Roman Polanski's 'The Ghost Writer' is surely the sleeper of the year.
No one is talking about it, and they should be. The movie is a well-woven web of suspense, intrigue, quixotic characters, fascinating locales and Sherlock Holmesian spellbinding and unraveling.
Ewan McGregor plays a writer brought in to replace the ghost writer for the former British prime minister, Adam Lang, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. McGregor's character has no name. He's just "your ghost," as he tells Lang upon their meeting. The first ghost writer was found dead in the surf near Lang's beach house. Hmm.
The film is filled with top-drawer actors in relatively small parts, which says loudly that the script must be good to draw such renowned actors for so little "face time." James Belushi, Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson dot this ghostly mystery with vivid strokes.
Even Kim Cattrall of 'Sex in the City' fame actually gives a taut, credible performance as Lang's executive aide, a younger Miss Moneypenny of the Bond genre with almost as smooth a wit.
Needless to say, the Ghost finds himself entangled in the proverbial web of intrigue surrounding the former leader's memoirs and the secrets it holds between its lines.
Brosnan is becoming more and more a favorite as he moves away from the pretty boy roles and works on his acting chops. He's quite a snotty, controlling chap as the former PM. Even more, but more quietly, controlling is Lang's wife, Ruth, portrayed by British actress Olivia Williams. Glib, angry, biting, cajoling, purring, tearing-up, she is a Bond vixen with a much more polished veneer. Helen MacInnes might have crafted her.
Between these strongly drawn characters slides the Ghost. McGregor gives a smartly understated performance, not trying to steal or overpower any scenes. Just the right touch.
It's hard to praise Polanski, who has yet to be tried for admittedly having sex with a 13-year-old decades ago, despite his Academy Award-winning 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'Chinatown' and sympathy for him in the loss of his wife, Sharon Tate in one of the bloodiest of Charles Manson's murders. But he is brilliant, and The Ghost Writer leaves no doubt of his mature filmmaking skills.
The Ghost Writer will likely slip into ignominity as quietly as it came. It shouldn't but it likely will. Just be sure you don't miss it. And don't blink or you'll still miss it.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3376022553/
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Private Lives of Pippa Lee (2009)
LISE'S VIEW ...
'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' was so disappointing.
This story of a young wife of a brilliant but retired elder husband starts out with possibility, a sweet love story of an older man and a devoted young wife, but deteriorates into a mish-mash of drug use, promiscuity, self-absorption, mental instability and bad, bad choices.
Pippa, portrayed by Robin Wright Penn, and her husband, successful Herb Lee, portrayed by unfailingly delightful Alan Arkin, have what seems to be a calm, idyllic life, eating with friends and spending quiet time together. Lee has, we find, married Pippa and rescued her from a dissolute, quite disgusting life which started with a crazed, drunken mother and ended with lots of drugs and sex. And we get to see it. Oh boy.
Pippa, we realize, is slipping into a mental morass, perhaps because of her morally and psychologically damaging teen years. She meets her friend, Dot's stand-offish and sort of rude son, about a decade her junior, and next thing we know, Pippa is slipping into more than a mental pit.
Without spoiling anything, just be forewarned, this is not a cheery movie or a love story, and Pippa is not at all the nice, sweet gal we meet in the opening hour of the movie.
Pippa is a disappointment. Her husband and friends are disappointing, and Keanu Reeves as the son of Pippa's friend gives the most forgettable, wooden performance of his career.
You may search for something redeemable about Pippa and this movie, but you will come up empty-handed. Just let Pippa's secret lives remain that. A secret.
'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' was so disappointing.
This story of a young wife of a brilliant but retired elder husband starts out with possibility, a sweet love story of an older man and a devoted young wife, but deteriorates into a mish-mash of drug use, promiscuity, self-absorption, mental instability and bad, bad choices.
Pippa, portrayed by Robin Wright Penn, and her husband, successful Herb Lee, portrayed by unfailingly delightful Alan Arkin, have what seems to be a calm, idyllic life, eating with friends and spending quiet time together. Lee has, we find, married Pippa and rescued her from a dissolute, quite disgusting life which started with a crazed, drunken mother and ended with lots of drugs and sex. And we get to see it. Oh boy.
Pippa, we realize, is slipping into a mental morass, perhaps because of her morally and psychologically damaging teen years. She meets her friend, Dot's stand-offish and sort of rude son, about a decade her junior, and next thing we know, Pippa is slipping into more than a mental pit.
Without spoiling anything, just be forewarned, this is not a cheery movie or a love story, and Pippa is not at all the nice, sweet gal we meet in the opening hour of the movie.
Pippa is a disappointment. Her husband and friends are disappointing, and Keanu Reeves as the son of Pippa's friend gives the most forgettable, wooden performance of his career.
You may search for something redeemable about Pippa and this movie, but you will come up empty-handed. Just let Pippa's secret lives remain that. A secret.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Remember Me 2010
LISE’s VIEW …
This spring’s non-Twilight Rob Pattinson film Remember Me will be most memorable because of what it could have been.
