Bee Movie

Cute.

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Julian Schnabel puts into this film what Tom Waitts puts into to a song: gut wrenching voice bends, barely audible throat gravel, and a more soul than a dozen B. B. Kings. The result is a film that’s worthy to be called a work of art. I tip my hat to Julian Schnabel.

The Kite Runner

…no this is not a documentary about kite flying. This is a story about a privileged Afghanistan boy who said nothing while he watched his best friend being sexually molested. While in exile in America he grew up regretting what he had done. Fortunately he was able to return to Taliban controlled Afghanistan as a young man to redeem himself. This is a good story told well and well worth seeing.

Youth Without Youth

Francis Ford Coppola takes us for a swim in the deep end of the pool with his latest film. Are we in the future? Are we in the past? Is it evolution? Is it de-evolution? Perhaps its all that...and more. One thing is for sure; it is a beautifully made film. Each frame is a masterpiece of lighting and composition. I can see this film playing on a double bill with Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet in art colleges all around the country someday.

The Savages

What to do with aging parents is a difficult problem to deal with, particularly when your own life is in turmoil. That’s what this film is about; the realities of aging and the toll it takes on family members. It’s the kind of stuff we don’t like to think about. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney do a good job in the film giving us enough light hearted moments to keep it from getting too depressing. But the seriousness of this subject is imbedded in our brain wrinkles like ground in dirt, and you are going to think about this film for more than a few days after you see it, whether you want to or not.

No Country For Old Men

I won’t give this film the boot because of my respect for the Coen Brother’s work. However, I won’t brand it either. I thought their film Fargo was a masterpiece. But this one… not so good. Because Fargo was such a success they probably took the few things people talked about, exaggerated them and incorporated them into this film. They forgot that foremost Fargo was a good story. In Fargo four people were killed but the killings were intertwined with a good story. In this film a dozen people were killed and there was no story at all, it was just a lot of killing. For me a film with nothing but a lot of senseless, random killing is not a good story…. or a good film.

Juno

OMG it’s a Teen-Tween movie!

I’m 2 old 2 review this high school drama/comedy

Atonement

I’m unable to commit on this one…

So I’ll tell you what…..since it is being nominated for a bunch of awards this year, you go see it and make your own judgment. All I can say is that it would have made a good Masterpiece Theatre series on PBS.

Sicko (Documentary)

Another Michael Moore Film

I am still upset at Michael Moore for the low ball tactics he used on Charlton Heston in Bowling for Columbine… ..but this is a worthwhile film and every American should see it. We all need to be on the same page when it comes to health care,… if we ever hope to get our government to do something about fixing it. This film brings up some issues that we need to talk about.

Starting Out In The Evening

I give it the BOOT

Stories about writers struggling to write are boring. I yawned several times during this one. All that pain and suffering is just self-serving PR. If you are a writer…write, stop looking so pained and brooding. Cowboy up and write… or go get a job.

Please Vote For Me (Documentary)

If this is a look into the future of Chinese Democracy, God save us!

We get to watch eight-year-old children vote for class monitor at their school. These children, with their “win at any cost” mentality, are very cruel to their rivals…and if that isn’t disturbing enough the parents are even scarier with the tactics they use to secure a win for their child

There Will Be Blood

A real powerhouse of a film

This is the very best film I have seen this year…..indeed in many years. It’s engaging from the first frame to the last. If you see no other film this year, see this one. You may not like the story but you will know you saw something very special in the art of filmmaking.

Walk Hard

Not as good as Spinal Tap… but good enough

This film has some funny parts that made me laugh out loud. The rest of it kept me at least smiling to the end. It’s back loaded with old SNL cast members so it was hard for me not to see it as a bunch of SNL skits strung together, some good; some not so good, rather than a complete film with a beginning , middle, and an end. But that’s just me… I do think it’s worth the price of a ticket.

Margot At The Wedding

I gave this film the BOOT
…save your money.

All In This Tea (Documentary)

.....I never saw a Les Blank film I didn’t like

Les Blank teamed up with Gina Leibrecht for this little gem. Believe me, there is more to tea than you think. If all you know about tea is that it’s the stuff you get in the standard issue stainless steel pot at your local Chinese restaurant, you’ve got a lot to learn. And the best way to start learning is by seeing this film. The world of tea is, All In This…Film

Badland

Boot

160 minutes of pure depressing agony. This film is supposed to be an anti-war film but it is more of an anti-human film. It’s hard to sit through two and a half hours of over the edge drama, sprinkled with a liberal dose of bunny eyed sadness, and not pinch yourself hoping it is all a dream. As an antidote to this film you need to spend a day in a field of pretty flowers with little sheep and sweet candies all around.

