Reviews

My cousin chose this movie for our Memorial Day outing.

I will never forgive him.

The first "joke" in this film was a long and painful-sounding fart.

That sums it up.

Neil Patrick Harris did provide some diversion with a psychedelic-mushroom enhanced trip to a Texas bordello, but even he could not save this movie from itself.

The funniest line in the picture was "The Klan really knows how to party". That should tell you all you need to know about the quality of the comedy writing in this monstrosity.

If you want to see a funny stoner-buddy movie, rent Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. That was witty, and they didn't say "f***" even once.

Please do not encourage the people who made this movie by giving them your money.

First off, if you don't know yet - this is not a movie for kids. It is a fantasy, but a sometimes horrifying one. Normally, I steer as far from violent movies as I can. I went to see this picture because a friend of mine who works in the special effects business had some pals who worked on this picture and she wanted to see their efforts.

Having said that, this was a remarkable picture, genuinely unique in its vision and images. The character of the "Captain" - that is, the little protagonist's stepfather, is a real live monster -- much worse than anything you will find in a mere fantasy. Much, much worse. I think if I ever met that actor in real life I would wet myself and run away. The images from this picture really stuck with me for days afterward, and it's very hard to put out of my mind. Really a remarkable picture.

Saw this on the recommendation of a friend, and it is clear that everyone involved with this picture had a tremendous amount of fun. I enjoyed the English humor, the lingo, the characters, and the settings. Ian McKellan as the Toad seemed to be having the time of his life (performing Shakespeare's King Lear next year will be a dramatic step down for him). McKellan's Toad is no downstream villain - his nastiness is HUGE! But there is a tragic back story which explains his bitter evil. You must see it to believe it.

The overall theme of this picture is family and the importance of being with people you love - pampered loneliness vs. sewer solidarity (guess which "wins" in the end?) All in all, one of the least predictable and most enjoyable animated pictures I have seen. There will be a lot of jokes (the bad guys are French frogs) that grown-ups and the English will get, but kids won't. But it is still a very enjoyable time at the movies. I highly recommend it.

Helen Mirren does a fabulous job of conveying the confusion and pain that comes from a lifetime of restraining one's emotions and "doing things properly". I come from a family that has always prided itself on its restraint and dignity (we eat pasta, but find Italians confusing), and so watching Her Majesty struggle with the conflicts between her public and private lives gave me an awful lot to think about. Michael Sheen plays Tony Blair in his early, younger days in office, when Blair was still full of pep, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Sheen is a real cutey-pie in this part - even washes up the dishes for Cherie. Ya gotta love it. All in all, this is a good picture for people with brains and for those who are interested in the clash between the traditional and the modern.

I hope Mirren gets an Oscar for this, because then she would get an audience with the Real Queen Elizabeth II, and wow, would I like to be a fly on the wall for that one!

Amazingly, this picture (which purports to be set in Victorian London) was actually filmed entirely in Hollywood, California, or actually Burbank. Excuse me...with the exception of some Colorado mountain exteriors. Warner lot, you can read it in the credits. This is truly Hollywood magic at work.

I am glad to see so many people enjoying a film that has at least a modicum of smarts to it. I enjoyed this picture for its performances and its intelligence. I genuinely did not know where this picture was going to go, and it held my interest the entire time. I had a good time at the movies with this one, and I hope you do, too.

I saw this picture last weekend, and thought it was a very insightful and straightforward look at a part of America that people on the Coasts don't think really exists. I was surprised, however, to read comments on this and other sites claiming that the children in this film were being "brainwashed" - perhaps this is true, but I have news for you...If your children watch commercial cartoons on Saturday mornings and absorb all those ads for sugary cereals, they're being brainwashed. If they spend hours staring at MTV, they're being brainwashed. Kids in this country are being brainwashed anyway, they're just being brainwashed to accept our consumer culture as the only route to happiness. And I say this as a "liberal" non-believer in the Jesus-Camp theology.

Having said that, I think it will be very interesting to see what happens to these kids in a few years - it will be necessary to keep them isolated from others their own age (which the home-schooling does). This is necessary if only to keep the kids from questioning why a loving God would want to eternally torture their friends of other faiths. However, it will be very interesting to see what happens to them (particularly the gifted preacher-in-training Levi).

One young child (about nine or ten years old), a blond boy, was actually brave enough to openly question the Bible in a "confession" moment. I liked that kid, and I hope he is able to continue to think clearly despite all the pressures on him.

In conclusion, this is a good documentary, and come Oscar time, may be the "March of the Penguins" of this season - I hope so.