Some people might feel sadness, nostalgia, loss because of the, as some have called it, “powerful” ending. What they should be feeling is puzzlement. Where was the first half of the movie? The second half is, indeed, strong, gut-wrenching and poignant. The first half is disjoint, choppy and abstruse.
Perhaps it is one of those movies that once you’ve seen the ending, you must go back and re-watch the movie to “get it.” The first scenes through the [groan, predictable] sex scene do gel in one’s mind better on second viewing.
But should a movie require being watched twice for understanding? The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and The Sixth Sense, with the famous “I see dead people” line and the “aha” ending, share that need. They are worth the second viewing.
The question here is: Is Remember Me worth having to watch multiple times to appreciate? My first instinct was: Not sure. After watching and re-watching, maybe Remember Me is worth the review.
My frustrations: For some reason, director Allen Coulter allowed, perhaps sought, scenes in which lines are mumbled or spat out at light speed in the midst of a jumble of images and sounds. As viewers “get to know” the characters, they must struggle to hear and grasp what’s going on – much as the characters are struggling with their own understanding of their lives and circumstances.
The central character, Tyler, is played by the teen-sensation Pattinson. (As you can imagine, there were queues wherever they were shooting in New York.) He’s a spoiled brat, who is so irresponsible and unmotivated that he is only auditing his college classes. The audience would be hard-pressed to like Tyler, who goes into rages or funks at every turn. He doesn’t know when to be quiet nor does he care.
Tyler’s cool elder brother, Michael, killed himself and Tyler still writes to him. His little sister, Caroline, is also very different, an artist, in fact, and is the butt of jokes by the privileged perfect girls at school. Tyler’s college-age roommate is a self-proclaimed pr –, well, jerk. You can’t like him, either.
There’s Tyler’s father, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. He’s an adult jerk, who is partly so because he’s a very successful businessman and doesn’t have time for tolerating less-than-perfect children.
Then Tyler meets a tough yet pretty young woman at NYU, where he works in the library, and of course, she changes him, or love changes him – to what, I don’t know. Abruptly, of course, intervenes.
OK. So the script is often pedestrian and inexplicable. The first half of the movie is a tangled mess. And characters like Tyler and friend Aidan mumble or babble a lot.
The second half is better, and some of the performances are worth watching. Brosnan has finally become an actor, and his snappish father/big businessman is quite compelling. Ruby Jerins is endearing and, of course, spunky as Tyler’s little sis. And finally, Emilie de Ravin is de-ravishing as Tyler’s new love, Ally. You will never forget her eyes -- her performance, maybe, but not those arresting eyes.
Remember Me is mostly memorable for its disappointments, including a non-descript performance in a too-small part by consummate actor Chris Cooper as Ally’s cop father,
Remember This:
If you decide (tough decision) to rent RM, leave time to re-watch a couple times to actually “get it,” and hopefully you will think it’s worth getting.
*****
JOEL's VIEW ...
This was a pretty good movie. It is a little disturbing to see Robert Pattinson smoking and drinking beer in this movie. He does a pretty good job in this. His character is Tyler, a moody, 21-year-old college student.
Emilie de Ravin does a good job playing Ally, the girl who Tyler falls for. She has lost her mother and has only her father to look up to.
The thing that really captured my attention was the supporting cast. It was chock full of Broadway actors. It featured Chris Cooper (Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation) as Neil Craig, Ally’s father. Lena Olin as Tyler’s mother, Diane Hirsch. Pierce Brosnan of James Bond fame plays Charles Hawkins, Tyler’s father, who works as a lawyer. Tony winner Gregory Jbara (Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Billy Elliot: The Musical) as Les Hirsch.
Martha Plimpton (Tony nominated for Top Girls, The Coast of Utopia, and Pal Joey) as Helen Craig, Ally’s mother. Also, there is Kate Burton, daughter of the fantastic actor, Richard Burton, as Janine.
I recommend this to anyone who just wants a decent movie to watch anytime they want. This is a good one.
http://www.rememberme-movie.com/
This spring’s non-Twilight Rob Pattinson film Remember Me will be most memorable because of what it could have been.
Some people might feel sadness, nostalgia, loss because of the, as some have called it, “powerful” ending. What they should be feeling is puzzlement. Where was the first half of the movie? The second half is, indeed, strong, gut-wrenching and poignant. The first half is disjoint, choppy and abstruse.
Perhaps it is one of those movies that once you’ve seen the ending, you must go back and re-watch the movie to “get it.” The first scenes through the [groan, predictable] sex scene do gel in one’s mind better on second viewing.
But should a movie require being watched twice for understanding? The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, and The Sixth Sense, with the famous “I see dead people” line and the “aha” ending, share that need. They are worth the second viewing.
The question here is: Is Remember Me worth having to watch multiple times to appreciate? My first instinct was: Not sure. After watching and re-watching, maybe Remember Me is worth the review.
My frustrations: For some reason, director Allen Coulter allowed, perhaps sought, scenes in which lines are mumbled or spat out at light speed in the midst of a jumble of images and sounds. As viewers “get to know” the characters, they must struggle to hear and grasp what’s going on – much as the characters are struggling with their own understanding of their lives and circumstances.
