Atonement is a mesmerizing romantic drama that keeps your attention to the very end. It contains great performances by Keira Knightley, James McAvoy , and newcomer Saoirse Ronan.
Taking place in England during 1935, a young 13 year old Briony (Ronan) and her older sister Cecilia(Knightley) are staying at there family’s large country estate for the summer. Also visiting is the housekeeper’s son Robbie(McAvoy) who is back from college. Briony has a crush on Robbie, while Cecilia and Robbie both have a sexual attraction to each other that neither have acted on. Robbie decides to tell Cecilia in a letter his true feelings for her, after several drafts he gives the letter to Briony to give to her sister. It is only moments afterwards tha Robbie realizes that the wrong draft was given, and instead a very steamy and inappropriate letter was given. Before giving the letter to her sister Briony reads it a is clearly jealous and fluster at what is in the letter. She comes to the conclusion that Robbie must be a sex addict.
During a dinner party Robbie and Cecilia express their true feelings for each other in a very passionate scene taking place in a study, but only to be interrupted by Briony. Also during the dinner party a rape occurs and Briony accuses Robbie of the attack. He is eventually arrested and is sent to prison. A few years go by and an older Briony must comes to terms with the mistake of her false accusation that has changed the lives of herself and everyone around her.
One thing that really stands out in this movie is the great performances by all the actors. Knightley impresses with her turn in a much more mature role then audiences are used to seeing. She gives one of her best performances and mostly likely memorable. Both James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan are a breath of fresh air as two new talents that we haven’t seen the last of. But behind every great performance and movie is a great director and that is Joe Wright.
Wright can be considered on of those directors that you have to watch with this being his only second feature film. His first was 2005 Pride and Prejudice which also starred Knightley. The film is beautifully shot and you can tell each scene was carefully planned out to every last detail. I look forward to what his next project will be.
The film for me was one of my favorites from 2007, the storyline just right a way captured me and kept my attention until the climatic end. It is so well done in every aspect its hard not to like it. It’s also not what I had expected at all when first going into it watch it. It’s not your typical love story, in fact its more of a tragic romance in the lines of Romeo and Juliet. If you like those type of films then I don’t see why you wouldn’t love this movie any different. It’s an instant classic that shouldn’t be taken for granted, and is one of the best films that came out in 2007.

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Good ideas seem to come in pairs in Hollywood, and usually by coincidence. Movies have this tendency to come out together with remarkably similar plots. Some examples: “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact”, “Tombstone” and “Wyatt Earp”, “Volcano” and “Daunte’s Peak”. This was of course (ironically) referenced in the imensely popular summer 2007 hit “Knocked Up”, which was followed in the fall by “Juno”, which went on to recieve 4 Academy Award nominations, and won one (very well deserved) award for best original screenplay by Diablo Cody.

Having watched “Juno” for the second (and third, and fourth and fifth) time now upon it’s release on DVD, I can’t explain just how good the film is. Really you just have to see it. As an avid movie fanatic, it comes as such a welcome breath of fresh air and is such a charming, witty and unbelievably adorable movie, that you almost can’t believe it while watching it. It’s not a complicated plot, and doesn’t go into any unexpected or unfamilar areas for romantic comedy. It ends how you would expect it to end, and gets there exactly how you would expect it to get there.

But there’s something else going on with little “Juno”…

It has tremendous heart, and it wears it on it’s sleeve for 96 minutes and dares anyone to watch it and not be entranced. Not love it. Not be alterred after watching it. You cheer for this character, and all the characters. Subtext is an area where many a film has faltered, but where the great films succeed brilliantly. “Juno” is such a film, a great film and will remind even the coldest cynic why movies are made.

A great movie will entertain us, make us laugh, make us cry and make us identify and thus make us think. But we will think without thinking. It doesn’t weigh the movie down for us to do so, no…its this very act of making us think, of “getting in our heads”, that makes the movie great and makes it stick around for awhile after watching it. This seperates the great films from the really good or good ones. Complete with deleted scenes, outtakes and a immensely entertaining commentary track, this DVD is a must own for even the most casual of movie fans.

