Movies rarely live up to or deserve the hype: Reviews of The Soloist and State of Play

I've been wanting to see The Soloist since I found out Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx would be staring. However, I'd barely noticed the appearance (and disappearance) of State of Play until it was recommended on my Netflix queue. I was sadly disappointed by The Soloist and very pleasantly surprised by State of Play.

The Soloist is based on a true story about LA Times columnist Steve Lopez (Downey), who would write about all kinds of issues, shining light on issues around LA. One day he's looking for a topic for his next column and meets Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Foxx) playing a two-string violin and rambling about his love for Beethoven. He writes a column about Ayers, which starts an uneven, often dangerous friendship. One of Lopez' readers, upon reading about his former excellence as a cellist at Julliard, donates a cello for Ayers. However, Ayers is homeless, and owning something as valuable as a cello on the streets of LA could get him killed, so Lopez arranges for the cello to be kept at the LA homeless center (LAMP). Lopez continues to attempt to restore some of Ayers' talent and sanity by getting him housing, and exposing him to concerts in the city. However, the movies doesn't want to be a story of redemption, and there's no happy ending, or even a very good ending. The director, Joe Wright, also directed Atonement, which I loved, and his style permeates both films. While Atonement's story could benefit from a more artistic style of movie making - long takes of the beach at Dunkirk, swirling floods of the tube station, bombings with music in the background, the snap of the typewriter as music - The Soloist, while a story about a musician, does not. The story is slow, with very little character development. Somehow, it's supposed to be enough that Ayers is schizophrenic and homeless and Lopez is a wry columnist, and thus we know everything we need to know about them. While I LOVE Robert Downey, Jr. he was the only reason I even watched it to the end. 2 lambs/stars
This movie did not live up to the hopeful hype surrounding it.

In contrast, I hadn't heard much hype, good or bad, about State of Play, except that Ben Affleck was in a political thriller and he played a congressman. For the past few years, Affleck's movies haven't always been received very well (though his directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, is a masterpiece). State of Play really stars Russell Crowe as a Washington Globe reporter, seeking a story about two murders in downtown DC. His old-school reporting style is in conflict with his fellow reporter, Rachel McAdams, online blogging style, but he needs another reporter to help him when he finds the story connects to the recent death of Congressman Collins' (Affleck) aide on a subway platform. Crowe's reporter and Affleck's congressman were college roommates. High political drama ensues with corruption, congressional hearings on private military contractors, affairs, marital intrigue, murder, and high-pressure reporting. Helen Mirren plays Crowe's editor, Robin Wright plays Affleck's put upon wife. It's a great film to see on your comfy couch as it does take a little while to build up the story, but once it gets going, it also helps to have someone to watch with, so you can confirm what you think has been going on, and what the big twist at the end really means. Crowe does a terrific job trying to maintain his integrity getting at the truth without destroying his friend's career, and McAdams does his precocious assistant perfectly. 4 of 5 lambs/stars

We'll miss you!

Patrick Swayze had a career, with ups and downs, and movies and roles that will never be forgotten. Rest in Peace. This is probably my favorite moment from all his movies, but I will confess I almost posted his moment on SNL with Chris Farley dancing for Chippendale's.

Random collection of viewings

I've seen a few good and a few not too good movies lately, but none deserved a full review nor brought me to the reviewing table/page. But now I'm getting behind and want to keep up. So below are a few comments about Sunshine Cleaning, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Adventureland, and Knowing.

Sunshine Cleaning was a big deal at Sundance last year, but didn't really pan out to be as big a success when it opened widely this spring. It's not fantastic, but it's not bad either. Personally, I thought it was a lot of substance with no flash. You really need both to make a fantastic little movie. The movie deals with a lot of issues, every character leans towards cliche - Amy Adams as the high school cheerleader whose life didn't amount to more than being a maid, Emily Blunt as the sister who can't be bothered to get out of her sister's shadow, and Alan Arkin as the single father who is constantly trying to make get rich quick schemes turn into something big - but luckily they're all such good actors that I never thought they were locked into a characterization rather than a person. It follows the travails of opening a new business - cleaning up after death and violence, and becoming an adult. I liked it, and a better soundtrack might have upped the flash factor, but a stronger script would have put it over the top. 3 of 5 Lambs/stars, good but not great.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas shows a single sliver of the Holocaust through the eyes of the son of a high ranking Nazi officer. When the family is moved to the country when the father (a remarkably dark David Thewlis) is promoted to manage a work camp (possibly Auschwitz), his children have to find a new life. Our hero, Bruno (Asa Butterfield) just wants to play with the forbidden children who live on the "farm" behind their house, while his older sister becomes enthralled with the Nazi party and starts preaching its messages. However, Bruno is just a child, and sneaks away to find other children to play with. One day he meets Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), another 10-year-old who doesn't understand much about the camp he's in. Through their conversations, the picture of the Holocaust is painted with broad strokes, revealing the horror as a child might understand it - which is to say, not at all. They meet regularly in secret until one day Shmuel's father can't be found, and they figure out a way to sneak Bruno INTO the camp to help look for him. As all Holocaust films are sad, and terrible, and yet need to be made from every perspective, this was a unique and ultimately good film. 3 of 5 stars/lambs

