Arrested Development TV Series

FOX-TV comedy series.

Starring: Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter.

Guests include Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, Scott Baio, Liza Minnelli, Charlize Theron, Ed Begley Jr., Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

My personal rating: B+

My August 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Monk 5:4 08/30/07 (B)
Arrested Development 2:2 08/28/07 (A-)
Arrested Development 2:1 08/27/07 (A-)
Perfect Stranger 08/24/07
Arrested Development 1:3 08/21/07 (A-)
Extras 2:1 08/21/07 (C+)
Connie and Carla 08/17/07 (C)
Monk 5:3 08/17/07 (B)
Arrested Development 1:2 08/14/07 (A-)
Monk 5:2 08/14/07 (B)
Moonlighting 5: 3 08/10/07 (C+)
Monk 5:1 08/06/07 (B)
Moonlighting 5:2 08/03/07 (C+)
Arrested Development 1:1 08/01/07 (A-)

My July 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold

Dead Man 07/31/07
12 Monkeys 07/27/07 (B-)
Extras 1:2 07/26/07 (B)
Moonlighting 5:1 07/24/07 (C+)
Happenstance 07/23/07
We Don't Live Here Anymore 07/20/07
Moonlighting 4:2 07/19/07 (C+)
Puccini for Beginners 07/17/07
Driving Lessons 07/16/07 (B)
Moonlighting 4:3 07/13/07 (C+)
Samoan Wedding 07/10/07 (B+)
Extras 1:1 07/09/07 (B)
Hurlyburly 07/03/07
CSI 4:3 07/03/07 (B-)
House, M.D. 1:3 07/03/07 (B-)

Driving Lessons (2007)

Harold & Maude-esque

At age 17 (and a half), shy and gawky Ben (Rupert Grint) is under the thumb of his controlling and deeply religious mother (Laura Linney). Following the lead of his browbeaten and spineless father, the vicar (Nicholas Farrell), Ben constantly yields to his mother's demands without question, even when he wishes he could begin to take charge of his own life.

When he takes a job as a companion/assistant to an eccentric, aged and no-longer-popular actress, "Dame" Evie Walton (Julie Walters), his horizons are opened as they partake of various adventures together. Together they play lines from Shakespeare back and forth to each other while laying on a blanket in Evie's garden.

They visit an outdoor outfitter's shop and have fun trying out the equipment. Then she tricks him into a camping trip despite his mother's protests and his own apprehension. She further cons him into escorting her to Edinborough where she's been asked to read before an audience. She's terrified but has a need to do it -- but only if Ben will support her.

In Evie and her fears, Ben realizes his own fears and blossoms into a young man with opinions he's not afraid to state and the power to stand up to his mother.

While it's a tale that's been told before, Driving Lessons was nonetheless enjoyable and certainly enhanced by musical themes throughout the film. I was particularly pleased to be introduced to the charming music of the group Salsa Celtica ("The best Cuban band . . . in Scotland!").

For those unfamiliar with young Rupert Grint, he made his film claim as Harry Potter's best friend. And in this film, his father is played by Nicholas Ferrell who I'd not seen since his starring role in Chariots of Fire many years ago. It was a pleasure to see him again.

Directed by Jeremy Brock.

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

---

viewed Jul-2007

Samoan Wedding (2006)

Wedding Crashers Samoan-Style

Thirtysomething is a little old for coming of age, but four Samoan buddies living in New Zealand's Polynesian community need to grow up. The neighborhood minister has banned them from attending weddings because they always manage to wreak havoc on the celebration.

The ladies man Michael (Robbie Magasiva), the good boy Albert (Oscar Kightley), the odd one Stanley (Iaheto Ah Hi) and the party boy Sefa (Shimpal Lelisi) are devastated because Michael's younger brother Sione (Pua Magasiva) is getting married soon. Michael is to be Sione's best man and the other three pals want to be at the wedding of the young man they watched grow up.

The four negotiate with the minister and he agrees to allow them to attend Sione's wedding but only if they each bring a female -- a female to whom they have made a serious commitment.

Can the "boys" find such women? Check it out in this funny romantic comedy from the man's viewpoint.

Directed by Chris Graham.

Not rated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

---

viewed Jul-2007

My June 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Night at the Museum 06/27/07 (B)
Boston Legal 2:1 06/27/07 (B)
Moonlighting 4:1 06/27/07 (C+)
The Office 1:1 06/19/07 (C)
Happy Feet 06/19/07 (C)
Boston Legal 2:6 06/12/07 (B)
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar 06/11/07 (B-)
Boston Legal 2:5 06/08/07 (B)
Dead Like Me 1:1 06/07/07 (C)
Gas Food Lodging 06/04/07
Broken Trail 06/02/07 (B)

Broken Trail (2006)

Print Ritter (Robert Duvall) sets out to find his estranged nephew, Tom Harte (Thomas Haydn Church), to inform him of the death of his mother and the settlement of her modest estate. Despite their strained relationship, the men decide to try to make some money together in the 1898 way -- by deliving a herd of horses to a wealthy rancher in Montana.

