Jun 17, 2011
James Bond has been done over and over, but right from the get-go, there’s something different, something effortless, and nonchalant, about this 007. British actor Daniel Craig is sexy, complicated and mean. And he looks like Steve McQueen. His blue eyes are wounded, sad, and simply to die for. The story begins with a startling opening as a British secret service agent acting very “Bondish’ in his execution of capturing the bad guy. But when he beats another man to a bloody death, it’s a Bond we’ve never seen before, though suspect may have always existed. And while he’ll say those infamous words, “Bond. James Bond,” his babes aren’t the usual blonde bombshells. Instead French actress Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is brunette, skinny and has half a brain. Based on the first Ian Fleming spy novel and taking us back to the beginning, this movie moves from Bahamas to Britain and even Venice. This new Bond has no tolerance for true love, meddlesome women like “M” (Judi Dench) the head honcho agent, or even martinis shaken or stirred – to which he replies, “Do I look like I give a damn?” And that’s just what makes this (sometimes) disjointed movie work: A James Bond who doesn’t give a care about too much. Three Tiaras.
Jun 17, 2011
(rated R, 127 mins.) A WWII drama centering around Pelagia (Penelope Cruz), the daughter of Doctor Iannis (John Hurt), who realizes that after a few strums from a mandolin played by Captain Corelli (Nicolas Cage), life as a fisherman’s wife to a local (Christian Bale) may not be what she bargained for. Life is simple on this Greek Island, where people believe in family and miracles until war breaks out. Suddenly two ancient countries (Greece and Italy) are forced to co-exist during war off the coast of Albania. While shot intelligently and beautifully, as though somebody genuinely cared, it’s a drama that tries with sincerity to infuse comedy that seems misplaced. And, find me one old stubborn Greek who would leave an Italian solider alone in the house with his babe of a daughter? Unlike most war scenes, the machine gunning of the rebellious Italian soldiers however, is done tastefully. Cage tries, though I never bought his Italian accent, almost seeming like he’s a character in the wrong movie. Hurt should be commended as the father, and Cruz is beautiful to look at but she can’t act. Not in American movies anyway. It’s good she does those Ralph ads.
Jun 17, 2011
Phillip Seymour Hoffman metamorphoses before our eyes, in a portrayal of the late author Truman Capote, who forever changed the writing world with, as he called it “the first non-fiction novel” entitled “In Cold Blood”. And while this movie doesn’t change cinema, it does manage to tap into some emotions revealed, as more of a docu/study, on how ruthless a writer will become to ‘get the story.’ Capote keeps the story alive by keeping his killers alive, through high-priced attorneys, and an ongoing set of appeals. On the flipside, Perry, one of the killers, does the same, first appearing lonely and frightened, but later manipulating Capote with a dangling carrot of holding out information – a means of using the writing project as a legal tool. Hoffman’s character is always and amusingly in a New York State of mind. He’s brutally honest, yet gently sweet and cunning, with a duck-out-of-water ambition, who travels all the way to Kansas, to convince the behind-bars-death-row killers, that they shouldn’t be remembered as ‘monsters’ until, like a monster himself, Capote turns on a dime to defend his project’s outcome.
The parallel of Capote vs. Perry is quite obvious as they merge into unusual but not so unusual soulmates, or as Capote put it, “We were from the same house. Then one day Perry went out the back door and I went out the front.” For better or for worse, a writer bonds with his story until the end; and in the end, Hoffman will win the Oscar for this portrayal. That said, Catherine Keener’s performance as his childhood friend Harper Lee is low key, a peaceful presence, yet loudly supportive, and Chris Copper as the confidential Kansas Bureau agent, is also understated, but a pivotal role. Hoffman may flawlessly deliver the lilting high-pitched words, but it’s Dan Futterman’s screenplay that made the catchy words happen. And while the movie often moves at a snail’s pace, director out-of-nowhere Bennett Miller tosses us head first into the 1950s and 60s, with minimal set design yet consuming us to what that very society, both in Kansas and New York, may have felt like. Four tiaras.
Jun 17, 2011
All that gym sales manager, Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) really wants is some plastic surgery. And she just may have found a way to afford it. Chad (Brad Pitt) is one of her nerdy trainers who just happens to come across a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA-crazy-man named Osborne Cox (John Malkovich). Cox is a bit angry because he’s been let-go from his job, has a drinking problem, and his wife (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair with Harry (George Clooney.) So now that this is one big happy incestuous family of greedy players, blackmail is a sure way to come out on top. Gee, sounds like a Coen Brothers film. And it is! In the style of “The Big Lebowski” or “Fargo” where the world revolves around evil, money and greed – and often without an ending that ever tells the players how they were all connected – this one holds true to form and delivers the goods. While some will complain of the over-acting of each character, Screen Queen finds their performances just as they should be, matching the movie’s tone and the absurdness of the entire plot, which by the way, was a hard thing to weave together. And, finally, should Pitt ever fails at his world peace missions, he certainly could have a job as a comic goof-ball opposite somebody like Seth Rogen. Three tiaras
Jun 17, 2011
(rated PG-13, 89 mins.) An attempt at a coming of age comedy following the life of Jimmy Livingston (Jake Gyllenhaal), a boy born minus an immune system thus raised in a manufactured world provided by his well-intentioned, but misguided mother (Swoosie Kurtz), a plastic, June Cleaver type. One day, upon meeting the girl of his dreams, he wants to fly the coop, er, bubble, to stop Chloe (Marley Shelton), who is to be married in Niagara Falls that Saturday. Jimmy takes off on a roadtrip crossing paths with bikers, groupies, freaks and rock stars. The story tries to focus on the world as the whole. Seems none of us are immune to society and what diseases (people) it delivers, but the negligence of undeveloped characters and ongoing nonsense, leaves us feeling like we’re on the outside looking in, instead of the inside looking out as intended. And, immune to any feelings toward this bubble boy.
