Movie Reviews 2009
A gritty look at the current Iraqi War as viewed through the eyes of an American Army bomb squad (known as an elite explosive ordnance disposal team). This ain’t your father’s M*A*S*H. War is definitely hell, and this just exposes a small portion of it.
Filmed in Jordan, this movie is quite documentary-like. The actors – basically a no-name group except for the contractor, Ralph Fiennes – appear to be regular Army guys; Jeremy Renner rocks as the chief bomb defuser. It’s no wonder the Academy thought highly enough of this film to bestow it nine Oscar nominations. [Note: If you haven’t already heard, the Academy-nominated director, Kathryn Bigelow, is the ex-wife of fellow nominee James Cameron (Avatar). Small world.]
Watch it on dvd prior to Oscar night so you’ll understand all the hype.
9 stars
Jeff Bridges stars as Bad Blake, a chain-smoking, heavy drinking, washed up country singer who’s fallen so far he’s playing bowling alleys with back-up bands. Bridges already won the Golden Globe for best actor, and it’s likely the Academy will call his name come nomination time. Quite simply, he nails it.
As good as this movie is, however, and as much as I enjoyed it, I do have complaints.
The first is with Maggie Gyllenhaal. She’s as wonderful as ever playing a wannabe journalist who, thanks to her uncle, gets to interview Bridges. And she plays it well. And, yes, she admits to having bad luck with men, but she was just too cute, too perfect and too darling to hook up with a loser like Blake (“I wanna talk about how bad you make this room look”). Besides, the 28 year age difference was just a bit too creepy.
Second, Colin Farrell plays a young, hip, successful country singer who owes his start to Blake’s influence. Unfortunately, he doesn’t look very country in this movie. Even Blake seems to agree: “Those boots are ugly; did the salesman threaten to shoot your dog?” Bad casting.
Robert Duvall had a bit role as Blake’s old friend, and he was as good as usual.
This will probably go over better if, like me, you enjoy a good ol’ country music sound track.
8½ stars
If it’s true what they say, that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, how come I felt a need to admit I spent two hours watching this Vegas-based frat party (while Tracy snoozed)?
Actually, the plot wasn’t all that bad (trying to retrace forgotten steps taken through an alcoholic fog), but not much else beyond that. Which is why, I guess, it was the sixth highest grossing film of 2009.
4 stars
This is one wild 3-D ride, and you shouldn’t miss it on a big screen. Director (and writer) James Cameron’s special effects, new technology and cinematography will blow you away (and I’m not even that big of a SciFi fan); simply an historic achievement.
Sure, the story is lame, and the dialog makes you cringe at times (and why exactly does Sigourney have to smoke?), but there are enough twists in the plot and enough variety in the characters – human and Avatar alike – to keep it interesting and moving.
If you don’t already know the plot (what planet have you been on?), here’s what’s going on: It’s 2154 on the planet of Pandora (Earth is dying), and no-nonsense Sigourney Weaver heads a group of scientists trying to placate the local populace – the Avatars – so that the corporation she’s with can mine a valuable ore that’s located on their sacred grounds. She’s perfected a technology that allows humans, while lying in a vegetative state, to control the actions (and thoughts and speech) of Avatars she’s created – faux Avatars, if you will. The corporation also maintains a private military/police force (led by tough guy Stephen Lang; think “Blackwater”) that’s prepared to neutralize the natives and take the land by force. It’s a race by the scientists to make headway before it’s necessary to send in muscle that’s itching for a fight.
The Avatars and their world are amazing – and you can’t really tell what’s real and what’s created by a computer. Where does real end and imagery begin? Even the feathery “fireflies” – which have a look and feel of jellyfish – are spectacular.
Believe the hype and put it at the top of your New Year’s list. (It’s long, so just make sure you empty your bladder!) I might even go see it again.
9½ stars
This is a gritty (and accurate, I understand) portrayal of the British sleuth, and who better to do it than Robert Downey, Jr.? Jude Law plays a somewhat standoffish Dr. Watson (as he was early in their relationship), and it’s enjoyable to watch two pros in action. The always cutie Rachel McAdams is a nice distraction – for Sherlock and us. Mark Strong is credible as Holmes’ nemesis.
I admit it was disjointed at first, but when the action picks up, it’s easy to follow. The cinematic tricks are excellent. It was marred at times (a problem of mine, I admit) by difficult-to-understand British dialog, and there’s always the issue of people getting beat up pretty badly and yet they pick themselves up and move on. Really? And it does revert to over-the-top Bond-type action. Oh well.
We’re Downey fans, so we’re biased, but I recommend seeing this one on the big screen. Also, expect a sequel!
8½ stars
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE:
The continuing saga grows increasingly dark as Hogwarts itself is under attack from the Death Eaters, and Valdemorte’s allies - Draco among them - threaten Dumbledore’s mortality. Even Prof. Snape’s loyalties are questioned as Harry and his hero pals - Ron & Hermione - struggle to battle the dark forces and the origins of Tom Riddle. Amid the carnage, love blooms for our three heroes, Ron’s sister, Ginnie, included.