Before long the two find themselves guardians to five frightened and vulnerable young Chinese girls who have been imported for the brothels in the West. This eventually leads them to recruiting Lung Hey (Donald Fong) to interpret for the girls and drive the chuck wagon and saving Nola Johns (Greta Scacchi), the kind hearted prostitute who is trying to escape from her abusive boyfriend.

But Big Rump Kate (Rusty Schwimmer), the bordello's madam, is not happy about losing the five Chinese girls as they would command high dollar. And other men also have their eyes on the girls, the prostitute and the large herd of horses.

Can the two men guide this entourage to safety and claim the money for the herd?

Directed by Walter Hill. Duvall was also one of the producers.

This two-part TV miniseries originally appeared on AMC and cleaned up in the Emmy Award wins for the "Miniseries, Movie or a Special" category with top awards to Duvall as Outstanding Lead Actor, Church as Outstanding Supporting Actor, and captured the top award for best Miniseries of 2006. It also won an Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special. Greta Scacchi was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. The production was nominated for numerous other Emmy Awards, and captured high honors as nominees or winners for several other prestigious awards.

My personal rating: B+

My May 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Novocaine 05/29/07 (C-)
Boston Legal 2:3 05/25/07 (B)
Venus 05/24/07 (A-)
House, M.D. 1:2 05/21/07 (C)
Art School Confidential 05/21/07 (C+)
Little Children 05/17/07
Boston Legal 2:2 05/17/07 (B)
Domestic Disturbance 05/14/07
Boston Legal 2:1 05/14/07 (B)
Down by Law 05/10/07
Boston Legal 1:5 05/10/07 (B)
The Super 05/07/07 (C)
Boston Legal 1:4 05/07/07 (B)
Wit 05/05/07 (A-)
Other People's Money 05/01/07 (B-)
The Queen 05/01/07 (A)

Art School Confidential (2006)

Max Minghella, Sophia Myles, Matt Keeslar, John Malkovich, Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, Ethan Suplee.

Directed by Terry Zwigoff

Rated R for language including sexual references, nudity and a scene of violence.

My personal rating: C+

Wit (2001)

Professor Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) has devoted her life to the study and teaching of the work of John Donne pretty much to the exclusion of family and friends. She finds herself alone in the office of research oncologist Dr. Kelekian (Christopher Lloyd) with the diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer and she must pull together her reserves to try to fight this battle or resolve to let in to it.

Of course, Kelekian and his main resident, Dr. Jason Posner (Jonathan M. Woodward), want a full-on and aggressive attack on the disease process in the name of research, while the insightful and tender nurse Susie Monahan (Audra McDonald) demands respect for Vivian's thoughts and desires in the matter.

This is truly a Thompson tour-de-force with exquisite direction by the famed Mike Nichols which takes us from shock to sorrow to irony and wry humor in Vivian's monologues and to the final acceptance.

This is not an easy film to watch but it certainly is an important film, and one I am very thankful for.

Based on a play by Margaret Edson, the teleplay was written by Emma Thompson. Noted writer Harold Pinter has a small role in a flashback as Vivian's father.

Rated PG-13 for some thematic material.

y personal rating: B+

My April 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

The Last King of Scotland 04/27/07 (A)
Boston Legal 1:3 04/24/07 (B)
Notes on a Scandal 04/23/07
House, M.D. 1:1 04/20/07 (B)
Boston Legal 1:2 04/19/07 (B)
Boston Legal 1:1 04/16/07 (B)
Color Me Kubrick 04/12/07 (B-)
The War 04/09/07 (C+)
Bright Young Things 04/09/07
Monster-in-Law 04/05/07 (C)
Hollywoodland 04/02/07 (C+)

Bright Young Things (2003)

Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Stockard Channing, John Mills, Bill Paterson, Peter O'Toole.
Director: Stephen Fry.

My personal rating: F

My March 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

The Pursuit of Happyness 03/29/07 (B)
Man of the Year 03/27/07 (B-)
The Prestige 03/26/07 (C-)
Winter Passing 03/23/07
Birth 03/20/07 (C)
In the Cut 03/20/07
The Wool Cap 03/16/07 (B)
Anywhere But Here 03/16/07
Fast Food Nation 03/12/07 (C)
Keeping Mum 03/09/07 (B)
The Story of the Weeping Camel 03/07/07 (C)
Stéphane Grappelli: A Life in the Jazz Century 03/06/07 (A-)
How to Murder Your Wife 03/02/07 (B+)
Stranger than Fiction 03/01/07 (B+)

Birth (2004)

Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright. Danny Huston, Lauren Bacall, Arliss Howard, Anne Heche, Ted Levine.

Director: Jonathan Glazer.

My personal rating: C-

My February 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

For Your Consideration 02/27/07
Half Nelson 02/23/07
The Tao of Steve 02/19/07 (C)
Thumbsucker 02/16/07 (B-)
Hit Me 02/14/07
Nobody's Fool (1994) 02/13/07 (B)
Running with Scissors 02/09/07
Nothing to Lose 02/09/07
Wag the Dog 02/06/07 (B)
Hero 02/05/07
Latter-Day Night Biscuit 02/02/07 (B)

Nobody's Fool (1994)

Newman's Own

Paul Newman is nobody's fool. When he picks a good project, he shines. And shine he does in this film, though quietly and with confidence.