I saw this over the weekend with my best friend who claims to be a full-blown Louisiana c***-a**, and we both really enjoyed it. My friend also tells me that all the Louisiana people she knows wave they hands in the air like Willie Stark, and she even said that her people couldn't talk if you tied their hands up. So all you big-city reviewers complaining about the hand-waving just don't understand that Sean Penn and the rest of 'em just did a good job with their research, that's all. I even asked my friend - was that a true accent (Willie's) and she said "yup". I will grant that sometimes it was a little bit hard to understand, but it was accurate. They even showed some of the film to people in Lousisana to see if it was accurate and not only did they say it was good, but the movie got all good rave reviews down there. So all you nit-picky, itty-bitty big-city know it alls, just hush up. And if you like a movie that looks good and takes an ounce of sense to follow, then you will like this movie.

I saw this film on DVD with a friend last night, and we were both stunned at the amazing performance turned in by Julianne Moore. She seems to have gotten into a little bit of a "missing child rut" (she also starred in "The Forgotten", another one with a theme of a lost child), but here her performance had me glued to the screen. In particular, there is a scene in the police station where Moore is talking to Samuel L. Jackson in an interview room which was just an amazing piece of acting. I hope she gets an Oscar nod for this work. Some of the reviewers who have read the book seem to have been disappointed, but not having read the book, I didn't have anything to compare it to.

This is not a regular thriller with car chases, etc. It doesn't really fit into any of the categories people normally plug their movies into. I'm glad I saw it, and I have a new respect for Moore as an actress.

I really enjoyed seeing this movie yesterday with a friend of mine. Of course, she had to keep nudging me, as I was "spelling along" with the movie! They have sing-along movies ("Sound of Music", "Rocky Horror Picture Show") -- perhaps this will be the world's first (and only) "spell-along" movie! What I really liked about the picture was that it made it seem OK (even cool) to be brainy. It's scary how peer pressure can hold bright kids back, so I hope this film makes it glamorous to be bookish. God knows there are enough films that make it glamorous and cool to ditch school and shoot people. It was wonderful how Akeelah's community came together to help her learn her words in preparation for the National Bee. A fine contrast to the "crabs in a barrel" peer pattern which sometimes holds kids back.

Some have complained that the movie was somewhat predictable. This is certainly true - but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed looking forward to seeing Akeelah surmount her obstacles.

Also good were the two contrasting young men in the Bee. One is a good friend, and the other is a rival. I really felt bad for the rival, who had a very demanding "Bee Father" (sort of like a backstage mother). For those who have worked in any field where children are expected to "perform" (i.e., dance, music, theatre, whatever), this type of character is all too painfully real. There are vicious competitors out there, but Fishburne's character was right to teach his student Akeelah about meaning over rote form. A very good picture. I would have given it a ten but the last word was too easy.

I was expecting a very interesting afternoon at the movies after a friend of mine recommended this one to me, saying that she had been nearly on her feet and cheering at the end. Well, she and I have very different tastes, alas. I understand how V's mask plays an important role in the graphic novel, but on screen, honestly, it's just annoying, and it limited Hugo Weaving's acting so much that I'm surprised he merited a screen credit (sorry Hugo). Perhaps the Orwellian England where the story takes place is more interesting for those who haven't read Orwell. One thing that was very interesting to me, though, was the perspective on London's famous public camera scrutiny. I've always wondered what sort of end result that social experiment would have. Now we know - the subway bombers got caught and "V" got launched. Maybe I'm just an old fogy -- I did like the Matrix, though.

I saw this picture yesterday, and it took awhile to sink in. This struck me as being one of those movies where the location is actually like a character. The way Paris or Casablanca are in "Casablanca" - no Paris, no Rick and Ilse, right? Same thing here - no Brokeback Mountain, no Jack and Ennis. The mountain itself is free and unbounded - just like the two men probably wish they were. Alas, there's always society to deal with. Heath Ledger (Ennis) is wonderful in this -- taciturn and unable to articulate any of his feelings. Gyllenhall (Jack Twist) is a freer soul, more in touch with his feelings, but terribly frustrated as well. I certainly hope this picture is recognized at Oscar time. I think it will be remembered as a milestone for years to come.

I liked the Narnia books as a child, and I really enjoyed this movie. It is simply amazing what can be done with computer imaging these days. The creatures in Narnia were all completely believable.

Now as to the real stars of the show (as far as I'm concerned): Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. These two working-class heroes of Narnia really deserve a film or perhaps a television series of their own. I would love to go to their home for a nice cuppa and chat about the state of the world and things in general. Perhaps they could have a news show or something on the BBC and offer commentary. Barbara Walters should do an interview.