Adventureland, however, had lots going for it, but never delivered. It has lots of comedy - working at an amusement park, great comedic actors - but nothing interesting to say. Our hero needs to save money for graduate school (yes, this is post-college group, making much of what they do seem more than a little idiotic), and works at an amusement park with the girl from Twilight (yes, Kristin Stewart, you'll be tagged with that forever) who he falls for. However she's sleeping with a sleazeball married guy (Ryan Reynolds completely wasted). Nothing happens and then it ends. 2 stars/lambs

And finally, yes, I saw Knowing. While Nicholas Cage has made lots of bad movies, I did like the National Treasure movies a lot, so I figured maybe Knowing wouldn't be so bad. I was wrong. The movie teaches us that aliens implanted numbers into special people that predicted all the various catastrophes throughout history and their casualties. When Nick Cage figures out the pattern, they're near the end of the list and now everyone will die as the sunbursts get bigger. But fear not, two children and two rabbits will be saved and thus humankind will continue. Yes, I kid you not, this is the plot. No stars or lambs.

(500) Days of Summer: Review (some spoilers)

(500) Days of Summer has been out for quite a while, but as we leave summer behind I finally got a chance to see it on Labor day. It's a remarkable movie, not a love story, but still the story of a relationship and the course it takes. Joseph Gorden-Levitt (wonderful in The Lookout) plays Tom, a greeting card writer who is sure his true love is out there somewhere. He meets Summer (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn't believe in fate or true love, and just wants to be friends. Of course, they do fall into a deeper relationship of sorts and Tom thinks he's found the one. Unfortunately, Summer doesn't feel the same. We see some of their 500 days together and not. There are ups and downs and a wonderful dance scene (below) when Tom feels that initial burst of love. I think just as people can be referred to as a "Betty" or a "Veronica", someday you'll be able to say whether you were the "Tom" or the "Summer" after a relationship was over. Either you're the one who loved the most or you're the one who wanted to stay friends (obviously in relationships that work out, neither is the Tom OR Summer). It's a great movie that has a good soundtrack, excellent acting, and a great gimmick to tell the story in an order that makes their encounters make sense, but maybe not all the time. I just loved Joseph Gorden-Levitt's smile when he was happy and in love, and you can't beat his downtrodden facade when it all goes south ( his boss asks him to start channeling his grief into the "funeral and sympathy card department"). 4 of 5 stars/lambs

Can "The Wire" really be the best show on TV? YES!