Good theatre!
8½ stars
Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin are at their light comedic best in this fluffy, Nancy Meyers-directed film (Something’s Gotta Give, Father of the Bride, and Private Benjamin) about a divorced couple who might be rekindling their romance – without their three grown children’s knowledge. Steve Martin plays a complicating love interest for Streep (and plays it well, but definitely not straight).
This one’s fun – although, again, it’s partially ruined if you saw too many trailers, taking away some of the comedic surprises – and worth a trip to the theatre if you’re looking for an entertaining comedy. Streep is up against herself for a Golden Globe award for this and Julie and Julia. Having seen both, you get two different Streeps, which highlights her incredible range.
A fun music track and fine chemistry among the actors helps. You really believe the three kids are siblings as they continue to work through their parents’ 10-year old divorce – and the surprising news that they are seeing each other. Great scenes when Martin and Streep decide to revisit the 60s, which, laughingly, brought this film an unwarranted R rating.
8 stars
A quirky comedy about a young pregnant interracial couple (John Krasinski, The Office, and Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live) who hopscotch the continent to find the best place to raise their child. Along the way, they visit old friends and relatives who make John and Maya seem almost normal. Maggie Gylenhaal is (unintentionally) hilarious as a college professor with some odd parenting ideas (“No strollers!”).
Directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road), this is a good, not great, independent film.
6½ stars
EARTH (2007):
This is a spectacularly-filmed nature film with James Earl Jones doing the narration. What can go wrong?
Well, as much as I’d recommend your putting this on your Netflix list, it does have its faults. Jones’ narrative is silly at times, the segue from polar bears to elephants to whales is too jumpy and the mood music presupposes what you should be feeling. But what do you expect – it’s Disney!
There are things you’ll see in this movie you’ve never seen elsewhere – and I look forward to seeing the sequel on the oceans of the world.
7½ stars
Sometimes it doesn’t seem appropriate. We laughed at Clint Eastwood as he spit out hateful slurs in Gran Torino; slurs none of us would repeat. And in this “dramedy,” we laugh as Gorgeous George Clooney flies all over the country to fire people; I doubt if you’d make lay-off jokes with a friend or relative who’d just lost their job.
It’s not funny stuff. But excellent films – the writer, the director, the actors – bring that out of us, and this film makes us laugh in the face of sobering news. Is it best to tell someone in person we’re letting them go, if we hire someone to do it for us or if we hire someone to do it, but not in person? You’re going to make a film out of a discussion of which method works the best? Really?
Clooney is the hired firing gun; Anna Kendrick is the wet-behind-the-ears foil to Clooney’s methods; and Vera Farmiga is Clooney’s in-the-air, on-the-road (seductive) female alter ego. Jason Bateman plays Clooney and Kendrick’s boss. It’s an excellent ensemble. It’s not all laughs, either, as the weight of the subject matter and how it affects real people – even those on the giving side – can’t keep us flying high forever.
It’s seems odd to recommend such subject matter during the holiday season, but I say go for it. As Tracy is fond of saying, George always looks better on the big screen.
8½ stars
A well-told, true story of a huge, shy, adolescent black kid (Michael Oher), the abandoned son of a crack-addicted mother, who goes on to high school and college football fame as an offensive left tackle – and becomes a 2009 first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens.
Sandra Bullock plays a no-nonsense Southern lady – married to a Memphis Taco Bell magnate well played by country singer Tim McGraw (move over, Dwight Yoakum!) – who takes a chance on Michael. In fact, the whole family buys into Michael’s well-being, as odd as it may seem that people half his size are there to protect him. But it’s Bullock who leads the way.
Fun cameos by a passel of college football coaches who traipse through Memphis to see Michael perform.
This is a feel-good movie in spite of the corn and the Hollywood take on his life story. Bring Kleenex.
8 stars
UP:
A delightful cartoon that we missed at the big screen – and we’re sorry we did. It’s clearly a frontrunner for an Academy Award nomination for best animated movie.
Carl, a youthful wannabe aeronautic explorer, finds an unlikely pairing with a young girl, Ellie, who holds similar dreams. In a very poignant – no dialog – montage, we see Carl and Ellie growing up and old together. When it’s time to follow the dreams of his childhood, Carl (voice of Ed Asner) finds he has an unexpected stow-away aboard his house that’s floating toward South America courtesy of hundreds of helium-filled balloons.
The adventure is fun and well-animated. Worth a place atop your Netflix queue if you missed it in the theatre.
8½ stars
The race to the Oscars is on, and Invictus is one of the early contenders. This excellent Clint Eastwood-directed film stars Morgan Freeman in an award-worthy portrayal of Nelson Mandela’s South African presidency (after 27 years in prison; how soon we forget) and how he rallied around the country’s mostly-white rugby team – the Springboks – as a symbol that he wanted to be a leader of all of South Africa, not just the emancipated black majority. Matt Damon plays the rugby team’s captain and does a fine job, but Freeman steals the show.