With all my heart, I recommend this movie to anyone and everyone. It is such a rare and rewarding film experience to see movies like this one. A little movie, with a lot to say…

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Writer Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, Atonement, is simply stunning. Starring Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy as lovers separated by class, this English romance will have you wondering if you will ever find love like these characters do. Set in the leisure of 1940s England that is interuppted by war, a girl too young to understand anything about love or sex makes a terrible mistake that will haunt her for the rest of her and the young lovers’ lives. Separated by lies and the violence of war, the young couple will keep you stuck to the screen as you anticipate what will happen next. The cinematography is simply stunning and the various perspective and shifting point of view is simply brilliant, but if you long for linear narratives, Atonement may not be for you. Keep your eyes open for constant symbolism, foreshadowing and do not miss director Joe Wright’s five minute shot of the troops on the beaches of France–this is simply stunning. Writer Christopher Hampton, often known for his British hertiage films, did a remarkable job combining the very essence of romance, the destruction of war and the meaning of leisure tainted by human corruption. Do not miss this film that reveals subtle touches of Harold Pinter’s The Go-Between and Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in the most beautiful, heart-wrenching way.

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“Must Love Dogs” stars John Cusack, Diane Lane, and co-stars Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer and many more. It’s written and directed by Gary David Goldberg, who’s previous work is found on the small screen.

Sarah Nolan (Diane Lane) is recently divorced pre-school teacher looking for the right guy to wake up and eat breakfast with for the rest of her life. Thanks to her sister, Sarah’s profile get puts on PerfectMatch.com with the closing line stating “must love dogs”. Jake (John Cusack) is a hopeless romantic who comes across her enthusiastic profile and stunning picture. They just might be the perfect match.

Stepping into my shady zone (that being romantic comedies), I wasn’t too excited about seeing this one, which is why it flew under my radar. However, I really enjoyed the story and more importantly the characters. Under rated actor John Cusack nails his role as the energetic and charming man and Diane Lane couldn’t be more gorgeous as the shy and beautiful-without-knowing-it teacher. Not only is this movie romantic, it’s also surprisingly funny and witty. If you take in consideration my uncontrollable sickness to dislike most romantic comedies, you will realize that this movie is much better than it should be.

Unlike most romantic comedies, this one is simultaneously romantic and very funny. A very difficult feat if you ask me. I wasn’t trying to predict the predictable story, which just proves that I was really interested in the movie and the very likable characters developed with style and grace. John Cusack and Diane Lane have expert chemistry that carries this film smoothly through it’s appropriate 98 min running time. The ending is sweet and the film definitely knows how to touch the viewers heart.

Astonishingly, I highly recommend “Must Love Dogs”. From the near hilarious opening to the heartfelt ending, I couldn’t adore this movie more. Some people might think this is a girlie movie, but it’s not. It has viewpoints from both the male and female perspectives. This isn’t very usual when it comes to this genre. The most amazing thing about it is the chemistry. It’s very obvious that John Cusack and Diane Lane clicked during the screening for “Must Love Dogs”. Other than it being forgivingly predictable, there really isn’t much bad to say about this film. Some might say I am praising this movie too much, but, I really liked it. Not the best romantic comedy, but it was undeniably close to making the top 5 list. Whether you spend money on a rental or catch it on television, this one is easily worth checking out.

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Save the Last Dance (2001)

Directed by:  Thomas Carter.

Starring: Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington, Fredro Starr, Terry Kinney. 

 A girl who is a very promising ballet dancer has to move from her hometown to Chicago because of the terrible accident that caused her mother’s death. Now in Chicago, living with her father who is a member of Chicago Jazz band she has to go to a school where Sarah is one of only a handful of white girls going to this school. She has to choose between dancing and real love other ways she is in danger of losing both.

A really good movie that includes some key factors like racism, family relationship, love and career choice. It is witty and funny at times but overall it shows some major problems we have to face in our real world.

 Acting was far above average. Once again Julia Stiles gives a stunning performance; she shows good face expressions and body gestures and her ballet dancing were really intense. Perhaps she was the only notable character but Sean Patrick Thomas was good in his role as Sarah’s boyfriend and Fredro Starr looked perfect as Sarah’s father.

