Jun 17, 2011
Hank (Ethan Hawke) is stressed out by mounting bills and child support, not to mention the affair he’s having with Gina (Marisa Tomei). When his older brother Andy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) comes up with a fool-proof scheme to make some fast money, a hesitant Hank is finally in. But when the plan – that involves robbing their parents’ jewelry store – goes terribly wrong, the story spins out of control and we’re sucked into the vortex of a climax that is both realistic and riveting. Veteran-icon-director Sidney Lumet delivers a tale with the same ‘nothing was supposed to go wrong’ feel as his classic “Dog Day Afternoon” but with the brooding paranoia of “Serpico.” Marisa Tomei takes a risk in a role as the woman playing the two brothers against each other. If you liked her before, you’ll find there’s a lot more to like about her in this movie. She’s naked alot. Albert Finney delivers a determined and torn performance as the father seeking revenge, while Hawk is a nervous wreck and Hoffman balances them out in cool-calm. All three actors are equally satisfying in their Oscar-worthy performances in a great but horrible scenario. Four tiaras
Jun 17, 2011
(Rated R)
When a novelist (Ethan Hawke) is on book tour in Paris, an old lover rendezvousssssss her way back into his life during his book signing. While on a ticking clock to catch a plane, Hawke instead strolls with this girl (Julie Delphy) that he flinged with ten years ago in Vienna. And so they walk and talk, and talk, and talk about decisions gone bad, relationships that never were, his interpretation of the book he’s based on her, and that one long lost night from his point of view vs. hers. The couple cruises the streets of Paris, so one is already sold by the romantic backdrop to their brilliant dialog and philosophies, pulling us into their make-the-world-go-away passions. The movie narrows into an intimate world that no typical Hollywood script could create – no special effects except for the ones that surface from their own time constraints. Trying to separate fiction from auto-biography Hawke and Delphy analyze their feelings with incredible one on one performances. Like “Before Sunrise” the movie again tackles a place where art meets life and sometimes life ain’t what it’s all cracked up to be. “C’est La Vie.” Let’s only hope in ten more years we can visit this couple again because they are simply thrilling, and leave us pondering why we ourselves are so in-tuned to them.
Jun 17, 2011
(rated PG 13) I suppose if you’re going to run into the devil she may as well be in the form of a woman who is also Elizabeth Hurley. The very seductive Satan gives Elliot (Brendan Fraser) several wishes. Of course she adds her own little twist to each outcome. The characters seem staged and contrived, although Fraser does better than Hurley (who shouldn’t quit her day job of Estee Lauder ads or producing movies). What starts out dreadful goes down hill from there. This is Hollywood comic garbage 101 that is best straight to video.
Jun 17, 2011
(Rated G, 84 mins.) Technology, artistry and imagination join forces to make the 10th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures’ timeless animated classic, a real cause for celebration! Adding to the already exciting story of a Belle who falls in love with a beast, is the sequence featuring the song “Human Again” written by Oscar winning Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Mrs. Potts, Lumiere, Cogsworth and all the characters will delight little girls and boys today as they did back in 1991. Of all the Disney movies from the past decade, this is the one not to be missed.
Jun 17, 2011
(rated R, 86 mins) When Petula (Rachel Weisz) is beaten outside of (Tom Mannion) her boyfriend’s car, Dorothy (Susan Lynch) comes to the rescue. Suddenly the two women have more in common then they thought. For starters, they both have really rotten taste in boyfriends. Dorothy’s man, Tony (Iain Glenn) is just as dangerous harming Dorothy’s faithful dog in the middle of their lover spats over foolish issues like “Where’s my golf clubs?” When one of the revenge schemes go wrong, the two panicked women hatch a scheme to convince Brian’s menacing older brother Ronnie (Maurice Roeves) that he had been kidnapped. There’s no sympathy for these ditzy women who almost come off deserving what they get (they keep going back for more) and there’s certainly no interest in their men who abuse animals, shoot drugs, shoot people and beat their women. Beautiful Creatures is about creatures alright. Ugly ones.