There are many scenes of the intensity of the sport – frankly, I have almost no rugby knowledge, but the action seemed authentic to me. The only downside was the sound either wasn’t very good in our theatre, or the accents simply were too thick for us to understand all of the dialog.
Worthy of a visit to the theatre.
9 stars
Sandra Bullock was nominated for the Golden Globes for this piece of dookie? She plays a cold bitch of a boss who bullies her handsome young assistant (Ryan Reynolds, Definitely, Maybe) into marrying her so she can keep her U.S. citizenship (she’s Canadian). Cliches abound as she discovers that her new beau comes from a wealthy Alaskan family headed by Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson; Betty White plays his obnoxious grandmother.
Avoid if at all possible. Imdb.com viewers were far too generous (15% gave it a 10??) with this piece of junk.
3 stars
THE FOURSOME (2006):
Our local theatre company (B Street Theatre) did a fine job this year putting this script to live acting, so we figured the movie couldn’t be all that bad – in spite of its low ratings. Boy, were we wrong. Kevin Dillon plays a bad actor on Entourage, but methinks he’s not acting? He’s just plain bad.
Four buddies return for their 20th college reunion and engage in a dumb golf match, leaving us to wonder if they ever graduated from junior high school.
1 star
SMART PEOPLE (2008):
Or, better yet, “Depressing People.”
Dennis Quaid plays an ornery (and recently widowed) professor of literature at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and he’s vying to become the department head? Coming back into his life is his E.R. doc, Sarah Jessica Parker, a former student (whom he doesn’t recognize, of course), and they hit it off. What exactly she sees in the nutty professor is beyond me – other than she had a crush on him when she was his student, even though she didn’t get a very good grade.
The wonderful Ellen Page (of Juno fame) has an interesting role. She’s a neo-con high school senior, obnoxious and alone in life (like father, like daughter?). But she “falls” for her uncle, played by Thomas Haden Church, because – again, why?
Odd relationships and fine acting save this relatively obscure movie – and it might be worth a look on video. Glad, however, that I didn’t spend money on expensive popcorn for this one.
6 stars
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES (2008):
After missing this one at the theatre – and spending an inordinate amount of time on our Netflix queue – it also lingered on our dresser for a couple of weeks. Which, of course, does nothing but lower expectations. And maybe that helped!
Dakota Fanning (growing up fast; I recall her as an adorable 7-year old in I Am Sam) plays a 14-year old girl in 1964 South Carolina, friends with her black caregiver (Jennifer Hudson) and afraid of her father’s violent mood swings. It’s an ugly south for a color-blind girl to grow up in, and she learns people don’t just get along.
Still haunted by her mother’s death – and abandonment – ten years earlier, she escapes to a nearby town and lives with the same black family (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys & Sophie Okonedo as sisters in a honey-making operation) where her mother had found refuge in her youth.
The movie lists toward sappiness several times, but it’s a good story and worth a look if you, too, missed it at the theatre.
7 stars
AWAY FROM HER (2006):
It’s hard to believe this movie is three years old, but it finally got to the top spot on our queue and we gave it a go – even knowing it was certainly meant to be a downer.
Early Alzheimer’s Disease tears apart a long-married and very-much-in-love Canadian couple as they reach the critical decision to put the ever-lovely Julie Christie into a care facility. But the worst of it is when her husband (played by Gordon Pinsent) realizes that Christie, Academy nominated for best actress, has attached herself to another patient (Michael Murphy). Pinsent turns to Murphy’s wife, Olympia Dukakis, to try and figure out how to deal – or cope – with the situation.
Fine, subtle acting from an excellent ensemble cast. But prepare for a certain amount of dreariness.
8 stars
Imagine a world where nobody lies – about anything. [Yeah, if you watch HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm (with Larry David), you might get a feeling for how that would work.] So when screenplay writer Ricky Gervais utters a little white lie in order to pay his rent – there’s not even a word for it! – it releases the floodgates to a set of lies that threatens to turn the world on its collective ear.
This is a quirky comedy that takes some time to grow on you, and you might very well be turned off. It certainly takes a strong poke at organized religion when Gervais tells the world about “The Man in the Sky” making all sorts of decisions that affect each and every person. There’s even a pretty clever parody of Moses coming down off the mountain, tablets in hand.
Jennifer Garner plays Gervais’ naïve “girl friend,” even though it’s clear she’s way out of his league; the sculptured Rob Lowe is his competition; Tina Fey has a bit part, but her comedic delivery is flawless; and Jeffery Tambor is perfect as Gervais’ boss. Even John Hodgman (The Daily Show and the PC on the MAC commercials) gets in the act at the end.
Product placement is annoying (even though there are good Coke vs Pepsi visual jokes), but it’s all part of the show. Already 60 percent of imdb.com viewers rate this a “10.” I’m not quite than generous.
8 stars
Begin with a strong base of Meryl Streep & Amy Adams, add a tablespoon of Paris and Queens, include a pinch of cinematic tricks, throw in healthy dollops of Stanley Tucci & Chris Messina (J&J’s husbands) – and you’ll dish up healthy servings of fun, laughter and (likely) Academy and Golden Globe nominations.
