Jun 20, 2011
(rated PG-13, 121 mins.)
Opens early April
A well-deserved French Entry for Oscars and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, comes the incredibly passionate love story drama about a couple who return to the husband’s mother country of Russia after living happily in France.
It is June 1946, and Stalin launches a vast propaganda campaign aimed at Russian emigrants living in the West, offering them amnesty, a Soviet passport and the chance to participate in the post-war reconstruction of the USSR. From the moment, Alexei Golovine, his lovely wife, Marie and their son Serioja arrive, they are instantly controlled and consumed into manipulation and emotional torture. Immediately, the audience is drawn into the turmoil and bond shared between this happy couple, that slowly demises over unexpected issues of trust, bizarre set of circumstances, and the pursuit of freedom, all which ring strongly throughout the film.
The very beautiful and compelling Sandrine Bonnaire portrays Marie with an attitude of “freedom at all costs!” Oleg Menchikov as Alexei her husband with Catherine Deneuve as Gabrielle the actress who tries to assist Marie in her escape from Russia. The movie overflows with heart-pulling moments that are reminiscent of watching “Sound Of Music” in the scene where the Von Trapps escape Austria to climb the mountains to freedom. This story delivers twice the elegance and drama that the Oscar winning “English Patient” did. East-West reunites Deneuve and co-writer-director Regis Wargnier, who scored big-time with 1992’s “Indochine.”
Jun 20, 2011
The goal of two corporate spies, Claire (Julia Roberts) and Ray (Clive Owen) is to “Outwit, Outspy, Outsmart, Outplay and then get out” as the movie ads say. But it doesn’t quite work that way. That’s because Claire and Ray have the hots for each other. It all started in Dubai, where they had a fling in a hotel room several years ago. Fast forward five years, and they run see each other in a New York City department store. Is it planned, is it staged, is it real? That’s the thing about writer/director Tony Gilroy’s “Duplicity” – you just never know. And then there’s the sub-story of two corporate and competitive CEOs Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and Richard Garsik (Paul Giamatti) going neck-to-neck over a mysterious product that once developed, will make them millions. But while the business of “Duplicity” is hard to follow until about ¾ through the movie – when the secret product is revealed – that’s okay. Our confusion works to its advantage. Seems the business angle only makes us long for more of Owens and Roberts in the bedroom. On screen the two have a real chemistry though Owen is by far the flirtier of the pair. Owen is sexy, silly, evil and a bit of a cad all wrapped in one – top it off with his British accent and you’ve got the best Clive Owen performance to date. As a matter of fact, as good as it is to see Roberts back on screen, it’s Owen who feels more like the “Pretty Woman” with Roberts playing the solemn Richard Gere type. That said, Roberts is lovely to have back, and while physically older and more mature, she’s still at her best when she launches that big white smile – something she should have done a little more of in this movie. Three and a half tiaras
Jun 20, 2011
Finally a movie about something that has never been done; using Karaoke as a metaphor for life. Certain songs are reminiscent of our prom, our first kiss, or our wedding day, but in this movie, music represents the psychological, emotional, sexual and free release for six very different people, who eventually team up in Omaha, Nebraska for a Karaoke contest. First there’s a hunky cabdriver (Scott Speedman) who searches for the meaning of life and thinks himself an “underachiever.” Then there’s his sidekick traveling companion, (Maria Bello) a wanna-be Hollywood star-struck type. Huey Lewis is a seasoned karaoke hustler who unexpectedly ends up with an innocent Vegas girl (Gwenyth Paltrow). The last team of roadtrip strangers is an unlikely pair. An ex-con (Andre Braugher) with the movie’s favorite, a fed-up, stressed-out, suburban, unloved, unwanted, corporate fueled, credit card loving salesman, (Paul Giametti) who leaves home to permanently “buy a pack of cigarettes”. Most impressive in these outstanding performances are their unexpected singing skills. “Try A Little Tenderness” delivered by Braugher and Giametti is a show stopper as though George Benson and Al Jarreau were performing together! The only problem was that the lovely Paltrow’s role did not suit her Oscar worthy abilities. This story is full of surprises, all pleasantly delivered. And in the end, will leave you thinking that in the final contest of Karaoke (or everyday life) who really wins. (one interesting note: Directed by Bruce Paltrow, Gwenyth Paltrow’s father)
Jun 20, 2011
Think Oscar and Felix, think Planes, Trains and Automobiles, think Todd Phillips, the director of the runaway hit The Hangover, and you’ve got his latest.Peter (Robert Downey Jr) is a cool architect busy talking via his blackberry to his pregnant wife (Michelle Monaghan) from the back of a limo en route to Atlanta airport. She’s due in three days and he’s heading home. Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) is a clueless slob who’s going to Hollywood, he’s got his father’s ashes in a coffee can, and claims to have “ninety friends on Facebook – twelve of them are pending.” When a series of events cause Peter and Ethan to rent a car together, it’s their strength as two brilliant actors that makes this roadtrip cross-country a worthy theatre ticket. Murphy’s Law prevails in just about every scene as the cynical Peter slowly evolves into somebody else someplace just outside of Mexico. Jamie Foxx plays his best friend and Juliette Lewis is perfectly cast as the found-on-Craig’s-list drug dealer. We’ve seen Galifianakis in this role before. It’s his niche. He’s sure of his mission with a certainty and even exhibits facial expressions reminiscent of the late John Belushi. Like in The Hangover, the movie’s strength is bad guy behavior on a ticking clock. Last time it was a wedding, time it’s a baby. Three Tiaras
Jun 20, 2011
(Rated PG-13, NOT YET REVIEWED)
The title says it all. Two potheads wake up the next morning after a night of partying, and can’t seem to locate their vehicle. Stars Ashton Kutcher of Fox sitcom “That ’70’s Show” and Seann William Scott from the smash film comedies of lateral move “American Pie” and Road Trip” play the dudes. Jennifer Garner and Kristy Swanson “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star as their love interests.
