The Lives of Others
The winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Foreign
Film, this great movie depicts the political collapse of East
Germany, as seen through the eyes of an Intel Officer handling
the surveillance of a notorious playwright.
Norbit
Much of the humor in Eddie Murphy’s new comedy is pretty
crass, and sometimes quite offensive, but, his new character,
‘Rasputia’, a grossly overweight red-hot ‘mamma’,
does, on occasion, tickle the funny bone.
The History Boys
Based on a play, the script has been reduced to 109 minutes,
and much of the motivations of a group of male students, using
their sexual allure to charm their way through a university
entrance exam, are lost in this film adaptation.
Alpha Dog
Nick Cassavetes has created an extraordinary movie, supposedly
based on true events, that deals with an unintentional kidnapping.
The first 20 minutes or so is routine, but then the movie’s
theme ‘kicks-in’ and it really takes off.
Hannibal Rising
This is the latest episode in the ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’
film franchise. But, this movie is a prequel, dealing with
the nasty childhood events that turned Hannibal Lecter into
a psychopath. The film has some very creepy moments.
Sherrybaby
This is a movie that has been devised to showcase the talents
of a particular actress. In this case it is Maggie Gyllenhaal,
playing a dull character in a dull movie about a reformed
drug addict trying to regain custody of her daughter.
Music and Lyrics
Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore star in this delightful romantic-comedy,
about a pair of songwriters trying to come up with a hit song
for a Brittany Spears-like pop superstar. Hugh and Drew sparkle
in this piece of nonsense.
Harsh Times
Christian Bale gives an outstanding performance in this rather
brutal movie, about an ex-Army Special Forces soldier who
slips back into a life of petty crime, when a job offer from
the Los Angeles Police Department evaporates.
School For Scoundrels
Billy Bob Thornton conducts an unusual motivational class,
trying to build confidence and instill self-esteem into a
group of highly inadequate men, all of whom are riddled by
anxiety and guilt. The film is boring and predictable.
Shadowboxer
Academy Award winners Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren both
present brilliant performances, in this unusual and fascinating
movie, which gives a private face and personal life to the
anonymous characters of contract killers.
Man about Town
Top Hollywood agent Ben Affleck takes a creative writing class,
and he puts his private feelings and secret ambitions into
a personal journal, that is stolen by a vindictive screenwriter.
The film is not clear on what it is trying to say.
Herbie Fully Loaded
This sequel should never have been made. Even children will
not be amused by the new exploits of Herbie, the Volkswagen
Bug with a mind of its own. Lindsay Lohan must break her Disney
contract before it totally destroys her.
Factory Girl
Sienna Miller is just fantastic as Edie Sedgwick, the Warhol
movie superstar who had her 15 minutes of fame as the girl
Andy Warhol wanted to be. In a piece of unusual casting, Guy
Pearce is amazing as the famous artist himself.
Candy
I am a bit skeptical about this movie, as I normally do not
like films which glorify heroin addicts. However, Heath Ledger,
Abbie Cornish and Geoffrey Rush are all terrific in this powerful
and touching low-key Australian drama.
10 Items or Less
Morgan Freeman plays a film star doing some research in a
supermarket. He starts-up a conversation with the check-out
girl. Spanish sex-siren Paz Vega. They talk and talk and talk
and talk and talk, and maybe begin a relationship.
Me and My Sister
When the provincial sister of an embittered socialite comes
to Paris, to sign with a Publishing House, it reignites their
sibling rivalry. Isabelle Huppert is superb in her thorny
role, while Catherine Frot shines as the gauche novelist.
Fast Food Nation
An extraordinary cast is featured in this movie, but everybody
is wasted in this exposé of America’s Fast Food
Industry. In typical ‘interconnecting narratives’
style, the movie meanders on without actually getting anywhere.
Under The Tuscan Sun 2
This movie has nothing to do with the first ‘Under The
Tuscan Sun’. The title has been appropriated to sell
the movie. Everything about the movie is appalling. Everything.
Except, of course, for the wonderful Tuscan scenery.
Stranger than Fiction
In this strange movie, but also very interesting one, Will
Ferrell finds he is the unintentional hero of Emma Thompson’s
latest novel. Emma thinks she is writing a fictional story,
yet everything she writes turns into alarming fact.
Little Fish
This is another Australian drama depicting the drug scene.
Cate Blanchett skillfully plays a recovering addict, who finds
herself dealing drugs in order to raise the capital to purchase
and expand a video store and inter-net café.
Idiocracy
Two human subjects are placed in hibernation chambers during
an American Army experiment, but something goes wrong, and
they wake up in the future where the average IQ is practically
zero. This is indeed a very idiotic movie.
The Night Listener
Robin Williams sports a beard in this movie, so we know it
is meant to be a drama. I shouldn’t be so sarcastic,
for the movie is actually rather good. It deals with identity
and obsession, and it is from an Armistead Maupin novel.
The Dead Girl
Another ‘interconnecting narratives’ movie. But,
this one is quite interesting. When the body of a murdered
girl is discovered, various stories shoot-off at acute tangents,
to explore the circumstances and consequences of the killing.
Color Of The Cross
Actor, writer and director Jean-Claude La Marre suggests,
in his movie, that Christ could have been a colored man and
that the crucifixion may have been racially motivated. The
movie is hopelessly acted, written and directed.
Eragon
As movies for children go, this one is fabulous. It is all
about a magical dragon, and its rider, and an evil kingdom
which must be destroyed. This movie will have a sequel. Too
much is left up in the air at the conclusion.
Clueless
First released in 1995, age has not weakened Amy Heckerling’s
social satire. The movie is just as funny and pertinent now,
as it was then. As the mistress of the mobile-phone, Alicia
Silverstone shot to superstardom in this movie.
