Letters to Juliet
A letter which is over 50 years old finally receives an answer, and this brings middle-aged English woman, Vanessa Redgrave, to Verona. Together with two companions, Vanessa embarks on an extended road trip through Tuscany, looking for her long lost love. It is the height of summer, and Tuscany is at its most magnificent. They visit enchanting Tuscan towns, explore fascinating vineyards, and eat at charming out-of-the-way cafes. You can practically smell the spaghetti sauce oozing from the screen. Yes, the movie is schmaltzy and sentimental, but, in all the right ways! It’s a fabulous romantic travelogue, and Vanessa Redgrave is simply just superb.
Mother and Child
Three stories, on a theme of adoption, are intermingled in this very good adult drama. Annette Bening is searching for the child she gave up for adoption over 30 years ago. Naomi Watts, a successful lawyer, has long come to terms with the fact that she is adopted. While, Kerry Washington, a barren woman, is desperate to adopt a baby. As the stories unfold, each woman has to confront a crisis. Also starring Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits, the acting throughout the movie is excellent. Writer and director Rodrigo Garcia tackles some delicate subject matter with much sensitivity.
The Killer Inside Me
English writer and director Michael Winterbottom’s claim to fame has been based on some pretty esoteric films, such as ‘Wonderland’ (1999), ‘24 Hour Party People’ (2002) and ‘9 Songs’ (2005). Winterbottom’s movies are always a touch ‘arty’, and he is noted for his depiction of violence and extremely explicit sex scenes. His latest work, ‘The Killer Inside Me’, is a straight forward piece of gritty realism. A handsome, baby-faced, Texan Deputy Sheriff, who everybody likes, turns out to be a really bad piece of work. Starring Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, the movie is particularly ‘heavy’ going, and it does contain some very graphic material.
The Disappearance of Alice Creed
In this taut English movie, two ex-cons kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and hold her for ransom. However, as things progress, the movie takes some very interesting twists and turns. The movie could possibly be based on a stage play, for it stars only three people, Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston, and Eddie Marsan, plus, all the action is more or less restricted to one desolate studio set. All the same, writer and director J. Blakeson has created a truly gripping, suspenseful, and shocking thriller.
Toy Story 3
The latest ‘Toy Story’ is just as much fun as its predecessors. This time around Andy is all grown up, and about to head off to college. Accidently, his toys are donated to a child day care centre, and, there, the toys find themselves in a virtual concentration camp, from which they have to escape. As usual, the animation is terrific. Kids are going to enjoy all the escapades, while adults will find the references to the ‘prison’ movie genre hilarious. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen still provide the voices for Woody and Buzz.
Twelve
American writer and director Joel Schumacher has to his credit such smart movies as ‘The Lost Boys’ (1987), ‘Flatliners’ (1990) and ‘8mm’ (1999). In his latest film Schumacher looks at the lives of a group of affluent, uptown, New York youths, who party continually throughout their school vacation on a new designer drug called ‘Twelve’. These teenagers have all the usual alienated angst, but, it is pretty hard to feel much sympathy for them. The movie is very sleek, very stylish, and, thankfully, very short. Coming in at exactly 90 minutes, Schumacher doesn’t labor his points. The movie stars an impressive group of good looking, up and coming, young American actors.
The Expendables
A group of mercenaries are hired to clean up a small corrupt Caribbean country, which they set about doing with much gusto. The gimmick of the film is that it stars almost every action movie star you can think of, including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Incompetently directed by Sylvester Stallone, the movie could, and should, have been much better.
Robin Hood
God only knows where director Ridley Scott found the story for his version of ‘Robin Hood’, but, it bears no resemblance to the legend as we know it. Scott’s movie is actually a ‘prequel’, and it sets out to explain how Robin became an outlaw. The movie also takes a revisionist approach to the tale, yet, it misses its mark entirely. Various versions of the Robin Hood saga have been around since 1909. The most famous one is ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’ (1938), and it is noted for Errol Flynn’s boisterous performance, and the film’s dry wit and casual sense of comedy. Ridley Scott’s movie has no sense of humor whatsoever. It’s deadly serious, and it just goes on and on and on. Russell Crowe is boring beyond belief, while Cate Blanchet looks very tired. She probably was after filming this rubbish.
Just Wright
Queen Latifah gets to play a physical-therapist. She falls in love with Common, who gets to play an injured professional basket-ball player. Queen Latifah gets to massage Common’s muscles quite a lot. He is quite hunky.
Shelter
Psychiatrist Julianne Moore treats patient Jonathan Rhys Meyer for multiple personality disorder. The film just gets more and more silly as it goes along.
