Where the Wild Things are

  Rating:  A

Premise:  A child, Max, is a very exuberant “Wild Thing” of a child.  After his mom screams at him, he sails off to an island of other “Wild Things” where he becomes their king.  While there, he realizes that being the king of the wild things is not all it is cracked up to be.

Recommend:  Yes, definitely.  I’m not sure it is a great movie for kids – there are some really intense scenes and the meaning may go over their heads.  If you are a Spike Jonze fan, you will really like this.  I thought it was beautiful.  The voice over and puppetry work was sensational.

Technorati Tags: Where the Wild Things are,Spike Jonze,Maurice Sendak,Max Records,Catherine Keener,James Gandolfini,Paul Dano,Catherine O’Hara,Forest Whitaker,Chris Cooper,Lauren Ambrose

Sunshine Cleaning

 

Rating:  B

Premise:  A young woman trying to make ends meet for her and her son sets up a cleaning business for crime scenes.  

Recommend:  Yes!  I was surprised by how much I liked it.  It was funny but not “stupid funny”…more like a dramedy.   The primary actors were all wonderful – special attention to Emily Blunt.

Technorati Tags: Sunshine Cleaning,Amy Adams,Emily Blunt,Alan Arkin

Religulous

 

Rating:  B+

Premise:  Bill Mahr goes around the world to ask religious leaders questions that make them examine their faith.

Recommend: Yes.  I’m not a huge Bill Mahr fan (a little too liberal for me) but this was recommended to me from a friend that I consider to be a good Christian.   Bill Mahr goes between interviewing religious figures and scientists.  It’s always amazing to me that when you ask an honest question that outlines an inconsistency in religion, the person that is asked gets all defensive and won’t answer.  I know that this is heavily edited but it definitely shows the hypocrisy in religion and its leaders.   (BTW, I’m not into religion so YMMV with this review).

Technorati Tags: Religulous,Bill Mahr

Julie & Julia

Rating: A

Premise: Julie Powell is about to be 30 and feels like she has no purpose.  She undertakes a self-imposed challenge to make all 500+ recipes in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol.1 in 365 days.

Recommend: YES!  I had heard that the movie was just so-so with the great parts being the Meryl Streep/Julia Child sections.  So not true.  The movie as a whole is fantastic.  I can see where critics would think the other parts of the movie was bad because the Meryl Streep parts were genius.  (Probably another Academy Award Nomination)   This movie is extremely funny with just a few dramatic moments.  It will be a must own movie when it comes out on DVD.

Technorati Tags: Julie & Julia,Meryl Streep,Amy Adams,Stanley Tucci,Chris Messina,Julie Powell,Nora Ephron,Mary Lynn Rajskub,Jane Lynch

Phoebe in Wonderland

 

Rating:  A

Premise:  A young girl who has some serious behaviour issues finds peace with her drama teacher and in playing Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Recommend?:  Yes.  One of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time.  Effectively showcases the issues related to raising and being a child with a health issue (Tourette Syndrome).  The entire cast is fantastic especially Patricia Clarkson and Elle Fanning.  The material may be too much for kids.

Technorati Tags: Phoebe in Wonderland,Elle Fanning,Patricia Clarkson,Felicity Huffman,Bill Pullman

Happy Go Lucky

 

Rating: B

Premise:  An incredibly upbeat, half-glass-full, type of girl, Poppy, gets her bicycle stolen.   She decides to take driving lessons with this crazy guy, Scott, who develops a crush on her.

Recommend?:  Sort of.  This is a really odd little movie.  Very British.  You must turn up the sound to hear the dialogue.  Not one I need to own but if you like quirky British movies, you will like this.

Technorati Tags: Happy Go Lucky,Mike Leigh,Sally Hawkins,Eddie Marsan

Some Cool New Trailers!

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Starring my favorite: Colin Firth

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

Lost in Austen

Rating: B

Premise: Amanda Price of current day London wishes she lived in the times of Jane Austen – specifically with the characters in the book of “Pride & Prejudice”.   One day, she goes to her bathroom to find Elizabeth Bennet standing in her tub.  Turns out that there is a secret portal to the Bennet’s house in her bathroom (how coincedental!).  She goes to Regency England and manages to mess up the whole P&P book of events.

Recommend: Yes, but for die hard Austenites.  This is almost 3 hours but it was originally a 3 part BBC series.   Bringing modern London to Regency England turns out to be pretty funny. I think that Hugh Bonneville might just be my favorite Mr. Bennet.

Technorati Tags: Lost in Austen,Jemima Rooper,Elliot Cowan,Hugh Bonneville,Alex Kingston,Gemma Arterton

Loggerheads

 

Rating:  B

Premise:  This movie contains two stories that take place at different times.  The first story is about a gay man with AIDS who leaves home without speaking to his parents.  The second story is about a woman who gave up her son for adoption when she was 17.  Guess who her son is?

Recommend?:  Yes.  This movie is seriously dramatic and a little depressing but very well done.  Fantastic cast.

 

Technorati Tags: Loggerheads,Bonnie Hunt,Chris Sarandon,Kip Purdue,Tess Harper,Michael Learned

Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince

Rating:  A

Premise:  The Death Eaters are capturing prominent Anti-Voldemort members of the wizarding world.  The Dark Lord has done some sort of rare dark magic to keep his soul alive.  The only way to make him mortal is to find and destroy the 7 Horcruxes that each contain part of his soul.

Recommend:  Yes!  Of course, they left out a ton of details from the book (in one instance trading an entire battle for two scenes of bad behavior)  but I believe they did a respectable job of getting the main parts of the book into this movie.  It is very very long.  2.5 hours but it seems much longer.  There are many funny moments for as well as the movie deals with the dark lord, it is also addressing the students and their romances and increasing maturity.   Bring tissue for the end.

 

Technorati Tags: Harry Potter,Book 6,HP6,Half Blood Prince,Daniel Radcliffe,Emma Watson,Rupert Grint,Alan Rickman,Michael Gambon,Helena Bonham-Carter,Tom Felton