January/February 2011 movie reviews

 

UNKNOWN.  Liam Neeson stars as a biotech professor who along with his wife (January Jones) is in Berlin for a conference.  He gets in a car accident, and after being in a coma for four days, finds that his identity has been taken by an imposter and his wife is denying she knows him.  So he has to untangle the web of what has happened to him, and figure out if he is delusional or involved in something more nefarious.  He starts by finding the cab driver who saved his life – initially she’ll refuse but ends up an ally.  He gets a lead to a former Stasi agent who can use underground channels to obtain clues.  This was an entertaining action flick with a slightly different resolution than you might expect.  Not great, but fine.  Also with Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.

 

CEDAR RAPIDS.  Ed Helms plays a small town insurance agent who is sent to an insurance conference in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  He is very naive, and this is his first time out-of-town.  He has been warned by his boss to stay away from some bad elements (among them John C. O’Reilly), but ends up rooming with them.  And, of course, he will be corrupted by the “big-city” ways.  Things will get crazy; he’ll face temptation with women, booze, and drugs, and corruption in the insurance world.  This is a very cute movie, not as good as The Hangover, but better than Hot Tub Time Machine.  Worth seeing on cable TV at the very least.  Sigourney Weaver has a small comedic role that was good to see.

 

RABBIT HOLE.  Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart star in this family drama.  As it opens, everything seems OK on the surface with this well-to-do couple.  But in fact, the couple are just going through the motions, trying to survive after a tragedy. It’s been 8 months since their only child died, and although friends and family (including mom Dianne Wiest) try to help, the couple just can’t seem to behave like people would want them to.    They have different methods of grieving, and they aren’t connecting.  The plot may sound like a downer, and I resisted going to see this, but in fact the movie isn’t a grief-fest. It’s an observation on the emotional lives of two people who are slowly moving toward engaging in life again, and I actually found the movie life-affirming.  I liked it quite a bit. 

 

BARNEY’S VERSION.  Paul Giamatti stars as Barney, a television producer in Canada.  This is the story of his entire adult life, youth to old age, including his three marriages.  He is just an ordinary guy, drinks too much, but what makes the story interesting is his dogged pursuit of his third wife (who he meets at his second wedding to Minnie Driver).  There is also the mystery of the disappearance of a friend.  Barney can be an unpleasant fellow, but he isn’t evil, just human.   I thought Giamatti did an excellent job of aging throughout the movie – none of that “look at him in aging make-up” vibe.  Dustin Hoffman is his retired cop father, and I also liked that character.   I really liked the movie’s arc.

 

THE MECHANIC.  Remake of a Charles Bronson movie, about a professional killer.  The “mechanic” works for a mysterious corporation, and at one point takes on an apprentice, the son of one of his mentors.  Typical action movie.    I thought the first two “hits” were very clever, but somewhere in the middle of the movie I thought it just turned into a fairly predictable flick.  It stars Jason Statham, who I like quite a bit, but his presence didn’t save the movie for me.  Nothing really special.

 

THE ILLUSIONIST. Animation by the same guy that did THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE.  In French, but there is very little dialog.  Beautiful drawing, but other than that, I seemed to have missed the point.  It revolves around a middle-aged magician in the late 1950’s, who is finding it difficult to find work.  He ends up working in pubs and at birthday parties and such, and meets a young girl doing janitorial work in one of the pubs.  She decides to take off and follow him, and they end up in Edinburgh.  I thought that the young woman realized that the magician was buying gifts for her (she worked for a living after all, and he sees her admiring the items she receives from him), but I gather from reading about the movie afterword that I was supposed to believe that she thought his gifts appeared by magic.  Not getting that viewpoint, I just thought she was a taker, and didn’t get the charm of the movie and by the end was kind of bored.

  

THE WAY BACK.  The movie opens in a 1939 Soviet prison, where an obviously tortured man is being pressured to confess to espionage.  He refuses, but his wife confesses for him.  So he is sent to a prison in Siberia.  Where he realizes he will die if he doesn’t escape.  Easier said than done, since the winter environment is brutal and the surrounding communities will turn in escaped prisoners for a reward.  But with a group of other prisoners, he does escape, and crosses Russia, Mongolia, and Tibet on foot while facing thirst, starvation, exposure, etc. Some will make it and some will not.  Along the way they are joined by a young woman (Saoirse Ronan). The movie tells you at the very beginning that 3 men walked across the border to India in 1941, so the resolution isn’t a surprise. That’s a problem, as the movie just didn’t really grab me emotionally. This is a perfectly serviceable movie, but although I can’t put my finger on what is wrong, I felt it nothing to write home about.    Directed by Peter Weir, with Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as the only recognizable stars.