The central character, Tyler, is played by the teen-sensation Pattinson. (As you can imagine, there were queues wherever they were shooting in New York.) He’s a spoiled brat, who is so irresponsible and unmotivated that he is only auditing his college classes. The audience would be hard-pressed to like Tyler, who goes into rages or funks at every turn. He doesn’t know when to be quiet nor does he care.
Tyler’s cool elder brother, Michael, killed himself and Tyler still writes to him. His little sister, Caroline, is also very different, an artist, in fact, and is the butt of jokes by the privileged perfect girls at school. Tyler’s college-age roommate is a self-proclaimed pr –, well, jerk. You can’t like him, either.
There’s Tyler’s father, portrayed by Pierce Brosnan. He’s an adult jerk, who is partly so because he’s a very successful businessman and doesn’t have time for tolerating less-than-perfect children.
Then Tyler meets a tough yet pretty young woman at NYU, where he works in the library, and of course, she changes him, or love changes him – to what, I don’t know. Abruptly, of course, intervenes.
OK. So the script is often pedestrian and inexplicable. The first half of the movie is a tangled mess. And characters like Tyler and friend Aidan mumble or babble a lot.
The second half is better, and some of the performances are worth watching. Brosnan has finally become an actor, and his snappish father/big businessman is quite compelling. Ruby Jerins is endearing and, of course, spunky as Tyler’s little sis. And finally, Emilie de Ravin is de-ravishing as Tyler’s new love, Ally. You will never forget her eyes -- her performance, maybe, but not those arresting eyes.
Remember Me is mostly memorable for its disappointments, including a non-descript performance in a too-small part by consummate actor Chris Cooper as Ally’s cop father,
Remember This:
If you decide (tough decision) to rent RM, leave time to re-watch a couple times to actually “get it,” and hopefully you will think it’s worth getting.
*****
JOEL's VIEW ...
This was a pretty good movie. It is a little disturbing to see Robert Pattinson smoking and drinking beer in this movie. He does a pretty good job in this. His character is Tyler, a moody, 21-year-old college student.
Emilie de Ravin does a good job playing Ally, the girl who Tyler falls for. She has lost her mother and has only her father to look up to.
The thing that really captured my attention was the supporting cast. It was chock full of Broadway actors. It featured Chris Cooper (Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for Adaptation) as Neil Craig, Ally’s father. Lena Olin as Tyler’s mother, Diane Hirsch. Pierce Brosnan of James Bond fame plays Charles Hawkins, Tyler’s father, who works as a lawyer. Tony winner Gregory Jbara (Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Billy Elliot: The Musical) as Les Hirsch.
Martha Plimpton (Tony nominated for Top Girls, The Coast of Utopia, and Pal Joey) as Helen Craig, Ally’s mother. Also, there is Kate Burton, daughter of the fantastic actor, Richard Burton, as Janine.
I recommend this to anyone who just wants a decent movie to watch anytime they want. This is a good one.
http://www.rememberme-movie.com/
Monday, July 12, 2010
Despicable Me (2010)
JOEL's VIEW ...
This movie is mainly about the people on the other side, the villains, instead of it having a superhero.
Gru is voiced masterfully by the great comedian, Steve Carell, who uses a Mike-Myers-voicing-Shrek-like voice to do the voice of Gru. Soon, Gru realizes that he is not the #1 supervillain. He is now #2 because Mr. Perkins’ son, Vector (formerly Victor Perkins), stole the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
Mr. Perkins, the Supervillian Bank president, told Gru he will not give him a loan until Gru obtains the Shrink Ray for the plan that Gru has to become the #1 supervillian in the world, to steal the moon.
Then, three little orphans named Margo, Edith, and Agnes (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly and Drake and Josh fame, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher, respectively) move in.
Russell Brand voices Dr. Nefario, Gru’s hearing-impaired scientist assistant. What took me by surprise is that Julie Andrews voiced Gru’s mother but I couldn’t tell it was her but it was.
The minions are super hilarious. They can just split your sides with whatever they do.
This is a good movie for little kids and people who just want to have fun. Go see it.
*****
LISE's VIEW ...
Pixar and DreamWorks Animation are crying this week. Newcomer Illumination Entertainment is the Evil Meany that popped their smiley balloon, literally and figuratively.
Despicable Me, super-villain-wannabe Gru voiced by crazy man Steve Carell, has shrunken the public’s devotion to Wall-e, Mike Wazowski and Buzz Lightyear with its fearful Shrink Ray. Very soon everyone’s new favs will be the prolific and irresistible banana-yellow Minions, who come in all shapes and sizes and whose giggles are infectious.
Like predecessors Toy Story and Monsters Inc., Despicable Me will keep adults, as well as tykes, enthralled. “You could take this movie on any level and find it adorable,” says screen and stage legend Julie Andrews, who voices Gru’s cruel mother. So true, Julie!
