Irresistable: Grade D

D

Irresistable

Susan Sarandon, Sam Neill, Emily Blunt
Writer, Director=Ann Turner

A suburban magazine illustrator (Sarandon) is being driven crazy by a young neighbor (Emily Blunt) who hides things on her and plays tricks to drive her nuts, similar to what happened to Ingrid Bergman in Hitchcock’s Gaslight, except in this case it is completely unbelievable, actually ludicrous. Sam Neill plays himself, as usual, as her husband. It turns out that the neighbor is her long lost daughter, and that’s no spoiler because, oops, please disregard the whole first hour and a half to accept the real ending, which has the quality of stories that end with “...and then I woke up.” Only Sarandon’s fine acting prevents this film from being completely resistable.

An Unfinished Life: Grade C

C

An Unfinished Life

Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Lopez, Josh Lucas

Dir=Lasse Hallstrom

Two geezers live on a defunct ranch in modern day Wyoming. Best acting (almost the only genuine acting) I’ve ever seen from Redford. Maybe since the pretty boy looks have faded he decided to rely on craft. A great job. Morgan Freeman plays his usual Boswellian role. RR’s daughter (J-Lo) appears with her daughter, seeking refuge from an abusive boyfriend. A Faulknerian Grizzly bear provides much needed dramatic tension. Fantastic scenery, although just about anyplace looks good in spring. The director gives the whole movie a quiet, still tone that goes well with the scenery. Good costumes and sets. The story is stereotypical throughout , the script self-consciously cute, but good acting makes it watchable.

The Squid and the Whale: Grade B

B

The Squid and the Whale

Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline and William Baldwin. Director=Noah Baumbach

Precocious brothers, one high school, one middle school, react to their parents’ divorce. All combinations of this quadrangle are explored in painfully, squirmily funny situations and dialog as everyone manipulates everyone else. Daniels is at his best, an arrogant, effete, and emotionally blind intellectual. Set in 1986, and I wonder if it could have been done post cellphone. A lot of the emotion depends on a social isolation that is gone now. The boys give especially well-acted performances. Tight shots on all the actors make the emotions more intense. All the characters are highly exaggerated, which makes them funny, but turns them into script-vehicles, so it is often difficult to sympathize. There is no plot and nothing new being said narratively or artistically, so in the end it doesn’t add up to anything, but it is an enjoyable romp.

Little Fish: Grade B

B

Little Fish

Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving

A mid-thirties woman (CB) is an ex-junkie working in a video store near Sydney. She wants to get a loan to start her own business but can’t. We see her oddly affectionate relationship with her former drug dealer and her mother. Her ex boyfriend comes to town and teams up with her brother on a drug deal. There is no real plot, but it is a gripping story that feels authentic, demonstrating that once you are in the drug culture, you sacrifice your future, even if you go straight. You never really get out. All the acting is superb and it carries the plodding story. It’s nice to see a tiny portrait of Australia.

Memoirs of a Geisha: Grade B

B

Memoirs of a Geisha

Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe. Director = Rob Marshall

A Cinderella story set in Japan just before WWII. Young peasant girl is sold to a Geisha house, learns the trade, meets but loses prince charming, defeats nasty other geishas in internecine maneuvering, and becomes the greatest of them all, finally falling into the arms of the prince. The sets and costumes are stunning (winning academy awards). Every shot could be framed and hung in a gallery. The photography recalls classical Japanese art and modern Kyoto at night. You could watch the whole (2.5 hours!!) on a big-screen, with the sound off, and find it very enjoyable.

However, the sound is also stunning. The score is written and conducted by John Williams, using plenty of shamisen and shakuhachi in the mix, with solo performances on violin and cello by Yoyo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. It doesn’t get much better than that for film music! The choreography is also excellent. The only thing lacking is an editor. This thing goes on and on and on, for no narrative reason. It’s easy to see where it could have been cut, especially in the first hour. The story is simple-minded, not very dramatic, and not even well-told. The acting is adequate, but with kabuki stiffness rather than passion. Directing is unremarkable. Lots of interesting DVD extras which they had to put on a separate disk (that should have been a clue to them about editing!). But sheer aesthetic beauty makes it enjoyable.