Donald Sullivan (Newman) walked out on his wife and young son years before and has been living pretty much hand to mouth in a small upstate NY town. When he can get work, it's usually doing construction chores for the scummy and philandering Carl Roebuck (Bruce Willis). The rest of the time, he shamelessly flirts with Roebuck's wife Toby (Melanie Griffith) and the two fantisize about running away to Hawaii together. He also helps out his eighth-grade teacher, Miss Beryl (Jessica Tandy, in her final role) who rents him a room in her home.

The local bar is his second home where he schmoozes and plays poker with his old attorney Wirf (Gene Saks) whose sole work seems to be defending Sullivan on traffic charges and attempting to win Sully's employee compensation cases.

When Sully's grown son Peter (Dylan Walsh) is broken in a divorce, he moves to town with one of his young sons. Suddenly Sully is faced with answering why he abandoned his son so long ago and tries to learn how to be a good father and grandfather.

Directed by Robert Benton.

1995 Academy Award Best Writing Adapted Screenplay nominee
1995 Academy Award Best Actor nominee: Paul Newman

Rated R for some language and nudity.

My personal rating: A-

My January 2007 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Yours, Mine and Ours 01/26/07 (C+)
Rent 01/23/07
Click 01/22/07
City by the Sea 01/19/07 (B)
The Thing About My Folks 01/18/07
The Night Listener 01/11/07 (B)
The Devil Wears Prada 01/11/07 (B)
Domino 01/07/07 (B)
The Perez Family 01/08/07 (B)
Undertaking Betty 01/05/07 (A-)
Oscar 01/02/07 (C)
Without a Paddle 01/02/07

City By the Sea (2003)

Dark and Compelling

Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro), a veteran NYC homicide detective, wrestles with his own demons. Though he doesn't expose it to others -- not even his girlfriend Michelle (Frances McDormand) to whom he can't truly commit -- he's saddened that he abandoned his young son after a particularly bitter divorce.

His ex-wife (Patti LuPone) despises him and turned the boy against Vincent so it was pretty difficult to keep a relationship with the child as he grew up.

When a drug dealer's body washes ashore in NYC, Vince and his partner Reg (George Dzundza) follow the evidence to Long Beach, Long Island, where the man was murdered. Being in Long Beach brings back all sorts of memories for Vince as that's where he grew up and got his first start as a cop. Long Beach has deteriorated badly since Vince was there and is now a haven for druggies and crime.

The investigation leads to Vince's son, Joey (James Franco), an addict who lives in the deterioration of Long Beach and who now must be found by the cops. Of course, Vince is taken off the case but media gets wind of the fact that Vince's own father had been executed for the kidnapping and murder of a child on Long Beach when Vince was a child.

Things get even more complicated when Vince's partner is killed while trying to capture Joey.

Can Vince somehow save Joey from suicide-by-cops or redeem something of a relationship with his only child?

De Niro gives the right degree of pensiveness and contemplation to his role as a troubled yet earnest man. McDormand is perfect as the woman who loves him but has never heard the truth about why he is such a complex and private man.

Directed by Michael Caton-Jones.

Rated R for language, drug use and some violence.

The Night Listener (2007)

Is he real or is he not?

Adapted from Armistead Maupin's book, this tale is based on an experience Maupin says actually happened to him.

Late night radio show host Gabriel Noone (Robin Williams) finds his relationship falling apart just as he begins a long distance phone and mail relationship with a teen, Pete Boland (Rory Culkin), who purportedly was abused and is in the last stages of AIDS. Noone's borderline lover (Bobby Cannavale) plants the seeds of doubt about whether the boy's tale is true or not which leads Noone on a significant trip to find out the truth.

Toni Collette plays the disturbed blind woman who is who adopted Pete and Sandra Oh plays Noone's confidant.

Robin Williams is outstanding!

Director: Patrick Stettner.

Rated R for language and some disquieting sexual content.

The Perez Family (1995)

Absence Makes the Heart Grow . . .

Life for Cubans changed dramatically in the 1960s when Castro imprisoned many for little or no reason and many others escaped in dangerous boat trips to Florida.

Juan Raúl Perez (Alfred Molina) is one of those imprisoned while his wife Carmella Perez (Anjelica Huston) escapes with their young daughter. For 20 years, Juan and Carmella think of nothing but being reunited in Florida.

At last, on the last boatload of prisoners released by Fidel Castro, Perez is on his way. Upon arrival and processing through immigration and heading to the encampment, Perez is thought to be the husband of Dorita "Dottie" Evita Perez (Marisa Tomei), an effervescent hooker with a heart of gold. When Dottie finds out that families can find American sponsors and gain release from the encampment, she persuades Juan to play the game.

Along the way, they gather a "son" and an eccentric old "father" to add to the family. However Juan remains dedicated to finding his Carmella as Carmella hopes Juan was on that last boat from Cuba.

Will Juan and Carmella be reunited? What happens to Dottie?

This is an unusual and warm romantic comedy that still makes me smile.

Mira Nair directs and Chazz Palminteri costars.

Rated R for some sexuality and language.