A great fellow movie blogger recently posted a great essay on whether a war film can make for great entertainment. It hit me that we can ask that about a lot of the best shows on TV too. "The Wire", which aired on HBO and ran its final season over a year ago, is easily among the best shows ever shown on television. However, a summary of the series includes drugs, murder, corruption, conspiracy and overwhelming violence at times. How does this combination make for great TV, you might ask. And I did - I even had to rewatch the first 5 episodes in an effort to get hooked. Well, 55 episodes later, I watched the entire series and have become one of the proud to recommend it. The description of the series is much less than the sum of its parts, but I will try anyway. Overall, the series is about crime and law enforcement in Baltimore. Each season examines a central group of police officers and drug dealers through a greater lens within Baltimore. The first season sets up the characters and taking down drug kingpins through fastidious and careful law enforcement - specifically a wire tap. However, as in any animal kingdom, once one party finds an advantage, the other finds a way to counter that advantage. The second season examines the corruption and deterioration of Baltimore waterfront and the shipping industry. It does feel a bit like a whole different show for a little while, but eventually you begin to understand what the series is trying to do, and you can accept the second season as it is. It was my least favorite season, and in some ways the most violent and nail-biting and so does stand alone well. The third season brings us back to the streets of an unruly set of drug dealers who seem to be missing their leader. An "out of the box" thinking cop who has had enough of the crime associated with drug dealing on the corners of his district tries out a new paradigm of law enforcement: if you can get them into a single location away from local people - both dealers and fiends - then you'll have peace. Essentially he legalizes the drug trade. However, at the same time, the political machine is starting to get going and lasts through the end of the series. The fourth season, my favorite, examines how crime and the schools interact with each other. One of the cops from the first season has left policing and become a teacher, so we meet his students who all are at the point of making choices about being drug dealers, muscle for drug dealers, snitches, hookers, etc. The political side of law enforcement increases with the mayoral race in Baltimore. Favors are traded on the back of crime statistics and you see both police and politicians trying to make things appear however will best help them. The final season looks at the media's role in crime and solving crimes, specifically at the Baltimore Sun. Funding for the police force has been cut to help out the ailing school system, and our troubled, but heartfelt police set up a fictional serial killer, which they know will increase funding, aided by the stories written by the press bringing attention to the issue.

Throughout each season there are the changing leaders of the drug trade, and because all of our police are at some point part of the homicide division, we can keep in touch with the murders from the drug trade while still looking at another side of Baltimore. You must believe me that the experience far outweighs reading this summary. I highly recommend the entire series, particularly season 4. However, given that the dialogue is seemingly faithful to the culture of each group of people - the police jargon, the drug talk, etc. I recommend watching it with subtitles until you get used to the language, which I promise you do after a little while. Also, there is an incredible amount of violence throughout. They do a good job of making the viewers as inured to the violence as the dealers and cops already are, but yet they're still able to shock you with violence, and knowing that no one is ever safe pervades both the living and the watching this series. There is a lot of terrific acting throughout, and none really stand out above, but my favorite character adds a bit to nearly every season he's in. Andre Royo plays a dope addict named "Bubbles" who alternately snitches for the cops and lives on the street. He has a good heart, but can't seem to escape his addiction. His story line is carefully told over the entire series, rather than a single season, and he'll break your heart and show you redemption, all without being cliched or boring. He's a great actor and a wonderful character. While the show was only nominated twice for writing, the entirety of the show is what draws you in and moves you to appreciate how exceptional its quality really is, and thus what the average TV show is missing. Also, for a show with an enormous cast, they did a terrific job of including story lines with every character, but not ultimately revealing much about each individual character, but rather how it relates to the whole.

DVD Round-up

Over the weekend, I saw two new DVDs from Netflix. As it's a bit of lull in the DVD season for movies I missed, but wanted to see so there were a few older ones that popped up at the top. The first was Bonneville, a lesser known movie starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, and Joan Allen as friends from Idaho who decide to travel to California. Lange's husband has died and his daughter from a previous marriage is threatening to take away her house if Lange doesn't return the dad's ashes to Santa Barbara. They decide to drive in a 1966 Bonneville convertible. Lange had promised to spread her husband's ashes around the world they'd traveled together, but doesn't want to lose her house to her step-daughter. She does find a way around her problem, but her friends help her get to Santa Barbara on time. There are fun adventures like any road trip movie, but given their age, the adventures are a bit less disgusting and more fun than a college version. The acting is impressive, the writing decent and the story compelling. A solid film to like, 3.5 of 5 stars/lambs

The second movie I saw is one of the best sports movie I've ever seen. The Express stars Rob Brown (Finding Forrester) as Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy (the award for best collegiate football player). He grows up in Pennsylvania in the late 1950s and attends Syracuse University (Go Orangemen!) at the urging of former player Jim Brown. He tries to keep his head down and stay out of trouble, but ultimately can't escape the influence his star playing has on the African-American community and the civil rights movement. The year he leads his team to the Cotten Bowl game in Dallas he (and the other two black players) are not allowed to enter the hotel where the team is staying as it's a segregated hotel. His coach, Ben Schwartzwalder (played really well by Dennis Quaid), often runs into Davis' drive to further both his own career and the cause of civil rights. While the movie could step into broad statements and make a hero out of a small person, but even after researching some of the interviews done about the historical accuracy of the movie it seems that Ernie Davis was as amazing as the movie slowly explains that he was. The acting is good, and the games are shot in a way that's easy to follow both the course of the game and the deeper meanings when certain tackles occur (some of the Texas players find more pleasure beating on the successful black players rather than winning the game). It's a terrific film, and I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars/lambs