Lost: Grade B

B

Lost

Dean Cain. First time director=Darren Lemke

A businessman is lost driving in the Nevada desert and calls a road support map company but there are so few road markers that even with help, he continues in circles. Then we learn a bad guy is after him, trying to kill him. Good cat and mouse on the highways, with the woman at the road service playing an important character by voice alone. It’s a real psychological thriller, very well acted, and the pace never droops. The only problem is that it is not believable. You couldn’t drive more than 70 miles anywhere in the US without hitting a small town. Also, you would have to have a competent road service to even find a route with so many unmarked, two-lane roads, far from any freeway. And the performance of the hero’s cell phone is nothing short of phenomenal. In addition, there are problems with the back story, elements of which are obvious contrivances. But if you can suspend your disbelief sufficiently, it is an enjoyable movie.

Capote: Grade A

A

Capote

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener

Biography of Truman Capote during the 5 years or so when he wrote In Cold Blood. Hoffman inhabits the character, as is clear from the DVD extras showing original footage of Capote. The “plot” is very subtle, how Capote cold-bloodedly exploited the feelings of the killers in order to write his book, so there is not much going on except talking heads. It’s a weak “A.” It would have been a better picture if they had focused on the real drama, Capote’s crisis of conscience after the book. But the quality of the acting is so compelling that it keeps you riveted. Great 1950s-60s sets and costumes. Keener does a good job but is subordinated to Hoffman.

Pride & Prejudice: Grade A

A

Pride & Prejudice

Kiera Knightley, with Judy Dench and Donald Sutherland. Director=Joe Wright

The classic Jane Austen love story is well told, and Kiera Knightly jumps off the screen. It’s hard to believe this is the same woman who starred in the gritty thriller “Domino.” Nicole Kidman better watch her back. I generally do not enjoy “costume dramas” but I was drawn by the Austen story, and I’m glad I was. The language is beautiful, the writing superb. Photography is excellent and the totally believable sets appear to be well researched. The costumes are, well, costumes – too clean, too perfect, too colorful: costumes for the sake of costumes. Except for that, you get a real sense of time and place (England, 1813). Note to guys: there are no guns, explosions, vehicular chases, or heists. This is just a great exercise in wit and subtlety.

Derailed: Grade B

B

Derailed

Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Xzibit, RZA

In this somewhat formulaic thriller, a couple (Clive and Jen) are caught in an extramarital affair then Clive is blackmailed by the marvelously evil Cassel. The story is tight, the acting is completely adequate, and the sound engineering is a standout. Aniston is persuasive, but Owen is wooden and has too much eye makeup. Lots of cash stuffed into briefcases, good cat and mouse tension, and satisfying gun battles. Enjoyable, forgettable

A History of Violence: Grade B

B

A History of Violence

Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt. Director = David Cronenberg

Ex mobster has gone to ground, made a new life in a small town with a family, when, sure enough, his past returns to haunt him. A fine acting job. Ed Harris is deliciously creepy as the mobster who tries to bring him “back to Philly.” Hurt is unconvincing as the mob-boss brother. Maria Bello, a wife with a great jawbone, plays her part extremely well. The movie has lots of blood and a high body count, as you would expect from Cronenberg. The plot is reminiscent of The Long Kiss Goodbye, with Geena Davis as an amnesic ex-assassin. This story is not as tight however. The opening scene showing murderous bad guys is totally gratuitous, as are the two prurient sex scenes. The bully at school theme was stereotyped and flat. The ending is dubious. The sets were terrible throughout – way too fussy, detailed, clean and shiny, they did not look lived in or convincing. The camera work was inexplicably vertiginous, especially in the beginning, although it seemed to settle down later. The strong acting carries the movie over these rough spots.

Good night, and good luck: Grade B

B

Good night and good luck

David Strathairn, Patricia Clarkson, George Clooney, Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Frank Langella. Directed by Clooney.

Edward R. Murrow, broadcasting on CBS News in the 1950’s challenges the constitutionality of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt that destroyed the lives of many. Actual footage of the McCarthy hearings gives a good sense of historical realism. The acting is good, especially RDJ, though not superb. Straithairn does the one stern Murrow look and that’s it. There is no range. He is just a speechifying two-dimensional cutout. We don’t know anything about him, or any of the characters, so the movie overall is emotionally and dramatically flat.