 I liked the storyline, also it was a typical love story which is no big deal but they played it really well in this case. Finally special effects, well not much to say really but there were some shooting scenes which was enjoyable and rather good so it was alright for this movie.

 It was good and it went really steady so I felt like it was a good movie with some good acting and a simple storyline. Yes, there is a sequel to that but I think they really messed it up by making a sequel to this, as the film looked good on its own. Like I said it is a really simple film, but even the simplest thing can be really complicated. 

Save the Last Dance is no masterpiece or no “big deal” movie but it touches some important questions and it is entirely enjoyable for teenager audience.

Review Date: 1^st of April, 2008 

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“Leatherheads” stars George Clooney, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski. It’s directed by George Clooney, this being the third time he has directed himself in a movie. The script was written by Ducan Brantley and Rick Reilly.

The film is set in the 1920’s football era. Where there weren’t helmets, there were leatherheads. Dodge Connelly (George Clooney) is the captain of the football team and plans to lead his dysfunctional team to the pros. Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) is a journalist looking for the story of her career. That story being the talk of the town known as Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), who forced many German soldiers to surrender in WWI all on his own.

The problem with “Leatherheads” is that it tries to brew together multiple genres and fails miserably. Renee Zellweger as the perky, sour faced journalist (usually found wearing scarlett red) doesn’t really show any talent. The chemistry between her and George Clooney feels dispute. The filmmakers did a good job at catching the essence of the 1920’s, nailing the clothing styles, music and the transportation established during this time. But the film itself feels dated. This is definitely something that might appeal to older folks, particularly within the age range of 70 and up.

George Clooney, who usually plays very mundane characters, tries to liven his act up a bit. The problem is he isn’t funny. The script is frail and doesn’t have any true moments or surprises. Very few of the scenes involve football, so the trailer was kind of a mislead. Sadly, these rarely shown football scenes rely on close-ups of Clooney’s goofy expressions to make us laugh. The entire thing was rather boring and was too long for a comedy. The dialog is missing snap and wit, something repeatedly shown in the trailers. Another mislead.

The direction wasn’t bad, but it never reaches any level of success. A short summary would be the film is lacking. The comedy failed completely without a moment of chuckles. For those who are looking for something with some comedic payoffs and a more football related comedy, skip this one. Overall, the film that doesn’t really know what direction to run in, fumbling between a screwball comedy and a romantic love triangle. Having said that, you might want to thing twice about seeing this one.

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“This is Alison’s life…” A flourishing career in television… “This is Ben’s Life…” And it’s sad if it was planned… “Their story was supposed to be over after one night but eight weeks later…” She’s pregnant… with a baby?

We were once introduced to a 40 Year Old Virgin and it seems now Knocked Up takes us to a different unplanned couple to show us what happens after. A lot of familiar faces pop up behind and in front of the camera as they give birth to this film.

The story begins with two separate and mismatched individuals in the forms of Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) and Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). Alison is an up-and-coming entertainment reporter for E! living in her sister and bother-in-law’s nicely furnished luxury pool house. Will a promotion give her the chance to get a place of her own? Don’t get ahead of yourself. Ben Stone on the other hand lives with a few roommates, lives off a $14000 payment of legal compensation from childhood while watching movies with nudity and recording their findings for the creation of their own website profiling all of it. Yet, their idea already exists on the internet anyways. From the onset, you pretty much can predict he’ll need a real job and ambition may not be his strong suit.

One night Alison goes out with her sister, playfully meets and drinks with Ben Stone and a buddy of his. Once Alison is left alone with Ben, they party up the dance floor and shake their hips and slide their feet out of the club and back to Alison’s pool house. Right when’s he’s about to slide a condom on in the heat of passion, Alison blurts out the words for him to “do it already,” to which he responds to literally by dropping the condom on the ground. Things go well until he says the wrong things during breakfast and their out of each other’s lives for the next eight weeks when Alison suspects a pregnancy.

The remainder of the movie is a meandering of hatred and mixed feelings and the preparation of motherhood and fatherhood. But will it only be on weekends is the question for Ben when he just can’t get his act together.

