All reviews - Movies (88) - TV Shows (1) - Books (29)

Just didn't do it for me

Posted : 1 year ago on 24 July 2007 07:09 (A review of Love Liza)

It seemed like an interesting plot, with great actors. Yet somehow it just never affected me. The story is of a young man (Hoffman) dealing with the suicide of his wife, or trying not to deal with it by getting high on gas fumes. The movie tried to do it in such a minimalistic way that I got bored (and I have more patience than most folks). Sorry, can't recommend it.

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Good Movie, Not Over the Top

Posted : 1 year ago on 22 July 2007 08:47 (A review of Proof)

I've watched a few movies lately about mental illness and this was a refreshing change. Anthony Hopkins character was definitely mentally ill, but he played it small. The illness was in his head, not splattered across the screen. And Paltrow's character who has to deal with the drama of his brilliance and illness, not to mention the fear that it might happen to her as well, was done very nicely. The play/script was well written and believable and thought provoking. I quite enjoyed this movie.

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No Chemistry

Posted : 1 year ago on 22 July 2007 08:31 (A review of Meet Joe Black)

Thank goodness for Anthony Hopkins, or else this movie would have been a complete waste of time. Unfortunately he wasn't in every scene. There was no chemistry between Pitt and Forlani, of course with good reason. Brad Pitt's character was just completely unlikable, or at best cold. I can't decide whether to blame it on the script or the director. And it was much too long, and the last half hour just dragged. The cinematography was nice, and watching all the pretty people in pretty settings were nice. But if the story ain't there, then prettiness doesn't help.

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Coulda Been Somethin

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 21 July 2007 03:38 (A review of A Knight's Tale)

This is a slightly odd movie that just never comes together. I knew it had a Rock-n-Roll soundtrack, and went into it with an open mind. But there's too little of it, so when it does happen it seems strange. And the princesses costumes are so contemporary, but nothing else is. And the flash backs are also unsettling. The actors are all great, but the plot is so mundane and the writing so dull that I just can't recommend this movie.

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OK, he's crazy. I get it.

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 21 July 2007 09:40 (A review of The Aviator)

Howard Hughes was a brilliant, rich lunatic. And this movie made me realize that he was probably always mentally unstable (where I thought he had gone crazy later in life). I thought the acting was very good, and although I am not a fan of Leo, I really believed he was Howard Hughes. My problem with the movie was the length. I think Scorses could have made his point about Mr. Hughes mental problems with much less film time. There have been many movies about OC people, and I think the general public understands it fairly well. I felt like I was being talked down to about it. It was far more interesting to see how the people in his life had to deal with it. I think they could have cut an hour off this movie and I would have liked it better.

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Unbelievable

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 21 July 2007 07:21 (A review of Matchstick Men)

From moment one I never believed anything that was happening in this movie. I kept thinking "that would never happen" over and over. From the very first thing you learn, that a person with OCD would be so comfortable with people that he could be a conman. Its got a great cast and a great director, so I must have a problem with the plot (and therefore the book). If I hadn't been watching this movie with other people I probably would not have stuck it out to the end. But maybe you can suspend your disbelief, I just couldn't.

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The Joy Rings True

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 19 July 2007 03:04 (A review of The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid)

Bill Bryson is best known for his travel memoirs. I loved one of his books and was quite disappointed by two others. This is somewhere in the middle, but agreeably so. His memories of his childhood in Des Moines, Iowa are sweet and silly. And the nostalgia for life gone by could easily have been too sappy. But the absolute joy he has for his hometown comes through, without being sugary. Some of the later chapters were a little to slap-sticky for me to rave about this book, but I did enjoy the overall book.

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You Must Have Patience!

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 19 July 2007 07:19 (A review of The Hours)

From the award winning book of the same name, The Hours is the story of 3 women from 3 different times in history and how they survive a single day. Each of them has to come to terms with their own depression. This movie moves very slow and determined and works so hard at capturing a nearly hopeless feeling that it very well can lose the watchers interest. You must have patience and a willingness to be absorbed by the mood to enjoy this movie.

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Interesting Premise Wasted

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 11 July 2007 07:23 (A review of A Place Called Here)

I think the premise of the book was interesting. The main character, a detective, ends up in that other dimension where things that get lost end up. You know those things, the odd sock, that report you just finished, the set of car keys you never let out of your sight that somehow still disappear. And people who are "Missing" as well. And yet I found the book irritating somehow. It was much too easy to put down, and didn't make me want to pick it up again. I think in the end the main character was just too uninteresting, so I didn't really care what happened, even if the premise was interesting.

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Not Ross!

Posted : 1 year, 1 month ago on 11 July 2007 04:11 (A review of The Pallbearer)

I expected to dislike this David Schwimmer movie, but was pleasantly surprised. I loved the tone and mood this movie caught. The main character is a loser, but not one I could relate to. He didn't set out to be a loser, and he's not hugely off-track, life just didn't work out like he thought. The predicaments he gets into (such as giving the eulogy for a classmate he doesn't even remember) happen in plausible ways. But the best thing about this movie is the melancholy that is prevalent throughout. Something that is usually hard to capture...either a movie is too funny, or too maudlin. Good movie for a rainy afternoon when things just aren't going your way.

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