The Critical Filmmaker

I know I mentioned in a previous review that I like stories of discovery.  I also have said in the past that I tend to enjoy films about teachers and writers. Well, this film is sort of an exception to that.  Maybe it's because I saw Freedom Writers the night before and the scenes of jaded teachers and faculty tend to grate on me.  Coming from that film and seeing the opening sequence in which college professor - and Lewis and Clark aficionado - Lewis is told that teaching his students isn't important, only irked me a tad bit further And then there are his kids who in some ways remind me of George Clooney and the younger cast in the Descendents (read my review).  Another film I didn't love. I think my problem is that we've gone down this road before.  We've seen these kind of predictable plots.  They key in these films should be how they get there.  To paraphrase Lau Tsu, "It's the journey, not the destination."  And yet neither of these films wo

Impossible is definitely an apt title for this film, which tells the true story of a family that got caught up in the Tsunami in Thailand a few years ago. The special effects of the tsunami is incredible.  It's amazingly realistic.  It just takes your breath away. It's a compelling and powerful story.  It also seems so unbelievable.  Yet, if you believe in fate and destiny and happenstance, you find this film quite intriguing.

I love the British.  I do.  I also love Dustin Hoffman.  And, I also have seen plenty of operas.  So I was expecting a truly delightful film.  Sadly, it just didn't have the punch I would have expected from a British comedy. For a funny film I'd recommend The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (see my review).  It was lighthearted, moving and funny.  This one had some really great moments including and not only the musical performances, but some of the comedy.  Sadly, the jokes only elicited a mild chuckle from me and nothing that had me doubled over. Highlights include Tom Courtney's character Reginald connecting with young kids by comparing rap to opera, and the ending credits which showed old photographs of the opera singers who appear in the film and the opera company they performed with.  And for the actors who aren't opera singers, they had similar photographs that included one of their hit performances on stage or film. I think Dustin Hoffman played it on the safe

Another admission:  I've never read On the Road by Jack Kerouac.  At times I wish I had, being an English major and always enjoying the exploration in novels.  Sadly, I have yet to read this one.  I would like to. So it was with a blank slate that I saw the film adaptation by Jose Rivera . Sitting in a crowded theater prior to the film commencing, I was keenly interested in knowing who had read the book, as the question was being posed to the audience.  A decent amount of hands went up.  When people were asked whether they had liked the book or not, they were divided.  I thought that was interesting. Then the critic who introduced the film, Godfrey Cheshire, agreed that many people are divided by their feelings over the book.  To this day you either love it or hate it.  To give us an idea of what was going on during the era depicted in the film (late 40's/early 50's), he mentioned that the interstate highway system was brand new then.  This planted an image in my m

Okay, I'm not ashamed to admit that I've never seen an Ed Burns film before.  Not that I have anything against him or his films.  I just never have seen The Brothers McMullen.  Now that I've seen the Fitzgerald Family Christmas, I would like to see Brothers McMullen. Not having the first film to compare, I can say that this one is entertaining.  I wasn't laughing out loud all the time, but the story was interesting, the acting solid and the film as a whole was entertaining. There were predictable moments like the sister who was dating a much older guy and her brother who was dating a younger woman and what occurs when they decide to spend the weekend at a beach house. The main plot of the film involves the estranged father of seven kids wanting to see his family again after he had deserted them some 20-30 years ago.  Ed Burns plays the loyal son who still lives with his mother and constantly works to bring this fractious family together every Christmas.  Now, he h

I found this movie entertaining... a bit too much so. As I watched this film I found myself not really connecting with it.  At first I couldn't understand why, but afterwards I realized it was because it didn't seem realistic.  It painted Alfred Hitchcock as a temperamental, spoiled child, and not the bossy, tyrant tales about him have told.  It is an entertaining film, though.  I would just take it with a grain of salt.