Undertaking Betty (2006)

Fred & Ginger In Wales

Betty (Brenda Blethyn) doesn't yet know that her husband (Robert Pugh) is a philanderer with a bimbo girlfriend (Naomi Watts) when Boris (Alfred Molina), a Welsh mortician who abandoned a career as a dancer, decides he can no longer live without Betty, his true love since they were children.

Boris and Betty work out an exquisite plan to stage her death so they can secret away together to a tropical island to be with each other forever. But is the new American glitz and glamour mortician (Christopher Walken) going to throw a monkey wrench in their plan?

This is a tender little film in so many ways but with huge laughs and grins. Walken is a riot!

Just a delight to watch this one, folks. Directed by Nick Hurran.

Rated PG-13 for sexual content/humor.

In the UK, this film is called Plotz With a View.

---

viewed Jan-2007

My December 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold

The Notebook 12/27/06 (B-)
Little Miss Sunshine 12/27/06 (C)
Big Love 1:5 12/27/06 (B)
Ushpizin 12/21/06 (C+)
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont 12/20/06 (B)
A Home at the End of the World 12/15/06
The United States of Leland 12/15/06
A Prairie Home Companion 12/13/06 (B)
True Romance 12/07/06
The Perfect Storm 12/06/06 (A-)
Good Night, and Good Luck 12/04/06 (A)
Dummy 12/04/06 (C)

Big Love (TV Series)

The story of a Mormon family in a multiple marriage.

Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplethorn, Chloe Sevigny, Ginnifer Goodwin, Harry Dean Stanton, Amanda Seyfried, Daveigh Chase, Douglas Smith.

HBO-TV

My personal rating: B

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Not Shiny

A quirky family embarks on a road trip from Albuquerque to Los Angeles to get their young girl to a beauty pageant. Greg Kinnear is the motivational speaker father who pushes the girl to perfection while Toni Collette plays the hippy-dippy mother who urges the child to be natural and do as she wishes without putting pressure on herself.

Add an odd brother (Paul Dano) who is mute by choice and a X-rated grandfather (Alan Arkin) to the insanity.

I saw this with my mother and sister over Christmas. Mom hated it. Sis and I were so eager to see it since we'd both heard so much about it but we both sat there, scratching our heads, and wondered what it was we were missing about the "greatness" of this film. Granted, there were some funny bits but for the most part, the whole thing just didn't work for either one of us.

While young Abigail Breslin is being touted as the next Dakota Fanning, we couldn't see that either. She was a cute little girl who turned in what we thought was a quite ordinary performance.

I do appreciate what was done on a shoestring budget and, as I said, there were some genuine laughs, but I suspect my sister and I were expecting so much more, so much better based on the hype when this film hit theaters.

Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Rated R for language, some sex and drug content..

My personal rating: C

The Perfect Storm (2006)

Amazing Cinematography

A powerful film based on a true incident.

Fishing boat captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) has had a disappointing season and at season's end, he knows he and his crew can only make some decent money if they venture out further than they've ever gone before -- to the Flemish Cap -- in their boat, the Andrea Gail.

Diane Lane plays another captain and Billy Tyne's closest friend. John C. Riley and Mark Wahlberg play two of the crew members on Tyne's boat.

Amazing cinematography and special effects. Be sure to watch the bonus material on the DVD for more info on how the effects were accomplished.

Rated PG-13 for language and violence.

My November 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Christmas with the Kranks 11/30/06 (C+)
Big Love 1:4 11/30/06 (B)
Manny & Lo 11/27/06 (C+)
Big Love 1:3 11/27/06 (B)
The Human Stain 11/27/06
The Wire 1:1 11/21/06 (C)
Just Friends 11/20/06
Ladies in Lavender 11/17/06 (B)
Big Love 1:2 11/15/06 (B)
Henry & June 11/14/06 (C+)
Keeping the Faith 11/13/06 (B)
Cars 11/09/06 (C+)
Duma 11/08/06 (C)
Game 6 11/07/06 (B)
Cape of Good Hope 11/06/06
Big Love 1:1 11/03/06 (B)
The Comeback Disc 1 11/03/06
Birthday Girl 11/02/06

Keeping the Faith (2000)

There was this rabbi this priest and this chick ...

A New Age rabbi (Ben Stiller) and his best pal from childhood, a priest (Ed Norton, who also directed), find themselves in an interesting situation when their best old gal pal from school days (Jenna Elfman) returns to NYC to visit them.

A cute, upbeat film with several laugh out loud spots.

Anne Bancroft plays the young rabbi's mother in her final role. Serving as their advisors are Rabbi Lewis (Eli Wallach) and Father Havel (Milos Forman)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and language.

Cape of Good Hope (2005)

Debbie Brown, Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, Morne Visser.

Director: Mark Bamford.

My personal rating: B+

Birthday Girl (2000)

Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel.

Director: Jez Butterworth.

