Entries from October 2008 ↓

A powerhouse of movie from Director Clint Eastwood and powerhouse of performance from Angelina Jolie. I think I just saw one of this years nominees. The attention to every detail in creating 1928 Los Angeles is breathtaking. Turning up the contrast and sepia tone helped to make Changeling look like a dusty old photograph. I could nit-pick . . . despite the attention to detail some modern language slipped in . . (Jolie, listening to the Academy Award broadcast, murmurer that one of the pictures nominated was “over-rated.”) Ms Jolie might have set a crying record. A little more nuance would have been nice. The movie was too long. A couple more paragraphs could have been added to the Epilogue text to shorten the film by twenty minutes. And I have to mention, since I am big fan, Amy Ryan has a nice turn. [ RT ]

The lead character in Happy-Go-Lucky is annoyingly happy-go-lucky.  She’s a 30 year old grade school teacher who acts like her students.  There are some laughs as she, of course, runs into so many adults who aren’t so happy-go-lucky.  She annoys her driving instructor to the point he blows up.  I could have used sub-titles to really get into this very British comedy.  [  RT ]

Well acted with an emotional story of bad cops and good cops (play casting director: Who would you have play bad and good cop? Edward Norton or Colin Farrell) makes Pride and Glory a gripping 125 minutes.  There is a thread of melodrama that weighs the picture down.  But just grit your teeth and get through those scenes and you’ll have a pretty darn good movie. [ RT ]

One of the reasons I went to this tearjerker was to see how Dakota Fanning is doing making the transition from child to woman . . . and she is doing just fine. She is in most scenes of The Secret Life of Bees, and does some heavy lifting (including a romantic scene appropriate for a 14 year old), as just about ever emotional button is pushed.  [ RT ]

His role in What Just Happened seems to be perfect for Robert DeNiro.  In this inside look at a movie producer’s life you get a condensed version of quite a few wacky showbiz characters and their issues.  This kind of stuff entertains me. . . but maybe not you.  [ RT ]

Minutes after seeing What Just Happened Gary and Norm cross the street to discuss the film.

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Oliver Stone has not produced a sendup of the president nor a wholesale takedown, the film looks like a traditional biopic. I was surprisingly and thoroughly entertained by Josh Brolin playing the frat boy who would be king, while Richard Dreyfuss creeps around in a Dick Cheney sneer. As far as I could tell the story and dialogue, with the exception of a weird dream sequence near the end, was based on real words and events. Maybe some of it was slightly out of context. But this was not a hatchet job. W. is not a documentary but it is entertainment.  [ RT ]

Formulaic, trite, predictable, by-the-numbers . . . they all apply. I would only recommend The Express to some one who doesn’t know about or remember the civil rights struggles and/or Ernie Davis. Of course this is the kind of movie where, as he has proven before, Dennis Quaid can shine. And he does here. His performance almost saves the movie. [ RT ]

To be flip Rachel Getting Married is a two hour cat fight.  To be more charitable I will call it an engrossing tale of family angst, highlighted by Anne Hathaway’s powerful performance. Along with a welcome performance by Debra Winger.  The spotlight, in all honesty, should fall on the performers.  This cast did a tough job at a high level of emotional energy.  I must say, though, Rachel Getting Married has “indie” written all over it.  A more commercial film would have been edited much more tightly and would gone to the humor card more.  It was somewhat of a challenge to make it though this film.  [ RT ]

I guess I am with the 50% of critics who would recommend Body of Lies. A proven director and screen writer meant a film that was much more nuanced and credible than a lot of pictures in this shoot-em up, CIA/Middle East Jhadist genre. I enjoyed the whole trip and most of all I wasn’t saying to myself every ten minutes . . . “wait a minute that can’t be.” Here the issues and characters weren’t painted black or white . . . lotsa gray tones to contemplate.  [ RT ]

Blindness should have been called “Anarchy.” After some unexplained plague causes blindness in a group of random citizens they are quarantined and left on their own to survive. Mob rule and survival of the fittest are a potent mix. So many unanswered questions arise. No effort is made to find out the cause of the blindness. In fact we see very little of what the authorities are nothing in the out side world. The frustrating part of the plot was why the one person in the lock up who could see didn’t use this power for more good. Just too many holes in the story.  [ RT ]