Grade: D
| Hated this one. It was pointless, crass, rude, gross and boring. I would love to see Johnny Depp play someone NORMAL the next time he does a movie. This character was just beyond bizarre. And the dialogue was endless. Most of the action was meant for shock value – but… sorry, yawn! I wasted 2 hours watching this movie and I don’t want to waste another minute writing about it. Really bad. |
Grade: B+
| What a delight! Letters to Juliet is sweet and refreshing, perfect for a summer weekend. Amanda Seyfried plays an aspiring writer who jets off to Italy with her workaholic fiance for a pre-wedding honeymoon. While there, his enthusiasm for all things food and wine for his restaurant leaves her behind to fend for herself. She stumbles upon a wall where visitors leave “letters to Juliet” (as in Romeo and Juliet) seeking advice for matters of the heart. She meets and befriends the women who answer these letters and then finds a letter written 50 years ago that she decides to answer herself.
When Vanessa Redgrave and her grandson show up in Italy they seek her out, and the three head off for an adventure to find Vanessa’s first true love. Of course, the journey is one of self-discovery, and our little Amanda grows up and sees what she is capable of, and what she really wants in life. After a few obligatory set-backs, we have a happy ending, good news all around. My bet is that Vanessa Redgrave will get a supporting actress nomination for this role – she is luminous! If you’ve ever wanted to go to Italy, you will want to see this movie – if you haven’t thought about going to Italy, this movie will make you want to go! |
Grade: B+
| Clint Eastwood directed “Letters from Iwo Jima” as a companion piece to “Flags of our Fathers.” Iwo Jima take the same circumstances and looks at it from the Japanese point of view. The movie is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Clint Eastwood is nominated as Best Director this year. Except for a couple of scenes, the whole movie is in Japanese with English subtitles. But that doesn’t interfere with us getting close to the characters. The movie is filled with emotions, and is difficult to watch sometimes. It’s a war movie, so expect the requisite violence and bloodshed, and cold-hearted onscreen behavior. |
Grade: A
| Wow! Les Miserables totally blew me away. I loved the stage play – and I had high hopes for the film, and my expectations were exceeded.
Hugh Jackman deserves an award nomination or two or three for his role as Jean Valjean, the former prisoner who turns himself into a model citizen. This is probably one of the toughest roles in all the musical plays, in part because it’s both physically and vocally challenging. Hugh doesn’t let us down. He’s totally amazing! Russell Crowe is a little out of his league vocally for the part of Javert, the policeman who becomes Valjean’s nemesis. But his acting works for the part, and the relationship between the two men is intense and believable. Anne Hathaway takes on the role of Fantine, and she is exquisitely fragile and vulnerable. And her voice is a huge surprise – just beautiful! Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” is a show stopper. Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen provide comic relief as the innkeepers who are supposed to be taking care of Fantine’s daughter, Cosette. The rest of the cast is fantastic – notably Samantha Barks as Eponine – I think we’ll be seeing a lot more from this girl! Director Tom Hooper had the actors sing in real time on set rather than looping in their voices in post production. This was a big risk, and it paid off – it makes the movie very gritty and real. We’re invested in the characters all the more because their emotions show up right there in the moment. It’s perfect. All in all, I think Les Mis was one of my very favorite movies of 2012. A must-see! |
Grade: B-
| Very stylized and campy. Jim Carrey chews up the scenery. A little scary for younger kids who might not get the tongue-in-cheek sturm and drang. It’s dark, but it’s supposed to be dark, that’s the gimmick. The kid actors are all darling – we’ll see lots more of them in the future! |
Grade: B+
| Leatherheads stars George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski. The name comes from the leather helmets that football players used to wear back in the day before the NFL, when the sport was just getting started. These are the days when alcohol was illegal and working women were rare. Renee is a smart and sassy reporter ala Barbara Stanwyk to George’s charming and clever con man/football star. George wants pro football to enjoy the same success that college football has, so he recruits a college star, the Office’s John Krasinski, to help get ticket sales up. It works, and maybe too well. George and Renee have a cute banter going on, a throw-back to those snappy “His Girl Friday” type of movies from the ’40s.
Leatherheads works best when it is in romantic comedy mode. When it gets into slapstick, it feels silly. Great date movie. Really fun to watch. |
Grade: B
| I love Queen Latifah – she’s so fun to watch, she’s so comfortable in her own skin – she’s talented and beautiful and real! This movie must have been written just for her, she’s in every scene and she carries it off with ease. In a way “Last Holiday” is kind of a Cinderella story, where Cinderella romances, and finds, herself. It’s over the top, and silly and fun – there are times when I would love it if she would break out in song! You know there’s a happy ending, so there’s no real conflict… it’s all tied up neatly with a bow. |
Grade: B
| Dustin Hoffman plays Harvey, an old-school jingle writer who flies to London for his daughter’s wedding, which is being hosted by his ex-wife and her suave new husband, played by the suave James Brolin. Harvey is struggling to hang on to his job and struggling to fit in with the wedding party when his daughter breaks the news that she has chosen her step-father to walk her down the aisle. Devastated, he makes a brief appearance at the wedding, then ducks out to fly home. At the airport, his flight is cancelled, and he’s fired by phone. That’s when he meets the weary airport employee played by Emma Thompson. Two lonely people manage to connect, and find a spark of joy amongst the gloom. It’s an interesting relationship, that grows as they learn about each other, and themselves. A mature romance is refreshing to see at the movies these days. |
Grade: A
| Ryan Gosling stars as Lars, a troubled and lonely young man who lives in the garage of his childhood home. His brother, Gus, and pregnant sister-in-law, Karen, live in the main house. The two try to engage Lars in activity and conversation, but Lars keeps to himself. They’re surprised when he brings a girl home to dinner one night, and she happens to be a life-sized mail-order plastic doll.
At the psychologist’s urging, Gus and Karen go along with Lars’ delusion, hoping that whatever triggered the need for such will dissipate. The whole town ends up participating in the charade, and Lars continues his relationship with this doll, “Bianca.” In the background is Margot, who works with Lars and attends his church. She’s had a crush on Lars, but he can’t handle it. Bianca is his girlfriend. Just when it seems that this might be a permanent situation, something triggers in Lars, and he makes some changes in his life. This movie says so much about relationships, and the power of community. It’s about love and healing and getting to know each other, and getting to know ourselves. I was lucky enough to hear the director, David Gillespie, speak about the movie at a screening. The whole film was shot in 30 days, and they stuck to the original script without any re-writes. Lars and the Real Girl is a very sweet movie, and I know we’ll be hearing more about it come awards time. |
Grade: B
| You can’t really go wrong having Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks star in a movie together. Larry Crowne is a delight. It tells the story of Larry, played by Tom Hanks, who loses his job at a “big box” store because he doesn’t have a college degree. It’s a bit of a stretch, but it is that inciting moment that sets the action into play. Larry can’t get another job, so he goes to the local community college to take some courses and get a little more employable.
Enter Julia Roberts, the unhappily married public speaking teacher. While Larry meets some friends, and gets his mojo back – Julia figures out her life, and they end up becoming friends. They end up teaching each other and finding what out what they really need. Really cute flick – nice date night movie. |
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