An interesting, well told tale of two young men, who discover they were switched at birth.  The twist is that one man is a Palestinian being who had been raised by a Jewish family in Israel and the other is a Jew who had been raised by Palestinians across the border. What helps this movie along is that the young men, while in shock, seem to be more curious than angry about their predicament.  Each one wants to know more about their real family. I won't give anything more away, but I wonder how the film would have played out if they had been angrier? Note:  This is a French film with English subtitles.  Sometimes the characters speak English because it's easier for the two families to comprehend each other.  Other times - aside from French - Hebrew and Arabic are spoken.

I'm not a prude - at least I don't think I am - but lately I've been wondering about the proliferation of movies that involved people cheating on their spouses and how it's presented on screen. A few years ago Michael Douglas starred in a film called Solitary Man about a man who is given only a few months to live, and decides to go out and leave his old life behind, divorce his wife and essentially have his mid-life crisis adventure while there’s still time left.   The writer/directors claimed they were trying to show how wrong it was, but yet I didn't get that vibe from the film.   Instead I saw it as a man trying to find himself even if it meant leaving his wife and sleeping with a much younger woman.   And yet, I felt the writer/directors were trying to hide the fact that the guy was actually living the life they wanted to live. Instead they had to have a moral, a lesson as to why it's so wrong just so someone in Hollywood would distribute it. Do all fi

Writer/director Debbie Goodstein shares the true story about a man wrestling with anger issues to the point where it terrifies his family. Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri) owns a garment business in the mid 1970's.  He has moved his family to New Orleans to start fresh.  It is not the first move, as explained in voice-over by his daughter, Natalie (Jodelle Ferland), and soon we see why.  When his business dreams are dashed, he takes his stress out on his family.  Older daughter Maddy (Rainey Qualley) reveals that this is not the first time he has acted so violently. The film shows an interesting angle as to how abuse can affect people.  In this case it's often more verbal than physical, but he does lash out at times as well. Palminteri does a good job, but as with his other roles he seems to be playing the father like a thug at times.  Andi MacDowell is terrific as his wife,  a Holocaust survivor.  She is scared of her husband, although she loves him very much. Rainey Qualle

Film:  Frozen River Synopsis:  It's about a woman whose husband up and leaves the family without warning. She's desperate, because they had enough for a final payment on a modular home, and he's ran off with the money. So she has only a few days to pull together the funds, and she can't earn the amount needed on her salary. So she has to resort to some desperate means to get the money in time, taking a huge risk that could not only put herself in danger, but also her kids as well. My review:  This is a powerful film and very compelling. ------------------------------------------------- Film: Away We Go My review:  It's a cute film, though somewhat over the top at times. I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't rank it at the top of the list of comedies. ------------------------------------------------- Film:  Beeswax My review:  Boring. The production values were very amateurish - lower than low budget - and the writer/director decided to throw away

This is a fictional Holocaust film, taking a very real, alarming subject and making a children's story out of it. Considering the sensitive subject matter, I thought it was well done. It stars David Thewlis (Harry Potter) as a German soldier whose son befriends a boy in a concentration camp. The plot requires you to have to suspend reality, since there are some scenes that just wouldn't make sense otherwise.  Based on a children's book, the writers of both the book and the film called it a "Fable", but in the end this misled the audience and caused some negative reviews. I cried of course. I always do, but I did think it was a good film so long as you ignored a couple of obvious flaws.

Film:  For My Father Review:  A very good film about a Palestinian who has to redeem his family name by becoming a suicide bomber. We see what he encounters when he goes into Israel to do the deed. It was a very interesting and poignant film. ------------------------------------- Film:  The Young Victoria Review:That was very good, although I think it would have worked better as a Masterpiece Theatre mini-series with more episodes added to it chronicling her whole reign. The film only covers her early years, and even that scratches the surface. Still it was entertaining with a nice bit of romance. They did bend the truth in one scene, which I heard bugged the British audiences a bit, so that might not sit well with purists, but overall it was a nice film. --------------------------------------------------- Film:  Wonderful World Review:  This is the fourth time since I started attending the film series that I've seen a Matthew Broderick film, and I've come to the

