –- brilliant concept or not. He nearly gets used to and complacent with the “high life” until he’s shaken into the reality his father warned him about.

Also appearing are Mia Farrow as Anna Simmons, their Chairman of the Board; Shaun Majumder and Archie Kao as Victor and Kiko, John’s old friends and code-writing partners; Megan Dodds as John’s girlfriend Lisa who doesn’t like the path she sees ahead; Concetta Tomei as John’s doting mother.

Written and directed by Alan Lazar, who also wrote the score.

Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

The Golden Boys (2007)

."Well, seems to be a strong running for ‘vivacious brunettes,’ and over here, ‘blonds of tender and romantic dispositions’. Which one of these types are you suffering for? "
Set in 1905 Cape Cod, three crusty old retired sea captains –- Jeremiah “Jerry” Burgess (Rip Torn), Perez Ryder (Bruce Dern) and Zebulon Hedge (David Carradine) –- need a housekeeper and decided that one of them must sacrifice his bachelorhood in order to take on a mail order bride through The Nuptial Chime, the journal of matrimony. But when the potential bride, the lovely and sweet Martha Snow (Muriel Hemingway) arrives from Nantucket, each man develops strong feelings.

Others in the cast include Charles Durning as the righteous John Bartlett; Jason Alan Smith as Ralph Hazeltine, the new cable station engineer; Angelica Torn as the town gossip Melissa Busteed; John Savage as the barkeeper Web Saunders; with a special appearance by Julie Harris as the melodeon player.

An off-beat romantic comedy.

Written and directed by Daniel Adams.

Run time: 1 hour, 37 minutes

Rated PG.

My personal rating: B

Shall We Dance? (2006)

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“Sway me now.”
Beguiled by a face he sees in a window from his commuter train seat every evening, John Clark (Richard Gere) decides to get off the El one evening and go explore Miss Mitzi’s (Anita Gillette) Dance Studio where the lovely Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) often stares out in sad contemplation of what might have been.

Clark is a lawyer and by all standards, he lives “a good life,” but something is missing and he’s not been able to find anything that brings true happiness to his life other than his family. His wife
Beverly (Susan Sarandon) has a full life with her career, taking care of two teenagers, and lots of volunteer work.

With his fascination of Paulina, Clark decides to take ballroom dancing lessons and meets up with fellow students Link (Stanley Tucci), Chic (Bobby Cannavale), and big Vern (Omar Miller) plus another instructor, Bobbie (Lisa Ann Walter), and he finds himself in dance.

Beverly, sensing his newfound joy in life, is suspicious and hires a private investigator, Devine (Richard Jenkins), and his assistant, Scott (Nick Cannon), because she fears Clark is having an affair.

Directed by Peter Chelton.

Run time: 1 hour, 59 minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: B

Country (1984)

. “We’re caught in the middle of something we can’t control.”

An exploration of the farm crisis in America focuses on the Ivy family of Blackhawk County, Iowa.

Jewell and Gil Ivy (Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard) have worked the corn and livestock farm where her family has lived for generations. Her father Otis (Wilford Brimley) and their teenage son Carlisle (Levi L. Knebel) work hard with Jewell and Gil to make a place for them and the Ivy’s two young daughters.

But the FHA is now calling in the loans and demanding full payment within 30 days. It’s seriously affecting the Ivys, who owe nearly $100K, and many of their friends.

Also in the cast are Jim Haynie, Sandra Seacat, and Jim Ostercamp as the neighbors, the Brewers; Matt Clark as the heartsick local FHA officer; and Alex Harvey as the hardened bureaucrat.

Directed by Richard Pearce.

Run time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Rated PG.

My personal rating: B

Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

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“We come into people’s lives when they have experienced something sad and profound… In some small way, we help.”
Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams) busts her butt as a housekeeper in Albuquerque to support herself and her young son Oscar (Jason Spevack) and put herself through real estate school. Oscar has a penchant for getting into trouble at school and Rose needs to get him into a private school.

Rose’s married boyfriend Mac (Steve Zahn) is a cop who suggests that Rose earns some real money by running a biohazard cleaning business -- basically, cleaning up crime scenes and sites where suicides happened and where dead bodies laid for some time before being found.