Better yet, Mr. Beaver should stand for Parliament! I want to see him challenging Tony Blair on television! More policemen and hospitals for Narnia!

Excellent movie, overall.

I am not a big Cronenberg fan, but I thought this would be an interesting afternoon at the movies, and wow, was it ever! First, I must say that the two major sex scenes in this picture were fabulous - very passionate and erotic. Later on in the movie, William Hurt makes an appearance as a mobster, and I must say that I laughed out loud at some of his lines, even though he was a very threatening character. That's one of the things I really liked about this picture -it's weirdly funny in parts, and terribly scary in others. It was not at all what I expected, and I really was engaged all throughout the picture. Not formulaic, not predictable. The violence is startling in its swiftness and brutality, and so this picture is not for the squeamish.

Well, I saw this movie yesterday, and although I wasn't disappointed, I wasn't terribly thrilled, either. I imagine it would be different for someone who was really into sports, sports gambling, or maybe was a compulsive gambler himself. For me, the relationships were interesting, and Al Pacino certainly chewed the scenery in his role as a kingpin sports prognosticator. I would say that he was over-the top except that I know actual people from New York who are really like that. Matthew McConaughy (sp?) was as good as I have seen him and very nice to look at in his fitness workout scenes. I would recommend the picture for beefcake fans, but there really wasn't enough to make a meal of. Not my type of picture, but I only paid $2 so what the hay.

I was really surprised that Hollywood was able to tackle a huge moral morass like the black market arms trade and leave the moral issues in the audience's lap. Yuri (played by Nicholas Cage) goes to work in a particularly ugly world. When he says that he's had a bad day at the office, you can be pretty sure that someone has been shot or blown up. At any event, what I liked about this picture was that although Yuri obviously has some moral issues to wrestle with, he does so on his own terms, and we are left to figure out the rights and the wrongs. Since most movie-goers don't like to leave a movie with food for thought, this picture may not play very broadly in theaters, but I hope it gets a good audience on video. I also though that Jared Leto was wonderful as Yuri's tragically addicted and unhappy brother.

I have no experience with the program which apparently spawned this picture, so I saw it on a whim this afternoon in order to escape from my humdrum life. Well, I certainly did that (escape from my humdrum life, I mean!) This is a very engaging and interesting sci-fi universe, and I enjoyed the fact that the movie sort of threw me into the deep end of the pool and let me swim - not too much spoon-feeding of background and such. I like figuring things out for myself and not being babied too much. Another thing I really enjoyed, as a first-time visitor to this universe, was the language which the characters use. It was obviously the language of their future-time, a sort of English, but with some peculiarities, and appeared to take an Asian written form. Hmmm.. Well, who knows, it could happen. Anyway, I enjoyed this movie very much and would recommend it as anything but humdrum!

Honestly, what do you want out of a movie? This was a truly fun and diverting afternoon at the pictures. I will admit that I went to the bargain matinée because my air conditioner broke and I wanted to have a cool afternoon. But once I settled down into this picture, I was really delighted. The villain's evil plot is hilarious, and the super-powered kids are a real kick (through the wall). Kurt Russell seems to be having fun taking his part just over the top enough to have a good time, and the lessons about life in high school are good. I would take kids to see this, I think they'd have a blast. There isn't any bad language, and there's just some super-hero violence (kicking through walls, etc) and a huge super-fight in the school cafeteria which damages a lot of property. Otherwise, it's very plain, simple fun.

Well, I saw this movie today and didn't quite know what to expect. Depp as Wonka is, I must say, a tad on the creepy side, but it was probably intended that way. I must say it's always nice to see bad kids get theirs. That little Freddy Hightower was wonderful in the last Depp picture (Finding Neverland), and he's great again in this one. What a wonderful little child actor. My favorite stars of the movie were not human, however. My favorites were the squirrels. They were very squirrelly-ly portrayed, and if they were CGI, I couldn't tell. The oompa loompa's dancing was a little clumsy, but their singing was good. All in all, worth seeing, and an excellent warning to wicked children.

I really don't care for boxing or boxing movies, I have to be blunt. Those slow-motion freeze-framed shots of sweat and sputum kind of spiraling out into the air with a hard, reverberating "thunk"-type sound as the glove connects to the chin have just plain never done it for me.

Having said that, I saw this picture at a screening last night (June 2) and thought that it was quite good. I didn't mind the length at all. Max Baer's character came off as quite a pig, and I was pleased to see him get thunked and his sputum flying. If I had been Mrs. Braddock I would have clocked him myself.

All in all quite a good, uplifting, little-guy-comes-back movie.