Film: Defiance Synopsis: Based on a true story of three Jewish brothers who find themselves concealing 100+ Jews in the woods of Belarus during WWII, while butting heads with each other as to whether they should fight or survive. My review: It was a bit too commercial for my taste, though the director (Edward Zwick) had said he did that to lure people who might not know Daniel Craig as anyone other than James Bond. He thought it would be a good way to send a message to the audience about these people. In the end it only made me like the film less.  Pass on it. -------------------------------------------- Film:  The Wrestler Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood Synopsis: It's about an aging wrestler (Mickey Rourke), who has a heart attack and has to come to terms with the fact that he will have to retire from wrestling or die. The struggle for him is that he has no idea what to do with his life, as wrestling is all he knows. My review:  I'

Film:  The Cove Review:  This was very interesting. It's a documentary about a former dolphin trainer (Richard O'Barry) who saw the error of his ways and has spent his life freeing dolphins that are captured for one reason or another.  It has brought some much needed buzz to the plight of dolphins in Japan. The film shows him in Japan with a team of activists who are exposing the slaughter of 23,000 dolphins a year. Interesting stuff. Bye the way, he used to be the dolphin trainer on the TV series Flipper. -------------------------------------------------- Film:  Surveillance Review:  It's an interesting film, but it's not my cup of tea. If you like David Lynch movies, or you like suspense of any kind, then you might enjoy this. I personally like suspense, but this film was disturbing. The script was written by David Lynch's daughter Jennifer. She seems to have her dad's penchant for morbid subject matter. --------------------------------

Kathleen Turner stars as Eileen Cleary, a devout Catholic, loving wife and doting mother.  She spends her days helping out at the church, serving communion and bringing food to the less fortunate. One day her priest (Richard Chamberlain) tells her that she's been nominated (by him, I believe) for "Catholic Woman of the Year" a very daunting competition involving a home visit by a bishop, letters of recommendation from her family and a pristine family life. Well, two out of three might not be so bad. You see, Eileen has been living a lie.  Her family isn't as clean and pure as she so desperately wants them to be.  And she wrestles with that fact as the competition hangs over her.  The movie depicts her constant struggle between being devout and saintly and coming to terms with her family's collection of "sins". It's lighthearted and - I'm pleased to say - entertaining.  I've often struggled with Kathleen Turner's raspy voice, but f

I love British films and TV. I can't explain why.  I just do.  So I was really looking forward to this film. As a whole I enjoyed it.  There were scenes that were a bit too predictable and pat, but most of them worked for me.  I loved Judy Dench at the call center.  Ronald Pickup's character is a lot of fun, especially when you learn his true experience with women. They all did a great job.  I really enjoyed it. I would have liked a few more scenes in Maggie Smith's story in order to really feel the impact on her character, but one could just imagine how things unfolded, so I didn't have a problem with that. Overall it's a nice feel-good film that I highly recommend.  And one doesn't need to be in a certain age bracket to enjoy it. :)

Title:  Turn Me on Dammit (Norwegian) Review:  An interesting twist to an old theme about a teenage girl who has to suffer through alienation, when a classmate lies about an encounter of an explicit nature.  The twist?  I won't give it away, but while it is a comedy, it does explore female sexuality in an interesting way that might appeal to teenagers of both sexes.  However, it has adult themes, so parents be warned. -------------------------------------------- Title:  Downtown Express Review:  A lighthearted tale about a Russian violinist, studying at Julliard and tackling his desire to follow his own path vs that of his father.  A nice film although some of the acting feels a bit stilted.

This French-Canadian film tells the story of an Algerian man who takes over teaching a class of eleven year-old children who are dealing with the suicide of their teacher. Bashir Lazhar is also dealing with his own demons, and in so doing finds a kinship with those students. A heartwarming piece, this Oscar nominated film is a must see.  I highly recommend it.