My personal rating: C+

My October 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Moonlight Mile 10/31/06
Snatch 10/31/06
Noel 10/30/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 5:2 10/27/06 (B)
The Weight of Water 10/27/06 (C+)
Good Neighbors 1-3:4 10/26/06 (B-)
Levity 0/24/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 5:1 10/24/06
Over the Hedge 10/23/06 (C+)
Magnolia 10/20/06
The Break-Up 10/19/06
Dominick and Eugene 0/17/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 4:2 10/17/06 (B)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 4:1 10/16/06 (B)
Insomnia 10/13/06 (B)
CSI 3:6 10/13/06
Walking and Talking 10/11/06
Curb Your Enthusiasm 2:2 10/10/06 (B)
Once Upon a Crime 10/09/06 (D)
A Map of the World 10/06/06
The Lake House 10/05/06 (C-)
Lucky Number Slevin 10/03/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 3:2 10/02/06 (B)

The Weight of Water (2003)

Melodramatic Tension

Photographer Jean Janes (Catherine McCormack) and her husband Thomas (Sean Penn) set out for a small island off New Hampshire coast so Jean can gather photos to go with a story being done by the magazine where she works. Jean and Thomas are to meet up with Thomas' handsome brother Rich (Josh Lucas) who will sail them around the island aboard a yacht.

Jean and Thomas are surprised to see that Rich has brought along his stunning new girlfriend Adaline (Elizabeth Hurley).

It quickly becomes clear that there's little holding Jean and Thomas together other than their daughter who is at home with her grandmother. Thomas is a sullen, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who has gone dry and feels inadequate. He's envious of his brother's good looks and good fortune, and quite smitten with Adeline.

None of this escapes the notice of Jean despite the fact that she is hot on the trail of unraveling a double murder that took place on Smuttynose Island about 130 years earlier. In the murder case, two Norwegian immigrants, sisters-in-law Karen (Katrin Cartlidge) and Anethe (Vinessa Shaw), were bludgeoned to death while Karen's sister Maren (Sarah Polley) escapes and tells the story that leads to the conviction of Wagner (Ciarán Hinds) who had previously rented a room in the house and had made sexual advances on all three women.

The contemporary story and the 1870s story unravel simultaneously as Jean investigates the murders and feels powerful energy telling her the real tale.

In truth, the two stories could have been interesting enough standing alone and by the last third of The Weight of Water the stories became so twisted together that it was difficult to parse each story individually.

While I didn't particularly dislike this film, I wish I could have liked it more. The ethereal filming techniques tended to be a bit heavy handed but the film direction while aboard the yacht in a fierce storm was thrilling. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, and brief language.

The Break-Up (2006)

Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Jon Favreau, Jason Bateman, Judy Davis, Ann-Margret, Vincent D'Onofrio.

Director: Peyton Reed

My personal rating: C+

Insomnia (2002)

A Real Sleeper

Nightmute, Alaska has a big murder case: Teenage girl found scrubbed clean in a dump pile. The local police need help which arrives in the form of seasoned L.A. cop Will Dormer (Al Pacino) and his younger parter Hap (Martin Donovan), both of whom are under investigation by the LAPD Internal Affairs.

The eager young local detective, Ellie Burr (Hilary Swank) is in awe of tough, on-target Dormer. She'd attended a seminar he conducted at one time and had studied many of his cases.

Dormer cuts right to the quick upon arriving in Nightmute and goes after the dead girl's abusive boyfriend but in the mix, he shoots his partner, Hap. Was it an accident or intentional?

While Ellie Burr follows up on this shooting, Dormer switches his focus on the eerie pulp fiction writer Walter Finch (Robin Williams).

Meanwhile, the ever-present Alaskan summer sun is driving Dormer crazy to the point that he isn't sure of anything himself.

I don't recall hearing about this film when it was released but I'm glad I found it now. Pacino, Swank and Williams are terrific.

Directed by Christopher Nolan.

Rated R for language, some violence and brief nudity.

Once Upon a Crime (2003)

Even the dachshund couldn't save it

One thing's for sure. The dachshund needed more screen time. Definitely, lots more screen time. At least the movie would have had something fun to watch that way. But as it stands now, this movie deserves nothing more than the Pooper Scooper Award.

While in Europe, ditzy Phoebe (Sean Young) finds a dachshund who she chases away at first and then realizes there's a hefty reward for this pup. She tracks down the dog who is now with the annoyingly neurotic, unemployed actor Julian (Richard Lewis). Together these two misfits form an alliance to return the pup to his owner in Monte Carlo and claim the reward.

Chaos ensues onboard the train when Julian sells the dog to the gambling addict Augie Morosco (John Candy) but Phoebe and Julian again become in possession of the dog.

Once the train stops in Monte Carlo, an Ugly American (Jim Belushi) and his beautiful wife (Cybil Shepherd) become involved with Augie Morosco's gambling addiction and are sucked in.

Meanwhile, Phoebe and Julian go to the dog owner's mansion around midnight to return the pup and what do they find? A woman's body, of course!

So who killed the dog's owner? Was it really Phoebe or Julian? Or was it the Ugly American and his wife, or the gambler, or maybe it was the gigolo (George Hamilton) who was seen in the woman's garden late at night.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't care who killed the woman, and it turned out to be a vast contrivance anyhow, so why should I care? This film could possibly have had lots of honest laughs in it but there were really none to be found.