Judd Apatow who, like 40 Year Old Virgin, directs this film falls short of the glory he found with a virgin. Katherine Heigl gives a sweet and believable performance as a woman juggling the demands of her potential career, motherhood and unnerving feelings for the definite father which she doesn’t know if she wants to be with permanently. Seth Rogen plays a stoner and sort of a chubby and overgrown slob but you never really fall in love with him, but rather the idea and intentions he’s supposed to be conveying. It’s not a storybook romance but it tries to be with modern values and unexpected situations. The movie does overstay its nine months a tad bit and doesn’t end premature or quite right either. A baby arrives at the end of about 130 minutes of screen time. This film may have used either scenes to be played out in a quicker pace or some shots just completely edited and cut down by about twenty minutes. It seems more could have just been in less. But don’t judge to harshly. Perhaps the editor had to get to the hospital himself. Even so, the movie does explicitly refer to quite a bit of sexuality, a little nudity openly but is heartfelt considering all that’s said and doesn’t make you feel so guilty after watching it. After all, sexuality is quite a big part of being knocked up. Any fear of being viewed as pervert diminishes after the film shows the doctor’s point of view between the legs when a woman gives birth. If you still get a smile and think you’re a pervert, you’re not, you’re just a psycho.

So how about one of these nights, you and your other grow up and curl up to find out where babies come from in Knocked Up on DVD.

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“This is the tale of an ordinary man who had everything… Until a man of power stole his freedom, destroyed his family and banished him… for life… And in his sorrow, a new man was born…” With wide, dark eyes of beauty Mrs. Lovett pleads for an answer from a ghost, “Benjamin Barker?” To her question, there is only one reply uttered in the third-person, “Not Barker, Sweeney Todd and he will have his revenge.”

It took 28 bloody years for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to shave his way from Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway as one of the bloodiest musicals ever to the big screen as one of the bloodiest movies of all time, but in a cheerful kind of way. And now thanks to technology, it has taken 3 months for it to jump to a small screen near you as Sweeney Todd is released onto DVD.

On the guided tour: In nineteenth century London lived a barber named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) and his sweet wife and beautiful child. He loved them both but the vile, corrupt and Honorable Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) sentenced Barker on false charges to Australia, meanwhile capturing his wife and child. After Turpin ravishes the wife, destroying her life until death did them part, the girl Johanna grows up to become the judge’s personal prisoner.

As the film quickly opens, Benjamin escapes from prison and sails into London to redeem his dreams he had for 15 years of coming home to a wife and child. But he’s only in for an appetizer. He races through the streets to his former barbershop, where the landlady is still the pale beauty Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who sells the worst meat pies in London
and tells him about the dreary fate of his family. He moves upstairs to his former shop, now a ruin, changes his name to Sweeney Todd and reopens his business but not before serenading his most treasured and cut-throat possessions and tools-of-his-trade.

But so maddening is his rage that he builds an entertaining bonus: a sliding chute that will drop his customers into the basement, head-first, after he slits their throats, so Mrs. Lovett can bake them some pies. More specifically: into some pies. Now she offers the most succulent meat pies in London; business bleeds with demand while some pleased customers go upstairs for their closest shave and a quick recycling.

Johnny Depp shared some blood and sweat for a sixth collaboration with the imagination of Tim Burton, the director of Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Sleepy Hollow and Batman! And no team could have done it better as traces of Tim Burton are scattered throughout the production with the fantastically ghoulish, bizarre and yet romantic. The cast is superb as the perfect instruments to pull together the elements of the movie. The film isn’t a campy throwback or a musical fantasy but a glimpse into a realistic world if it were normal to sing with background tunes. Dialogue doesn’t uncomfortably jump from the main characters to some random musical number in the background with an excessive amount of dancers. The music is narrowed down to the main characters and this nicely balances the elements of a musical and a stand-alone film. That being said, you’ll probably need to enjoy musicals to enjoy this movie for the most part, though it does offer something different than conformity or a cookie cutter frame. They’re meat pies after all. It may not be a genre-crossing piece of genius for most but for the open, it’s just a visual masterpiece for your acoustic pallet. That’s still pretty good. You don’t think of it as a musical, but a film with tunes. A normal regular of Burton’s crew was missing with Danny Elfman having no spot in creating its music as that job was taken by the originator, Stephen Sondheim himself. Dariusz Wolski masters the area of cinematography, fresh from previous work on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Sweeney Todd was undervalued at the 80^th Annual Academy Awards with only 3 nominations in Best Acting, Best Achievement in Costume Design and in Art Direction while winning in only the last one. This small tally was not due to a lack of talent but more succumbing to the large numbers of respectable movies of 2007 that aimed for the limited nomination-seats in each category for Oscar Gold. It did however go for Golden Globe Gold as it was nominated for the 65th annual Awards, winning two. The film won for Best Motion Picture in the Musical or Comedy genre and Johnny Depp won for his performance as Sweeney Todd. Tim Burton was nominated for Best Director and Helena Bonham Carter was nominated for her performance as Mrs. Lovett. The film has also been included in the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures’ top ten films of 2007, and Tim Burton also won their prize for Best Director.