This is a wonderful, original film, hitting on all burners, segueing cleanly back and forth between the two female leads. Streep plays a hysterically funny, but serious chef, Julia Child, in the 1940s and 1950s when she’s living in France with her diplomatic husband (Tucci), and Adams plays a likeable post-9/11 social worker unsure of what she wants to do with her life – she only likes to cook. Her husband (Messina) suggests she blog about cooking, and the next thing you know Julie is off to the races, channeling Child with a cooking blog.
Tucci and Messina are wonderful as supporting husbands, and the chemistry with their wives is very believable. Expect this film to be well-represented come award time (best actress, supporting actor, cinematography, screen adaptation, movie?).
9 stars
Lucky for one of you, I’ve lost track of who suggested we add this movie to our Netflix queue. It’s the poor man’s Fatal Attraction.
Beyoncé and her screen husband, hunky Idris Elba (HBO’s The Wire), have a strange relationship, and you don’t have much sympathy for either as they stagger through this made-for-DVD movie. Ali Larter (Heroes), as the office nymph, is believable in her spooky role as a stalker/sexual predator, but we never understand why she’s stalking Elba. It’s simply not a very good film, and imdb.com viewers agree with me (4.3).
3 stars
Take a couple of (relatively) unknown actors, add an interesting plot line (“Summer” is her name; we’re not talking season here), include unusual film editing and a narrator, spice it up with a fun sound track – and you have yourself a winner.
I knew nothing about this film going in, but I came out thinking it was the best I’d seen in a while. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun) stars as Tom, a greeting card writer, and Zooey Deschanel (Weeds, Almost Famous) plays Summer, the boss’ darling new assistant. While the flirting takes time, it was love at first sight for Tom – and the chemistry between the two is genuine. So, who breaks whose heart, and how did they end up? Go see it and find out.
(Note: 45 percent of imdb.com viewers gave it a 10; 26 percent more gave it a nine.)
9½ stars
Ever so often you run across that movie that got panned by the critics, didn’t last long at the theatres and, yet, turns out better than expected (see Last Chance Harvey, Baby Mama and The Banger Sisters). This one, however, ain’t one of them.
It’s sophomoric at best, as Renee Zellweger moves temporarily to winter-gripped New Ulm, MN, to try and get a snack food production plant modernized. She falls in love (natch!) with the local union boss (Harry Connick, Jr.), without any chemistry whatsoever, and it goes downhill from there. You might recall that Zellweger’s marriage to country singer Kenny Chesney was cut short by “fraud.” If it was Renee’s fraud, this would be (at least) her second strike.
2 (generous) stars [Tracy gives it two eyes closed]
A fun little Indie film starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt as sisters segueing from dead-end jobs to running a business cleaning up crime scenes (especially ones that include blood and gore). Amy also is raising her 8-year old son (who’s a bit odd) – both of whom were presumably abandoned by her former high school QB boyfriend (Amy was head cheerleader). Amy’s desperate for money so she can send her son to a private school.
Amy’s having a fling with a married cop, their dad (wonderfully played by Alan Arkin) is living by the seat of his pants (he sits the son on occasion) and she’s having to deal with her less-than-responsible sister who’s still hurting over their mother’s suicide many years ago.
A good rental.
7½ stars
LAST CHANCE HARVEY (2008):
Panned when it was released, this maudlin Dustin Hoffman-Emma Thompson romantic “dramedy” proved better than expected.
Hoffman, a struggling jingle writer who seems to be losing to computer technology, attends his slowly-but-surely-becoming-estranged daughter’s wedding in London only to feel like a fifth wheel in the ex-wife (Kathy Baker), new stepdad (James Brolin), daughter and groom revelry. On his attempted way out of town, he gets a chance to apologize to an airline poll-taker he’d been rude to, middle-aged and mother-pecked Emma Thompson, and they awkwardly strike up a conversation, finding their current losing situations somewhat similar.
Not a great movie, but definitely deserving of a spot on your Netflix queue, whether you’re a Hoffman or Thompson fan (I’m both). (Note: They both earned Golden Globe nominations for their roles.)
7½ stars
CROSSING OVER (2007):
A fairly contrived polemic on the complexities of the effects of immigration laws on different people, a hodge-podge of six inter-related stories of six different countries – Korea, Australia, Mexico, Iraq, Iran and Israel – and their individual strains of dealing with US immigration laws post 9/11.
Harrison Ford stars as a skeletal, weepy-eyed INS agent (whose partner is an Iranian émigré with a large family) who shows constant empathy for those he busts; clearly he’s in the wrong profession.
Ray Liotta (of Field of Dreams fame) is a smooth-talking INS bureaucrat who cons an Australian wannabe actress into believing he can help her. Her Israeli boyfriend pretends to be a devout Jew to get a Green Card while moonlighting as a troubadour at a nightclub. Liotta’s wife, the ever-gorgeous Ashley Judd, plays a bleeding heart immigration defense attorney. It’d make more sense if she’d husbanded-up with Ford rather than the cold-hearted Liotta.
