Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day
Based on a popular book, written some 60 years ago by English writer Winifred Watson, director Bharat Nalluri’s comedy is a sheer delight. Set in London in 1939, at the eve of the Second World War, the story concerns a stern governess, down on her luck, who manages to bluff her way into a job as a social secretary to a scatterbrained actress. Naturally enough, the actress and the governess both emerge better and wiser people from their encounter. Academy Award winning actress Frances McDormand, as the governess, proves once again what a superb actress she is, while Amy Adams is just absolutely gorgeous and funny as a ‘blonde bombshell’. The movie is full of all those terrific character actors only the British cinema can provide, and the sets and costumes are outstanding. The movie plays, and looks, like a loving color version of any black and white Ealing Studios comedy from the 1930s.
The Black Balloon
Australian actress Toni Collette is a Big International Star these days, but, when she returns to her homeland, she always makes an interesting movie, as an endearing Australian ‘Shelia’. Toni is great in ‘The Black Balloon’. She plays a mother drawn between the attention she knows she must give to her teenage son, and the care she must give to his elder autistic brother. The subject matter of the movie is strong, but, writer and director Ellissa Down handles it with sensitivity. She turns what could have been a heavy going movie into a funny and ultimately heart warming story about family love.
Married Life
This comedy-drama, based on a novel by John Bingham, is set in upstate New York in 1949. It is the period when America had emerged victorious from the Second World War. The American Dream was firmly in place, and the affluent American Middle Class was starting to question its strict sexual moral code. Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachael McAdams successfully play a group of characters, who become embroiled in extramarital shenanigans, and, eventually, pre-meditated murder. All the actors give good performances, and the sets and costumes are again another superb staging of a bygone era. The most interesting aspect of the movie is director Ira Sachs recreation of the 1940s ‘Film Noir’ style, albeit in color.
Pathology
If you have ever wondered what a group of intern doctors would get up to, when they become bored working in the mortuary of a large city hospital, then this is the movie for you! This particular group of bored doctors comes up with a game, to pass the time, which is quite horrific. Starring Milo Ventimiglia and Alyssa Milano, and directed by Marc Scholermann, the movie is extremely gory, in a medicinal kind of way. Much of it you don’t even want to look at. Yet, the thrills and chills keep coming. The film never fails to hold your attention. It is not for the fainthearted, but, it is a lot of fun!
Be Kind Rewind
For reasons that are too complicated, and funny, to go into here, Jack Black and Mos Def succeed in erasing all the movies in Danny Glover’s small town hokey video rental shop. The boys have to replace the stock before Danny comes back from a holiday, and, they decide to re-shoot the movies themselves, with the help of all their friends. These amateur ‘flicks’ quickly become a gigantic hit, and soon the whole town is lining up to rent them. Written and directed by Michel Gondry, the movie is strictly for ‘movie buffs’ only, who are going to really love it! Any movie from ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Robocop’ to ‘Men in Black’ become 10 second video bites, capturing the essence of each film classic. Look for Mia Farrow in ‘Driving Miss Daisy’.
Prom Night
Okay. I guess we all know the plot to this movie. There are no big surprises. Even though she is too old for it, Brittany Snow plays a teenage girl, who, on the night of her Senior Prom, is stalked by a serial killer escaped from a psychiatric prison. You get the drift? However, the movie is kind of good. Working within its particular genre, director Nelson McCormick makes a scary movie, full of suspense and tension, while much of the violence takes place off screen, and is simply implied. This is a different approach to a ‘slasher’ movie, and this technique comes as the real surprise of the movie!
The Ruins
To look at this movie you would think it is American. Well, in a way it is. The principal cast and crew come from the States, but, the movie is actually made in Australia. Queensland fills in for Mexico, and Australian movie makers flesh out the smaller roles and less important production duties. It is a result of the Australian Film Industry attempting to broaden its horizons. Anyway, what ever country wants to take credit, the movie isn’t too bad. Six American students, vacationing in Mexico, visit an archeological site where a Mayan temple has been discovered. The local population is not too pleased to see them, and pretty soon weird things start to go on in the temple. The movie packs quite a wallop. It will keep you glued to the edge of your seat.