So embark on a murderous rampage one of these evenings and try your blades and appetites at a tasty Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street on DVD.

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“Penelope” stars Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hara, Richard E. Grant, and Reese Witherspoon. “Penelope” marks director Mark Palansky’s first full length feature film debut, which proves to be a pretty decent movie.

Penelope (Christina Ricci) is a young girl who was born with the nose of a pig because of a curse place upon her family by a witch. The catch is the curse isn’t permanent. It can be broken by finding true love and liking herself for who she is. Her mother (Catherine O’Hara) faked the death of Penelope to protect her from the public, leading to Penelope’s escape from home into the real world.

A few elements are exaggerated in the film. These include the dates jumping out nearby windows after seeing “the nose” and also the fact that she is unbearable to look at. Aside from her nose, Christina Ricci is absolutely adorable. These flaws can be forgiven for the fact that this is a fairytale story. ”Penelope” is bombarded by overacting from Catherine O’Hara. On the other hand, Christina Ricci is so appealing here that you look right past that distinct pig snout and see a charming performance. There is impressive dialog that is poetically narrated by Christina Ricci in the beginning. The rest of the film’s dialog is trite, but not abrasive.

Reese Witherspoon gives a short, but memorable, performance as the one who shows Penelope around the “outside world”. As vivid predictions lapsed through my head, I was completely surprised that the ending wasn’t as predictable as I thought. Sure the part about her living happily ever after was foreshadowed, but there are a couple of clever twists at the end. It’s quite refreshing.

There is a cliched subplot containing two characters who plan to get a snapshot of the nose for public appeal, but I enjoyed it for the most part. “Penelope” puts a small twist on the average fairytale. Nothing explosive (it’s just a nose), but cute enough to acknowledge. The direction isn’t top-notch, but acceptable considering this is Mark Palansky’s first full length feature film. I have to say that it was worth my time. It wasn’t an effort, but a pleasure watching “Penelope”.

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“Run, Fatboy, Run” stars Simon Pegg (Shawn of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)and co-stars Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria, and Dylan Moran. It features David Schwimmer’s directorial debut and a script written by Simon Pegg and Michael Ian Black.

David (Simon Pegg) is an out-of-shape slacker who has never finished anything in his entire life and is always running in the wrong direction. Libby (Thandie Newton) was his pregnant fiance that he left five years ago. He regrets this every day of his life, especially when he discovers that Libby has found a friend named Whit, who spends his days running marathons. This encourages David to lose weight and win back his only love.

Simon Pegg stars without his usual co-star Nick Frost. This doesn’t hurt the film, but it certainly doesn’t help any. The film is missing a strong supporting cast to add the side laughs. I had low expectations for “Run Fatboy Run”, but proves to be a more amusing British comedy than “Hot Fuzz”, which was obviously a hit or miss. Simon Pegg doesn’t try really hard to be funny and still managed to throw in consistent chuckles while adding some generally hilarious moments into the mix.

This is the comedy you should see when it’s released in theaters March 28th. This is full of smiles and the occasional belly laughs. The moments that are gut-bustingly funny are disgusting, but stays within the acceptable boundaries. This is a feel good and inspirational movie that many will rave as being a cute romantic comedy that is carried by Simon Pegg’s ability to cause uncontrollable laughter.