Man (and Woman's) best friend

I've been waiting to review Marley and Me for a while now, and then I saw Wendy and Lucy and felt the need to make comparisons. Both movies follow someone who bases most of their life around a dog, though the differences between the dogs makes actual comparisons between the movies futile. Marley and Me is a memoir by a journalist played by Owen Wilson, newly married to fellow journalist Jennifer Aniston living in Miami. They adopt a golden retriever puppy and name it Marley. The basic plot of the movie follows the unimaginable behavior of Marley as he grows up. Wilson starts writing a column about his misadventures with Marley, and ultimately, with a growing family, he finds a career based on his dog. We watch the horribly awful things Marley does, tearing up the couch, escaping, knocking down the kids, pulling down the blinds during thunderstorms, etc. and personally, I couldn't imagine living with a dog like that. However, and I'm sure this is true for nearly all pet owners, they settle into a rhythm with the dog trying to outsmart him and keep him from destroying their lives. It's a wonderful family film, perfect for kids, but funny enough to keep adults entertained. 3.5 of 5 Lambs/Stars.

Now, Wendy and Lucy follows a terrific dog as his owner, Wendy tries to make a better life for the two of them. Michelle Williams, in a remarkably captivating performance, is trying to get to Alaska to find a job, and likely escape something from her past. When she takes a pit stop in Oregon, she's picked up for shoplifting (possibly inadvertently) and her dog is gone when she returns. She also finds her car has given up the ghost and she doesn't have the money to fix it or get a new one. She befriends a security guard who tries to help her out. We watch as she struggles to do what's best for Lucy while trying to keep herself alive. This movie was made in the true spirit of independent film (she was nominated and won lots of awards for her performance). They follow a single character through a poignant moment in her life. It's well shot, and Williams is terrific, though the movie does move fairly slowly. I liked it, but it's definitely not for everyone. 3 stars/lambs (currently available on Netflix watch instantly).

The Time Traveler's Wife: Review (minor spoilers)

Obviously, if you've already read the novel upon which the movie is based, this review won't contain any spoilers. However, if you've not read or heard anything about it, this might reveal a bit more than you'd like. Here's the summary of what I thought first, then I'll add specifics. I really liked it. The Time Traveler's Wife is a wonderful love story with a bit of a fantasy (or futuristic) spin. 4.5 of 5 stars/lambs, not quite perfect, but there were elements of the book I similarly thought weren't great and the movie was wonderfully faithful to the book.

Now, the specifics of what I liked and why. Eric Bana stars as Henry DeTamble, a research librarian who has one small anomaly, he un-willfully travels through time. He can't control where or to when he goes or even when he'll return to normal time. When he's in his 30s and 40s he travels back in time and meets a little girl named Claire. Claire spends her life growing up and becoming friends and ultimately falling in love with Henry, even though he only visits as an older man and infrequently. However, they meet when they're both in their 20s. Claire has known him her whole life, but in his 20s, Henry has not yet met Claire. That's sort of where the movie starts, and then follows Claire's life in real time, with flash backs and forwards following Henry. As I'd hoped, the movie is much easier to follow than the book, which just gives you dates and the characters ages to keep you oriented, while the movie gives you actual images of each person at a given age to compare (they grey Henry's hair, cut Claire's hair, etc.). We follow Claire and Henry through falling in love, marriage, and children, all the while struggling with how to understand and deal with Henry's "condition". While I never picked up on the underlying messages in the book, the time travel and the love story is too strong, the movie does a terrific job, mostly with the acting, of introducing greater themes the material is exploring. The idea that the person you love could have a disease, disability or "condition" is one that many if not all couples will someday deal with, and we get to watch as Claire (a wonderful Rachel McAdams) struggles with trying to hate the "condition" and not the man. I think she reaches an equilibrium and questions whether it's fair have to love someone with this condition and how you can get through it. Okay, that was the weightier theme that I really liked. The other issue they do a terrific job of demonstrating is the concept of fate and choice. If Henry will eventually always go back in time and meet Claire, does she really have any choice but to fall in love with him when she meets him again as an adult? If he knows the house they will eventually live in, does he have to search until he finds that house, or can he choose whatever he wants? They do a good job of explaining their paradigm of time travel in the film. It's a great love story too, Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana have great chemistry. Also, the supporting characters of Ron Livingston (currently in "Defying Gravity" on ABC which is a great series so far) and Stephen Tobolowsky as Dr. Kendrick who helps the couple figure out how to keep their fetus from time traveling before it's born. I cried very hard at the end, and that's all I'll say. Terrific movie for anyone who likes love stories, sci-fi, fantasy or great acting.