Director Eugene Levy missed the mark all the way around. He needs to study timing and pacing and story and chemistry in such mad romp comedies as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Not rated by MPAA (Motion Picture Assoiciation of America.

My personal raiing: C-

The Lake House (2006)

Contrived, Cliched, and Tedious

lu·gu·bri·ous:
adj.
Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree, The Lake House.

I like time travel films. I really do. But this film did nothing for me except annoy and fatigue me. In fact, it put me asleep seven times when I tried to see it through to the end over three different days.

I can buy the time warp premise that Kate (Sandra Bullock) and Alex (Keanu Reeves) live in the same house two years apart and develop a relationship via letters left to and from each other in the lake house's mailbox. I can buy the concept that they shared the same dog, Jack (brilliantly played by a sadly uncredited rag-a-muffin pup, perhaps the best acting of the whole film).

I wanted to like this Alejandro Agresti film because I generally enjoy Bullock and Reeves. I really did want to like it. But the plodding, stilted dialogue, ever-brooding facial expressions, limpid body language, aching sorrow, mostly ponderous musical score, and lack of chemistry between Kate and Alex put me off. Way off.

Rated PG for some language and a disturbing image.

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viewed Oct-2006

My September 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Loverboy 09/29/06 (B-)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 3:1 09/22/06 (B)
Lovely & Amazing 09/22/06 (B)
Kinky Boots 09/15/06 (C)
Akeelah and the Bee 09/13/06 (B+)
Friends with Money 09/08/06 (C+)

Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

A girl from south LA sets her mind to go to the National Spelling Bee.

Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Keke Palmer, Curtis Armstrong.

Written and directed by Doug Atchison.

Rated PG for some language.

My personal rating: B+

My August 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

The Hudsucker Proxy 08/29/06 (A)
To Die For 08/24/06 (B)
Wild Things 08/21/06
Tape 08/16/06 (B)
The Deep End of the Ocean 08/16/06
The Libertine 08/10/06 (C-)
Iris 08/10/06 (C+)
Monk 4:4 08/07/06 (B)
Curb Your Enthusiasm 2:1 08/07/06 (B)
The White Countess 08/01/06
The Confession 08/01/06

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Capra-esque

When giant Hudsucker Industries' president, Waring Hudsucker (Charles Durning), leaps 44 stories to his death during a board meeting, the company's second-in-command, Sid Mussberger (Paul Newman), spawns a plot to prevent the general public from buying up Waring's 83 percent interest in the company while also driving down the stock value so he can buy up controlling interest in the organization.

Enter one innocent yet ambitious young Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), a new Hudsucker mailroom clerk who is assigned to deliver an important missive to Mussberger's own hands.

In his anxiety of being in the top floor executive office, poor Barnes turns into a total doofus who first raises Mussberger's ire and then becomes Mussberger's vision of the perfect proxy -- a new president for the company who Mussberger can control and ultimately use to manipulate the stock to suit his plan.

With young Barnes as president, the stock does go down and fiesty reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) sets about to expose him in a wonderful reincarnation of all the Katherine Hepburn/Rosalind Russell fast-talking, dazzle-'em journalist style from the films of the 1930s.

Will good prevail and redemption be feasible?

Ranks right up there with It's a Wonderful Life!

A fun and stylish film by brothers Ethan and Joel Coen.

Unrated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

To Die For (1995)

The Dark Side

Cue Suzanne!

Though she's far from the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) certainly is the most determined, cunning, cold, calculating and aggressive wannabee ever. She has lived her whole life to be a television news reporter.

Enter the darkly handsome Larry Maretto (Matt Dillon), a restaurateur in his Italian family's business, who sets his sights on the beautiful but shallow Suzanne. After their marriage, Suzanne immerses herself in the serious business of gaining recognition in TV by going to work as a clerk at the cable access station in her hometown, the tiny Little Hope, NH.

The self-absorbed manipulator bowls over her boss Ed (Wayne Knight, Seinfeld's Newman) and becomes the self-important weather girl for the small station, but she knows her real break will come only if she does something significant.

She then interviews students in Mr. Finlaysson's (Buck Henry) class about what teenagers are thinking for a series she is producing. Meanwhile, she's decided that her husband Larry will ultimately be an impediment to her success. He'd prefer she stay home and raise children but he doesn't prohibit her cable station duties and is proud to watch her reports on TV at the restaurant every night.

But once Suzanne has made up her mind about something, the cogs turn quickly. Suzanne seduces the pensive young student Jimmy (Joaquin Phoenix), befriends and promises great things in the future for the frumpy and lonely young Lidia (Alison Folland), and lures their friend Russell (Casey Affleck) into a dastardly plot to annihilate Larry.

The story is told with many cut-aways to the perfectly coiffed and attired Suzanne in the television studio telling her side of the story with counterpoint comments from Larry's loving sister Janice (Illeana Douglas) who has always been suspicious of Suzanne's motives and selfishness.

Does Suzanne succeed in her plot? Does she become a mega news celebrity? Awwww, come on! I can't tell you that! :)

Directed by Gus Van Sant. Adaptation to screen by Buck Henry. Music by Danny Elfman.

Rated R for strong sexual content, and for language.