The moral of the film is clear: As we go about our seemingly stress-filled lives, these immigrants endure hourly emotional and physical pain as they seek an American Dream unique to each of them – and perhaps they appreciate the idea of being an “American” more than we do. Other films, however, do a far better job of showing it than this (see The Visitor, Spanglish or Maria, Full of Grace).
5 stars
GONE BABY GONE (2007):
Ben Affleck directs this tight thriller starring his little brother, Casey, and Michele Monaghan as two young Boston PIs hired to do something they’ve never done before: find a missing 4-year old neighborhood girl. Their interaction with a reluctant police squad, led by Ed Harris and his supervisor, Morgan Freeman, starts badly and gets even more complex and weird. Fine acting all around.
An excellent DVD choice.
8½ stars
PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009):
Johnny Depp, in yet another outstanding performance, plays an arrogant and ruthless John Dillinger as he stays one half-step ahead of a bulked-up FBI team. Billy Crudup is excellent in a limited role as a very young (and arrogant) J. Edgar Hoover. Christian Bale (of recent Batman fame) is cold as ice as the young, up-and-coming FBI agent put on Dillinger’s trail.
A very good drama with excellent cinematography and musical score. Worth a look on the big screen (to fully appreciate the unique look of using a TV camera to shoot the film).
8½ stars
MY SISTER’S KEEPER (2009):
Tissue alert: Bring at least five.
Cameron Diaz shows that she’s more than just a pretty face in her role as that “crazy bitch, trying to protect her child.” Here she plays a young mother (retired as a high falutin’ lawyer) desperate to protect her oldest daughter from the ravages of leukemic cancer, even going so far as to produce – with her hunky firefighter husband, Jason Patric – a “genetically-engineered” daughter, brilliantly played by Abigail Breslin (damn, she’s good!), pretty much a body part donor for her older sister.
Has Diaz gone too far?
Well, when Breslin hires a tv-commercial lawyer, Alec Baldwin, to emancipate her from her domineering mother, all sentiments break loose. Seemingly forgotten amid the ensemble is the outstanding role play by Sofia Vassilieva as the teenage cancer victim.
This is a heart-warming, well-acted and an extremely difficult watch. But worth it if you have tear ducts to spare.
9 stars
MEMORY OF A KILLER (2003):
A tight Belgian thriller about an aging hitman on a steep slope to dementia – though his skills haven’t been noticeably affected. After refusing to snuff a young girl, he becomes the hunted, and it’s a race to see who can get the real bad guys first: him or the cops.
Excellent DVD rental.
8 stars
THE INTERNATIONAL (2009):
Interpol agent Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, a NY assistant DA (huh?), star in this far-fetched, complex intrigue that sends the pair from New York to Italy to wherever, with no jet lag and, apparently, little waiting in airport lines. Their quarry is an international bank that is funding conflicts all over the globe – “You control the debt, you control the conflicts” – and their hired assassins seem to be everywhere, even the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan
OK if you’re really bored.
6 stars
THE TAKING OF PELHAM 1 2 3 (1974):
Not to be confused with the recent remake, this original pales in comparison. Robert Shaw (of Jaws fame) is not nearly as evil as John Travolta, and Walter Matthau as the MTA official not nearly as believable in his role as was Denzel Washington.
Having said that, it’s not bad considering its age.
7 stars
FESTIVAL EXPRESS (2003):
Return to the hippy dippy days of yore with Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead (in pre-Deadhead days), Janis Joplin, The Band, ShaNaNa, Ian & Sylvia, Buddy Guy and others as they board the five-day festival train from Montreal to Calgary in the summer of 1970, literally bringing the music to the masses a year after Woodstock. One big jammin’ party and well worth the ride. Great nostalgia for those who enjoyed the times.
8 stars
WENDY & LUCY (2008):
In this low-budget, melancholy, indie film, Michele Williams stars as a young waif down on her luck, traveling with her dog, Lucy, from Muncie, Indiana to Ketchikan, Alaska to work in the canneries. Stuck in Eastern Oregon when her 20-year old car breaks down, her luck doesn’t get much better.
This is a very slow, sad film about loyalty, counting your pennies and hoping that the grass is greener further down the road. A good film, but a bit of a downer.
7 stars
MAN ON WIRE (2008):
A fascinating documentary (partly fascinating because it was produced 35 years after the fact) about Frenchman aerialist Philippe Petit’s high wire crossing between NYC’s Twin Towers in 1974. Interspersed with a modern-day Petit and his cohorts, who are shown with old footage of a very young Petit and friends. How and when the young man decides to walk between the Towers is a good story.
The second scariest part of this film is the height of Petit’s daring conquests (Notre Dame Cathedral, Sidney Harbour Bridge); the scariest is how much they all aged in their 35 years. Yikes! And here I thought I looked pretty much the same as I did in 1974.
Interesting side note: If you are old enough to recall, as I do, the photographs on the front pages of the nation’s newspapers on August 8, 1974, you also might recall that THAT was the day that Richard Milhous Nixon resigned the office of the presidency, effective noon, August 9. Can you imagine if Philippe had waited one extra day? He wouldn’t even have gotten his 15 minutes of fame!