Granted: The plot is predictable. A villain adopts three girls desperately in need of homes to get in the door of his arch-rival Vector. For a long time, Gru is immovable, stalwartly resistant to their charms. “Don’t sneeze or barf or fart,” he warns them. It might disturb the master meany at work!
But, guess what? He softens. Next thing you know, he’s a big, sweet, Teddy bear of a guy, reading them stories and having tea parties with them.
Yet you won’t mind. There are too many other things to keep your interest and make you smile to spend time being disappointed in the lack of depth and divergence.
For instance, Dr. Nefario, who is the rather elderly mad scientist who helps Gru design dastardly devices to enhance his various villainous endeavors, is a hoot, particularly because he doesn’t hear well (Ack! Ageism Alert!).
Instead of the “cookie robots” Gru requests by phone, Nefario creates a room full of little John Travolta-like bots that disco dance – having heard “boogie” instead of “cookie.” [snicker]
Additionally, Vector, voiced by Jason Segal of sitcom How I Met Your Mother, is a fascinating megalomaniac in a neon orange warm-up suit. Even the little girls make fun of the over-grown teen and his iridescent “pajamas” and penchant for coconutty cookies.
And don’t forget the minions! Check ‘em out! You will want minions of your own!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO-pN_-y5YA&feature=channel
Despicable. Predictable. But delectable. [giggle]
This movie is mainly about the people on the other side, the villains, instead of it having a superhero.
Gru is voiced masterfully by the great comedian, Steve Carell, who uses a Mike-Myers-voicing-Shrek-like voice to do the voice of Gru. Soon, Gru realizes that he is not the #1 supervillain. He is now #2 because Mr. Perkins’ son, Vector (formerly Victor Perkins), stole the Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
Mr. Perkins, the Supervillian Bank president, told Gru he will not give him a loan until Gru obtains the Shrink Ray for the plan that Gru has to become the #1 supervillian in the world, to steal the moon.
Then, three little orphans named Margo, Edith, and Agnes (voiced by Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly and Drake and Josh fame, Dana Gaier, and Elsie Fisher, respectively) move in.
Russell Brand voices Dr. Nefario, Gru’s hearing-impaired scientist assistant. What took me by surprise is that Julie Andrews voiced Gru’s mother but I couldn’t tell it was her but it was.
The minions are super hilarious. They can just split your sides with whatever they do.
This is a good movie for little kids and people who just want to have fun. Go see it.
*****
LISE's VIEW ...
Pixar and DreamWorks Animation are crying this week. Newcomer Illumination Entertainment is the Evil Meany that popped their smiley balloon, literally and figuratively.
Despicable Me, super-villain-wannabe Gru voiced by crazy man Steve Carell, has shrunken the public’s devotion to Wall-e, Mike Wazowski and Buzz Lightyear with its fearful Shrink Ray. Very soon everyone’s new favs will be the prolific and irresistible banana-yellow Minions, who come in all shapes and sizes and whose giggles are infectious.
Like predecessors Toy Story and Monsters Inc., Despicable Me will keep adults, as well as tykes, enthralled. “You could take this movie on any level and find it adorable,” says screen and stage legend Julie Andrews, who voices Gru’s cruel mother. So true, Julie!
Granted: The plot is predictable. A villain adopts three girls desperately in need of homes to get in the door of his arch-rival Vector. For a long time, Gru is immovable, stalwartly resistant to their charms. “Don’t sneeze or barf or fart,” he warns them. It might disturb the master meany at work!
But, guess what? He softens. Next thing you know, he’s a big, sweet, Teddy bear of a guy, reading them stories and having tea parties with them.
Yet you won’t mind. There are too many other things to keep your interest and make you smile to spend time being disappointed in the lack of depth and divergence.
For instance, Dr. Nefario, who is the rather elderly mad scientist who helps Gru design dastardly devices to enhance his various villainous endeavors, is a hoot, particularly because he doesn’t hear well (Ack! Ageism Alert!).
Instead of the “cookie robots” Gru requests by phone, Nefario creates a room full of little John Travolta-like bots that disco dance – having heard “boogie” instead of “cookie.” [snicker]
Additionally, Vector, voiced by Jason Segal of sitcom How I Met Your Mother, is a fascinating megalomaniac in a neon orange warm-up suit. Even the little girls make fun of the over-grown teen and his iridescent “pajamas” and penchant for coconutty cookies.
And don’t forget the minions! Check ‘em out! You will want minions of your own!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO-pN_-y5YA&feature=channel
Despicable. Predictable. But delectable. [giggle]
Thursday, July 8, 2010
The Lovely Bones (2009)
JOEL's VIEW ...
The movie was really scary but really good. Saoirse Ronan who played Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who got murdered and raped, did an outstanding job.
Stanley Tucci got a lot of accolades and praise for his performance as
Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson (won his Oscar for Best Director in 2003 for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) did a great job with this movie.
It’s kind of weird that they have a Catholic way of heaven and hell in this movie. Susie ends up being in the “In-Between” which is kind of like purgatory in the Catholic religion.