The UGLY truth: review

Yesterday after a difficult task was completed, I treated myself to a matinee of The Ugly Truth, and as it was a Tuesday and a movie that's been open a while, I was the ONLY person in the theater! I loved it. Watched the movie like it was my living room - disobeyed all the rules of movie watching. I checked my phone, texted, listened to voicemail. It was totally fun, and worth it even if the movie wasn't great. The Ugly Truth is the name of a cable-access TV call-in show hosted by Gerard Butler's character, Mike, that tells the truth about what attracts guys - T&A mostly. He oversimplifies things, but I doubt he's wrong. The conflict begins (because what's a romantic comedy without conflict) when Katherine Heigl's character, Abby, a producer for a local news show, confronts him about the assumptions he's making. However, he proves he's right by helping her get a date with her neighbor (a perfectly hot doctor who fits all of Abby's control-freak criteria). They continue to work together and you can see from a long way off that their opposites will attract. The movie is every cliche in the book, with a lot of really vulgar jokes thrown in too. There's no way some of the things he says would pass muster on a morning news show. It's funny in some parts, but doesn't actually show us anything new, and pretty much drags the genre back 10 years with the recurring theme that women are lead by their heads, and men by their crotch. Butler and Heigl do have really good chemistry and Butler is incredibly charismatic (though he talks out of one side of his mouth trying to hide his accent). A decent movie, but nothing great. 3 of 5 Lambs/stars

Julie and Julia, parallel adventures that are nothing alike

The best chick flick offering this year finally opened. No, I'm not talking about The Ugly Truth (though I still want to see that), but rather a grown up movie that has nothing about trying to get a guy to notice you, but rather about two women trying to do something to make their lives feel fulfilled. Julie and Julia stars Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, respectively, learning to cook, and figuring out how to make cooking a part of their lives and selves. Julie lives in present day New York City working in a cubicle for a post-9/11 government division going nowhere. She has lunch with her college friends and finds her life inadequate and unlike the one she imagined when leaving college and reaching 30. To challenge herself she chooses to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year. We watch her attempts and misadventures and she discovers what I think most people do when jumping deep into cooking - many things are very hard, and some things won't taste good, even if they are in a cookbook. Meanwhile, the movie also follows the real Julia Child (portrayed with wonderful whimsy and panache by Meryl Streep) as she attends cooking school and ultimately attempts to get her cookbook published. It's a wonderfully funny movie, with heartfelt performances and witty dialogue. There were no slow or boring moments and remarkably few cooking montages. I remembered liking the book, and feeling Julie's anxiety when she had to cook aspic or live lobsters after racing home from the other side of Manhattan to a tiny Queens apartment. The movie finds that anxiety in both Julie AND Julia's lives and we get to ride through it with them. The chemistry in both marriages, with Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina, was both believable and enviable (neither traits easy to master in on-screen love) Excellent movie! 4.5 stars/Lambs

Phoebe in Wonderland: Review

If you think of film as working at revealing the human experience and as there are several billion people on earth, there should be several billion different experiences. Yet, the genius of film is that every film will reach more people because of shared experiences. So, when I see a film that brings to life a new experience and in a new way, I feel the need to applaud the film (even if I didn't like it, which I did very much in this case) and when I can relate to that new experience, though it's one I've never had myself, I have to praise the film to whomever will listen. Phoebe in Wonderland stars Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman as academic parents raising two daughters, the elder played remarkably well (and refreshingly unlike her sister) by Elle Fanning (Phoebe). When Phoebe auditions for the school play, "Alice in Wonderland" it seems like the best opportunity to escape many of her bullying classmates. The theater teacher, Patricia Clarkson, inhabits the story and wants the children acting in it to do the same. When each child arrives for his audition she says, "no room, no room, move down, move down" to see what the child will respond with. Most of them don't get it, but a brilliant little boy who arrives to audition for the White Queen asks for some tea, and she's transformed. This sort of look at life embodies each of the characters - how do they relate to the world, how do they fit into it, and what do they bring to it. Our main character Phoebe suffers from all kinds of behavioral problems that baffle her parents, particularly her mom, Felicity Huffman, who blames herself for her daughter's problems and by doing so lengthens the time until she's properly understood. It's a magical story without actually being a fairy tale, or having a particularly happy ending. I really liked it and won't reveal all the twist the movie goes through. 4 of 5 lambs/stars. PS - It's available on Roku or Netflix streaming right now!

