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Internet Movie Database
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04 Jan

Priceless

Grade: A-

Priceless is a french movie starring the adorable Audrey Tatou.  This movie is reminiscent of Breakfast at Tiffany’s: sad, sweet, and stylish.  In Priceless, Audrey’s character is making her living by dating older men.  She accidentally falls for a charming waiter, who she mistakes for a rich gentleman.  When their paths cross again, she can’t resist him – and her plans with her older suitor fall apart.  But the charming waiter is in love, and he attempts to pick up the pieces.  More sweet than sad, with wonderful performances, beautiful settings and clothes that are a show in themselves!  I loved it!
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04 Jan

Premonition

Grade: C-

I love Sandra Bullock.  Just for the record, if they ever do a movie of my life I want Sandra Bullock to play me.  She’s smart, warm, funny, and she looks great in everything she does.  And I can see where “Premonition” is a great vehicle for her – she gets to play a range of emotions and really show off her acting chops.

Unfortunately, the movie itself is not so hot.  No, it’s not confusing – I was able to follow it just fine.  It’s just that it’s all gimmick, and gimmick only goes so far in a movie.  It’s an interesting gimmick, basically Bullock’s character experiences days of a particular week out of order, so she has a sort of amnesia certain days of the week, and then a kind of clairvoyance the rest of the time.  The drama is that on one of those days, her husband dies in a car accident.  Can she prevent it from happening?  Is she going crazy?  Is her marriage falling apart?  Or is this all a part of some dark conspiracy?

Julian McMahon plays the husband – a normal guy, a departure from the actor’s usually eccentric characters.  Their two kids are darling – and great little actresses.

In the end it’s not so complicated.  But the ending is unsatisfying, nothing is really resolved.  We don’t know the real “why” or “how”  – there are a lot of questions unanswered and a lot of holes left to be filled.
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04 Jan

Please Give

Grade: B+

Please Give is an independent film directed by Nicole Holofcener.  It stars Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt as a New York couple who run a used furniture business.  They have purchased the apartment of the elderly woman next door, and start to become friendly with the woman’s two granddaughters, played by Rebecca Hall and Amanda Peet.  There are several small stories running simultaneously that intersect. Kate, the wife, has a crisis of consciousness and attempts to create more meaning in her life. Alex, the husband, has a kind of mid-life crisis.  The daughter starts to find herself and grow up a bit.  The sisters reconcile their two very opposite life.  Interesting, definitely conversation provoking.
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04 Jan

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Grade: C

This is the third Pirates movie – not as good as the first, but better than the second.  I think when you get to the second sequel the production team is trying to outdo themselves, to always go bigger and better.  But the problem is that bigger isn’t always better, sometimes it’s just BIGGER!  And louder.  And longer.  Pirates #3 is just too big, too loud, and too long.  And with all this going on, it’s a little confusing – some of the characters are difficult to understand, I was looking for subtitles.

But the movie has a few things going for it.  It’s worth it just to see Johnny Depp.  And then Keith Richards comes in as his pirate dad, hillarious!  And Keira Knightley is such a strong role model for girls – she actually becomes the pirate KING at one point – you go, girl!

There’s also the recurring theme that I’ve seen in a lot of movies where the bad guys are the good guys – the pirates are the ones with the code of honor, whose word means something.

The movie broke all kinds of records opening weekend and they’re already talking about #4… what else can they do?
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04 Jan

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest

Grade: A-

Fun, light, adventurous – and Johnny Depp!  The special effects are effectively creepy – Bill Nighy is Davy Jones, the villain with the octopus face – will this be an award for make-up or special effects?  Somehow he acts through all this and it works.  Orlando Bloom is back as Will, with a little more depth and the same boyish charm.  Keira Knightly is the our heroine – appropriately spunky and proud, strong and brave.  And Captain Jack Sparrow steals the show – that Johnny Depp just gets better and better.  Loved his make-up here.  The 3 are on a mission to find the Dead Man’s Chest, the owner of which controls the sea.