With David Schwimmer behind the camera, you would expect this comedy to run itself straight into the dirt. Instead, it’s a steadily entertaining film. There are many flaws, but they just don’t seem to hurt the film entirely. “Run, Fatboy, Run” is an overall delightful movie. It’s sentimental without being cheesy, crude without being offensive, and predicable without being aggravating. That’s an huge accomplishment all it’s own.

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“The Accidental Husband” stars Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, and Jeffery Dean Morgan. It’s directed by Griffin Dunne (Practical Magic, Famous) and written by first time writers Mimi Hare and Clare Naylor.

A radio talk show host named Emma Lloyd (Uma Thurman) who sets relationships straight via phone conversations. She advises a caller to break up with her fiance before their wedding date. This sets off a revenge scheme by Patrick Sullivin (Jeffery Dean Morgan), the man who’s wedding she destroyed, to get back at Emma by getting her married to him without her consent. Hence the name. This brings me to an early review for “The Accidental Husband”, being released in theaters in August 2008.

This isn’t an anticipation review, but an anti-anticipation review, meaning don’t be too excited about this soon-to-come disaster. “Charm runs thin” claims Emma Lloyd and she is certainly right, for this romantic comedy lacks even the slightest bit of charm. I don’t even think that this qualifies as rental worthy. If you want to see a decent romantic comedy staring Uma Thurman, go rent “My Super Ex-Girlfriend”. At least that one isn’t torture to sit through and isn’t scarce of even the smallest of chuckles.

Stay away from this one when it hits theaters. The story isn’t even moderately cute and becomes more of an endurance test. One thing is for sure, this was a big time accident. There is absolutely no chemistry to be found between Uma Thurman and Colin Firth. Not since “Shall We Dance” staring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez has chemistry been so stagnate. “The Accidental Husband” is guaranteed to get bad reviews when it opens wide in August.

I found myself slapping my cheeks to stay awake, just to see the predictably sappy ending that irritated me more than anything. I could’ve turned this film off fifteen minutes in and tell you how it will end. This aggravated me greatly and certainly made me regret viewing it. I am letting you know months in advance, save your money and see anything else upon it’s meaningless approach to theaters.

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“2 Days in Paris” stars Adam Goldberg and Julie Delpy. It’s also written and directed by Julie Delpy. This is her first film and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.

Jack (Adam Goldberg) is an interior designer who’s girlfriend, Marion (Julie Delpy) is a photographer. The couple spend two days in Paris with Marion’s hippy mother and disrespectful father. During his stay at Paris, Jack runs into people who unknowingly insult him, many of his girlfriend’s past boyfriends, and becomes exposed to disturbing food. All of this leads to Jack’s hatred for the city of Paris. This story tells that it’s not easy being in a relationship, much less to truly know the other one and accept them as who they are.

What makes this film so amazing is how the viewers become so engaged in Jack and Marion’s conversations. One of the conversations that really grabbed my attention was Jack’s theory called “Collective Dynamics of the Small World Network”. Adam Goldberg does a superb job at portraying a character who becomes very stressed out due to his girlfriend’s previous relationships. Taking on the task of acting, writing and directing the movie is a tough thing to do, yet Julie Delpy nails each department. This created a smart, off-beat romantic comedy.

That being said, this was a highly entertaining movie. The music was a sure fit for the film, giving it a more independent feeling. The story is what really makes this movie so great. Yes, “great” being an appropriate adjective here. A wonderful start to a hopefully successful career for Julie Delpy. The acting was convincing and the script is very intelligent. Some excruciatingly funny moments, most of which include Jack becoming agitated by the many men that flirt with his girlfriend.

I deeply recommend this Independent Spirit Award nominee, for it is truly a work of art. “2 Days in Paris” is dominated by superior performances and a kinky, oddball script that’s both intelligent and funny. There is a spectacular amount of heart put into this movie. Not to mention there is a huge amount of chemistry between Adam Goldberg and Julie Delpy that takes this film very far. Don’t neglect this movie. Instead, put it at the top of your list of movies to see.

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Director - Wong Kar Wai

Writer - Wong Kar Wai 

Starring - Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz

Review:

Wong Kar Wai, the man behind such visually told wonders such as In The Mood for Love and 2046, has attempted his first English language film, in an American setting with western actors. The result is My Blueberry Nights, a visually beautiful but very poorly functioning and quite pointless cinematic disappointment.