Tape (2002)

Powerful Character Studies

One has to be in the right mood to watch Tape. It's intensely psychological and, at times, disturbing. It takes a little getting used to the method used to make this film but ultimately, it's the best way to tell this particular story. Completely filmed in one room with a cast of three and no background music, it has the feel of an amateur film despite the fact that it was directed by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, The Newton Boys and others).

The story plays straight through without flashbacks or lapse of time between scenes, and the camera is mostly hand-held making for some jumpiness and ping-pong shots back and forth between characters. Once you move beyond these stylistic elements, you can get into the story.

Vince (Ethan Hawke) has come back to Flint, Michigan, to see the debut of his old high school pal's first film at a local Film Festival. He's staying in a seedy motel room awaiting the arrival of his pal Johnny (Robert Sean Leonard).

After 10 years, the reunion is exciting and the fellows have some fun joking around, but it doesn't take long to see that Vince and Johnny have gone in very different directions. Vince is a hard-drinking, cokehead drug dealer while Johnny is a USC film grad set on making a name for himself as a film director.

Vince is dead set on getting Johnny to confess to an indescretion Vince is sure Johnny committed in the waning days of high school. He plays significant head games on Johnny for an hour or so and then calls and invites over their high school friend Amy (Uma Thurman) who is an assistant district attorney in Flint.

Vince wants Amy to hear the tape of Johnny which Vince secretly captured during their earlier conversation. To tell more than this would give away the story but this is a fascinating character study of three very different people.

Rated R for language and drug content.

My July 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Twilight 07/28/06
Monk 4:3 07/28/06 (B)
Songcatcher 07/21/06 (A-)
On a Clear Day 07/17/06
Monk 4:2 07/11/06 (B)
The Matador 07/10/06 (B)
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 07/05/06 (C-)

The Matador (2006)

Juicy Bits

Denverites Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Bean (Hope Davis) have had some rough times with the death of their young son, the loss of a significant job, attempting to start up a new business, and, at last, a lightning-struck tree crashing into their kitchen just as Danny is leaving for an important business trip to Mexico City. He must go. He must land this contract if his business is to be viable.

While drinking a margarita in an stark, sterile hotel bar in Mexico City, Danny meets Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) and is at once both fascinated and repulsed by this man. Julian is as smooth as they come but it's revealed over the course of the next day that he has no permanent home, no family, no friends, travels worldwide from one bar and bordello to another, and makes his living as a hit man (or as Julian prefers to call himself: "a corporate fatality facilitator").

While attending a bullfight, Danny gets an idea of what Julian's work entails. He's intrigued but also realizes the danger and wrongness of it all.

Six months pass. Julian is having problems with his job. He's distracted and failed an assignment in Manila. He's lost his edge and focus. He's burned out. But he needs to keep working and convinces his "contractor" to use him again. Again he fails.

Julian suddenly shows up in the middle of a wintery night at Danny and Bean's front door. Danny's told Bean all about him and at first they are apprehensive but they invite Julian to stay anyhow as they get more and more involved with him and this dangerous life he's lived.

When Julian reveals to Danny that there is now a contract on Julian's life, Danny knows that as Julian's only friend, he must help save the man's life. The tale takes some interesting turns from there and ended up being a good story.

It's really more of a character study of Julian -- and well done on many levels. I've never really been a fan of Pierce Brosnan. I've seen him in some things in the past but just tended to avoid most of his films as I didn't care for him much as an actor beyond that certain look and sophistication. But this is an all-together different kind of role for him and one that makes me hope he gets offered more juicy parts in the future.

Directed by Richard Shepard.

Rated R for strong sexual content and language.

My June 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Monk 4:1 06/03/06 (B)
Failure to Launch 06/30/06 (D)
Moonlighting 3:4 06/27/06 (B)
Syriana 06/23/06 (B)
The Sisters 06/20/06 (C)
Moonlighting 3:3 06/20/06 (B)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 06/16/06 (B-)
Rumor Has It 06/13/06
Hostage 06/12/06
The Family Stone 06/07/06 (B-)
Smoke Signals 06/01/06 (B)

Failure to Launch (2006)

Failure. 'Nuff Said!

in·sip·id
adj.
1) Lacking flavor or zest; not tasty.
2) Lacking qualities that excite, stimulate, or interest; dull.
3) Failure to Launch

I just sorta want to slap a few people silly for their participation in this shallow, stupid film! Sue (Kathy Bates) and Al (Terry Bradshaw) haven't the spines to tell their 37-year-old son Tripp (Matthew McConaughey) to take responsibility for himself and move out of their home. Instead, they do everything to enable him to stay on despite their complaints and commiserating with their middle-aged peers who also are whining wimps.

Seems old Tripp wants to be a child all his life. He can't establish a meaningful relationship with a woman -- heck, he can't establish a meaningful relationship with himself!

His parents hire Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker), a professional who specializes in building men's confidence and getting them to move out into the world on their own. She creates a whole romantic milieu for him -- and you can about imagine what happens in the end. Shallow begets shallow!

In all fairness, I must say that I fast fowarded through the last quarter of this film just 'cause I couldn't stand it any longer but wanted to see if there was some -- any -- redeeming quality about it. There wasn't.