I was prepared that there really is no ending to this movie so I wasn’t disappointed.  It clearly is a cliff hanger, meant to keep us going until Memorial Day weekend 2007.  It’s going to be good, I can’t wait!
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04 Jan

Penelope

Grade: B+

Penelope is a modern day fairy tale.  Penelope (Christina Ricci) is a young girl who is the victim of a family curse from generations past.  She is born with the nose of a pig. Her mother hides her away from society until she comes of marrying age.  The curse says that when someone of her kind (upper crust blue blood) falls in love with her, the curse will be broken and she’ll look like an average girl.

Mom hires a matchmaker, and the boys come parading in – Penelope hides, but when the guys catch wind of what’s up, they flee quickly.  A crafty journalist smells a story, and the stalking begins.  Max (James McAvoy) becomes a candidate, but does he have what it takes to break the curse?

Reese Witherspoon produced and has a nice role as Penelope’s new found friend.  This is a sweet story of love, with wonderful messages.  A must-see for girls of all ages.
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04 Jan

Parental Guidance

Grade: B+

It’s pretty rare lately to see a family friendly movie in the theater that’s not animated.  Parental Guidance is fun, refreshing, charming and delightful!

Billy Crystal is the grandfather.  He’s a little afloat when he gets fired from his local sportscaster job.  Bette Midler is the grandmother.  She jumps at the chance to fly over to babysit their three grandchildren for a week while their only daughter, Alice (Marisa Tomei), and her husband take a business trip.

The kids clearly haven’t spent much time at all with their grandparents, so it takes some time for everyone to get to know each other and feel comfortable.  The parents have implemented a whole different set of contemporary parenting techniques – and the grandparents have trouble adjusting.  There are the to-be-expected catastrophes that tend to happen in movies like this – and while the adults in the audience probably rolled their eyes (as I did!) the kids in the audience (including my 11 year old Little Sister from Big Bro/Sis) roared!

The relationships become the focus of the film, and each character learns and grows from the experiences they share with one another.

It’s really great to see Billy Crystal and Bette Midler up on the big screen again – and together they’re even better!  Makes for a fun family day out.
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04 Jan

Pan’s Labyrinth

Grade: A

I have to put Pan’s Labyrinth up there as one of my most favorite movies of 2006.  It is magical, poignant, lyrical, and intense.  Just be warned, it is rated R, and it is violent, and gory, as an adult fairy tale is meant to be.  And here it is warranted.  There are two parallel stories – one very real about the Spanish Civil War, and the other a fantasy about a little girl attempting to reclaim her title of Princess.  The stories are interwoven beautifully, and the messages are expressed intelligently.  There is much symbolism, from Catholic culture, Celtic and Greek mythology, and nature.

The special effects are all animatronic rather than computer generated, giving the fairies and creatures a much more realistic feel to them.  The acting is superb.  The directing, by Guillermo Del Toro, is amazing.  The man is a genius.

Pan’s Labyrinth is Mexico’s entry as Best Foreign Film in 2006.  It has received numerous critics awards already, and it the best reviewed movie of the year.  I couldn’t agree more. Pan’s Labyrinth is ambitious and original – something very rare in cinema today.  I loved it!
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04 Jan

Once

Grade: C

Once is an Irish movie – an independent film.  A street musician/singer-songwriter/vacuum repair man meets a Czech girl – they make beautiful music together, and help each other to grow beyond their circumstances – so in a way it’s a love story even though they don’t even kiss.  The movie is really like one long music video, so if you’re not into the music, you’re going to find the movie long and painfully slow.  It’s sweet, but there’s not much meat there to justify the time invested.  It would have been a brilliant short film.
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04 Jan

Ocean’s Twelve

Grade: B
This is the sequel to the hugely popular “Ocean’s Eleven” with it’s all-star cast headed up by George Clooney. Brad Pitt is back, and Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner, and the darling Matt Damon. The theme is the same, the bad guys are the good guys, we’re rooting for the criminals. But it’s all in fun. This time around we’re in Europe, rather than Vegas, and we get a glimpse of George Clooney’s house on beautiful Lake Como. Pretty swanky, George!

This is just a fun, caper movie. It’s full of holes, but who cares? You kind of feel like you’re one of the gang, in on their inside secret. It’s light, and funny, a nice contrast to some of the heavier fare that comes out this time of year. I liked it!
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