No wonder this film won the Academy Award (plus 26 other awards) for documentaries this year. A must see.
9 stars
Director Tony Scott does an admirable job in this remake of the 1974 NY subway hostage-taking classic starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw (of Jaws fame). Here, Scott uses the enormous talents of Denzel Washington (as the transit official) and John Travolta (as the leader of the bad guys).
Few people can play an evil person as well as Travolta; you truly believe he is the baddest dude around, even as he plays cat and mouse over the internal intercom system with Washington. But is it mere coincidence that Washington, whose transit career has taken a dive after his arrest for bribery, is the man on the mike when Travolta and gang hijack a subway? Hmm.
Note: In 1974, Walter Matthau played Zachary Garber; Scott, paying homage to Matthau, casts Washington as “Walter” Garber. Nice touch.
A good action film, with a very good supporting cast, including Soprano bad boy James Gandolfini as the NY mayor (with the film’s funniest line, “I left my Rudy Giuliani suit at home”), Luis Guzman & John Turturro. Worth a look.
8 stars
GOD GREW TIRED OF US (2006):
A remarkable documentary about Sudanese refugees – The Lost Boys (and Girls) – who escaped from the Civil War in Sudan, first to Ethiopia, and then on a 1,000 march to northern Kenya. After years in a refugee camp, some – very few, from what I could tell – got the chance to move to the United States to begin a new life.
Think for a moment about what these young men endured in the simple plane flight from Africa to the USA. They’d never used electricity, they’d never used a bathroom – much less an airplane commode, complete with a strange locking device – they’d never heard voices come over a loudspeaker, they’d never eaten anything as awful as airline food, they’d never been on an escalator, etc., etc.
A light switch, dishwashing detergent, running water (hot and cold!), a trash can, a bed? How strange is this land?
This film follows the lives of three young men who settle in Syracuse, and it is fascinating. If you haven’t already seen it, rent it.
9 stars
GHOST TOWN (2008):
An over-looked and not half-bad comedy about ghosts and not being able to let go. Greg Kinnear dies prematurely and lingers on Earth to try and make up to his wife, the ever-lovely Tea Leoni, for his unfaithful ways. But he and plenty of others wandering the streets need a medium, and they find one in the British comedian, Ricky Gervais, a less-than-friendly dentist who almost dies on the table during a routine colonoscopy. His near-death allows him to see dead people.
It was fun to see Aasif Mandi of The Daily Show as a fellow (and far friendlier than his colleague) dentist.
A good rental for a night when you’re bored with life. It might even make you appreciate your time on Earth a little bit more.
7 stars
SHATTERED GLASS (2003):
A fairly simple and straight forward story about Stephen Glass who wrote for The New Republic in the 1990s – and who was discovered to have fabricated some or all of most (27 of 41) of his stories. He was brought down in 1998 by an emerging technology: online journalism (Forbes Online to be exact).
Hayden Christensen plays the likeable con artist who snows his editors, as well as his fellow reporters. Good ensemble cast.
Nothing spectacular, but a good one to catch up with on dvd.
7½ stars
NIGHTS IN RODANTH (2008):
My hairdresser shamed me into this – no, not watching the movie, but writing the review. She saw it, thought it a waste of her time and asked if I’d seen it. I admitted that I had, but it was one of the few movies I’d seen and not reviewed – out of embarrassment that I had to admit I, too, had wasted my time.
So, in case you haven’t seen it yet, don’t. Even go and make sure it doesn’t sneak up on you on your Netflix queue.
Richard Gere sleepwalks through this schmaltzy loser as a bad-husband, bad-father highly-skilled doctor (naturally) who, after losing a patient, travels to North Carolina to try and make it up to his estranged son and finds himself falling in love with Diane Lane (who wouldn’t?). Lane plays the I'm-helping-my-black-girlfriend-by-taking-over-her-Inn-that’s-been-in-her-family-since- the-Civil-War-for-one-weekend- for-one-guest, unhappily married woman who can’t believe she’s not with her daughter when she is rushed to the hospital after an accident. And I haven’t even gotten to the real bad stuff. Some one gets paid to write this stuff? Gere and Lane should be embarrassed for taking a paycheck for this turkey.
My rating is overly generous, but I don’t give out many twos.
2 stars
BATMAN BEGINS (2005):
A precursor to The Dark Knight, known best as Heath Ledger’s incredibly good swan song, Batman Begins is a dark film about the origins of Batman – complete with Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, Michael Caine as Alfred, cutie-pie Katie Homes as a district attorney and Liam Neeson as the good-but-evil antagonist.
It’s difficult to believe after this very good effort that Katie Holmes turned down the same role in The Dark Knight to star, instead, in the dreadful Mad Money.
If, like me, you skipped this one and went straight to The Dark Knight, go back and pick this one up.
8½ stars
ELLING (2001):
An excellent Norwegian film about two men, thrown together in a home for the mentally disabled, who are released to live together in an apartment in Oslo. Are they ready to cope; how do they go about their daily lives; and how will they relate to other people?