Of course, if your ambition in life is to see about 30 seconds of Terry Bradshaw's bare behind bouncing around a room, then by all means, fritter away your time and money on this one.

Directed by Tom Dey.

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity and language.

Smoke Signals (2005)

Poignant

I love little films. And Smoke Signals is a tender little film that was easy for me to love.

Despite his bitter resentment, 20-year-old Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) feels obligated to take his first trip away from northern Idaho's Coeur d'Alene Restervation to retrieve the ashes of his long absent father, Arnold, who died in Arizona.

Though Victor and his mother Arlene (Tantoo Cardinal) have no money, his nerdy childhood friend and budding tribal storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) offers his savings to Victor for the bus trip to Arizona if Thomas can tag along. After all, Victor's father (Gary Farmer) had rescued baby Thomas from the home where Thomas' parents perished and Thomas felt Victor needed a companion for this emotionally difficult journey.

In the process, Victor learns much about himself and also about the complexities of his father and what drove Arnold to abandon his family long ago.

This little film, directed by Chris Eyre, was developed under the auspices of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute and was written, directed and co-produced by Native Americans.

I enjoyed seeing the traditions of the culture, the patterns and rhythm of speech, and the frequent drumming and vocalizations of Native America. The film is also imbuded with rich humor.

Rated PG-13 for some intense images.

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viewed Jun-06

My May 2006 Viewings

Includes my personal ratings.
Recommended DVDs in bold.

Moonlighting 3:2 05/30/06 (B-)
Transamerica 05/26/06 (A-)
The Producers (1968) 05/23/06 (B)
Seducing Doctor Lewis 05/22/06 (A-)
Last Holiday 05/16/06 (B)
Capote 05/12/06 (A)
The Producers (2005) 05/10/06 (C-)
Moonlighting 3:1 05/08/06 (B-)
The Ice Harvest 05/01/06 (B)

Seducing Dr. Lewis (2005)

Small Film Big Quirks

A failing French-Canadian fishing village (population 120) must find a doctor to practice in their town if they are to have any chance at wooing a big company to build a plant in their tiny community.

They succeed in luring a young doctor from Quebec to spend a month to see if he will decide to stay on. Aware of the quirks and foibles and assorted oddities of the village, they set about to change their ways to impress him.

That means these hulky former fisherman who love hockey have to aquire a taste for cricket -- or at least learn enough about it to help seduce Dr. Lewis (David Boutin). Some of those scenes, directed by Jean-François Pouliot, are hysterically funny.

They put the young doctor up in the "best" home in town -- the "modern" home owned by the bank clerk (who is often reminded that he can be replaced by a bank machine from the big city). The bank clerk and his family find other lodging for the month and the village women monitor the doctor's phone calls to his girlfriend and best guy friend to find out what the doctor likes (beef stoganoff) and what he doesn't like so they village people can either make sure he finds things he likes in the village or things are changed to suit him.

It's utterly charming and I highly recommend it! But I'll warn you -- don't take your eyes off the screen because there are so many wonderfully subtle things you don't want to miss.

Since this is a French-Canadian film, the dialague is in French with English subtitles. But it's worth the effort. I promise.

Not rated by MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America).

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viewed May-2006

Last Holiday (2006)

The Thoroughly Engaging Ms. Latifah

This remake of a 1950s Alec Guiness film, brings us a woman instead of a man who is diagnosed with a fatal illness and given only weeks to live.

Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifa) quits her job, liquidates her 401-K, and leaves New Orleans for a huge fling at a posh resort in the mountains of Europe that she'd read about in magazines. There she emerges from her dowdy appearance into a smashingly attractive, self-confident woman, determined to enjoy her last days to the hilt. And she does!

A cute film despite its predictability -- and Queen Latifah is so utterly charming and adorable it's hard to dislike.

Costars include: L. L. Cool J, Alicia Witt, Giancarlo Esposito, Gérard Depardieu, Michael Nouri, Timothy Hutton.

Makes me want to see the original version now.

Directed by Wayne Wang.

Rated PG-13 for some sexual reference.

Capote (2006)

Capote Inhabits Hoffman!

I was bowled over by Philip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Capote. He was masterful and had every detail of Truman Capote's quirky mannerisms and fine nuances. He truly deserved his Oscar for this role!

The film covers the seven-year period of Capote's life when he was researching and writing In Cold Blood.

Clifton Collins, Jr. is thoroughly convincing as the disturbed young murderer, Perry Smith, while Chris Cooper plays the role of Alvin Dewey (the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent who was primarily responsible for breaking the case) with a certain remoteness and sharp eye on Capote's motives.

Catherine Keener is fascinating as Capote's dear friend Harper Lee (whose own novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is soon to hit the market) as she accompanies Capote on some of his research trips to Kansas and lends him an ear back in NYC.

Directed by Bennett Miller.

Like actor Chris Cooper, this film struck close to me personally as we were both children and teens during this seven-year period and lived in the Kansas City area. We both well remember when the Clutter family was murdered in their farmhouse in rural Kansas, all the news coverage, the capture of the murderers, their trial, appeals, and eventual execution.

Rated R for some violent images and brief strong language.

My personal rating: A.