Her sister Norah (Emily Blunt) can’t hold a job so Rose convinces Norah to join her in her new business –- Sunshine Cleaning.

Their dad Joe (Alan Arkin), an entrepreneurial salesman, takes Oscar off on his sales route as Rose and Norah head off to their first job –- the site of a homicide by gun. With no training and no awareness of the procedures that must be followed, the woman launch into cleaning the house.

Their next job introduces them to the reality of stench, maggots, flies, body fluids, and all the other nasty stuff. Winston (Clifton Collins, Jr.), who runs the cleaning supply business, gives Rose and Norah biohazard manuals and shows them the supplies they need.

In the process of cleaning up the debris of death, Rose and Norah also clean up their own lives and begin living anew.

Others in the cast include Paul Dooley as their family friend Sherm who sells them an Econoline van; Amy Redford as Mac’s wife Heather; Mary Lynn Rajskub as the daughter of dead woman whose house Rose and Norah cleaned.

Directed by Christine Jeffs.

Run time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B+

Bobby (2006)

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“They share with us that short moment of life.”

The setting is the Ambassador Hotel in LA, June 8, 1968 –- the day Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Twenty-two lives intersect in the pantry of that hotel on that day at that time – and they are changed forever.

Written and directed, produced by Emilio Estevez, who also appears in the film along with Lawrence Fishburne as the sous chef; Freddy Rodriguez as the busboy; Anthony Hopkins and Harry Bellefonte as retired hotel workers; William H. Macy as the hotel manager; Christian Slater as the kitchen manager; Nick Cannon and Shia LaBeouf as campaign workers; Ashton Kutcher as a hippie; Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt as socialites; Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan as young newlyweds; Sharon Stone as the hairdresser; Demi Moore as a diva.

Music by Mark Isham. Final anthem written by Bryan Adams and sung by Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, and the Harlem Boys Choir.

Run time: 1 hour, 52 minutes

Rated NR.

My personal rating: B+

Gray Gardens (2009)

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“It’s a fine line between past and present.”
Based on a documentary about the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

Edith Bouvier Beale (Jessica Lange), former debutante and socialite, is not a terrible stable woman. When her husband Phelan (Ken Howard) has finally had enough, he moves their post-debutante daughter Edie (Drew Barrymore) to Manhattan and then he leaves Edith alone with her likely boyfriend, George (Malcolm Gets) in their East Hampton mansion.

Edie is in hopes of a life of an actress. Edith grows odder and odder, and tries to manipulate the young woman. It doesn’t take long for Edith to get Edie back to Long Island where the mansion is a mess. From then on, Edie is pretty much sucked into the depth of mental illness with her mother after her married boyfriend (Daniel Baldwin) breaks up with her.

By the 1970s, Edith and Edie are living in squalor in a decaying house filled with cats.

Others in the cast include Jeanne Tripplethorn as Jackie Kennedy; Joshua Peace and Ben Carlson as Edie’s brothers; Justin Louis and Arye Gross as the Maysles brothers who made the documentary.

Directed by Michael Sucsy. An HBO film for which Jessica Lange won an Emmy.

Run time: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Not rated by MPAA.

My personal rating: B

When Do We Eat? (2005)

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The greatest goal of a parent is to do half the damage to your children than your parents did to you.
Ira Stuckman (Michael Lerner) is a big, gruff, loud-mouthed guy, but when he's in the presence of his father, Artur (Jack Klugman), Ira becomes that broken child again. He has to listen to his father's stories of how Artur brought young Ira to the United States after losing his beloved wife, two young sons, and a young daughter in the Holocaust.

And now, Ira and his family are preparing for the Passover Seder. His wife Peggy (Leslie Ann Warren) is, for the first time ever, preparing a kosher seder because their son Ethan (Max Greenfield) has recently become orthodox, complete with Hassidic beard. Peggy has even had a ceremonial tent erected in the back yard for the feast.