 

MADE IN DAGENHAM.  In mid-1960s England, Ford Motor Company employed women to sew the upholstery for their cars.  But they paid them less.  The women, after a pay cut, decide to go on strike. Not only do they have to fight Ford, they also have to deal with their Union, public opinion, and government, who all think the women should be happy to work for lower pay. But the women prevail.  This is a true story but, although it should be quite moving watching the women make history, it was just an OK movie.  Acceptable for catching on TV some day, I would say.  And probably good viewing for younger people who don’t know any women’s’ history.   But this was no NORMA RAE, that’s for sure.  Note:  I probably missed 20% of the dialog because I couldn’t understand the working-class accents.

November movie reviews

UNSTOPPABLE.  Denzel Washington is a grizzled train engineer near retirement, Chris Pine is a newbie conductor.  They are on their route in Pennsylvania when they get word that there is a runaway train with hazardous materials coming straight at them (and populated areas).  So goes this popcorn action movie.  The movie gives you a great feel for the weight and power of a runaway train.  And there is suspense, lots of crashes, an evil corporation more worried about the bottom line than human lives, and two attractive leads.   Fills the bills very well, if sheer entertainment is what you are looking for.  Very enjoyable.   And inspired by a real event.  

FAIR GAME.  Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) is a covert operative for the CIA, on the front lines in fighting terrorism.  Joe Wilson (Sean Penn) is her ex-ambassador husband.  When he realizes that the Bush administration is misrepresenting his findings about the possibility of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he pens an opinion piece for the New York Times.  In retaliation, because they were so damn anxious to justify going to war in Iraq, the Bush administration outs her as working for the CIA (a majorly illegal act that probably cost lives).  This movie, based on books by the two protagonists, pretty clearly explains the reprehensible nature of what Scooter Libby and others in the administration did, and also has some good insight on how tough it is to maintain a relationship when you work for the CIA.  Good movie, although for me not terribly gripping because I read the news and knew quite a bit about the story already.

MEGAMIND.  Animated feature.  Will Farrell voices Megamind, an alien who comes to earth as a baby, but because he isn’t very popular with his schoolmates, becomes a evildoer.  His nemesis is MetroMan, who also came to earth as a baby.  Because MetroMan a goodie-goodie and better looking (voiced by Brad Putt), he is popular and always wins.  Tina Fey, girl reporter, reports on their conflicts.  The problem is that Megamind isn’t really an evil person, but when he tries to be good, the populace can’t accept his changing.  This movie just didn’t grab me; it wasn’t original enough in any way.  But probably children would enjoy it.

127 HOURS.  Aaron (James Franco) is a happy-go-lucky, wild outdoors-loving guy.  He’s an engineer, but really would like to be a guide in the canyonlands wilderness he lives in.  One weekend he goes out for an adventure without telling a soul where he is going.  He meets up with some hikers and shows them an unforgettable time.  Then he is off on his own again.   He falls into a crevasse and a rock falls in on him, pinning his hand.  He spends days trying to get out, and (if you haven’t heard this true story) eventually figures a way out.  There are also flashbacks to his life and relationships, and some hallucinations when things get really tough.  Very VERY intense movie.  I am not squeamish, but even I had to avert my eyes at times.  It’s a fine movie, but I think, for most people interested in the story, they’d be better off reading the book (appropriately titled BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE.)  It’s kind of a stressful experience, although I do have to admit that the end of the movie is very uplifting and life-affirming.

HEREAFTER.  Matt Damon is a psychic who can hear what the dead are saying and convey it to their loved ones.  But he has stopped doing readings because he finds it too emotionally draining.  In a parallel story, a French journalist had a near-death experience but survives the Indonesian tsunami.  Because she saw the “white light”, she becomes obsessed with the afterlife.  And in London, a third story follows a pair of young twins who face tragedy.  In the way of movies, all three stories will come together and the characters will find each other.  I cannot pinpoint what about this movie lost me, but I had kind of an “eh” reaction when it was all over.  Just not my cup of tea, I guess.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.

KINGS OF PASTRY.  Documentary about a very prestigious cooking competition that takes place in France.  The movie follows three competitors.  I didn’t mind the movie…and the pastries and sugar sculptures are beautiful, but there wasn’t much about how the cooking is actually done.  You can see similar stuff with more info on the Food Channel.  Mostly it was a little learning experience about this specific competition.