I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to see this film.  I had heard some mixed reviews and I had mixed feelings about Seabiscuit.  I didn't want it to be a replay of that film. However, I do like horse racing plots (I'm a huge fan of Dick Francis), and I do remember hearing about the Secretariat as a child.  Also, I was curious as to why Craig Ferguson had a fake horse by that name on his talk show.  So that was enough to take the chance. Overall the film was well done and very engaging.  I found the story to be interesting and it held my interest throughout.  I think as an overall story it flowed much better than Seabiscuit, which seemed to assume that the audience had read the novel or educated themselves enough ahead of time to excuse the lack of exposition at the beginning of that film. John Malkovitch is only marginally better in this than Dangerous Liaisons.  Here he plays a French-Canadian named Lucien Laurin.  His French-Canadian accent was terrible, especial

William H. Macy wrote, produced  and starred in this film which also featured Meg Ryan, Jason Ritter and LL Cool J. It's a comedy about a down-on-his-luck producer who decides he's going to get one of the major studios to agree to film a movie about Benjamin Disraeli, only it has to star the recently-converted-to-Judaism action star played by LL Cool J. Elliot Gould is in this as a rabbi who also serves as technical advisor. There's a lot of jokes about Hollywood, lots of Hebrew spoken by LL Cool J, lots of deal-making scenes that are quite clever (and probably true), and a few really funny moments. It was an amusing film, but for the most part it didn't have the strength for a theatrical release.  I'm not sure if it has been screened anywhere since I saw it a few year ago.

I wanted to like it this film, but in the end I didn't. This was a movie about a couple of con men, this time two brothers. One was the true master of the plan, while the other reluctantly carried it out with him. It starred Adrien Brody, Mark Rufalo and Rachel Weisz. My problem with the film was that the whole thing was a con. There were no moments of revelation - not even at the end - no moment of reality, though they seemed to tease us with it from time to time. Also, my biggest gripe about the movie was the sloppy feel of it. There were at least two situations in the film that were never resolved, and writer/director admitted to us at the screening that he felt he didn't need to resolve it.  He said that the audience could figure it out on their own. I disagreed with him on that.  While I don't mind that concept, not everything can be imagined by the audience. I like films that make you think and leave things to the imagination, but this one felt a bit lazy. 

This is an Iranian film. It was an interesting movie exploring the act of forgiveness of convicted murderers in the country's prisons. It's part of the religious law that the family of the victim has the right to accept forgiveness from the killer. By doing so they spare him his life. He still has to pay a fine or sign over property as determined by the victim's family, and he has to serve a jail term. If the family doesn't forgive one member has to administer the execution. This falls under the "eye for an eye" belief. If someone else executes the convict it is considered murder. Anyway, this movie explores this as we follow one man though his stay at a Teheran prison, where he's already been brought up for execution and delayed twice because the victim's family failed to show up. We watch and wait to see if he will be forgiven or not. It's a fictional story based on real events. It's a good film. At bit slow in points, but they worked f

Mongol is a film about Gengis Kahn from childhood until he started to unify Mongolia. I thought it was a good film along the lines of Hero and House of Flying Daggers, but without the 360 degree camerawork and martial arts. This was more like Braveheart with a lot less fighting scenes, but like Hero in the sense that it had some sweeping landscapes and beautiful imagery. I never learned about Gengis Kahn in school, so I knew very little about him. Apparently, there is no real documented history about him, only stories from people whose lands he captured. The movie paints him in a positive light.

Too short to separate.  I highly recommend The Messenger.  Precious was excellent as well.  See below: Film:  9.99 A bizarre animated film about a bunch of people living in a high-rise apartment complex, each one trying to find meaning in their lives.  One man finds the love of his life and does anything she asks of him, which makes him as happy as she is, no matter how odd the request. There are other stories, but that's one of the more memorable ones.  This film is a puzzlement.  I really wasn't sure what I was supposed to get from it. It features voices from today's top Australian actors including Geoffrey Rush and Anthony LaPaglia. --------------------------------------------------  Film:  The Messenger Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster star as two US soldiers stationed in New Jersey who are assigned to visit relatives and break the news of the death of their loved ones. It was very well done. It shows how these two men cope with the job and what wounds of