Before she dies she has a crush on this boy in her Movie Fan Club and they plan to meet at the gazebo at the mall. Her wish to kiss him comes at the very end of the movie and they kiss and she goes on to Heaven. In the “In-Between”, she sees 6 of Harvey’s other victims.
Stanley Tucci did an outstanding job playing a mentally ill murderer.
The rest of the supporting cast is outstanding. Mark Wahlberg as the father of Saoirse Ronan’s character. Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz (Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Constant Gardener) as the mother, and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (Oscar for Best Actress for Dead Man Walking).
I recommend this to anyone who loves thrillers.
*****
LISE's VIEW ...
Do NOT expect The Lovely Bones to satisfy a yearning for a “thriller.” There’s very little suspense to this story. Actually, there’s very little PLOT to this story.
Susie Salmon is a pubescent 14-year-old, ready for her first real relationship. She’s sparkly and sweet and the kind of daughter anyone would be proud to have. Unfortunately, neighbor George Harvey wants to have her, too -- and he gets her.
We see him plan a lair for her and then watch her walk home through the cornfield, lure her into the other-worldly, candlelit underground hideaway. We don’t see him rape, kill and dismember her, but we know he killed her brutally because of all the blood.
From this early point in the movie, we watch Susie romp through a flowery, leafy heaven and narrate the coming months of her family’s lives. She watches her father struggle with anger, grief and frustration. She watches her younger sister, Lindsey, vigilantly observe neighbor Harvey and his house, almost taunting him to come for her, too.
Strangely, Lindsey is the only who suspects Harvey. That’s why Susie must keep watching the family, to inspire them to see the truth, so close to them.
We watch Susie’s odd female schoolmate become close to Susie’s almost boyfriend. And finally, we watch Susie sort of “dream” about other girls’ dead bodies Harvey has left in his wake.
At least half of the Fun in Heaven scenes seem superfluous, even boring. We get it. She’s dead and in her own version of heaven. All right already.
So much for the plot, which is as watery and wavery as some of Susie’s visions/dreams.
The performances, however, are crystalline and vivid.
Saoirse Ronan is so cute and vivacious, you just want to hug her and never let her go. Watching her walk into that creep’s trap is very hard, especially for a parent.
Mark Wahlberg, probably best known for his performance in The Departed and his rapper career, was truly riveting as Susie’s loving and tortured dad. Rose McIver as sister Lindsey is also driven as she stalks the man she thinks hurt her sister.
As Susie’s other, Rachel Weisz serves mostly as eye-candy. Nothing special there.
On the other hand, as Harvey, the meticulous dollhouse-building serial killer, Stanley Tucci is as skin-crawling a bad guy as you will ever see. He’s pitiful but not in any way pitiable. He is always alert for something evil to do, someone innocent to hurt. Director Peter Jackson, really unnecessarily, has Tucci wear contacts that make his eyes even wider and weirder. Tucci would have done wonderfully on his own.
In conclusion? The movie is worth watching just for the performances, especially Tucci’s, but don’t feel guilty if you fast-forward through some of the floaty heaven scenes.
Oh, and if you wonder where the title comes from (because it’s never revealed in the movie), it’s from the end of the book, which must be MUCH more exciting than the screen version.
‘These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it.’
The movie was really scary but really good. Saoirse Ronan who played Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl who got murdered and raped, did an outstanding job.
Stanley Tucci got a lot of accolades and praise for his performance as
Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson (won his Oscar for Best Director in 2003 for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) did a great job with this movie.
It’s kind of weird that they have a Catholic way of heaven and hell in this movie. Susie ends up being in the “In-Between” which is kind of like purgatory in the Catholic religion.
Before she dies she has a crush on this boy in her Movie Fan Club and they plan to meet at the gazebo at the mall. Her wish to kiss him comes at the very end of the movie and they kiss and she goes on to Heaven. In the “In-Between”, she sees 6 of Harvey’s other victims.
Stanley Tucci did an outstanding job playing a mentally ill murderer.
The rest of the supporting cast is outstanding. Mark Wahlberg as the father of Saoirse Ronan’s character. Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz (Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for The Constant Gardener) as the mother, and Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (Oscar for Best Actress for Dead Man Walking).
I recommend this to anyone who loves thrillers.
*****
LISE's VIEW ...
Do NOT expect The Lovely Bones to satisfy a yearning for a “thriller.” There’s very little suspense to this story. Actually, there’s very little PLOT to this story.
Susie Salmon is a pubescent 14-year-old, ready for her first real relationship. She’s sparkly and sweet and the kind of daughter anyone would be proud to have. Unfortunately, neighbor George Harvey wants to have her, too -- and he gets her.
We see him plan a lair for her and then watch her walk home through the cornfield, lure her into the other-worldly, candlelit underground hideaway. We don’t see him rape, kill and dismember her, but we know he killed her brutally because of all the blood.
From this early point in the movie, we watch Susie romp through a flowery, leafy heaven and narrate the coming months of her family’s lives. She watches her father struggle with anger, grief and frustration. She watches her younger sister, Lindsey, vigilantly observe neighbor Harvey and his house, almost taunting him to come for her, too.