A young woman (Jones) takes a soul-searching journey across America to resolve her questions about love while encountering a series of offbeat characters, including a café owner (Law), a gambler (Portman) and an alcoholic (Strathairn), along the way.

In the mentioned In The Mood For Love and especially with 2046, Wong Kar Wai managed to tell a beautiful and engaging love story (continued through both films), overcoming certain plot issues by having gorgeous visuals and poetic and involving dialogue. With My Blueberry Nights he has delivered his very first attempt at an English language film and I was looking forward to see if his magic worked in anything other than an Asian language. As it turns out, in my opinion anyway, whatever he does in his native tongue it just doesn’t translate well at all into English. It’s probably not his fault, you can’t blame him for trying new things but I think now he just has to accept that he needs to stick to the language he knows.

It’s no surprise that the biggest strength of My Blueberry Nights is the visuals. The film is incredible to look at, with so many contrasting colours really catching both eyes at almost all times and for the most part taking over the attention of the audience. Everything else in the film I felt was just there to accompany the stunning visual palette of the film, as opposed to the cinematography being the backdrop to things like the dialogue and the story.

Speaking of story, the film doesn’t really have one and there in lies one of it’s biggest problems. Even though it has a basic outline of a plot nothing really happens in the film. It starts off with some, again, wonderful looking scenes but scenes that seem meaningless none the less. From there it sets off on the road to nowhere and by film’s end we are right back exactly where we started off. If the film had ended with a big revelation or change of tone for example I maybe would have been a bit more impressed but the way it turned out was just the icing on the cake of making the film seem utterly pointless.

As far as cast and the acting I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand Norah Jones is great as the broken-hearted young leading lady, a character we can empathize and sympathise with, whatever has gone wrong in her life, no matter how small the issue. Natalie Portman as the charming, daring gambler is both great fun to watch and pretty pointless as a character. But bringing the acting up to a more positive level is the addition of David Strathairn, someone I wouldn’t associate with wanting to work with this director or in this type of film. Anything, and I mean anything, that he makes an appearance in he is a or in most cases the highlight of the film and here is no different. Although his character isn’t in it for very long he still is in it enough for me to be thoroughly impressed by his unusual role.

Weighing down the acting is the inclusion of Rachel Weisz and Jude Law. Weisz, although putting everything she can into the role, extremely overacts here. Just because you are crying, shouting and generally drawing a high amount of attention to yourself doesn’t make your performance good. Some may see it as fantastic whereas I found it to be unnecessarily over the top. Law, although charming in his usual Jude Law kind of way, gives a horrible attempt at a Mancunian accent and his character just isn’t all that believable. Fortunately Strathairn saves the acting side of things but it was a close call indeed.

The other major problem with the film is the unrealistic dialogue. The poetic, flowing nature of Wai’s dialogue is now confirmed to only work in his native language. For some strange reason the dialogue, in English, sounds forced and fake.

So even though I didn’t hate My Blueberry Nights by any means, the film looks absolutely gorgeous and some of the characters and acting are very impressive, but there’s just too much wrong with it for me to speak generally positively about it. Every scene seems quite forced, most don’t fit as well as they should together and the dialogue is unrealistic. Mr Wai, please, next time, just leave the translator at home.

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“Tootsie” stars Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, and Geena Davis. It’s directed by Sydney Pollack (The Firm, Random Hearts, Three Days of the Condor) and the screenplay is written by Murray Schisgal.

Michael Dorsey (Dustin Hoffman) is a character actor who has a bad reputation for being a hard person to work with. Unable to find a job, he disguises himself as an older woman by the name of Dorthy Michaels in a soap opera and becomes famous. He falls in love with Julie Nichols, the leading actress in the soap opera series he stars in. The only problem with this is that she is unaware of the fact that Dorthy Michaels is really a man.

This film was surprisingly nominated for a total of ten Oscar Nominations, including Best Picture. However, the movie only won the Best Actress award. There are many problems that I had with “Tootsie”. One is the music bothered me. Another is the soap opera feel that the movie has. I know I mentioned before I am not a fan of soap operas. Some of the scenes felt drawn out and could have been cut shorter. A sometimes funny, but not hilarious, film that has so much talent that doesn’t shine.