Dreams do come true!

A few weeks ago, there was a meme circulating about the time and place in TV or film you'd most like to live. One of my choices was the world of Jane Austen. Now, it actually was made into a British TV series last year on BBC called "Lost in Austen". It's 4 episodes, but on DVD now it just runs as a single event, with no obvious breaks. The idea of stepping into the world of Austen is brought to life when Amanda Price's (Jemima Rooper, from "Hex") favorite literary character, Elizabeth Bennett, has stepped through the wall of her attic, into Amanda's 21st Century bathroom in Hammersmith, London. Amanda steps through to see if it's true and becomes stuck on the other side, in Longborn, from Pride and Prejudice. She's wearing a leather jacket and jeans, but manages to explain her ensemble as "otter hunting garb". She follows the story of P&P, trying to make things come out the way the book she loves has foretold, but her presence in the story (and Elizabeth's absence) starts changing things. It's a wonderfully funny and heartfelt retelling of P&P from the perspective of one who loves the novel. The actors are familiar with Alex Kingston (Dr. Elizabeth Corday from "ER") and Hugh Bonneville (Bernie from Notting Hill) as Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. The other standout was the infamously wonderfully Mr. Darcy played by Elliot Cowan, who bears a remarkable resemblance to the late Heath Ledger. His brooding, lovelost portrayal of Mr. Darcy is constantly compared to Colin Firth's performance, and it does hold up well. Overall, a terrific rental for any who like British comedy or Jane Austen. 5 stars/lambs

Movies I want to see

Okay, it's been a while since I've been to the movies. Just a random lull, with visitors and weddings preventing weekend viewing. But I still want to try to see The Ugly Truth, Funny People, (500) Days of Summer, Julie and Julia, and I can't wait to see The Time Traveler's Wife. I've been catching up on The Wire while I work at home. Up to season 4!! It's a really amazing show. It's so dark that I have trouble calling it wonderful or the best ever, as those words don't feel right, but it ranks with some of the greatest shows ever. Also, I spent the weekend catching up on the wonderful performances by the USA swim teams at the World Championships in Rome. 2012 is going to be another amazing Olympics. Oh, and of course, I love my summer TV, not that there's very much. "Royal Pains" has become a good show. I still like "In Plain Sight" (Mary McCormack is really good, and Fred Weller as her partner is perfect). The final season of "Monk" starts Friday along with a new season of "Pysch". "Burn Notice" hasn't been great so far, but I think they're setting it up for a future season, I hope. Kathy Griffin is hilarious and Kyra Sedgwick is still doing a terrific job.

Public Enemies: Review

I don't have a lot of say about the new Johnny Depp movie, Public Enemies. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't particularly exciting either. Johnny Depp expertly plays former FBI's most wanted criminal John Dillinger, who robbed banks in the midwest during the early thirties. He escaped from prison and police repeatedly, and based on a Wikipedia search, most of the movie seems remarkably accurate. As any reader of this blog will know, I enjoy learning little historical things from movies, and this movie was chock full of those. First, the FDIC was created in 1933 to protect money people put in banks, and John Dillinger started robbing banks in 1933 so even though his legend says that he gave back their money to anyone who was in the bank when he robbed it, the money was probably insured anyway. Second, the FBI had very little part in national crime solving beyond the mafia at the time, but thanks to Dillinger robbing banks in many states and confounding local law enforcement, and J. Edgar Hoover of course, the FBI's authority grew to stop interstate crime waves.

Okay, so back to the movie. Johnny Depp was terrific, both chilling and charming. He was loyal to his gang of criminals and his love, Marion Cotillard. I didn't think she had any sort of consistent southern American accent. Her acting was good, but she couldn't really escape the french accent problem to me. Also, my other gripe with the movie was the sound. They played A LOT of music in the background and I often had trouble understanding the dialogue behind the ambient noise or music. The supporting cast was good, the G-men trying to capture him, and the sets and props were awesome - it really felt very 1930s in all the costumes, hair, dialogue etc. Overall, not a bad movie, but not great either. 3 of 5 stars/lambs

Look what's new!

