Jun 18, 2011
rated R. The tagline boasts something like “They Never Saw It Coming”. Well, that’s a shame, because that only makes one of them! The audience sees it coming a mile away which is always a bad sign, especially when the viewer finds themselves laughing during the serious scenes and shouting out “Oh come on!.” Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston are two working suburbanites when they meet on a train, frustrated and bored from their marriages. One thing leads to another, which leads them to the room of a sleazy hotel. When an incident occurs that’s about to rock their worlds, the movie (appropriately named) manages to derail into one predictable situation after another. And we find the echo of “just call the police” already hovering in the theatre. Vincent Cassell gives an outstanding performance, but Anniston just can’t be sexy. She’s that girl-next-door and that’s all there is to it. There’s no Sharon Stone, or smoldering Diane Lane here and it’s certainly not part “Fatal Attraction” or the brilliant “Unfaithful.” One tiara
Jun 18, 2011
(rated PG13)
In this musical biography the story unfolds in flashback form as an unrecognizable Kevin Kline portrays the legendary Cole Porter, first as an old man reflecting back on better years. Instantly the audience is swept into a comfort zone of familiar tunes, transporting us to his younger days in Paris and a specific New Years Eve party, where he first eyes Linda Porter (Ashley Judd) across his piano keys. Soon life is one new melody after another negotiated into their world of mansions, fame and time-tested-love with the obvious need for Porter’s sexual preference. All the while Mrs. Porter has her own passion – the passion for her husband at his keyboard. She understands him – understands they are single as a couple. Kline and Judd devour their roles. Kline plays his own piano. The music is timeless with de-marvelous stars Elvis Costello, Natalie Cole and Alanis Morissette simply de-lightful, (despite musicals getting a bad rap in Hollywood, “Chicago” aside – especially those released in the summer. Never.) But seasonless musicals aren’t the problem here. Instead it lies in the words Cole Porter wrote “I love you often enough” and wanting to mean them, but never able to. This is where the tale fails. Neither character ever finds a satisfying romance, yet we as an audience come away somehow romantically fulfilled.
Jun 18, 2011
Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) is a single dad to Maya (Abigail Breslin). He’s about to divorce her mom, a woman we haven’t met yet. One day Maya comes home after learning about the birds and the bees, and asks her dad how he fell in love with her mother and if he ever ‘did it’ with any other women. He decides to play a game with his daughter but changing the names of the three women from his past (1990s) and letting her guess which one turned out to be her mother. Enter “Emily” Elizabeth Banks, his college sweetheart. Enter “April” Isla Fischer, a girl he meets on the Clinton campaign. Enter “Summer” Rachel Weisz, a sophisticated scholar dating her college professor (Kevin Kline.) And so along with little Maya, the audience bonds and falls in love with the woman we hope turns out to be her mother. With longevity appeal as “The Notebook” this smart, romantic story, with the right dose of twists along the way, and a surprisingly amounts of chemistry between Reynolds and each of the intended wives, will have a long life of female fans of all ages. The perfect date movie for this Valentine’s Day and for everyone hereafter. 4 tiaras
Jun 18, 2011
Just when you think you’ve seen every World War movie plot imaginable, comes a story directed by Ed Zwick about three Jewish brothers who escape Nazi-occupied Poland and join forces to build a village in order to protect themselves and others who are in danger. With a touch of “Robin Hood” – and since most of takes place in the Bellarussian forest – Tuvia (Daniel Craig) is somehow the chosen of the group (that grows in numbers) to oversee the rules “no pregnancies – we can’t afford another mouth to feed” and the decisions of when to open fire on intruding Germans. His other brothers Zus (Live Schreiber) and Asael (Jamie Bell) usually listen, sometimes get into a tiff, and at one point, Zus leaves to join the Russian resistance for much of the movie. Based on a true story, these men seek revenge on all Germans because of the death of their parents at the hands of a Police Captain. While it’s an interesting and painful story, it’s often hard to understand what’s going on with Schreiber and Craig’s very good but fake accents. When they choose ‘forest wives’(a new term for ‘mistress’) as opposed to their village wives left home with their children, Tuvia chooses Lilka (Alexa Davalos) a beautiful French actress who does an effective and passionate job in her supporting role of Tuvia and the other women. Two and a half tiaras
Jun 18, 2011
(rated R, 105 mins.)
The idea of a black comedy starring over the top talent based in the land of kid’s TV shows, sounds like a great pitch. But while this movie will draw audiences by its names (Danny DeVito, Edward Norton, Robin Williams), their performances are almost embarrassing. Not to mention it can’t possibly be directed (but it is) by Danny DeVito, the same man who brought us “Throw Mamma From The Train” and “Hoffa.” Williams stars as Rainbow Randolph, the over-friendly host of a kids show who gets caught in a scandal (sound familiar PeeWee Herman?) His replacement is the squeaky-clean, lovable Barney-ish fuchsia rhino named Smoochy (Norton). Randolph soon learns that Smoochy is having an affair with his ex (Catherine Keener), a television exec. Now it’s time for revenge. We look for movies to take our kids to but this isn’t one of them. This film deals with the underbelly of Hollywood. Lawyers and Agents (Danny DeVito) and that would all be well and fine, but it’s not. It’s plain annoying. The camera’s angles gaze up at the actor’s nostrils in an attempt (I think?) to make us feel like small children but after awhile we just feel like groaning grown-ups hoping for a commercial break.