Dustin Hoffman gives a priceless performance. The fact that he was nominated is a win all it’s own. With such a talented cast, you would expect it to be much funnier. A good story told in a style I don’t care for. The editing could have used some work, but it was entertaining for the most part. The supporting performances were on par, but I was looking forward to more laughs on their part. Dustin Hoffman delivered none the less.

I would recommend it for a rent, considering that it is adored by many and was nominated for many Oscars. It’s just not Oscar material to me. It has nothing really special other than the courageous and convincing performance by Dustin Hoffman. It mixes comedy, romance and drama into one, making it hard for me to decide what it was really trying to be. Watch it for Dustin Hoffman’s act alone.

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Director - Jason Reitman

Writer - Diablo Cody

Starring - Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Alison Janney

Review:

You would have to have a heart of stone not to fall for recent Best Picture nominee Juno. It has so much heart, soul and sweetness that it approaches the level of it being impossible to resist. It has everything a film of its kind should but at the same time it feels fresh and original. But it’s the dialogue, for me, that holds it back from being the masterpiece it is hailed by many to be.

After finding out she’s pregnant, off-beat 16- year old Juno makes the unusual decision if giving her baby up for adoption.

The beauty of this film is its simplicity, at least on the surface. It has a simple storyline, characters we can instantly grasp hold of and connect with and an easily accessible script. But to counter how simple it at first appears to be is all the complex issues and humanistic feelings underneath. Juno is one of the most likeable characters to grace the screen in the last few years and as hard to believe as some of the things that come out of her mouth are she still manages to win you over before the closing of the even the first scene.

All of the actors involved in the film are just top-notch. After her breakout role in 2005’s fantastic Hard Candy, Ellen Page proves that she is an acting force to be sorely reckoned with. It’s amazing how good of an actress someone so early on in their career can be. Usually it takes yeas to gain such talent and deliver such great performances but it looks like Miss Page has accomplished that before her 20th birthday.

Superbad’s Michael Cera plays the baby’s father and he is fittingly awkward but at the same time very likeable. He’s the sort of guy you see in every high school and Cera really sells the role. Jason Bateman plays the part of the adopting father, someone who Juno relates to through her taste in music and movies. Just hearing the name beforehand I couldn’t quite see him in this role but he fits perfectly. But who really did surprisingly well in her role was Jennifer Garner. Although her performance is not award worthy it still proves she can do something different and not just go for the big-cheque roles. J.K. Simmons and Alison Janney, as Juno’s father and step-mother, bring maturity to the table and obviously they are brilliant. It’s nice to see a group of actors being assembled like they are in Juno; perfectly cast and yet weirdly original.

Juno will probably make me do something I rarely do after seeing a movie; buy the soundtrack. Long after I have seen the movie I am still humming the various songs from the film as I go about my life. Rarely does that happen to me so the soundtrack will no doubt be on my shelf in the near future.

I think what is most enjoyable about Juno, and the reason I think it’s so popular, is the fact that it makes you smile. It is a feel-good, true-to-life story that I think most can relate to in some way. I can’t recall at any time during the movie not having at least a smirk on my face and at most a huge smile. Most movies are about the bad things in life so it’s refreshing to find one which celebrates the good.

So after all that what exactly is my problem with Juno, I hear you ask? Well it lies with the script. It is two things; firstly it may very well be a masterpiece of one but at the same time it’s brilliance is its downfall. Most of the dialogue in the film is almost too well written in that it hardly ever feels realistic. There’s no way a 16 year old would say words like “cavalier” and “expediential” in natural conversation. There are countless other examples of conversations in Juno that in real life just wouldn’t be as hip, cool and intelligent as they are presented here to be.

Although I had an issue with the fact that the script is very obviously a script it didn’t annoy me as much as it did some. I still massively enjoyed the movie, and at times I just went with the unrealistic script and my enjoyment was better off for it. Ellen Page is fabulous as the title character and she is supported by a host of great actors and even better performances. You can kick, scream, stamp your feet and struggle all you want but it’s futile because in the end Juno is simply irresistible.

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