The parallel between the 1950’s government trampling civil rights in the name of “security” and today’s comparable situation is sharply drawn, and no doubt the major motivation for the film, but the political message got in the way of good story telling. There is no dramatic tension. However, the music, sets and costumes are fantastic. It’s a wonderful period piece, worth seeing for that alone. The movie was probably subsidized by the tobacco industry, because cigarettes star as a major character– it’s just too prominent to seem natural. And interestingly, no ashtray is ever shown. Cig companies would not want us to see the filthy butts and ashes everywhere. One false note is when a wife recommends a tie and says “the blue one.” That was an odd thing for a b&w movie and momentarily broke the magic.

The Exonerated: Grade A

A

The Exonerated

Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Delroy Lindo, Aidan Quinn, Susan Sarandon, David Brown, Jr. Director= Bob Balaban

In this nonfiction piece, six people who were wrongly convicted and imprisoned, then later exonerated, tell their stories. The actors speak the actual words of the prisoners (who are shown in a DVD extra), under solitary spotlights on a darkened stage. There are no sets. The six stories are interleaved, so the overall flow moves through situation, arrest, trial, imprisonment and exoneration. The exonerated people are simple, poor, and unreflective, and they describe mundane, low-life circumstances. There is nothing very interesting about them except the fact that they were wrongly imprisoned, for years, some for decades. The law enforcement and judicial processes come off as racist, incompetent and callous, although these are one-sided tales, not investigative reports. No doubt there is much more to each story. What makes it such a good drama, in my opinion, is not the sentimentality of the theme or the implied criticism of the criminal justice system, but the plain, honest language of the speakers and the riveting acting by these six stars. The film should be shown in acting schools. Until you can perform like this, you can’t call yourself an actor.

The Ice Harvest: Grade A

A

The Ice Harvest

John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen. Director = Harold Ramus, Screenplay = Richard Russo

This is a delicious revival of the film noir style. It is dark, gritty, with sidelighted cigarette smoke, lots of drinking, murder, bodies stuffed in trunks, strippers, and a $2 million heist. Set in the present, this is no formulaic remake. The script is tight and sharp and hilarious. (“When she tells me to redirect my anger in more positive ways, it makes me want to slap her silly.”) The acting is outstanding by the three principals. They could have done a tongue-in-cheek parody, but didn’t. Cusack is the best I’ve ever seen him (which is not enough). BBT really acts instead of hamming it up. Connie Nielsen, still beautiful, but not the knockout she once was, does a fine job. The only false note, which is the director’s fault, not hers, is when she imitates Lauren Bacall. There’s some strange lighting, with rooms inexplicably bathed in red floodlights, but otherwise the photography is a standout character of its own. The DVD shows alternate endings and the theatrical version is, predictably, the “happy” one. But the second one really is just too dark, and the third is confusing.

The Weather Man: Grade B

B

The Weather Man

Nicolas Cage, Michael Caine, Hope Davis

This is like two movies stitched together in the middle. In the first part Cage, a Chicago weatherman, is shown giving the weather on TV, and struggling to make contact with his ex wife and monosyllabic young children. But the story of the divorced dad seeing the kids on alternate weekends is hackneyed, and there is nothing new here. We don’t know anything about the weatherman, where he lives, what he eats, what music he likes. He is not a real person so I didn’t care about him. The first part is therefore quite boring. In the second half, the movie picks up so abruptly and forcefully that you wonder if there was a change in personnel on the crew. He interviews for a national TV job in NYC, makes contact with his daughter, speaks at his father’s funeral. In other words, things happen, allowing him to reveal who he is and we do care about him. The ending is an existential knockout. He’s in a Macy’s day parade, on the network’s float “behind the fire department, but ahead of Sponge Bob.” The archery theme, prominently displayed in trailers and on the DVD box, is a total irrelevance. Outstanding photography and fine acting by Hope Davis.

Rent: Grade C

C

Rent

Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs, Wison Heredia, Jesse Martin, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Tracie Thoms. Music by Jonathan Larson

A rock n roll musical based on La Boheme, set in New York City in the 1980’s . The story is tried and true, although it slouches along slowly here. Lots of music is the headline feature, with dozens of songs. Unfortunately, with one or two exceptions I did not find them attractive. They lacked interesting rhythmic structure except for specific genres, like tango. Melody was narrow in range, very cadence-oriented, with contrivances like octave jumps for variety. Harmony was rare – lots of unison singing. Lyrics were uniformly sentimental, if not maudlin. These are all the reasons I do not care much for pop music anyway, so maybe it’s just me. It was a long running show on Broadway and a huge international hit so I must be wrong. But it is my review and that’s what I think. The singing was not so great either. Rosario Dawson acquits herself, but Tracie Thoms is the only one with real ability. The acting was either flat or over the top. The good part was that the story does capture the feelings of hopelessness and confusion of people living with the AIDS epidemic at that time. The DVD extra on Jonathan Larson’s career was far better than the movie itself.

Empire Falls: Grade F

F

Empire Falls

Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, Robin Wright Penn, Joanne Woodward

That many big names should have been a tip-off. Also the fact that it was an HBO release. The warning signs were there, I ignored them. Every sentence, gesture, picture, costume, sound, set, and even every lighting angle is painfully contrived. Each scene made me groan in disbelief at the banality, stereotypes and clichés, often chosen in obvious contradiction to realism and rationality. If you like Norman Rockwell illustrations and afternoon TV, you’ll like this movie. The scary part is that a lot of people did like it. With just a little imagination the filmmakers could have pushed it over the top into parody, but sadly, everyone seems to take this as a serious movie. This is what happens when people with too much money and no judgment are in charge. Something positive? It could be used in film school as a negative example.

Domino: Grade B

B

Domino

Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Delroy Lindo. Lucy Liu & Christopher Walken appear.

Cute young suburban woman (KK) becomes a tough, knife-throwing, gun-toting, numchucking bounty hunter. A second story of an armored car heist is intertwined with some good writing and editing. The movie would have earned an ‘A’ except the story collapses into incomprehensible chaos in the last 30 minutes. False bad guys appear, things start blowing up for no reason, and a guy gets his arm cut off because of a bad cell phone signal. What did they do, fire the writer at the last minute and start ad libbing? Completely nuts. Memorable photography, excellent editing, terrific music, good directing, costumes, and sets. KK has a cartoon character and no opportunity for acting. Rourke and Lindo are standouts. It’s a first class movie except for the flawed ending. (Note: Rated R for “pervasive language.” We can’t be having that!)

North Country: Grade B

B

North Country

Charlize Theron, Francis McDormand, Sissy Spacek, Woody Harrelson

Based on the true story of the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit filed by women working in a Minnesota mine in the 1970’s. Charlize, beautiful as ever, is the one person who finally won’t take it any more and turns to the law to seek self-respect at work. But out of fear for their jobs the other women won’t join her and continue to endure degrading insults and violence. The first hour is slow, repeatedly demonstrating how nasty the men are, the vulnerability of the women, and the indifference of the management. I got the idea after ten minutes, but it just went on and on. Maybe that is necessary to make the point, but I would think people today are at least somewhat aware of the issue. The last 45 minutes are an artful blend of courtroom drama and flashbacks. Some good photography, convincing sets and scenery, and it was nice to hear Dylan’s “Lady Day” from Nashville Skyline, even if its being there was a nonsequitur. Young women today may not realize how rough things were only a generation ago, so the movie serves as a history lesson, and taking on the project increases my admiration for Theron. Reviewed 2/26/06.

Lord of War: Grade B

B

Lord of War

Nicolas Cage, Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto

Cage is an international arms dealer, selling death for cash regardless of politics. Hawke as the interpol agent wants to be Tom Cruise. Eamon Walker as a crazy African dictator is a standout. It’s a narrative of how Cage's business goes; there's no particular plot. Individual, disconnected scenes provide dramatic tension. But the picture does vividly convey the sense of the arms trade and its horrific consequences, a serious lesson for those who are uninformed. John Le Carre did a similar story in The Night Manager a few years back. This story is handled with a light-hearted, almost comic tone, probably to offset the dark side of the reality. It's a grating marketing compromise. The result is that the characters and scenes are all two dimensional cardboard cutouts. Cute, funny warlords and merchants of death. Ha ha. The comedy is punctuated with sudden violence, however, so there is some balance. Cage's self-justifying moralizing falls flat so we don't really know what makes him tick. Leto acts his heart out, which is noticeable because nobody else does. There’s something weird going on with the green lighting. Memo to art director: people do not have green beards. Reviewed 2/20/06.

In Her Shoes: Grade B

B

In Her Shoes

Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Shirley Maclaine

I personally could have edited 30 minutes out of this movie. It is a very slow starter, but once it gets going, the acting is good and the story is satisfying. Two adult sisters become estranged but each discovers a long lost grandmother and through her, become re-united. It’s a family story. No guns or explosions. Cameron Diaz shows some signs of acting talent, which she had better develop before she gets much older. Toni Collette is surprisingly good. But Shirley Maclaine is a standout. She really knows what she is doing at every moment. Reviewed 2/19/06

{Proof}: Grade B

B

Proof

Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal

Director = John Madden

The interface between madness and creativity is explored yet again, with Paltrow as the “Beautiful Mind” mathematician caring for her elderly father (Hopkins), himself a former luminary in mathematics but now gone dotty. Gyllenhaal is the love interest. The best part is the ambiguity about Paltrow’s mental state – is she clinical or justifiably depressed and discouraged? Is she brilliant or self-deluded? That’s good directing of a wonderful actor. Fabulous acting by GP and AH, as you would expect, but the story itself is derivative and plodding. Supporting characters are two-dimensional. No photog, sets, costumes or music to speak of. Dialog often seems forced. Reviewed 1/18/06.

Daltry Calhoun: Grade D

D

Daltry Calhoun

Johnny Knoxville, Juliette Lewis, Sophie Traub, Elizabeth Banks. Executive Producer Quentin Tarantino.

A family story of a local businessman in Tennessee and his long lost 14 yr old daughter coming to terms. No real plot, very little dramatic tension, undistinguished directing, clichéd costumes and sets. But good acting all around, especially Traub, makes it worth watching. I half expected somebody to get their arms cut off with a sword because of Tarantino’s presence, but nothing happens. Good music. Reviewed 2/13/06.

The Aristocrats: Grade B

B

The Aristocrats

100 comedians.

A plethora of comedians take turns telling the world’s dirtiest joke which has the name of the documentary. The joke is really an ad lib story about a family stage act and the point is to make it as filthy, vulgar and obscene as possible, while preserving the comic’s own unique style of story telling. The joke is not funny at all, unless you are nine years old and find poop and fart jokes hilarious. But the comedians are funny, just because they are funny people. Includes Drew Carey, George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Maher, Gilbert Gottfried, Howie Mandel, Bob Sagen, Sarah Silverman, Rita Rudner, the Smothers Brothers, Jon Stewart, and many others. With so many genuinely funny things to talk about, it’s a bit depressing that this joke is considered the pinnacle of inside the industry humor, but at least everyone knows the drill. Rated ‘R’ for Language. I can’t imagine what ‘X’ for Language could possibly be. Reviewed 2/12/06.

Corpse Bride: Grade A

A

Corpse Bride

Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Director=Tim Burton

This is frame-by-frame animation, where individual photographs of hand- made puppets are streamed to create the movie. It looks good, maybe a tiny bit better than digital computer animations such as Toy Story or The Incredibles, because puppets look more fully rounded than CGI characters, even though their range of action is more limited. So this proves that the old style of animation is still viable. But you have to ask, So what? From the viewer’s perspective, CGI would have worked as well.

This story centers on an arranged marriage in a 19th century English village.Lots of cartoony gothic castles with spider webs and bats. Victor, the young man, accidentally enters the underworld and meets a remarkably fleshy dead woman among all the dancing and singing skeletons in the land of the dead. But finally, he returns to the land of the living for his true love. One disappointment is that it starts out as a musical, or perhaps even an opera, but after the skeletons do their vaudeville routine, the movie seems to forget that it started as a musical. Too bad. Most of the characters and sets are clichés, (except the Peter Lorre maggot!) but the script is sparkling, the voices totally convincing, and the animation is a feast for the eyes. Reviewed 2/11/06.

Two For The Money: Grade D

D

Two For the Money

Al Pacino, Rene Russo, Matthew McConaughey

Wall Street + Boiler Room come to sports gambling. Pacino runs a sports gambling tip service, MM is his main prognosticator, and RR his gorgeous wife, still looking good. The movie requires that you accept what psychologists call “the gambler’s fallacy”: that past independent events predict future ones. It’s not true, as any intelligent person knows, but gamblers don’t know it, and either, apparently do any of these characters, or the director and writers. You also have to believe that there is, in fact, “inside information” that can be used in betting, when really it is all just talk radio chatter. Finally, you have to enjoy stereotyped, repetitive and clichéd football scenes with loud inane announcers. I am not a football fan nor a gambler, so maybe this was just not the right movie for me. Pacino and Russo give 100% acting, but they are fighting a mind-numbing, clichéd script. Reviewed 2/2/06.