Other family members attending the Seder are Ira's oldest daughter Jennifer (Meredith Scott Lynn) who is a lesbian and brings her partner Grace (Cynda Williams) to meet the family. Nikki (Shiri Appleby) is a sex surrogate who is the apple of Ira's eye. Ira accepts her career choice while Peggy detests it openly. Zeke (Jeff D'Agostino) is the druggy college son who skips classes and is a big disappointment to both of his parent. Lionel (Adam Lamberg) is the teenage son who is autistic. Cousin-once-removed Vanessa (Mili Avetal), a celebrity publicist, also attends, and as in past years, catches the eye of the now devout Ethan. Rafi (Mark Ivanir) is the Israeli Mosha Dayan-clone who rented them the tent and who Peggy invites to stay on for the feast.

Ira, though not a practicing Jew and the owner of Christmas ornament company, feels obligated to carry out the traditions in what he calls "the fastest Seder in the world." But when Zeke slips the psychedelic ecstasy into Ira's antacid, the rights and rituals take on a whole new meaning to Ira as he sees the dinner in slow motion and psychedelic colors.

In it's own way, the traditional Passover story from the Book of Malachai complete with Ira's children playing out the roles of the legendary "four sons" -- the wise, the wicked, the simple, and the one who doesn't know how to ask.

A very funny and touching story with insights into Jewish culture and tradition, tradition! And ultimately how one family puts aside the hurt from the past to heal the family.

With some interesting bonus material that further explains the film. I found it interesting that one of the rabbis said, "Loving one's children is not using money to control them."

Written by Salvador Litvak with his wife Nina Davidovich, and directed by Litvak.

Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B

Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)

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”The way you have a sense of God, I have a sense of snow.”
When Smilla Jasperson (Julia Ormond) discovers that a six-year-old Inuit boy, Isaiah (Cupper Miano), who lives in her apartment building in Copenhagen, fell to his death from the roof, she isn’t convinced that he fell accidentally. Despite the insistence of the police, Smilla grows more and more certain.

Smilla had built a bond with Isaiah for they were both from Greenland. She knew Isaiah was afraid of heights and wouldn’t go up to the roof to play. Besides, his footprints in the snow indicated he’d run right from the roof door to the edge of the roof – not a typical pattern of a child playing.

Smilla questions Johannes Loyen (Tom Wilkinson), the head of the Institute for Arctic Medicine, who conducted the autopsy. She is not content with the answers she is getting and feels there is some sort of cover-up going on based on information she got from the morgue tech Lagermann (Jim Broadbent).

At the boy’s funeral, Smilla sees a man (Richard Harris) approaching Isaiah’s mother to give her a package that Juliane refuses. Smilla questions Juliane about this and finds that Juliane is to be given a widow’s pension from Greenland Mining due to the recent death.

Smilla visits her father, Moritz (Robert Loggia) to find out what he knew about Loyen because the two had gone to school together. She also asks her father for money telling him she has to make right for letting a child down.

Smilla wrote to the district attorney who agrees with her that something is amiss with this case. She then goes to visit Elsa Lubbing (Vanessa Redgrave), the former chief accountant for Greenland Mining who had signed the pension notification Juliane received.

With diligence and stealth, Smilla begins trying to unravel the mystery of young Isaiah’s death, and soon finds herself being assisted by the Mechanic (Gabriel Byrnes) who lives in Smilla’s building and also had a friendship with Isaiah.

Directed by Bille August.

Run time: 2 hours, 5 minutes

Rating R.

My personal rating: C+

Do the Right Thing (1989)

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The Quintessential Truth, Ruth
Summer in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn is sizzling. Blacks, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Koreans, and whites have to find a way to coexist but racism cuts all ways.

Sal Frangone (Danny Aiello) runs a pizzeria with his sons Pino (John Torturro) and Vito (Richard Edson). The young African-American Mookie (Spike Lee) is their delivery guy.

Tensions grow the temperature rises until the inevitable explosion.

Others in the cast are Samuel L. Jackson as the deejay Love Daddy; Joie Lee as Mookie’s sister Jade; Miguel Sandoval and Rick Aiello as the cops; Rosie Perez as Mookie’s baby mama; Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin’ Out; Martin Lawrence as Cee; Ossie Davis is “da mayor” of the neighborhood; Ruby Dee as Mother Sister; Roger Guenveur Smith as the developmentally disabled Smiley.

Written and directed by Spike Lee.

Run time: 2 hours

Rated R.