Strangely, Lindsey is the only who suspects Harvey. That’s why Susie must keep watching the family, to inspire them to see the truth, so close to them.
We watch Susie’s odd female schoolmate become close to Susie’s almost boyfriend. And finally, we watch Susie sort of “dream” about other girls’ dead bodies Harvey has left in his wake.
At least half of the Fun in Heaven scenes seem superfluous, even boring. We get it. She’s dead and in her own version of heaven. All right already.
So much for the plot, which is as watery and wavery as some of Susie’s visions/dreams.
The performances, however, are crystalline and vivid.
Saoirse Ronan is so cute and vivacious, you just want to hug her and never let her go. Watching her walk into that creep’s trap is very hard, especially for a parent.
Mark Wahlberg, probably best known for his performance in The Departed and his rapper career, was truly riveting as Susie’s loving and tortured dad. Rose McIver as sister Lindsey is also driven as she stalks the man she thinks hurt her sister.
As Susie’s other, Rachel Weisz serves mostly as eye-candy. Nothing special there.
On the other hand, as Harvey, the meticulous dollhouse-building serial killer, Stanley Tucci is as skin-crawling a bad guy as you will ever see. He’s pitiful but not in any way pitiable. He is always alert for something evil to do, someone innocent to hurt. Director Peter Jackson, really unnecessarily, has Tucci wear contacts that make his eyes even wider and weirder. Tucci would have done wonderfully on his own.
In conclusion? The movie is worth watching just for the performances, especially Tucci’s, but don’t feel guilty if you fast-forward through some of the floaty heaven scenes.
Oh, and if you wonder where the title comes from (because it’s never revealed in the movie), it’s from the end of the book, which must be MUCH more exciting than the screen version.
‘These were the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections — sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent — that happened after I was gone. And I began to see things in a way that let me hold the world without me in it.’
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The Blind Side (2009) ~ by Joel
JOEL's VIEW
Sandra Bullock was really good in her Oscar winning role of Leigh Ann Tuohy.
Tim McGraw did well in a rare film appearance as Leigh Ann’s husband.
Tony Award winning acts Adrianne Lennox gave a great performance as the drug addicted mother of Michael Oher.
The guy who played Michael Oher was good.
I didn’t much care for the movie. It wasn’t as good as I suspected the second time seeing it.
What I did like were the cameos of the different coaches in college football. For example, ESPN analyst Lou Holtz (for South Carolina, even though I thought he coached at Notre Dame), Phil Fulmer from Tennessee (my mom can’t stand Tennessee just like Leigh Ann Tuohy), Houston Nutt from Arkansas (now at Ole Miss), Tommy Bowden (son of former Florida State great Coach Bobby Bowden), Ed Orgeron from Ole Miss, Nick Sabam from LSU (now at Alabama), and Tommy Tuberville from Auburn. To my disappointment, there was no Mark Richt from Georgia.
It was cool that they showed footage of the real Michael Oher being drafted and photos and video taken when he was actually drafted.
*****
LISE's VIEW
Hmm. I really liked Blind Side. I think most moms who have put their all into raising children (and many of their children’s neighbors and friends) and have a heart for less fortunate young people will really feel gushy and warm while watching Sandra Bullock’s much-touted opus.
The blonde Bullock is not a mushy mom, and I like that. She’s very matter-of-fact, doesn’t hug and gush over her own progeny or the teenage black man who she takes into her home. She is real and admittedly not perfect. Bonus.
Understandably, director John Lee Hancock uses a LOT of close-ups of Bullock, and she is not hard on the eyes and is the one big star, so it’s OK.
Quinton Aaron, as Michael “Big Mike” Oher, the disadvantaged youth she and Sean Tuohy adopt, is also believable. He doesn’t overplay the part – his first – and reminds me a lot of other young people who respond to life’s hardest knocks by retreating into a shell, head down, tail between legs.
Extra delights in the November 2009 release are Jae Head as the rambunctious little brother and country singer Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne Tuohy’s voice-of-reason husband and entrepreneur. I expected nothing from McGraw and was very surprised at his thoughtful interpretation of this understanding hubby. Sans facial hair and cowboy hat, he looks like a nice, regular guy.
Head as “S.J.” is way over-the-top in his performance, but he makes you smile and you forgive.
There are no surprises in this movie, but there are lots of warm and slightly sniffley moments. The language is wonderfully clean and the good guys win, and all is well with the world.
The Blind Side is PG-13, run :128 minutes
Sandra Bullock was really good in her Oscar winning role of Leigh Ann Tuohy.
Tim McGraw did well in a rare film appearance as Leigh Ann’s husband.
Tony Award winning acts Adrianne Lennox gave a great performance as the drug addicted mother of Michael Oher.
The guy who played Michael Oher was good.
I didn’t much care for the movie. It wasn’t as good as I suspected the second time seeing it.