TODAY’S SPECIAL.  Sayid (Aasiv Mandvi from The Daily show) wrote and stars in this little movie.  He is a sous chef who dreams of having his own restaurant, but his boss doesn’t think  his cooking has soul. Sayid is the son of Indian immigrants who want him to be more successful, get married, give them grandchildren, the same old story.  His dad, who ran a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant, gets sick, and Sayid tells his parents he will take care of  the restaurant.  But he knows nothing about Indian cooking.  So he will learn about cooking and life from a real character. This is a harmless movie, but I have seen this story a dozen times before.  Nothing original.

October movie reviews

THE SOCIAL NETWORK.  This movie is loosely based on the Harvard undergrad who developed Facebook.  Mark Zuckerberg, as portrayed in the movie, is obsessed with getting into the right social clubs, but while very, very smart, he is socially inept.  One night, after being dumped by his girlfriend (because he is an obnoxious asshole) and fueled by beer, he starts madly writing code that will eventually lead to the development of Facebook.  Along the way, he takes ideas from other students and betrays his business partner.  Written by Aaron Sorkin ( The West Wing, The American President), it is a fascinating story with great dialogue.  The structure of chronology interspersed with various depositions lets you see the different points of view.  I liked the movie, but I think critics are making it much more than it really is.  It’s not that deep to have a story of an underdog being successful, even if there is the irony of a socially clueless guy becoming a leader in social media.  It may be on a lot of top 10 lists this year, but might only crack the top 20 for me.  We’ll see.

RED.  Bruce Willis is a retired CIA agent, so bored he has taken to chatting up a woman (Mary-Louise Parker) who solves payroll problems.  One night, a wet team invades his house to try to kill him.  He takes Mary, and begins to investigate why he is on a hit list. Who and what is behind this?   This leads him to other former agents, including John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, and Helen Mirren.  They are all red (retired: extremely dangerous).  Pretty tongue in check, with lots of action.  Like this summer’s Angelina Jolie movie (SALT), this movie is really preposterous but great fun.  A terrific popcorn movie.

IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY.  When  stressed out teenager Craig decides he is fantasizing about suicide too much, he checks himself into a mental hospital.  But the teenage ward is closed, so he ends up with the adults, one of whom is Zach Galifianakis (from The Hangover), who just seems kind of quirky, but actually also suffers from depression.  Zach shows the kid the ropes, and also provides some perspective on life in general.  Craig finds that he must stay in the ward five days, so he starts making the best of it.  And there is a cute girl too (Emma Roberts), so they get to know each other.   The movie is both amusing and serious. I am kind of making it sound like a very predictable movie, but I really really liked the path it took.  Recommended.

INSIDE JOB.  Documentary on the economic collapse of 2008.  This is very well done, doing a good job of explaining how several years of de-regulation led to greater and greater risk taking by financial institutions.  It also explains in pretty easy terms (animation, charts, etc) the things the banks did that caused the problems (including creating the housing bubble and AIG’s insurance of the flimsy financial instruments).  It explains why thinking short-term is all that matters, because no one in the industry cares about long-term risks.   If you are interested in this kind of stuff, I would say this movie is well worth the two-hour investment.  It held my attention.

SECRETARIAT.  When her father gets ill, housewife and mother of four Penny (Diane Lane) takes over management of their horse breeding farm, even though her husband and brother don’t think she should.  She is intent on ensuring that the family gets the most out of the place as possible,  Including developing any colts that have potential.  She hires a quirky trainer (John Malkovich), and together they strategize their way to the top of the horse racing world in the early 1970s with the horse Secretariat.  The movie depicts the sexism she withstood and her support for her daughters’ independence.   But mostly it’s about her wisdom about horses and her strength to do what she thought right, including not selling the horse for a sum she really could use to save the farm.  I thought this was quite entertaining, even though there isn’t really any suspense (for me anyway), but I will admit that I have a real tendency to enjoy the sports-underdog-does-good genre movie (REMEMBER THE TITANS, MIRACLE, RUDY, etc).  

CONVICTION.  Betty Ann (Hilary Swank) and her brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) have a tough life growing up, mostly in foster homes.  But they are bonded to each other through thick and thin.  Kenny is kind of a loser, getting into drunken bar fights and such, but nothing serious.  So when Kenny gets accused and then convicted of murder, Betty is willing to do whatever she can to prove his innocence.  When all other efforts fail, she gets her GED, graduates from college, and goes to law school, all in an effort to get him out of jail.  Even though her family life suffers and the process takes years, she remains determined.   Swank and Rockwell are totally believable, and Melissa Leo and Juliette Moore have small roles that they do very well.  Middlin’ good movie.  Definitely shows how those without money can get screwed by the justice system.  True story.  