My personal rating: B

Liam (2001)

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"Bless me Father for I have sinned."
The Sullivans were struggling in the depression in pre-WWII Liverpool, but when the father (Ian Hart) lost his job as a laborer at the shipyard, he blames the nation’s woes on the Jews and the Irish Protestants. Emotion runs high and violence ensues.

Despite the intensity of the subject, there are some scenes of young Liam’s (Anthony Borrows) experiences in preparing for his first confession and first communion and learning about the fires of hell for eternity. Made me chuckle out loud with the memories it brought back.

Others in the cast include Claire Hackett as the mother; Megan Burns as Liam’s sister Teresa who works as a housekeeper for a Jewish family; David Hart as his brother Con who stands up to his father’s fascism; Russell Dixon as Father Ryan; Anne Reid as the school teacher Mrs. Abernathy; Julia Deakin as Aunt Aggie; Andrew Schofield as Uncle Tom.

Directed by Stephen Frears.

Run time: 1 hour, 31 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B+

Factory Girl (2006)

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“She leaves only good wishes behind.”
Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) came from a very prominent but deeply troubled New England family. Seeking to escape the punishing and uptight environment, moves to NYC and quickly becomes deeply enmeshed in the world of Andy Warhol’s (Guy Pearce) Factory – the studio where the artist developed his unmistakable style in the 1960s. The post-modern, deconstructionist artist surrounded himself with the most beautiful people, the quirky, outrageous people, artists, writers, musicians, dancers, models, busboys, and lots of drugs.

The ambitious starlet saw the opportunity to be noticed. Warhol, the legendary people user, saw the opportunity to live vicariously through Edie and to find art buyers from Edie’s high society background.

The film chronicles the beautiful but vulnerable young woman’s rise and tragic fall.

Also appearing are Hayden Christensen, the musician Edie falls in love with; Jack Huston as the artist Gerard Malanga; Jimmy Fallon as Edie’s college chum Chuck Wein; Armin Amiri as the artist Ondine; Tara Summers as Brigid Polk, another factory girl; Mena Suvari as Edie’s friend Richie Berlin; Shawn Hatosy as the musician’s friend Syd Pepperman; Beth Grant as the artist’s mother Julia; Edward Hermann as her trust fund banker James Townsend; Illeana Douglas as Diana Vreeland; and Don Novello as Mort Silvers.

Directed by George Hickenlooper.

Run time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

This film is not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

My personal rating: B

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (2008)

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” I thought about my fat uncle Lenny and the job he’d strong-armed for me that would start in the fall. Which meant I had exactly three months left to live.”
After graduating cum laude with a degree in economics, Art Bechstein (Jon Foster) just wanted a mindless summer job before starting into a career as a stockbroker – what his gangster father (Nick Nolte) wants him to be. Being a clerk at Book Barn gives him that opportunity. It also affords him the opportunity to have frequent sex in the stacks and storage room with his boss, Phlox (Mena Suvari).

One evening Art hooks up with Momo (Omid Abtahi), his first year college roommate. Momo introduces Art to Jane Bellwether (Sienna Miller) and soon meets her enigmatic – well downright weird – boyfriend Cleveland (Peter Sarsgaard). Jane and Cleveland show Art the Pittsburgh he didn’t know, and in the process, romance develops and takes Art to places he didn’t know before.

Based on Michael Chabon’s 1988 book. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber.

Run time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

Rosenstrasse (2003)

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”I don’t know why religion has suddenly become so important.”
After her husband passes away, Ruth Weinstein (Jutte Lampe) begins to act strangely. Her daughter Hannah (Maria Schrader) feels this being caused by Ruth’s grief, but in reality, suppressed thoughts from World War II are surfacing and Ruth is haunted with the memories.

A mysterious woman, about Ruth’s age shows up as the family sits shiva in Ruth’s NYC apartment. This is her cousin Rachael (Carola Regnier) who urges Ruth to break the silence she has held for so many years.

After Ruth had been rescued from the holocaust as a child, she’d come alone to the United States to be raised by Rachael’s family. She’d fallen into silence about the incidents that most affected her life and now drove her to become a devout Jew.