What I did like were the cameos of the different coaches in college football. For example, ESPN analyst Lou Holtz (for South Carolina, even though I thought he coached at Notre Dame), Phil Fulmer from Tennessee (my mom can’t stand Tennessee just like Leigh Ann Tuohy), Houston Nutt from Arkansas (now at Ole Miss), Tommy Bowden (son of former Florida State great Coach Bobby Bowden), Ed Orgeron from Ole Miss, Nick Sabam from LSU (now at Alabama), and Tommy Tuberville from Auburn. To my disappointment, there was no Mark Richt from Georgia.
It was cool that they showed footage of the real Michael Oher being drafted and photos and video taken when he was actually drafted.
*****
LISE's VIEW
Hmm. I really liked Blind Side. I think most moms who have put their all into raising children (and many of their children’s neighbors and friends) and have a heart for less fortunate young people will really feel gushy and warm while watching Sandra Bullock’s much-touted opus.
The blonde Bullock is not a mushy mom, and I like that. She’s very matter-of-fact, doesn’t hug and gush over her own progeny or the teenage black man who she takes into her home. She is real and admittedly not perfect. Bonus.
Understandably, director John Lee Hancock uses a LOT of close-ups of Bullock, and she is not hard on the eyes and is the one big star, so it’s OK.
Quinton Aaron, as Michael “Big Mike” Oher, the disadvantaged youth she and Sean Tuohy adopt, is also believable. He doesn’t overplay the part – his first – and reminds me a lot of other young people who respond to life’s hardest knocks by retreating into a shell, head down, tail between legs.
Extra delights in the November 2009 release are Jae Head as the rambunctious little brother and country singer Tim McGraw as Leigh Anne Tuohy’s voice-of-reason husband and entrepreneur. I expected nothing from McGraw and was very surprised at his thoughtful interpretation of this understanding hubby. Sans facial hair and cowboy hat, he looks like a nice, regular guy.
Head as “S.J.” is way over-the-top in his performance, but he makes you smile and you forgive.
There are no surprises in this movie, but there are lots of warm and slightly sniffley moments. The language is wonderfully clean and the good guys win, and all is well with the world.
The Blind Side is PG-13, run :128 minutes
Friday, July 2, 2010
Review of Alice in Wonderland (2010)
JOEL's VIEW
The movie was pretty good. The set design was ingenious. The cast was good.
The way that Johnny Depp recited “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll was incredible with a dark but deep Scottish brogue.
The supporting cast of voices and actors was superb. Helena Bonham Carter got her first taste of playing the antagonist in this movie and she was really good. Anne Hathaway played the character she usually plays, very light and princessy, she did pretty well.
Timothy Spall, of Harry Potter fame, voices Bayard, the bloodhound. Michael Sheen, who was famous for starring as Tony Blair in The Queen with Oscar winner, Helen Mirren, and starring in the Broadway production and the movie adaptation of the play, Frost/Nixon, voices the White Rabbit. He was pretty good.
Alan Rickman who became well-known after starring in the Emma Thompson adaptation of Sense and Sensibility but rose to international fame as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movie series. He is, as always, intimidating but fun to watch. He has one of those ominous basso profundo voices you can’t get out of your head.
Imogene, Alice’s aunt is played by Tony winner Frances de la Tour. Frances de la Tour played one of the teachers in her Tony winning performance for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The History Boys. She was really good.
The makeup for this movie was Oscar-worthy, hands down. The animation they did on the Cheshire Cat was amazing. The way they made him disappear and reappear is just astounding.
So out of a possible 10, I would give the film an 8.4 out of 10. It wasn’t the best film I had ever seen but it was indeed good.
*****
LISE's VIEW
Joel knows all the voices and who has awards, I just know what I like, and I really liked this version of Alice.
Several people bemoaned to me that it wasn’t true to the Wonderland story. Although I loved the Lewis Carroll fantastical tale, I just put aside my preconceptions (as I had to do with the new Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) and let the film take me where it might. And it took me to delightful places.
Mia Wasikowska as a not-so-childish Alice was pale, wan and quite spunky. Her family and pseudo-friends, who want her to marry this supercilious fop Hamish, were suitably self-absorbed and annoying, and the blandness of costumes and environment BEFORE her trip to Underland was a neat contrast with the whimsical cacophony of color and characters once she was down Under.
And all the folks you want to see are there – and do not disappoint. Despite my dislike for Johnny Depp, he was creepy and kooky enough as The Mad Hatter. The touches by wardrobe of thimbles and pin-cushion rings on fingers make watching a second time interesting. The bright orange hair and eyes were quite snicker-snack themselves. I don’t grasp why he had to change accents, from a hatter-like lisp to an angry brogue when a little bit puffed, but it wasn’t too obnoxious, to me, at least.
Helena Bonham Carter is another overly precocious actor scarcely worth tolerating, but she was perfect as the Bloody Big Head, the Red Queen. The digital work to make her head 10 times larger than everyone else’s was fascinating, and her screeches of “Off with his/her head!” were suitably evil and selfish.
Watch out, though. Those heads floating in the moat around the castle are pretty gross. Children might like the image, and Alice’s foot coming out of a long-dead and damp mouth with goo all over it, but I gagged.
