Dance Flick
There are just too many Wayans Brothers to name here. Like the Baldwin Brothers, they keep multiplying. But, anyway, the Wayans Brothers are the guys who brought us ‘Scary Movie’ (2000). In their latest comedy, an aspiring young dancer, played by Shoshana Bush, fails her audition at the Julliard School of Dance, and, instead, she has to attend the Musical High School. There, she quickly becomes involved with boyfriends and ‘break-dancing’, in that order. This is one of those movies where there is a joke a second, and if that one doesn’t work, it’s onto the next one right away. Nine times out of ten the jokes hit their mark. Damon Wayans Jr. is the real star of the movie, and he succeeds in being funny, sexy, camp and outrageously masculine all at the same time! He also turns out to be a rather good ‘hip-hop’ dancer. The man has talent! Written, produced, directed, and God only knows what else, by countless Wayans, this is an effective ‘crass’ comedy.
Small Crime
Directed by Christos Georgiou, this is an entertaining movie from Greece. There is not much to do on one particular small Greek island. The local policeman Leonidas (Aris Servetalis) spends most of his time telling naked tourists to put their clothes back on, but, when the local drunk turns up dead at the foot of a cliff, Leonidas finally has a case he can get his teeth into. However, when Leonidas meets Aggeliki (Viki Papadopoulou), a beautiful TV celebrity from Athens, on the island to visit her mother, Leonidas’ investigation kinda gets sidetracked. This doesn’t really matter anyway, because the movie is actually an affectionate look at small Greek island life.
The Poker House
Based on personal real-life experiences from first time director Lori Petty, this is a powerful adult drama. Agnes is only a teenager, but she spends most of her time trying to care for her two younger sisters, and protect them from their strung-out mother, and the mother’s pimp de-facto-husband. Their home is virtually a brothel, populated by gamblers, thieves and prostitutes. Agnes is simply trying to survive. The movie depicts their sordid life, and Agnes’ brave attempt to rise above it. As Agnes, Jennifer Lawrence gives an outstanding performance, which suggests a wisdom well beyond her years.
In Tranzit
Directed by Tom Roberts, this is an intriguing English language movie from Russia. At the end of the Second World War a group of male German POWs are sent by mistake to a female run Soviet prison camp. There, the visiting regional commandant suspects that genuine war criminals may be hiding within the prisoners, and he coerces the female prison doctor to weed out the suspect SS officers. Meanwhile, as the long cold winter progresses, a game of cat and mouse takes place between the prisoners and their guards, as unexpected relationships and attachments form between them. As the commandant John Malkovich gives one of his typical chilling performances, while Vera Farmiga instills her character of the doctor with much warmth.
When Did You Last See Your Father?
Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson star in this serious adult drama from England. The movie concerns a successful poet who has to reluctantly attend the death bed of his aging father. While keeping the death watch a torrent of memories are unleashed, which concentrate on the rocky relationship the father and son endured in the past. In typical English style, director Anand Tucker keeps a firm hand on all emotional displays, resulting in an intentionally cold and alienating film, but, the wonderful performances from the stellar cast ensure that interest is maintained throughout the movie.
1 _ Knights
Til Schweiger is a very solemn German Leading Man and Director, so it’s rather surprising that in his new movie Schweiger turns his hand to comedy. Quite successfully! Til plays a medieval knight, in love with a beautiful princess, and when she is kidnapped and held for ransom, Til sets off on a quest to rescue his damsel in distress. In typical German style, the comedy is basic and broad, and with much emphasis on the ‘slap-stick’. However, it is Til Schweiger’s ‘dead-pan’ performance which really makes the movie. Sporting a bizarre Page Boy Bob hairstyle, Til just wanders through the movie, completely oblivious to all the crazy mayhem going on around him.
The Echelon Conspiracy
You can also look for this movie, directed by Greg Marcks, as ‘The Gift’. Shane West plays an engineer who anonymously receives a gift of a new-fangled cell phone, which sends him anonymous messages where to go and what to do to receive enormous wealth. Without giving too much away, the movie finally becomes one of those affairs where a top secret government computer has gone askew, and now has world domination in mind. The movie is rather sleek, and features some terrific computer special effects.
I Hate Valentine’s Day
If you enjoyed actress and director Nia Vardalos’ ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ (2002), then you will enjoy her latest romantic-comedy. Nia Vardalos and John Corbett star again as a pair of mixed-matched lovers. Nia is a florist and John a restaurateur. They come from different backgrounds. The dating game is hard to play in Brooklyn, when you hit a certain age, but Nia and John are willing to give it a go. The movie is lots of schmaltzy fun!