Hannah journeys to Berlin to find 90-year-old Lena Fischer (Doris Schade) who had taken in eight-year-old Ruth (Svea Lohde). As a young Aryan woman, Lena (Katja Tiemann) stood watch at the synagogue on Rosenstrasse hoping for the release of her Jewish husband Fabian (Martin Feifel) and other Jewish spouses of Aryans who were being held by the Nazis in the temple. Young Ruth’s mother was also being detained there.

Directed by Margarethe von Trotta.

Mostly subtitled.

Run time: 2 hours, 16 minutes

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, some violence, and brief drug content.

My personal rating: B+

I Love You, Man (2009)

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Man Hunting
Real estate agent Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) has always had females as friends so with his approaching marriage to Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones) he needs to figure out who to ask to be his best man and groomsmen.

Zooey’s best friends – Hailey (Sarah Burns) and Denise (Jaime Pressly) – are lined up quickly, but Peter really has a major task facing him. All his efforts to make man friends comes across as gay hustling and Peter’s leaving the wrong impression all over LA.

Also appearing are Jane Curtin and J.K. Simmons as Peter’s parents; Andy Samberg as Peter’s gay brother Robbie; Jon Favreau as Barry, Denise’s boyfriend; Rob Huebel as Peter’s sleazy coworker, Tevin Downey; Mather Zickel as Gil and Aziz Ansari as Eugene, guys from Peter’s fencing class; Thomas Lennon as Doug; Jason Segel as the straight Sydney Fife. Lou Ferrigno also appears as himself.

Directed by John Hamburg.

Run time: 1 hour, 44 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: C, that’s C for CRUDE, D for DUMB, F for FOUL!

The Big White (2005)

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Spinning a Web
Paul Barnell (Robin Williams) has a big problem in this dark comedy. He’s in debt up to his ears and in jeopardy of losing his home and his travel agency in an isolated Alaskan town. His wife Maggie (Holly Hunter) isn’t stable. She blames it on adult onset Tourrette’s Syndrome but their HMO says that’s not the case, nor does she have any of assorted other alphabet soup diagnoses. The Barnell’s medical bills are sky high as Paul and Maggie try to find the cause of her bizarre behavior and depression.

Barnell’s brother Raymond (Woody Harrelson) had disappeared five years before and Paul wants to collect on Raymond’s life insurance policy. But Ted Waters (Giovanni Ribisi), insurance investigator, holds firm to the accepted practice of waiting for seven years to pay off a policy when a person has disappeared.

In the meantime, two thugs, Gary (Tim Blake Nelson) and Jimbo (W. Earl Brown), have temporarily disposed of a man’s body in the dumpster behind Paul’s office. When Paul finds the body, he hatches a plan. Paul disposes of the body in a place where it will be found but assures that the body will be mutilated by wild animals so identification will be difficult.

Waters is very suspicious and sets about to disprove the death of Raymond Barnell.

Also appearing are William Merasty as Cam, Water’s co-worker; Alison Lohman as Water’s psychic girlfriend Tiffany; Ralph Adamson as Water’s boss Mr. Branch.

Directed by Mark Mylod.

Run time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B-

Things To Do (2008)

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”Is this what you expected life to be like?”

Twenty-something Adam Stevenson (Mike Stasko) takes the bus to move back with his parents, Bert (Pat McManus) and Diane (JoAnn Nordstrom), in his small hometown. He’s been living in the big city and his folks aren’t really keen on having him back.

He hooks up with an odd old classmate, Mac (Daniel Wilson), who’s never really grown up. While watching television, Adam watches a talk show host challenge viewers to “make a to-do list because you have to be organized to reach total happiness. See, the list is a pathway and each step, a stepping stone on that pathway to reach that ultimate goal.”

Adam begins his list of things he always wanted to do and he and Mac embark on the adventure of fulfilling them. Things like skydiving, blowing up old report cards, be in a band, learn the world capitals, be in a movie, build a soapbox derby car, and more. Along the way they encounter Donovan “The D Man” (Santo D’Asaro), Adam’s arch-nemesis from high school.

Also appearing is Amy Ballantyne as Julie Bartly, the unfulfilled love of Adam’s life.

Dorkiness personified but this quirky indie shows how facing missed opportunities can lead to having the courage to do what you really want to do.

Written by Mike Stasko and Theodore Bezaire, who also directed.