Across The Universe

This film gets the BOOT

If I was a film producer and someone pitched this film to me I’d have grabbed it in a minute. A film with Julie Taymor directing, crammed full of Beatles tunes…can’t miss! Here’s your money! Let’s rock and roll! Its gonna be a sure fire hit!
Wrong! What a mess this film turned out to be. I loved Julie’s work in The Lion King and I love the Beatles but two plus two doesn’t always add up to four in Hollywood. I don’t know what happened or why it didn’t work, but it went straight down the toilet the minute the cameras started rolling.

Away From Her

...no review
This film is about Alzheimer disease and I can’t remember if I liked it.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

.....because I like Philip Seymour Hoffman

This film is reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs; it’s a quicksand pit of violence. It starts off tame enough but it slowly sucks everything down until by the end of the film everything is lost and almost everyone is dead. Philip Hoffman does the carrying in this film and does a good job with the load. The needless sex scene at the beginning is just another example of how stuck in a rut Hollywood is when it comes to adding “hooks” to drag in a perceived demographic of young testosterone filled bodies to the ticket counter. I wish Hollywood would grow up. We know what sex is and how it’s done, just suggest it and move on, we’ll get the picture and fill in the blanks. We didn’t all fall off the back of a turnip truck before we entered the theater.

The Brave One

This film get’s the Boot

A totally unbelievable non-thriller starring Jody Foster. Hollywood uses this, vigilante-killing-the bad guys-cops out of the loop, theme so much it must have its own file and number in the Great Master Film Vault on Sunset Blvd. ”Hey Bob, go over to the vault and grab the “V” file, No. 387, we need to make another vigilante film,… and call props, tell them we'll need a dark street with overfilled trash cans this weekend. And Bob, get a hold of central casting and have them send over a bus load of those gay tough guys with the dirty undershirts and tattooed arms and necks. We’ll also have to cut and paste a sex scene somewhere in there too, so grab one of those while you’re in the vault, ….get the one with the swollen nipples.”

Waitress

Alice said to brand it…

I completely forgot about this film. I remember bits of it but for the most part I don’t remember enough to review it. However, my wife Alice said she liked it a lot and that it should be branded…...so..this is for you my sweet.

Things We Lost In The Fire

BOOT!
.....don’t ask. Just look for it in the Wall-Mart two for a dollar bargain DVD section, it should be there soon…if it’s not there already.

A Mighty Heart

This Film Gets A BOOT

We know the story from news reports; a reporter snooping around the back streets of Pakistan gets kidnapped and beheaded. The kidnappers said it was because he was a CIA or a Musad agent….who knows, he could very well have been. If he was it may have made for a better film. As it is this film is just one big billboard of Angelina Jolie. The rest of the film is just a thousand brief clip shots of people running around looking at, into, and for, things and/or people. You end up spending two hours looking at Angelina’s face. The problem is her face is so pumped up with Botox her expressions never change. She has that “Wax Museum” look. Even the bellowing agony she tried to express in the last ten minutes of the film had to be hidden in shadows or covered by her hands to hide the fact that her face is expressionless. I’ve seen more expression on an orange. The Gambler who made his living by reading people’s faces couldn’t make a dime off this woman.

Lust, Caution

Art, Pornography? Brand, Boot? BOOT!

This film wiggles between the fine line that separates art and pornography. Graphic sex is the central point. Other actors just hover around this film like city smog looking for a reason to be there. Haven’t we seen enough of actors having sex on film? Can’t we move beyond this basic animal activity? The pleasure of sex is best enjoyed privately. Watching some actors having sex on film is like eating a photo of a steak; all see and no me. Because this is a Chinese film it has an exotic feel about it, and that probably kept it from an X rating. But it can't keep it from getting the BOOT!

Gone Baby Gone

OK, this is not a great film but it held my interest

For a starter, Casey Affleck was good. I felt I was right there on his shoulder experiencing everything he experienced. I also liked the way the story slowly unfolded. With every twist and turn you are pulled along deeper and deeper into this unsavory world of drugs, prostitution and deceit. It was a good ride, with some unexpected twists that keeps you thinking about the moral issues it raised as your leaving the theatre.

3:10 To Yuma

This film gets a BOOT
Too much senseless killing

This western was overdone with meanness which resulted in too much killing for no reason. On top of that Russell Crowe makes a very unauthentic looking cowboy…. and I think he knows it. He must have taken this roll for the paycheck, not for the challenge. That’s OK, I never liked remakes anyway. Glenn Ford was ten times better in the original.