NOWHERE BOY.  In 1950’s England, teenager John has always lived with his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Uncle George.  George is great fun, but Mimi – she’s kind of a stick in the mud.  When George dies, Mimi is very stiff upper lip, all about getting on with things and not mourning.  John decides he wants to meet his mother, only to find out that all this time, she has lived only a few blocks from him.  So he starts getting to know her.  She is great fun, a real party girl, just the opposite of her sister Mimi.  So John’s meeting his mother and bonding with her leads to conflict between the two sisters, and with Mimi and John.  He finds that music can help him feel better, and he starts really getting into early rock and roll.  Well acted, and definitely evoking the time and place, this certainly isn’t a bad movie.  But for me, it’s mostly about teenage boy angst and just isn’t all that interesting, even if the teenager is John Lennon.  

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN.  This documentary tries to analyze what has gone wrong with our public schools.  It follows five children, all stuck in crappy public schools,  whose parents are trying to do right by them.  Which in most cases means trying to get into charter schools where selection is by lottery.  There are also interviews with educators and academics who know the issues.  According to this movie, a lot of the blame lies with the tenure that bad teachers get, plus the multiple layers of bureaucracy in our education system.  It makes it pretty clear that poverty can be overcome with good schools, and that poor schools aren’t a result of an impoverished student body.   Lots of good facts and figures here.  If you are interested in the subject, it is worth waiting to see if it shows up on PBS.  But it’s pretty depressing stuff, to tell you the truth. The movie attempts to inspire one to do something about the issues, but it didn’t work for me. 

LAST TRAIN HOME.  This documentary follows one Chinese family as representative of the 130 million Chinese that have left their homes to work in urban industries.  It’s a rough life, and most migrants only get to go home to see the families once a year, at New Years.  In this case, both parents have gone to the city and left their children behind with grandparents in the hopes that the children can get a good education and not have to live the hard life of the parents.  But the teenage daughter is very bitter about her parents having left her.  The movie basically shows a system that has torn families apart. Another sad documentary, worth waiting for on PBS.  (The scenes of the train stations packed with humanity at New Years are worth it.)

September 2010 Movie Reviews

THE TOWN. Doug (Ben Affleck) is the brains behind a crew in a Boston blue-collar neighborhood that robs banks and armored cars. His best friend (Jeremy Renner) is a loose cannon, and during one robbery, takes a hostage (Rebecca Hall). After the robbery, Ben follows her to ensure that she can’t identify them (they were all hooded), and ends up taking quite a liking to her. He is thinking of maybe getting out of the crime business, but the money launderer of the crew (Pete Postelwaite) isn’t about to let that happen. And the FBI (Jon Hamm) is closing in on the gang. So there has to be one last big heist.  The movie doesn’t have any huge surprises (it reminded me a lot of HEAT), but it’s a very good crime-thriller with well-done action scenes and a decent amount of tension.

EASY A. Olive (Emma Stone) is an ordinary high school girl in Ojai, California. One Monday, embarassed about how she really spent her weekend, she lies to her friend about what she did, and a holier than thou classmate overhears and starts spreading the rumor on what a tramp Olive is. Instead a trying to stamp out the rumor, Olive runs with it, becoming the school slut in reputation (but not in reality). Things get out of hand in a hurry, with Olive pretending to have sex with unpopular boys so that they won’t be considered such losers. This may sound like a rather tawdry plot, but it is actually very funny and pretty smart, with references to Mark Twain, The Scarlett Letter, and John Hughes. Despite some unbelievably cool adults (Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci as her parents, Thomas Haden Church as a teacher) and a out-of-nowhere sub-plot twist, this was definitely a lot of fun.

THE TILLMAN STORY. Documentary on Pat Tillman and his family. He is the NFL player who quit football to enlist and fight terrorism, and was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. The movie shows a bit of his life but mostly follows the family in their attempts to find the truth about his death and bring the people involved in the cover-up to light. They were appalled by how his death was exploited as a recruiting tool, and believe Pat would have been appalled as well. Good movie. Not too much new to the story that I already knew, but the movie puts it all together well.

THE LAST EXORCIST. Not usual my type of movie, but good reviews… Anyway, this fake documentary starts out with a holy roller preacher who admits he does it because he loves being an entertainer. But he doesn’t really believe in wwhat he is doing.  When he reads of children being killed during exorcisms, he decides to show the world what a scam it is by doing one last exorcism and having a film crew show the tricks of the trade. A father believes his young girl possessed, and the farm animals ARE being butchered. So the preacher and the crew show up, and of course, things get pretty hinky pretty quick. I actually really enjoyed the first half of this movie, but the second half was the kind of creepy stuff I don’t care for, with the last tem minutes just ludicrous. If you like that kind of thing….