This movie is about a few former members of a do-wap (a capella) group who keep trying to get jobs making money performing their hits. Sadly, they haven't had much luck, instead doing lame TV commercials. Two of the leaders of the group (Robert Davi and Chazz Palmentari) work for their aunt in her Italian restaurant. Their goal is to settle down and open their own restaurant, but they have no money to do so. So without giving too much away, the film is a comedy about what capers these guys get into to try to get money to buy a restaurant. Robert Davi wrote and directed this film, which also stars Peter Bogdonovitch, as a sympathetic tour manager, and Miriam Margolyes as their Aunt Vee. :) There's some great familiar faces in this like Bruce Weitz (Hill Street Blues) and Joseph Campanella, who has a very nice, brief appearance in the film. :) Both Robert Davi and Chazz Palmintari can sing and they used to perform as singers before they became actors. Robert does sing in th

Standard Operating Procedure (or SOP). It was a documentary about the controversial photographs that were taken at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib that sparked an uproar about torture and improper interrogation practices at that prison, and caused the arrests of US soldiers there. It was interesting, though it tended to dwell a bit too long on certain aspects. The people interviewed (many of whom are those who are in and/or took the photographs) at times seemed a bit distant and unaffected by what had happened. No one showed any remorse, but part of that was because they were "just following orders" and because many of them "spent time in jail" which could desensitize someone after a while.

A few months ago I reviewed Dangerous Liaisons , the film that starred Glenn Close and John Malkovich.  I chose to turn it off after 20 minutes or so because I couldn't stand John Malkovich's character.  I found his portrayal to be flat. The other night I watched Valmont, another film based on the novel Les Liaisons Dangerous.  This time Colin Firth played the Valmont, and he did so in a much more convincing and fun matter.  It was a joy to watch. Another actor who redeemed a role was Sian Phillips, who is always great in whatever she does.  Swoosie Kurtz was terribly miscast in the other film.  Sian was perfect and portrayed herself with a sense of esteem and nobility, which is what the part called for. And Henry Thomas as Chevalier was perfect, surpassing Keanu Reeve's performance in the other film. Annette Benning was fantastic as Isabelle.  I've always liked her performances, and she doesn't disappoint here. As with Uma Thurmann's portrayal of Ceci

This is a really cute film on Wednesday made by Mike Leigh, who also did Vera Drake among others. Unlike Vera Drake, this film is very upbeat. The acting is excellent. I really sat up and took notice of that. The movie is about a woman (Sally Hawkins) who approaches life with optimism, despite the negativity around her. :) This film rightfully deserved the Oscar buzz it received.  It's a nice little film and the acting is stellar.  Watch out for Eddie Marsan's performance as the frustrated driving instructor.  He does a fantastic job.

Then She Found Me (Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler) Helen Hunt plays a woman whose life is turned upside down when her husband leaves her and her biological mother enters her life. It's got some good scenes and some endearing moments, especially with Colin Firth, but it wasn't anything special. Bette Midler plays her biological mother, and while it's entertaining, the character is no different from her past roles. Matthew Broderick is the soon to be ex-husband, who hasn't grown up. Colin Firth, although very neurotic in this, is the best one and he makes the film worth watching. ----------------------- Before the Rains (Linus Roache) Linus Roache plays a British plantation owner in Imperialist ruled India in the 1930's. When his ambitions get the better of him, he winds up clashing with the local culture and laws, which causes serious problems for him and anyone around him. Good film. ----------------------- Mary Stuart Masterson (Fried Green T

This film aired on TV the other day.  I had wondered why I had not heard of it before, given that it was a Project Greenlight inaugural production.  After watching it, I can see why I hadn't.  It's pretty bad. I'm convinced this film was chosen By Ben Affleck and Matt Damon because they knew it would cause the audience to discuss it afterwards.  Personally, that only works if the subject matter is presented in a logical way, rather than make assumptions and leave out some key details.  The only discussions that came out of this were in the form of disgust over the obvious flaws in the film, and the insensitivity of the subject matter. ~Spoiler warning!  To better explain my views, I'm going to have to give away the ending.  So stop reading now if you'd rather not be spoiled.~ The film is about an 8 year-old Catholic boy named Pete O'Malley, who after constantly hearing from the nuns at school that he was destined for hell asks his brother what he can do to