Run time: 1 hour, 25 minute

Not rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

My personal rating: B

11:14 (2005)

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Intense
Buzzy (Hilary Swank), Mark (Colin Hanks), Cheri (Rachael Leigh Cook), Jack (Henry Thomas), and Eddie (Ben Foster) are connected in most unusual ways. At precisely at 11:14 p.m. their lives intersect in explosive ways.

You could say that they’re just dying to run into each other.

Also appearing are Barbara Hershey, Shawn Hatosy, Clark Gregg, Patrick Swayze, and Jason Segel.

Music by The Ramones, Jesse Jaymes, Dramarama, Endo, The Extreme, Stargunn, Bodie in Motion, Angry Johnny and the Killbillies, and Bree Sharp. Haunting themes by Clint Mansell.

I swear, Henry Thomas must be Dorian Gray’s son.

Written and directed by Greg Marcks – who looks all of teenager himself.

Run time: 1 hour, 28 minutes

Rated R for violence, sexuality, and pervasive language. This one’s pretty gross, folks! And some pretty perverse humor, too.

My personal rating: B+

Hush (1998)

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”Still love me?”
“I’ll love you, dear – I’ll love you till China and Africa meet…”
“And the river jumps over the mountain…”
“And the salmon sing in the streets.”
Jackson (Johnathon Schaech) brings his girlfriend Helen (Gwyneth Paltrow) home to Kilronan, the family’s Thoroughbred racing ranch in Virginia, to meet his mother, the sarcastic passive-aggressive, Martha (Jessica Lange). It’s clear that Martha feels no other woman is a good match for her baby boy.

Shortly after their return to their NYC loft, Helen realizes she’s pregnant. A luscious wedding follows at the ranch and the couple returns to NYC. When Helen is attacked in her own apartment, they decide the city just isn’t safe. They move to the ranch, but once there, Helen realizes that NYC is a safe haven compared to trying to live with Martha dominating her life.

Also appearing are Nina Foch as Jackson’s paternal grandmother who loathes the conniving Martha; and Hal Holbrook as the kindly Dr. Hill.

Gorgeous horses – and the ranch I’ll own when I win the lottery!
And why have I never seen this Johnathon Schaech before? Mighty easy on the eyes! I’m going to have to look for his other films.

Directed by Jonathan Darby.

Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: B

Incendiary (2008)

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Rebuilding a Life
A young mother (Michelle Williams) had a tough life with an alcoholic mother and a rough go all the way around. The only reason she married Lenny (Nicholas Gleaves), a member of the London bomb disposal squad, was because she was pregnant. While she tolerated Lenny, she adored her four-year-old son (Sidney Johnston), but that didn’t keep her from having affairs with men she’d just met.

She met newspaper reporter Jasper Black (Ewan McGregor) and fell into bed with him when Lenny had taken their son to a big football (soccer) match. Unfortunately, a gang of terrorists hit the football stadium hard that day and more than a thousand people were killed – including her son and Lenny.

Stunned and depressed, she struggled to come to terms with their deaths. She also turned to the sexual comfort of both Jasper Black and Lenny’s boss, Terrence Butcher (Matthew Macfadyen). Jasper is upset with her dalliance with Terrence and in true reporter form, he investigates to find out Terrence’s place in the entire terrorist plot.

In the mean time, she becomes involved and cares for the innocent 12-year-old son (Usman Khokhar) of one of the six suicidal terrorists.
A complex story.

Written and directed by Sharon Maguire.

Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rated R for nudity, scenes of sexuality, and adult themes.

My personal rating: B

10th & Wolf (2006)

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Based on a true story

”We all grow up looking for somebody to believe in. For me, it was my father. He was my hero. The day after my twelfth birthday, I found out my father killed people for a living.”
An FBI agent (Brian Dennehy) offers Tommy (James Marsden) an out from the Army where he may face court martial if Tommy will return home to Philadelphia and help take down the mob boss who was responsible for Tommy fleeing to the Army in the first place. If he took the offer, he’d also be saving the necks of his brother Vincent (Brad Renfro) and cousin Joey (Giovanni Ribisi).

Also appearing are Leslie Ann Warren, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Leo Rossi.

Directed by Robert Moresco.

Run time: 1 hour, 54 minutes

Rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some drug content and sexuality/nudity.