MAO’S LAST DANCER. Very standard bio-pic. This is about Li Cunxin, who as a child was taken from his Chinese peasant village and put in a Beijing boarding school to learn to be a ballet dancer. He becomes quite good, and in the early 80’s he was given the chance to dance for a summer in Houston. Of course, he loves the freedom he finds there (very different from the “revolutionary” ballets he is forced to dance at home), and a girlfriend, and decides he would like to stay a while longer. But the Chinese won’t extend his stay, and defecting would mean never seeing his family again. So that is hard for him. There really aren’t any surprises in this movie, but his part is played by a terrific dancer and I like ballet, and am a sucker for happy endings, so I thought it was an OK movie.

THE AMERICAN. Even though this is getting mixed reviews, it has both George Clooney and Italian scenery, so I thought I would give it a try. Jack (Clooney) is some kind of bad guy, and when the movie opens in Sweden, people are out to kill him. He does manage to escape, and ends up in Italy, where his boss is located. The boss gets him a job making a weapon, most likely for a high profile assassination. Jack is very unhappy about what happens in Sweden, and would like a new life (it seems). But change isn’t easy, especially when people are still out to get you. This is NOT an action picture. If you want to watch a movie where pretty much all that happens is George making a weapon, sleeping with a prostitute, and being real depressed, this is the movie for you. Very slow paced, with an ending that made no sense to me. And, because I find it difficult to care about what happens to Jack, not recommended.

CAIRO TIME. Juliet (Patricia Clarkson) is a New York magazine editor in Cairo to meet her husband for a vacation. But he works for the UN, and is held up in Gaza. So she tries to explore the city, but an unaccompanied woman doesn’t do so well there, so she calls one of her husband’s ex-employees (Alexander Siddig), and they explore the city together. There is slight sexual tension because they are two single people, but they really barely even flirt. And unfortunately, neither of them are particularly interesting people, which makes for a rather dull movie. If it weren’t for the interest in seeing Cairo and learning a little of the culture, it would have been a total snooze-fest.

July 2010 Movie Reviews

  INCEPTION. Leonardo DiCaprio works for hire, invading people’s dreams to steal corporate secrets. He and his team (including Joseph Gordon Leavitt and Ellen Page) create alternate realities (with really cool visuals for us) to set up the circumstances during the dream that enables them to steal the secrets. But there are things you don’t do, like plant ideas in someone who is dreaming (inception) because they always know they didn’t come up with the idea themselves. But when Leo is offered the job of conducting an inception for the chance to go back home (he can’t go home for reasons not explained early on), he jumps on it. This is a complicated movie with dreams within dreams within dreams, and time moving at different speeds, but I didn’t find it too difficult to follow. Directed by Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight and Memento) and he delivers. In fact, I really liked this movie.

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. Family drama being advertised as a comedy. Jules (Julianne Philips) and Nic (Annette Benning) are long time partners with two teenage children. Nick is a bit of an uptight doctor, and Jules is kind of a hippie chick. They have kind of settled into routine, and I would say the romance is mostly gone. When the daughter turns 18, her brother convinces her to contact their sperm donor dad (Mark Ruffalo). The movie follows the changing dynamics of the family as they try to see how biological dad can fit in. Although this movie has very funny moments, I would say it really is more about family dynamics, exploring how everyone has issues, we are all imperfect, and how challenging it is to be together for decades. Very good stuff.

 RESTREPO. Documentary that covers a year with a company of soldiers in Afghanistan. They are stationed in an isolated valley near the border of Pakistan, and the Captain has them building an outpost (named Restrepo after a fellow solider that died) in a veery dangerous area. They face gunfire every single day, fighting an enemy who is everywhere but rarely seen, while at the same time trying to get the local village elders to support them. (The carrot is that the US will build a road that will help the village economically.) A terrific look the life of these young kids – their goofing off, their fears, their sorrows. It’s not easy for civilians to get a feel for battle, but this movie does about as good a job as can be done (without the adrenaline rushes of real warfare). It’s really well done (by Sebastian Junger, author of the Perfect Storm, who was embedded with them for most of the year, and wrote a book about it, which I now want to read).