Thanks to all the people over at the Lamb's Brutally Blunt Blog Blustering, I took some of their advice and really like the new look of Insight into Entertainment! Any more advice for improvements are welcome. Thanks again.

Harry Potter keeps getting better

I'll admit I was a little nervous when I saw that the sixth installment of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was rated PG, that it was too dark a book to merit that rating, but the movie was still thrilling and told the story it was meant to tell. While I wouldn't take a young child, it's not beyond most kids, though they'd better not mind jumping in their seat a bit. The audience was completely mixed in my theater (with a large contingent of Russian exchange students from the local college on a movie night), with kids and adults. The kids laughed at the obvious humor throughout, which there was, even for a dark book. It left out some of the depth of the characters, but still continued their growth from the previous movie to move toward the last. The explanations of Lord Voldemort's childhood were brief and left out the fact that the book always called him charming and cajoling rather than sinister. However, I watched the entire movie and was enthralled. I never looked at my watch, and even knowing how the story should progress, found myself swept up by their storytelling and acting instead of constantly noticing the deviations or omissions from the book. Daniel Radcliff and Rupert Grint have become terrific actors and their scenes alone or with any of the wonderful cast of British actors were always captivating. Emma Watson* does well when she's serious or outraged, but her ability to laugh continues to be awkward and fake. Jim Broadbent was a terrific addition as Prof. Slughorn, and Alan Rickman's nuanced performance as Snape gives hints towards the ultimate revelations about his character and motivation. I loved the movie and can't wait for the next ones. 5 of 5 lambs/stars based on pure enjoyability and the continued exceptional quality brought to the series.

Emmy Nominations 2009

This morning the Emmy nominations were announced by Chandra Wilson and Jim Parsons, both of whom got nominated, Chandra twice! I recently posted my own list of the top 10 performances of 2009. Now, mine are based only on shows I watch, so I can appreciate that there are shows that would be nominated and thus kick out some of my choices, but there are a few snubs I'm surprised by. However, I did pick 2 that were in fact nominated: Jim Parsons for The Big Bang Theory and Simon Baker for The Mentalist. The other thing about this year's nominations that struck me was the increased number of nominations in certain categories. There were 6 nominated actors or actresses in most categories and 7 nominations for Best Comedy and Drama series and only 2 nominations for Best Miniseries. There were a lot of new faces nominated which is terrific for Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men) and Jack McBrayer (Kenneth on 30 Rock), and even some recent winners not even nominated, like Jeremy Piven (Entourage). I was very disappointed to see no love for Fringe or its actors, Joshua Jackson or John Nobel. I hope that doesn't affect the show's longevity. Ah well, it'll be an interesting awards ceremony, I'll make predictions in September!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I fully admit to really liking the first Transformers movie as you can see from my review a year ago. And, now I admit to liking the second one, though not quite as much. First of all, you HAVE to have seen the first one to get anything going on in this version, but I'm guessing if you didn't bother with the first one, you're not going to bother with Revenge of the Fallen. The new movie starts 2 years later just as our hero Sam (Shia LaBeouf) is heading off to college and wants to be free of his protection and obligation to the Autobots (the good guys, followers of Optimus Prime). That would be fine, except the Autobots have been routing out Decepticons (the bad guys) who have been dormant all over earth for centuries. It turns out our previous superbad guy Megatron in fact only worked for the REALLY bad guy "The Fallen" who wants to take over earth again (see the play on words in the title, yes, I like crap like that). Sam, his girlfriend Mikaela (Megan Fox), and his new college roommate (Leo, a conspiracy nut played by Ramon Rodriguez) have to help the Autobots prevent The Fallen gain control of an ancient power source they'll use to destroy the sun. It's a lot of action, with a lot of slow motion fighting between the robots, but the story is fun, non-stop and a great summer blockbuster kind of entertainment. Shia is not a terrific action movie, but he plays the unlikely hero really well. The supporting characters are all good and do a good job being funny. There are even a few new Autobots that add funny one-liners throughout the film. My only problem with it is that it's a bit long, a few trimmed fight scenes would have made it just right. 4 of 5 stars/lambs!