My personal rating: C+

The Edge of Love (2008)

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”He dropped where he loved on the burst pavement."
When Welsh poet Dylan Thomas (Matthew Rhys) runs into his first love, Vera Phillips (Kiera Knightly), in London, his playful passion is aroused. Despite their rivalry for Thomas, his wife Caitlin (Sienna Miller) and Vera soon become fast friends. When Vera marries William Killick (Cillian Murphy) things grow even more complicated.

Stunning cinematography often in sepia tones with occasional bright splashes of color. Wonderful music reminscent of the era.

Directed by John Maybury.

Run time: 1 hour, 51 minutes

Rated R.

My personal rating: B+

Garbo Speaks (1984)

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Catch a Star
Estelle Rolfe (Anne Bancroft) is a strong woman who stands up for her principles – even if it means not crossing a picket line to attend her son’s wedding. Her son Gilbert (Ron Silver) has had his annoyances with her but when she is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he sacrifices all to fulfill his mother’s one wish – to meet the elusive Greta Garbo.

Also appearing are Steven Hill as Estelle’s ex-husband; Carrie Fisher as Gilbert’s wife; Catherine Hicks as Gilbert’s coworker who is trying to become an actress; and Betty Comden as Garbo.

Appearing in cameo roles are Hermione Gingold, George Plimpton, Harvey Fierstein, Howard Da Silva, Dorothy Lamour, and Adolph Greene.

Directed by Sidney Lumet.

Run time: 1 hour, 43minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: B

Obsessed (2009)

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”Whose legs are those?”
“I think she’s the new temp.”
”I think you mean temptress.”
Derek Charles (Idris Elba) has it all. The handsome young man is the executive vice president of a prestigious brokerage house. His gorgeous wife Sharon (Beyoncé Knowles) adores him. They have a precious baby boy. They have just moved into a stunning new house. And he has a new temp secretary, Lisa (Ali Larter), who is hot to trot with him and spares nothing to fulfill her obsession.

Christine Lahti appears as the investigating detective and Jerry O’Connell plays Derek’s co-worker.

Some pretty terrific music including songs by Norah Jones and Wyclef Jean, Crudo, Estelle, Wild Cherry, Tone-Loc, Ruben Studdard and Tamyra Gray, With the Quickness, Draque Bozung, and Patch. The theme song, “Smash Into You” sung by Beyoncé, will probably garner an Oscar nomination.

Directed by Steve Shill.

Run time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Rated PG-13 for sexual material including some suggestive dialogue, some violence and thematic content. I have a real issue with this rating. The violence is vicious and graphic, and the thematic content is too mature and disturbing to most young teens. Certainly if two terrific films like The Hammer and 10 Items or Less got R ratings solely on the basis of one or two appropriate F-bombs, this film should also carry an R rating.

My personal rating: B

The Ice Storm (1997)

.”…a family is like your own personal anti-matter. Your family is the void you emerge from and the place where you return to when you die. And that’s the paradox. The closer you’re drawn back in, the deeper into the void you go.”
Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, a Connecticut family slides into moral deterioration.

Benjamin Hood (Kevin Kline) drowns his troubles at work with too much booze and an affair with a family friend, Janey (Sigourney Weaver). His wife Elena (Joan Allen), sick of his lies and affair, pumps herself full of pop self-help books but her own moral code is tested when the couple attends a “key party” with many of their friends.

Their son Paul (Tobey Maguire) is home from his high school prep boarding school but goes back into NYC to pursue a teenage girl (Katie Holmes). Their younger daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) is experimenting with liquor and teasing Janey’s teenage son Mike (Elijah Woods) while recklessly pursuing Mike’s little brother Sandy (Adam Hann-Byrd).

I question why the couple would go out in the middle of a pretty intense ice storm to a party and tell Paul to take a cab home from the train station late at night because the roads will be dangerous with the ice. But that’s the way the story went.

When a terrible tragedy hits, the family is jolted into reality and struggle to figure out what’s really important in life.

Jamey Sheridan appears as Janey’s husband. Henry Czerny also appears.

Directed by Ang Lee.

Run time: 1 hour, 52 minutes

Rated R for sexuality and drug use, including scenes involving children, and for language.