The oafish Sven wants to have a relationship with a woman, but he is deathly afraid of them. The bookish Per Christian, a poet, has anxiety attacks when he goes beyond the apartment’s walls. Hell, he doesn’t even want to answer the phone! Great scene when their social worker teaches them how to answer it.
This would make a fine rental. It was nominated (but lost) for an Academy Award (it had good company; Amelie lost that year, too, both to No Man’s Land, a wonderful Bosnian film).
8½ stars
Julie Roberts and Clive Owen light up the screen (or fog up the windows) in this complex film about romance, cons and corporate rivalry. Great chemistry between the top stars as they work together – or are they? – to score a big con against their competing employers.
Wonderful supporting cast, especially Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson as the rival CEOs. And beautiful scenery from around the world.
This is one where you really have to pay attention, as the movie moves back and forth in time – and sideways with split screens. Might require a re-viewing when it comes out on DVD!
A solid movie – not great by any means – but with an unexpected ending.
7½ stars
THE HOAX (2006):
This one came and went so fast in the theatres that we didn’t have time to add it to our list – either that or it was during baseball season, the sun was out or there was gardening to be done. Regardless, it made it to the top of our Netflix queue, and it’s worth a look if you, too, missed it on the big screen and are in for a little con artist sophistry.
Richard Gere plays Clifford Irving, the marginally successful novelist from the 60s and 70s, now down on his luck – his latest literary gambit a failure before it hit the presses – and who needs a Big Project to turn his literary life around. The stars aligned, and, instead of the Big Project, he comes up with a Giant Hoax: He, of all people, had been contacted by the reclusive Howard Hughes to pen his autobiography.
And it’s a bit of a lark. With his sidekick Dick Suskin (a children’s author), wonderfully played by Alfred Molina, the two keep the publishers at bay with doctored notes, tapes and interviews that have the editing bigwigs stumped – yet writing huge checks.
Worth a place on your video queue.
7½ stars
WALL-E (2008):
I generally enjoy good animated movies (see, for example, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc, Shark Tale and Finding Nemo), but I didn’t get the allure with this one. Sure, there were plenty of bells and whistles, and the animation was outstanding, but the story left me flat. And bored. Sleepy bored.
More than 40 percent of imdb.com voters gave it a 10, and it’s been the number one DVD buy of the week since it came out, but I’m clueless as to why. But I’m sure I’ll hear from those of you in that 40 percent group. Let me know what I missed.
5 stars
THE VISITOR (2007):
This must have slipped quietly through Sacramento at an indie theatre; I only put it on our Netflix list because Richard Jenkins – a very recognizable character actor – was Academy-nominated this year for Best Actor. Jenkins made the talk show circuit, and his humor was so self-deprecatingly wonderful (“Of course I’m not going to win.” he told Letterman, as he was up against Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke and Frank Langella) that I figured we had to see this film.
And, oh, am I glad we did.
Jenkins plays a mild-mannered (and bored) professor from Connecticut who’s forced to present an academic paper in New York City. His reluctance to go becomes clear as we learn that he’s still in quiet mourning for his wife. He returns to an apartment they owned and discovers an immigrant couple living there. Jenkins' acting is subtle but outstanding. As he says in one of the dvd’s extras: “I’ve waited my whole life for this role.” So had his character.
Long story short, and without giving too much away, Jenkins and the couple – he a musician from Syria; she a jewelry designer from Senegal – form a bond that is endearing. Haaz Sleiman and Danai Jekesai Gurira are brand new actors; their careers get off to a fine start as they both were nominated for acting awards last year. Also a good part for Haaz’s mother played by Hiam Abbass.
The director, Thomas McCarthy (The Station Agent), was recognized by various outlets, winning five director awards for his effort.
This is a must-see on dvd. Lou Dobbs, however, won't like it.
9 stars
TAKEN (2008):
If you ignore the schmaltzy beginning – and end – it’s not too bad of an action thriller. Liam Neeson plays a seemingly mild-mannered ex-CIA agent who has lost the affections of his teenaged daughter to the rich husband of his ex-wife, the fetching Janssen Famke. Liam simply can’t compete, and he doesn’t seem to know how.
But his paranoia antennae go up when his 17-year old daughter wants to travel to Paris with a friend to “spend time in museums.” Yeah, right. But he’s browbeaten into giving his okay, and off she goes to a venture that’s really a trip to follow U-2 around the continent (which naïve mom knew about all along). That adventure is short-circuited before their clothes are put away in their Parisian apartment by intruders who kidnap the two; we soon learn that it’s a gang of Albanian immigrants who kidnap young women, drug them into submission and sell them as sex slaves.
Liam is no longer a fish out of water as he sharpens his CIA skills – ‘I don't have money; but what I do have is a very particular set of skills,’ he tells a kidnapper on the phone – and goes off after the bad guys. The next 60 minutes are an edge-of-your-seat thriller as Neeson does a James Bond impression of the first order, a one-man wrecking crew in search of his daughter among lowlifes in Paris.