If a film can be noisy without making noise, this one would be even without the noise it's implying.  And that's what films do these days.  They take a word and play on it.  So noise can be literal or it can be visual or it can be just the acting in general being just over the top. And, yes, the acting was over the top.  And that's what really hurt this film. Tim Robbins plays a Manhattan resident who is growing increasingly annoyed by the minute as car alarms disturb his peace.  When conventional methods to silence them doesn't work, he takes to a bat and destroys the offensive cars. His maniacal antics are the crux of the film, but rather than being funny or amusing, they get just as annoying as the alarms themselves.  William Hurt can't save this movie from it's lower depths. Skip it.

When I go to film screenings, I prefer not to read the premise ahead of time.  I believe that doing so might ruin the surprise.  There have been times I have found myself either losing interest, because too much has been revealed in the synopsis, or I wind up expecting too much.  This doesn't happen often, but it has occurred on occasion, and so since I can't pick and choose what will be shown at a preview screening, I chose to be clueless about what is to unfold in front of my eyes. Sadly, I can't avoid what the guest host (aka film critic) will say as part of their introduction to the film.  For Last Stop 174, the film critic set it up by telling us that the film was loosely based on a true story about a bus hijacker in Brazil.  We were warned that it was fiction, but the idea that it was about a hijacker, made it seem intriguing. Sadly, it was anything but.  The hijacking doesn't happen on camera.  The last scene we see is him getting on the bus.  While this woul

A friend of mine told me that I shouldn't see the film, but read the book instead.  I decided to watch it anyway, since it was on cable the other night.  It's not a bad film, but I felt something was lacking.  I've noticed something interesting with films adapted from books.  They either skim the surface, because they assume everyone has read the book, or they skim the surface because they have a deal with the author to entice people to go and read the book after they've finished the movie. Of course, not all film adaptations fall into this trap.  The Lord of the Rings and the very first Harry Potter film are a few of several who give the audience enough information to comprehend what's going on.  Then there are films like Seabiscuit which told a great story, but glossed over the background, leaving me feeling like they were just playing out highlights from the book.  The second Harry Potter film was much worse.  I couldn't follow it at all and felt lost wit

When I first saw the trailer to this film I was intrigued.  I enjoy films with plots involving writers or English teachers, so this one seemed right up my alley, but then I read a few reviews and changed my mind. While at a film screening for another movie, my screening companions told me they loved The Ghost Writer and that I should see it.  I finally got the chance last weekend during a free preview of Showtime on Demand.  So I sat back on Saturday afternoon and watched the film. Sadly, I should have listened to the critics. I found the film to be too slow-moving to make any impact once the truths were revealed.  There were also plenty of questions in relation to the plot holes by the end of it. Sadly I don't recommend this film to anyone unless you're a big Ewan MacGregor fan.  Pierce Brosnan fans shouldn't bother as he is barely in it and what he does contribute is minimal at best. The best thing to come out of this film is the posting on the IMDB message boar

I had mixed feelings about a Tintin film, since I had seen photographs from a live-action version when I was a child and wasn't impressed with it.  The characters looked like caricatures and not real people and that disappointed me.  However, when Stephen Spielberg explained his motivation for making the film, and when I heard that Peter Jackson was involved and was a huge fan of Tintin, it piqued my interest. I've been a Tintin fan for over 30 years.  One thing I enjoy about the stories they appeal to people of all ages.  I find myself discovering new things every time I read them, especially since there were things that I didn't comprehend as well as a child.  Among other things, Captain Haddock's exclamations became funnier and funnier as I got older. One thing that I enjoyed about the Tintin film was the way they depicted the friendship between Haddock and Tintin.  They captured it very well. I'm not sure how those new to Tintin felt about that unlikely frie