My personal rating: C

Merchant of Venice (2004)

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A classic and sumptuous telling of Shakespeare’s play set in Venice in 1596.

Starring Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio, Lynn Collins as Portia, Zuleikha Robinson as Jessica, Heather Goldenhersh as Nerissa, Kriss Marshall as Gratiano, Charlie Cox as Lorenzo, Mackenzie Crook as Lancelot Gobbo, David Harewood as the Prince of Morocco, and Norbert Konne as Dr. Bellario.

Directed by Michael Radford.

Run time: 2 hour, 11 minutes

Rated R for brief nudity.

My personal rating: A

The Soloist (2008)

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Based on a true story
”I don’t know how God works.”
Everyone has a story. As a columnist at the LA Times, Steve Lopez (Robert Downey, Jr.) quests for those stories to share with his readers. When he met Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) on the streets of LA, he knew he might have a story. What Lopez didn’t know what that he’d soon have a good friend – and an amazing education.

Ayers, a mentally ill homeless man, lived out of his grocery cart full of only possessions. He was playing a stunning classical piece on his violin when Lopez heard and approached him. The violin only had two functional strings and yet Ayers made beautiful music with it.

Lopez pieced together Ayers’ story and found that he had attended Julliard for two years. The cello had been his first instrument but he lost his when he began living on the streets so he taught himself how to play the violin.
When Ayers played, he heard the applauding of the pigeons' wings urging him on. Nathaniel’s rambling dialogues and gibberish are splashed with sheer poetry at times. “Suspended between boy genius and lost travel,” as Lopez wrote.

Lopez’ column grew to several columns about Ayers and the newspaper readers responded. The columns opened the eyes of many ordinary people to the plight of the homeless and caused a wave of volunteerism and activism in getting LA’s skid row cleaned up, helping these people get the assistance they need.

A moving film that can’t help but affect people. Many, many homeless in LA were hired as extras in this film.

Also appearing are Catherine Keener as Mary Weston, Lopez’ ex-wife and his editor; and Lisagay Hamilton as Ayers’ sister Jennifer.

Directed by Joe Wright.

Run time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: A

Shattered Glass (2003)

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Based on true incidents
”Did I do something wrong?”
Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen), a hot young journalist, had amazing articles appear in The New Republic, Rolling Stone, Harper’s, George, and other prestigious publications. In his mid-twenties Glass was making over $100K a year.

His articles generated lots of attention and praise. But Glass was cunning. He wrote one lie after another after another. He fabricated notes, meetings, sources, interviews, and knew how to get his articles approved by the fact checkers.

The web of lies was split apart, card by card, by Adam Penenberg (Steve Zahn), a tech reporter for forbes.com.

Others appearing include Hank Azaria as Michael Kelly, Glass’ first editor at TNR; Peter Sarsgaard as Chuck Lane, a TNR reporter who took Kelly’s place; Chloe Sevigny as Caitlin Avey a fellow TNR reporter and as close to Glass’ girlfriend as he’d allow; Melanie Lynskey as Amy Brand, another TNR reporter; Rosario Dawson as Andy Fox, a reporter for forbes.com; and Ted Kotcheff as the senior editor at TNR.

Written and directed by Billy Ray.

Run time: 1 hour, 39 minutes

Rated PG-13.

My personal rating: B+

Fragments (2008)

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”We trust in where things belong. Everything has a place. And believing in that makes us innocent. And through the days under the same sky, we hope, dream, and laugh.”
It was just an ordinary day in dinner. And then a shooter entered, shot several people dead, wounded others, and took his own life. Somehow the words “You are lucky – some kind of lucky” is of little solice to the survivors, those who witnessed the carnage.

The after effects, post traumatic stress, guilt, despair, loneliness, and faith take hold of the witnesses in different ways until each finds their own epiphany in the aftermath.

The masterful cast includes Forest Whitaker, Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Jeanne Tripplethorn, Jennifer Hudson, Embeth Davidtz, Troy Garity, Josh Hutcherson, Jackie Earle Haley, Robin Weigert, Tim Guinee, James Legros.

Directed by Rowan Woods.

Run time: 1 hour, 36 minutes

Rated R for violent content, sexuality and language.

My personal rating: B