 SALT. Angelina Jolie is Evelyn Salt, one tough cookie CIA agent. One day a soviet defector comes into their office, and tells her and her colleagues that a sleeper agent is about to be awoken in order to kill the Soviet President and re-start the Cold War. The sleeper agent’s name is Evelyn Salt. Denying that she could be the sleeper, Salt takes off, theoretically she says to save her husband. But we wonder – maybe she really is a Soviet assassin. The CIA and counter-intelligence are after her. Meanwhile, the Soviet President comes to the US to attend a state funeral. Will he be assassinated? And so on. Of course she does things that are physically impossible and takes bruising hits with little effect, but that’s typical for action movies these days, and it doesn’t bother me. This is a roller coaster of a popcorn summer movie – very entertaining and well done for the genre.

 DESPICABLE ME. Animated feature. Steve Carrell voices Gru, an evil mastermind, complete with evil minions. But he starts be overshadowed by Vector. So Gru decides to steal the moon. But first he must steal Vector’s shrinking ray, but he can’t get in to Vector’s house. So he adopts three little girls who will sell Vector cookies, and get entry. A little action, but a lot sappy. Anyway, I suppose this would be fine for kids, but I was 5% amused and 95% bored. Pretty lame. Maybe better in 3D.

May 2010 Movie Reviews

IRON MAN 2. I really like Robert Downey Jr., but with the exception of a minute or two here and there, I was bored out of my mind. Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are the bad guys, Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Stark’s right hand, and Scarlett Johanson arrives as an attorney for Stark Industries. Lots of explosions and battles. Just didn’t engage me.

SECRET IN THEIR EYES. Winner of this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Film. It is about a former detective who is retired and has written a book about a 1970s rape-murder case he worked on. He has never been able to let go of how politics interfered with justice on the case. He asks his boss from from that time (she is now a judge) to take a look at the book for him. He was in love with her, but believing she was out of his league, he never acted on his feelings. The movie tells the two parallel stories, the rape-murder case that he has written about, and the now-older couple reconnecting. This is a very watchable movie – I like the way the stories just unfolded…

CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY. Documentary about Jack Abramoff, who is serving a prison term for his shenanigans as a high profile lobbyist in Washington. He took vast sums of money from both garment manufacturers in the Marianas Islands (so they could continue to exploit workers) and Indian tribes (to support their casinos). He wasn’t content to make gobs of money; he got involved in kickbacks as well. The movie describes Abramoff’s start as an ambitious young college Republican to his fall from grace, and also highlights the huge amounts of money that politicians need to get elected, and the inherent corruption in our system. The investigation into his actions eventually brought down several Congressmen. Depressing, and maybe too convoluted, but still interesting to me.

MOTHER AND CHILD. This is the story of three women: Annette Bening, who as a 14-year-old gave up a child for adoption; Naomi Watts, the child she gave up, and Kerry Washington, who desperately wants to adopt a child. Both Annette and Naomi was strongly affected by the adoption – Annette is a strange, socially clueless woman, and Naomi is an aggressively independent woman. They both avoid relationships. The acting in this movie is terrific (including the supporting cast of Samuel Jackson, Jimmy Smits, and S. Epatha Merkerson). Although I was never bored by the story, it took some turns that were all too predictable, and others that were just unbelievable. Too bad – there aren’t all that many movies about women these days.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. Documentary based on the home movies filmed by Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman living in LA. He compulsively films everything. When he visits his cousin in Paris, noted street artist ( a step above graffiti) named Invader, Thierry becomes involved in the world of street art. He becomes more and more involved in filming street artists, and implies to them that he is making a documentary. But he really isn’t; he is too disorganized. When he finally puts something together, his most famous subject, Banksy, a British street artist who has become a darling of the art crowd, is appalled at how bad the film is and takes over the making of the movie. And then the documentary focuses on Thierry, as he starts doing his own art. Interesting and entertaining, just on the street art portion of the film. But then the movie takes a little turn that I really enjoyed. Leading to questions about what is art. Don’t want to give it away. Fun flick.