DVD Round up: Twilight, The International, Nick and Nora, Shopaholic

I've been very remiss in keeping up with my DVD watching. But fear not, I've seen lots, just nothing so amazing that drove me write about it immediately. But here's my take on the last 4 I've seen. All enjoyable, but nothing terrific. For no other reason than the chronological order I saw them, here they are:

Twilight was written for a younger demographic, but I finally gave in a watched the DVD. I've enjoyed vampire fare in the past (okay, that's a lie, I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and True Blood) so I expected to enjoy this too. Stephanie Meyer played a little fast and loose with the vampire "rules" but nothing that's totally crazy, just reinterpreting the canon a bit. The major difference the movie showed was that vampires don't burst into flame in sunlight (a very common plot point in Buffy) but rather shine like diamonds. Basically, Bella (Kristin Stewart) moves to the Pacific Northwest to live with her Sheriff Dad. She meets Edward (Robert Pattinson), a little different, at high school and eventually falls in love with him. She finds out he's a vampire, as is the rest of his family. However, they've sworn off feeding on humans so for the most part they're safe. Another group of human feeding vamps move into the area and start causing conflict. That's about where the first movie ends, nicely setting up the sequel. It was good, very good supporting cast and decent acting. Bella's internal monologue gets annoying, but drives the teen angst remarkably well. 3 stars/lambs

Next, I saw The International, with Clive Owen as an Interpol agent trying to take down a huge banking conglomerate that traffics in arms and debt. Naomi Watts plays a ADA for New York City helping him try to prosecute the huge bank. They meet up with an Italian politician who is going to give them lots of info, but he gets shot, presumably by the bank assassin. Then they're back in NYC and go to the Guggenheim museum to follow someone they think is a higher up member of the bank (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and end up face to face with the bank's assassin and the assassins sent to kill them. There's a huge shoot out that's pretty awesome, but overall there's very little character development of any of the characters. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, 2.5 stars/lambs

I am also not the prime demographic for Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, but I enjoyed that too, a bit. Michael Cera plays Nick, the long-suffering now ex-boyfriend of Tris, a classmate of audiophile Nora, (Kat Dennings). The whole thing follows them around NYC, as high school students I was a little disbelieving, trying to find a particular band playing. Nora's friend Caroline gets drunk and Nick's band agrees to take her home. She thinks she's being kidnapped and escapes causing all of them to start searching the city for both the band and Caroline. It's funny, and the tween/high schooler actors are all showing lots of skill, but overall the movie wasn't really for me. 2 lambs/stars, but could see that if it was your thing, it could be a 4.

Finally, I just saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. For this one, I'm definitely the demographic, I've read all the books and love chick flicks. Unfortunately, this movie doesn't live up the books and probably didn't succeed because it deviated from the book too much and didn't come up with a more plausible story. Isla Fisher plays Rebecca Bloomwood, a confirmed shopaholic with a taste for designer clothes and the inability to pay for them. She works and loses the job for a gardening magazine. She wants to work for Alette (a fashion magazine run by Kristin Scott Thomas) but takes a job with a financial savings magazine to try to pay her bills and work her way toward Alette. Luke Brandon (Hugh Dancy who has lost the ability to shave) runs the magazine (deviation from the book - he's a huge financial manager in the books) and finds lots of value in Rebecca's opinions on personal finance. It comes to a head when a collections agent outs Rebecca's debts on national TV showing her as a fake. Predictably Rebecca and Luke fall in love and all is well. Not the greatest, but not the worst. 3 lambs/stars.

Michael Jackson will always surprise

I was watching one of the many tribute shows that have been put on TV airing some of Michael Jackson's videos. I've been a fan for many years, and so many of the videos are iconic, even beyond Thriller and it's rebirth through 13 Going on 30. I LOVE the video for Black or White when the people start singing and morphing from one to another. Then there was a video I'd never seen before for a controversial song, "They Don't Care About Us". I was going to post a link to it, but I'll just describe why I was moved by it. First, the video is shot in a favela (shantytown) in Rio de Janeiro with lots of local color and people playing drums. Also, Michael couldn't look better (second to his childhood looks, of course). The song was released in 1996 as part of HIStory and raised controversy with lyrics that can be perceived as anti-semitic, though Michael did change the lyrics for future releases and in the video you can't really discern where they fall due to clever sound mixing. I was just moved by how great this video was, and wanted to mention it, and that watching many of Michael Jackson's videos in a row is really a wonderful musical movie experience. They were shot with lots of theatricality and direction. Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson.