Category Archives: Movies

Both my parents (who see a movie about once a year or less) and my mother-in-law saw “Midnight in Paris” before I did. It’s one of those little pleasers, perhaps especially to a certain generation, that gains steam through word of mouth-around-town kind of thing. Some folks tell their friends who tell others and they tell others who implore their adult kids to go and on it goes from there.

Woody Allen’s latest film is a clever, charming homage to the city of Paris and the golden age of the 1920s. It’s about an engaged American couple who visit Paris but start to drift apart when Gil, played by Owen Wilson, a struggling writer, falls for the city and wants to move there after marriage. Inez, played by Rachel McAdams, doesn’t share his romantic notions of the City of Lights, and plans instead for their life in Malibu. While Inez is out dancing with friends and tagging along with her parents, Gil opts to walk the city streets, magically falling into a kind of time portal at midnight that takes him back to Paris in the 1920s and all of the famous writers and artists of the day.

The film’s pretty funny from the start, poking fun at hopeless Americans in Paris, but gets a little zanier when Gil starts to meet his idols from the ’20s, including Hemingway, the Fitzgeralds, T.S. Eliot, Dali, Picasso and many others. To appreciate the full scoop, it helps if you recall these giants of the ’20s, or the artists who came and went at Gertrude Stein’s salon. By the way, where was Alice Toklas, Stein’s long-time partner in it? The Hemingway character is amusingly funny, spouting dialogue as if from one of his books about Truth and Courage, War and Love.

Along the way, Owen Wilson does a wonderful job carrying the film as the doe-eyed, dream-filled, amusable Gil. His performance reminded me a bit of Woody Allen himself when he played in “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Annie Hall.” Owen was a hoot in “Wedding Crashers,” but he’s even better in this.

“Midnight in Paris” is perhaps Woody Allen at his least offensive. It’s a nostalgic, heartfelt romp with delightful shots of Paree, a bit safer perhaps than his film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and more clever than his recent “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” which is also about a struggling writer. It shows that Allen still has it even when he’s far from his beloved New York. Continue reading →

This movie is sheer crazy and pretty outrageous most of the time (ding ding: “crude warning”!). Which isn’t to say it’s not enjoyable to sit through another zany wedding movie. Kristen Wiig sort of saves the whole kit and caboodle (just wanted to use that phase) as a maid of honor whose life has hit rock bottom but tries to pull off all the rituals that go with the territory; along the way she battles another of the bridesmaids for maid of honor status. Wiig’s face during the movie and the tennis scene alone are probably worth the price of admission. It could have done without the whole food-poison-gross-out stuff, hello?! you kiddin’ me. Some scenes fall a bit flat, like on the airplane, or the strange roommates (?!), but others find their mark: gotta go with the tennis scene (AC/DC!), and the Wilson Phillips singalong is a schmaltzy crackup.

Wiig is pretty hilarious. If you like her on “Saturday Night Live,” you’ll like her here. Her character, Annie, is a mess: broke, left by her boyfriend and living with wacko roommates. She’s on the precipice of a breakdown. It’s safe to say: the wedding duties send her over the edge. Good to see another “SNL” alum, Maya Rudolph, as the bride. (Her “Bronx Beat” skits on SNL still make me laugh just thinking of them. Oh god the one with Jake Gyllenhaal?!) Anyways it’s a bit sad to see Jill Clayburgh in her final role here. Here’s to you, Jill.

It sort of reminds me, which are the funniest wedding flicks in memory? If you had to pick for a desert island, they might include: “The Hangover” “Wedding Crashers,” “Four Weddings & a Funeral,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “The Wedding Singer” … and perhaps a light sprinkling of “Bridesmaids.” Continue reading →

This is a gem of a little film, which I thought was going to be solely about a wrestling coach and team, but it turns out to dwell more on family issues. The wrestling sort of comes in later. It’s about a small-time lawyer and high school wrestling coach (played by Paul Giamatti) who makes the dubious decision for financial reasons of taking on the guardianship of a elderly client whose grandson, an excellent wrestler, he stumbles upon after the kid winds up at his grandfather’s. But with his grandfather in a nursing home and his mother in drug rehab, the kid ends up living with the coach’s family and joining the wrestling team. All seem to be winning in this arrangement, until the mother shows up out of rehab and things begin to unravel.

Giamatti, of course is wonderful just as he was in “Barney’s Version,” and makes a good team with Amy Ryan as his wife, who recently played Michael Scott’s love on “The Office.” It is an endearing film that sneaks up on you and gets under your skin. It’s funny at times and also a drama about the family and what will happen to the boy on and off the mat. Continue reading →

This movie is a weepy and whiny affair about a popular country singer (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) who tries to overcome her alcoholic demons. I thought it would be a good chick flick so I rented it, but the script’s considerably weak and cliched, though I wasn’t asking for all that much. The dialogue’s not that great either.

Gwyneth’s character Kelly Cantor is indeed a crying mess; she’s lost a baby, she’s drinking despite rehab, she’s having affairs, notably with a rising country star, played by Garrett Hedlund. Her husband, played by Tim McGraw, has hurried her out of rehab and put her on a short tour to reestablish her reputation, but she’s far from ready! She can’t get through these shows! She’s too messed up and has to cancel the first two, but then she gives it her all at the last concert, only to end it all in dramatic fashion after.

Despite its flaws, “Country Strong” has some good music, and Leighton Meester and Garrett Hedlund seem believable as opening acts. It’s a bit hard to see Gwyneth as anything other than Gwyneth. I plan to check out the soundtrack for the hell of it and see if it’s not too sugary.

“Country Strong” comes on the heels of “Crazy Heart,” which was also about an alcoholic singer/songwriter, but that script and movie were a bit “stronger.” Continue reading →

Okay so it’s not exactly “Water for Elephants,” but the usually good Werner Herzog was listed as director, and apparently Roger Ebert said it was one of the best movies of 2009, which I had missed. So I rented it, though it’s not really on a subject matter that has many redeeming qualities. It’s a pretty dark movie about a detective on the take of drugs and other favors on the streets of New Orleans while trying to solve the murder of an immigrant family. This is one crooked cop (played by Nicolas Cage); you name it, he’s done it, which makes it a pretty uneasy watching experience.

It’s quite a change to see Cage, who’s done a slew of Disney films recently, playing this corrupt a character. Even his Ben in “Leaving Las Vegas” knew more right from wrong. Yet, Cage’s bad lieutenant is still good at solving the case at hand despite all his illegal activities.

I sort of forgot Harvey Keitel had played the “Bad Lieutenant” in a different movie set in New York in 1992. No wonder it sounded familiar. The filmmakers say it isn’t a remake, but it sure seems quite alike. In the end, there wasn’t a really good reason that I needed to sit through the same themes again. There’s some good suspense and acting in it, but during the process you wade through considerable sleeze. Keitel’s lieutenant pays for it, but Cage’s lieutenant comes through clean. Continue reading →

I can’t remember which review or comment steered me away from this film at first, but I actually thought it turned out to be quite entertaining and suspenseful. It comes from a crime novel by Michael Connelly, whose books are usually quite good, about a lawyer in L.A. (played by Matthew McConaughey) who is working low-level cases out of his Lincoln town car when he happens upon a high-profile case and client.

It’s been a long time since Matthew McConaughey has had a decent role like this … not since “A Time to Kill” (1996) and perhaps “Contact” (1997). Kudos to him for getting back on the radar screen and away from all the rom-com fluff. It’s also good to see Marisa Tomei and William H. Macy in supporting roles in this.

The movie rolls with pace and has some good plot twists along the way with suspenseful court-room drama. It portrays the seedier side of the justice system and the deals that are cut long before the verdict. For a snowy afternoon, it held my attention from beginning to end. Continue reading →

Judging from the movie’s trailer, I didn’t really intend to see “Barney’s Version,” about a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking slouch of a television producer who marries three times in life, but since it’s set in Montreal (O Canada!) and stars Paul Giamatti, I wound up going to check it out. I wasn’t disappointed; it’s a small gem of a film and one of Giamatti’s best performances. Some say it doesn’t live up to the 1997 novel it’s based on by Mordecai Richler, but I haven’t read the novel just yet, so I can’t compare the different “versions,” other than to say “Barney’s” an entertaining and moving movie.

Beware though it has more drinking and smoking in it than I’ve seen in a flick in a long, long time. Giamatti’s character, the tubby Barney Panofsky, is rarely without either; he is as unhealthy as he is blunt-speaking but amusing, too. The movie spans his adult life with his clan of artist friends then as he marries crazy wife #1, then obnoxious wife #2, only to fall in love with perfect wife #3 at the previous wedding.

He’s a messy, at times jerky character but not without redeeming qualities. The movie grows poignant especially in the second half as Barney settles down with wife #3, his true love (played by the up-and-coming British actress Rosamund Pike) and has a family. It’s no wonder Giamatti received a Golden Globe for the film, he is amazing in the role. It’s a movie that sort of sneaks up on you (with Dustin Hoffman, too, as the endearing father). By the end, I found it quite touching what happens to Barney, and on the whole enjoyed the Montreal, Canada, aspect of it. The movie’s a pleasing thumbs up.

ps. See Paul Giamatti’s acceptance speech for the award he won for it at the Golden Globes here. Continue reading →

I won’t kid you. I was disappointed in spending two hours watching “Another Year.” I know many critics just loved this character study (I thought I would, too, judging from other reviews), but instead I found it rather dull. I think people in the theater kept politely waiting for something of note to happen but in fact nothing ever did. There was one person who stood up in the theater not too long into it and I heard say I can’t take it anymore and walked out. I’m not sure if there was something in particular the person was talking about or just the entire thing. Little did I know at that early stage they were quite right. At times it felt like grass growing.

But perhaps I’m just not the right person for Mike Leigh films as others seem to be. I plan not to sit through another. Yet I do very much like small indie films but just didn’t find a lot in this film, which is about the year in the life of a middle-aged British married couple. The married couple seem quite happy with each other but are surrounded by friends and family who are unhappy in their love lives or singledom. One of their friends in particular, Mary, who seems to be a sad sort of train wreck, garners a lot of focus of the movie. We see her desperately latch onto the happy couple in a pathetic kind of way to try to ease her misery, but she grows quite annoying to them and to us.

All the actors are quite excellent in their roles. I have no quibbles with them. They paint an intimate portrait of this couple and the people close to them. It’s just that the movie doesn’t seem to go anywhere, nothing really seems to happen. It’s too slow. The married couple at the center are happy, and the single folks around them are sort of sad sacks, a viewpoint that gets a bit tiresome after awhile. For once at the end, I couldn’t wait for all the credits to roll, I didn’t want to spend another moment on “Another Year.” Continue reading →

With the awards season here, I’m going to pick “The King’s Speech” as perhaps my favorite film of the year. Before seeing it, I thought it would be a bit dry and uneventful: a 1930’s period piece about the ascension of a king with a speech impediment to the throne of England. But it is anything but dull. The film, which dwells on the unlikely friendship of the Duke of York (later to become King George VI) and a speech therapist who helps him overcome his stammer, comes vibrantly to life on the big screen and is quite an extraordinary yarn.

The two are ill-matched, the duke and the commoner, whose credentials the duke finds out are not those of a real doctor. The destined monarch doesn’t believe in him, much less that he can be cured of something so ingrained. The therapist, played amazingly by Geoffrey Rush, has an uphill battle convincing the duke to accept him and in believing he can speak without a stammer.

Set against the backdrop of Edward VIII abdicating the throne and Hitler’s rise to power, the new king’s impediment coincides at a time of weighty importance. There’s no escaping his public speaking obligations. The film does a great job of conjuring the angst and imperativeness of his being able to communicate to the country. The king’s public address declaring war on Germany at the end is incredibly palpable, as is the film inspiring.

Kudos to the screenwriter, David Seidler, who apparently asked the royal family’s permission back in the 1970’s to write the script. The now-late Queen Elizabeth I (King George’s wife), however, declined saying the memory of events was too painful. Portraying the king as a stutterer apparently was not appropriate. Interestingly, it was Seidler’s own childhood stuttering that inspired him to write the script of his onetime idol and fellow stammerer, the king. Continue reading →

This is one of those kooky movies. Every few years it doesn’t hurt to see one, like “Psycho” or “Fatal Attraction” or whatnot. “Black Swan” is a little like those, but I thought it over the top in parts in what it was going for. Didn’t it seem to get a bit ridiculous? The audience laughed in a couple spooky parts that weren’t necessarily meant for laughter.

Despite that, I did like bits of “Black Swan,” which is the story of a veteran ballerina in a New York City company who wins the lead in “Swan Lake” but appears headed for a breakdown from the pressure as well as contending with a smothering psychotic mother (played by Barbara Hershey) and a rival ballerina (Mila Kunis).

The film does a good job at capturing the strenuous demands and artistry that goes into such a top venue dance performance. Nina, the lead ballerina (played by Natalie Portman), practices endlessly through pain and injuries to get the moves just right. She aims for perfection in a profession that insists on it, but along the way things start to become unglued.

Portman’s hard work and dance training for the role will likely earn her an Academy Award nomination, as well as the total angst she exudes as the character. Vincent Cassel does a great job as well as the demanding ballet director who pushes Nina to capture both sides of the role as the white and black swan.

It’s an intriguing vantage point for a movie. But the director seems to go a step further than necessary, making it more over the top than perhaps what would have made it more intriguing. Continue reading →