(Note: Stereotypes abound: Americans are pure and noble; the French corrupt; Albanians wicked; and Arab sheikhs sex-starved. Duh.)
If you can get by the clunkiness, it’s worth a look as an action rental when it comes out on dvd.
6½ stars
LESS THAN ZERO (1987):
This is most interesting for the role that Robert Downey, Jr. played: A young, down-on-his-luck high school graduate (remember, he was only 22 when he made this film) from a rich, broken family descends into a world of parties, alcohol, cocaine and debt – hmm, sounds like a precursor to Downey's own future – which threatens to bring his girlfriend, Jami Gertz, down with him.
She encourages her former boyfriend, their former classmate, Andrew McCarthy, to come back from college for the holidays to help her help Downey. James Spader (he of Boston Legal fame) plays the young playboy who’s owed money by Downey.
Downey does a heckuva job channeling his future self, which makes the movie a wee bit eerie.
6 stars
TWO FOR THE MONEY (2005):
This pro football gambling film with Al Pacino as the gambling guru and Mathew McConaughey as his young protégée who’s on a hot streak is forced and poorly put together.
The young hotshot prognosticator proves his worth by going a perfect 12 for 12 one football weekend (hmm, I thought there were 14 or 16 games then each weekend), which anyone who knows football knows that takes more luck than pure genius. Yet, he’s touted as the all-knowing, former player who’s the new go-to guy in the Pacino gambling syndicate, pushing aside Jeremy Piven (from Entourage; perhaps better known for his recent bout with mercury poisoning from eating too much fish, leading one wag to note that Piven had “given up acting to become a human thermometer”).
From there the plot is obvious (I doubt many of you will watch this, so the spoiler won’t really spoil anything): He goes on a losing streak. He even has an awful first weekend of the playoffs when he only picks one of eight games (hmm, I thought they only played four that first weekend; frankly, they could have used a better consultant).
Renee Russo plays Pacino’s wife, who has an eye for McConaughey (don’t most women?). It’s a forgettable role. As is the movie.
4 stars
THE KITE RUNNER (2007):
If you haven’t read the book, you should. This and Three Cups of Tea should be near the top of your reading list for 2009. Short of that, rent and watch this movie. As in most cases, it doesn’t live up to the novel, but it’s an acceptable substitute.
This movie is about second chances, and how an Afghan refuge (living in the Bay Area since his youth) gets a chance to save (from the Taliban) the son of his childhood friend he'd eschewed in Afghanistan. Mostly in subtitles.
8½ stars
An early Valentine’s Day date, the title is a bit misleading in that it could just as easily have been titled, She’s Just Not That into You. Or, as we’ve known it to be called, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.
Duh!
But as far as “chick flicks” go, this one’s not too bad. It’s an excellent ensemble cast with various vignettes going on, each related to one another through friendship, work or hook ups.
Jennifer Aniston & Ben Affleck play a happy, living-together couple until Jennifer’s younger sister is about to get married, and Jen announces to marriage-shy Ben that she’s always wanted them to get married. Kevin Connolly (Eric of Entourage fame) wants his one-time lover, now good friend Scarlett Johansson, to see him as a full-time lover (who wouldn’t?), but she has eyes for a married guy, Bradley Cooper, who seems stuck in an odd marriage relationship with Jennifer Connelly, who works with Aniston. Also working with Connelly-Aniston is cutie pie Ginnifer Goodwin, who had a drink with Kevin Connolly, is obsessing over him not calling her back, so she turns to bartender Justin Long for relationship advice.
Admittedly, the best scene of the movie was in the opening at a small park when 5-year old Morgan Lilly has the cutest facial expressions when her mom explains to her that when a 6-year boy just said she’s made of dog poo, it means he really must like her.
I think you get the picture. Not a bad date night if she’s really that into you.
6½ stars
SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS (1998):
Not sure who recommended our putting this on our Netflix queue, but it was worth watching when it percolated to the top.
Alan Arkin is father to three kids whom he desperately wants to keep in the Beverly Hills school system as he moves from motel to motel, one step ahead of his creditors. He’s being subsidized by his older (and successful) brother, Carl Reiner, even more so when Arkin agrees to take in Reiner’s wayward daughter, Marisa Tomei, as she tries to escape from her druggie lifestyle.
It’s a good coming-of-age film, as each of Arkin’s kids has emotional problems as they cope with their family situation. Throwing a sexed-up Tomei into the mix, of course, just adds to the fun.
Underrated, for sure. Not a bad rental.
7 stars
My Best of 2009:
500 Days of Summer
*Avatar
Invictus
**The Hurt Locker [Academy winner]
Julie & Julia
My Sister's Keeper
Public Enemies
*Up in the Air
*Up
Crazy Heart
Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
*The Blind Side
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
(*Academy Award nominees for best picture)
My Best of non-2009 films:
The Visitor (2007)
Man on Wire (2008)
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
God Grew Tired of Us (2008)
Batman Begins (2005)
Elling (2005)
The Kite Runner (2007)