February and March 2010 Movie Reviews

THE LAST STATION. In his last years, Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) had a utopian philosophy that gave him a cult-like following. The leader of his followers, Chertov (Paul Giamatti) was single minded in his attempts to get Tolstoy to leave his followers the copyrights to his masterpieces. Tolstoy’s wife, Sofya (Helen Mirren) was totally opposed, fearing that her husband would leave her and their many children destitute. So she is rather hysterical at the thought of it, and hates Chertov with a passion. She also does not share her husband’s rather idealistic views, and is a bit reactionary. But it is clear that Leo and Sofya love each other dearly. Caught between the warring camps is Tolstoy’s private secretary (James McAvoy.) Mirren is terrific in the role; despite her being rather paranoid about everything, one can certainly see her point of view. (Chertov comes off rather badly.) I really liked this movie.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Tim Burton’s take on the classic children’s story. Here Alice has grown up, and is feeling pushed toward a marriage she doesn’t want. She thinks her memories of being down the rabbit hole 13 years ago were just a dream. At a party, she follows a rabbit, and once again is down the rabbit hole. Johnny Depp is the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter is the Red Queen. The story, such as it is, revolves around a battle between the Red Queen and White Queen. I liked the evil Red Queen (she was a hoot); but the rest of the movie was kind of a snooze for me. I would definitely recommend the movie for kids, especially girls, because they would probably be entertained and there is a girl power message that is appealing.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE. John Cusack and his friends have gone their separate ways as they have grown older. When one (Rob Cordry) is suspected of having tried to commit suicide, they get together to help him out. The three, along with John’s nephew, go back to their old stomping grounds at a ski resort. It’s fallen on hard times, but there is still the hot tub. Which shorts out and sends them back to their happier days in the 80s. So they try not to change anything and get back to present time. I think this is supposed to be the 2010 version of THE HANGOVER. There are some funny bits, but I would say it’s overall just mildly amusing. Too bad. Great premise.

THE GHOST WRITER. Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) is the Tony Blair-like ex-British prime minister, and Ewan McGregor is the ghost writer of his memoirs. (The previous writer, an aid to the ex-PM, drowned under somewhat mysterious circumstances.) Ewan is doing the book for the money, and is supposed to get it done in a month as he holes up on an isolated island (reached by ferry mostly) with Lang, his wife, and remaining staff and supporters. But then the World Court tries to extradite Lang for war crimes, and this isn’t just a trip to work on a book. Ewan starts discovering evidence of things unsaid, and the suspense begins. This is a fine political thriller, not excellent, but worth a look. (I may be giving it less the wholehearted review because I guessed a significant part of the story line.) Directed by Roman Polanski.

GREEN ZONE. Matt Damon stars as a soldier in 2003 Iraq. His job is finding weapons of mass destruction, and when he keeps coming up empty, he starts questioning the intelligence he is getting. When leads him into the politics of the war. There is the slimy politician (Greg Kinnear) who doesn’t care that the excuse for the war was wrong, a CIA agent (Brendon Gleeson) who is frustrated because he is dealing with people who don’t understand Iraq, and a reporter (Amy Ryan) who was duped by informants about the presence of WMD in Iraq. Obviously, the movie is based on a lot of the actual events of the war. It’s a different experience watching a movie where the Americans are both the good guys and the bad guys. Not an edge of my seat watch (despite all the shaky camera work), but a good movie, entertaining.

THE RUNAWAYS. In the 1970’s teenager Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) wanted to rock and roll. She was able to hook up with a sleazy promoter/manager, and between the two of them they put together an all-girl rocking band, the Runaways. Cherie (Dakota Fanning) the lead singer, was only 15 when they started. The movie becomes a Behind the Scenes type story. Drugs, disagreements among the band members, etc. The depiction of the 1970’s was certainly well done, but I wasn’t that captured by the story. Probably because it was pretty superficial. There is the music, though.

PRODIGAL SONS. Kimberly Reed decides to make a documentary about returning home to Montana for her 20th high school reunion. She hasn’t been back in a long while, and she is worried about how she will be greeted by the town and her former classmates. Because when she was in HS, she was Todd, the star quarterback. That story might have been more interesting (although her former classmates seem pretty OK with her), but in fact, the movie revolves around Kim’s relationship with her brother. Marc was adopted a year before Kim was born, but held back a year in school (because he was ADD, I think), and he always felt overshadowed by Todd. Then, when he was in his early 20s, he was in a bad car accident and suffered a brain injury, which caused seizures, and now, violent outbursts. Kim wants to get along with her brother, and leave the past behind, but finds that Marc can’t just let it go. So the movie is really about him, and secondarily about Kim coming to grips with her past (she seems to have more issues with it than others in the movie). I actually felt like Kim stuck with dealing with her brother longer than she would have ordinarily, just to have a movie. So although interesting (especially when you find out who Marc’s birth family is), I didn’t find it compelling.

ART OF THE STEAL. In the early 1900s, a Philadelphia doctor made tons of money in pharmaceuticals. He bought early modernist art before it was popular and collected a premier collection, perhaps worth 25 billion (yep, billion) dollars. He was shunned by Philadelphia society, though, so in his will, he ensured that the art remain outside of the Philadelphia establishment and be used as a teaching tool, not to make money as a museum exhibit. This movie details the steps people and institutions took since the doctor’s death that completely invalidated his wishes. It is a one-sided view, because those on the other side wouldn’t speak to the moviemakers. It’s an interesting story, and well documented. One the one hand, I feel bad the the doctor’s wishes aren’t being respected; one the other hand, I think it’s great that this art collection can now be seen by many more people. So the movie didn’t enrage me or anything.

YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF. Brett (William Hurt) is getting out of a southern jail as the movie opens, and ends up catching a ride with a couple of teenagers on the road down to New Orleans, shortly after Katrina. Gordy, the driver, is kind of an odd young man, and we can see that he is probably escaping a home life where he was not understood. Teenager Martine (Kristen Stewart) knows her truck-driving dad won’t notice if she is away from home for a while. Their stories slowly come out, and they get to know each other better during the ride through the back roads of the south. The main story is what Brett did to land in jail, and the woman he left behind when he went to prison. Kind of a lackadaisical movie…Not a subtle ending, but I liked it anyway.

January 2010 Movie Reviews

AVATAR. Human beings have come to another planet – Pandora – where they intend to mine a precious mineral. Unfortunately, the mineral is located under a tree sacred to the indigenous people, the Na’vi, who live in harmony with all living things on their world. The humans can create avatars that look like the 10-feet tall, blue Na’vi, and Sigourney Weaver runs a program doing anthropological studies on them. She hopes to learn enough to convince them to relocate without the need for violence. On her team is a Marine who is a paraplegic (so he especially appreciates being in the avatar’s body). He is captured by the locals, and begins to learn their ways. Meanwhile, the Na’vi people won’t leave their homes, so the human military is determined to forcibly move them. I would say there isn’t much that is original about the plot – and it’s pretty heavy-handed – but director James Cameron has created such a beautifully realized world on Pandora that the movie is still well worth seeing. He did an amazing job making the world and the people believable. Too bad the story wasn’t better.

CRAZY HEART. Jeff Bridges play Bad Blake, a down on his luck country singer. His days of playing big venues is long gone, and he is reduced to playing bowling alleys and such. Into one of his shows comes Maggie Gyllenhaal to interview him for a local paper. She is attracted to him and they will over time become friends, and then more than friends. I have to say, even though it is Jeff Bridges, I can’t see any sensible woman being attracted to a sweaty, smoking, old alcoholic like Bad Blake. But, anyway, she will bring something out in him that he hasn’t felt in a while. And her young son really brings out the goodness in him. Maybe he’ll be redeemed by the love of a good woman. Or maybe not. Jeff Bridge is being acclaimed for his acting, but the movie was just OK for me. It would have helped if I could understand what Maggie saw in him. This is being compared to WRESTLER, and I can see that.

IT’S COMPLICATED. Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin have been divorced for over a decade (Alex cheated on her, and eventually married a young hottie). During their son’s graduation, they get drunk and end up sleeping with each other. And Alex admits that life with his new wife isn’t all that he had hoped. So it isn’t just a one-time fling. Complications (ha!) ensue, including Meryl’s attraction to her architect, Steve Martin. The movie is pretty cute, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn’t seen so many of the cute scenes in previews. Nothing special, but if you haven’t seen many previews, it’s a lightweight flick worth a look.

A TOWN CALLED PANIC. This low-tech claymation feature from Belgium is not your ordinary animated movie. It involves roommates Horse, Cowboy, and Indian. Horse is the leader and brains in the house. Cowboy and Indian want to get Horse a birthday present, but a mistake in their order makes things go horribly awry. And things just get stranger and stranger, including visits under the ocean and to the poles. Their crazy adventures are very silly, but I was smiling pretty much the whole time, so I guess I have to say it was a fun movie.

YOUNG VICTORIA. The young princess Victoria was over-protected by her parents, and her step-father wants to be the power between the throne. He is actually rather abusive to her. Once she becomes Queen, various factions want her married off to a suitor of their choice. And since she is so inexperienced, she has to rely on someone to help her rule, in this case the prime minister. One of her suitors is Prince Albert of Germany. Even though they both know they are being manipulated by others, Albert and Victoria still feel an attraction for each other. Now, I know a superficial love story between 19th century royalty isn’t going to be many people’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed the movie.

BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS. Nicholas Cage is a sergeant in the New Orleans police dept. during the Katrina disaster. When trying to save someone, he hurts his back. Six months and a promotion later, he is addicted to pain killers and cocaine. He also has gambling debts. He is one big mess, but he is still on the job. Four days after seeing this movie, I can barely remember the plot. It was so bizarre. It was cleverly resolved, but…not memorable.