The digitization of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum was amazing, also. The geniuses took a bald Matt Lucas, dressed him up and then used his actions times TWO, with differing but equally vapid expressions for each. Really cool and very funny if you watch them closely.
Finally, those who are original Alice die-hards will still find some treats in Tim Burton’s edition. The Cheshire Cat swirls, floats, disappears and reappears just as he should, with the ever-present grin, and the Blue Caterpillar (Absalom), voiced by the consummate actor Alan Rickman, really smokes his hookah and intones glumly as to Alice’s frailties. This film is worth watching just for Cheshire and Rickman’s Caterpillar.
Those who love and can still recite Jabberwocky will get a snippet of it, albeit slightly altered and in Depp’s weird angry accent, and find that the poem becomes interestingly intertwined with the plot.
Give it a chance. It’s beautiful. It’s clever. But it’s probably more for teens and adults than smaller children – not because of anything inappropriate, but simply because the fascinating sights this Alice offers take a bit more thought to appreciate.
PG, :108 minutes
The movie was pretty good. The set design was ingenious. The cast was good.
The way that Johnny Depp recited “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll was incredible with a dark but deep Scottish brogue.
The supporting cast of voices and actors was superb. Helena Bonham Carter got her first taste of playing the antagonist in this movie and she was really good. Anne Hathaway played the character she usually plays, very light and princessy, she did pretty well.
Timothy Spall, of Harry Potter fame, voices Bayard, the bloodhound. Michael Sheen, who was famous for starring as Tony Blair in The Queen with Oscar winner, Helen Mirren, and starring in the Broadway production and the movie adaptation of the play, Frost/Nixon, voices the White Rabbit. He was pretty good.
Alan Rickman who became well-known after starring in the Emma Thompson adaptation of Sense and Sensibility but rose to international fame as Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter movie series. He is, as always, intimidating but fun to watch. He has one of those ominous basso profundo voices you can’t get out of your head.
Imogene, Alice’s aunt is played by Tony winner Frances de la Tour. Frances de la Tour played one of the teachers in her Tony winning performance for Best Featured Actress in a Play for The History Boys. She was really good.
The makeup for this movie was Oscar-worthy, hands down. The animation they did on the Cheshire Cat was amazing. The way they made him disappear and reappear is just astounding.
So out of a possible 10, I would give the film an 8.4 out of 10. It wasn’t the best film I had ever seen but it was indeed good.
*****
LISE's VIEW
Joel knows all the voices and who has awards, I just know what I like, and I really liked this version of Alice.
Several people bemoaned to me that it wasn’t true to the Wonderland story. Although I loved the Lewis Carroll fantastical tale, I just put aside my preconceptions (as I had to do with the new Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law) and let the film take me where it might. And it took me to delightful places.
Mia Wasikowska as a not-so-childish Alice was pale, wan and quite spunky. Her family and pseudo-friends, who want her to marry this supercilious fop Hamish, were suitably self-absorbed and annoying, and the blandness of costumes and environment BEFORE her trip to Underland was a neat contrast with the whimsical cacophony of color and characters once she was down Under.
And all the folks you want to see are there – and do not disappoint. Despite my dislike for Johnny Depp, he was creepy and kooky enough as The Mad Hatter. The touches by wardrobe of thimbles and pin-cushion rings on fingers make watching a second time interesting. The bright orange hair and eyes were quite snicker-snack themselves. I don’t grasp why he had to change accents, from a hatter-like lisp to an angry brogue when a little bit puffed, but it wasn’t too obnoxious, to me, at least.
Helena Bonham Carter is another overly precocious actor scarcely worth tolerating, but she was perfect as the Bloody Big Head, the Red Queen. The digital work to make her head 10 times larger than everyone else’s was fascinating, and her screeches of “Off with his/her head!” were suitably evil and selfish.
Watch out, though. Those heads floating in the moat around the castle are pretty gross. Children might like the image, and Alice’s foot coming out of a long-dead and damp mouth with goo all over it, but I gagged.
The digitization of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum was amazing, also. The geniuses took a bald Matt Lucas, dressed him up and then used his actions times TWO, with differing but equally vapid expressions for each. Really cool and very funny if you watch them closely.
Finally, those who are original Alice die-hards will still find some treats in Tim Burton’s edition. The Cheshire Cat swirls, floats, disappears and reappears just as he should, with the ever-present grin, and the Blue Caterpillar (Absalom), voiced by the consummate actor Alan Rickman, really smokes his hookah and intones glumly as to Alice’s frailties. This film is worth watching just for Cheshire and Rickman’s Caterpillar.
Those who love and can still recite Jabberwocky will get a snippet of it, albeit slightly altered and in Depp’s weird angry accent, and find that the poem becomes interestingly intertwined with the plot.
Give it a chance. It’s beautiful. It’s clever. But it’s probably more for teens and adults than smaller children – not because of anything inappropriate, but simply because the fascinating sights this Alice offers take a bit more thought to appreciate.
PG, :108 minutes
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