Friday, May 30, 2008

No Country For Old Men


When a broke hunter (Josh Brolin ) is out hunting one he stumbles across a drug deal gone bad and $2 million dollars in cash. He takes the money but then has to quickly flee the area because the folks who lost the money want it back. The guy they send to find the money (Javier Bardem) will stop at nothing to get it back, and Brolin is trying to stay one step ahead of him. This is a violent, but very good movie. It is obvious why it won so many awards including Best Picture.

Mad Money


Bridget (Diane Keaton) a wealthy upper class stay-at-home wife's life suddenly changes when her husband loses his job and she has to go to work. The only job she can find is a janitorial job at a bank. She comes up with a plan to take the money going to the shredder and needs to find a few more ladies to make her plan a success. She enlists Nina (Queen Latifah) and Jackie (Katie Holmes) to help. This movie got horrible reviews, but if you watch if for pure entertainment value it is not bad.

Juno


When young Juno (Ellen Page) gets pregnant she realizes she cannot go through with an abortion and decides she wants to give her baby up for adoption. She finds the perfect couple to adopt when she meets Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa (Jennifer Garner). As the pregnancy progresses she realizes that this will be tougher than she first thought. This is a wonderful movie. Very funny in its sarcastic wit and the characters are all perfectly chosen.

P.S. I Love You


Hillary Swank plays Holly a happily married woman who is devastated by the very early death of her Irish husband Gerry (Gerard Butler). When notes and gifts start arriving from him she is first angry until she realizes this is his way of helping her move on with her life. I am not a huge Swank fan, but I really enjoyed this movie. I thought the chemistry of the main characters was great and overall she did a great job in this role.

Silk



When Herve (Michael Pitt) is called upon to save his town by traveling to the dangerous country of Japan to bring back silk worms, he must leave his bride (Keira Knightley) and risk his life to make the journey. When he is there he is intrigued with the wife of the Japanese man he is trading with and begins to jeopardize his mission with his obsession. I am a huge fan of Knightley but was disappointed with this film. It was slow and I really disliked Pitt's character by the end.

27 Dresses


This is the story of Jane (Katherine Heigl) who is so busy planning other people's weddings that she is not really living her own life. She is secretly in love with her boss and when her sister goes after him and a reporter wants to do a story about how many weddings she has been involved in things start to unravel. This probably would not have been an enjoyable movie if Heigl were not the star, but I enjoyed it because she made it fun to watch.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Enchanted


In the fairy tale world of Andalasia Giselle (Amy Adams) has finally found her prince, but on the day she is to wed him his evil step-mother pushes her into a well that magically transports her to the real world. In this strange new place (New York City) she comes across a man and his daughter who are nice enough to give her a place to stay while she waits for Prince Edward to find her. This was a really cute and funny movie that I think the adults enjoy as much as the children do. A must see!

The Golden Compass


This story is based on the book about an alternate universe where humans' souls live outside their body and are called daemons. These daemons take on an animal form and if they are injured the human feels it as well. This film is about a young girl who is the only one who can read a magical golden compass and ventures off on an expedition to find some missing children. Along the way she plans to help her uncle who is trying to find information about a mysterious substance called dust that is supposed to be able to connect the various universes. For me this film was a little confusing and would have to be watched a few times to get all the details straight. It leaves the ending wide open so you know there will be a sequel coming.

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep


Based around the legend of the Lock Ness Monster this film attempts to explain how that legend came to exist. When a sad young boy finds an unusual egg that quickly hatches into a water creature he is determined to keep and raise the creature without letting his mother know. With the help of his sister and the new handyman he succeeds for a time, but as the creature begins to grow at an alarming rate he has a lot more trouble keeping it hidden. This is a really cute film that the whole family will enjoy.

Into the Wild


After graduating from college Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) decides he does not want to get a job and have a normal life, but instead he is going to go on an adventure to find "ultimate freedom". Unhappy with his parents he proceeds to change his name, give away most of his money (burn the rest) and back pack around the United States. He meets some great people along the way, but he is determined to make it to Alaska and survive on his own. Unfortunately the trip is not always what he hopes for. This was a good movie and Hirsch did a great job. It was easy to see why he was nominated for so many awards for this role.

Nancy Drew


The famous young detective from the Nancy Drew novels comes to the big screen in this film. Even though Nancy Drew promises her dad she will take a break from detective work, when they decide to take a trip to Hollywood she can't resist staying in the home of one of the most famous unsolved murders of all time. She is torn between wanting to keep her promise to her dad and doing what she does best. Not great acting, but a family friendly film.

I Am Legend


Will Smith plays Robert Neville a scientist who is trying to figure out a way to reverse a horrible man-made virus that either killed off most of humanity or turned them into vampire-like creatures. As the last human survivor he is determined to find a cure before time runs out. Not really my type of movie, so not one I will watch again.

Awake


Hayden Christenson plays Clayton, a wealthy young man who is awaiting a heart transplant. When he finally gets the call that they have a donor and he goes in for surgery he suffers from a rare condition called "anesthetic awareness" where even though he cannot move or speak he is aware of what is going on during his surgery. I thought this was a good movie that a pretty good twist in the end.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street


The famous musical comes to the big screen where Johnny Depp takes on the role of Sweeney Todd. Todd is a bitter and angry man who is falsely imprisoned by a man who covets his beautiful wife and daughter. Once he is released he is determined to get revenge for all he and his family have suffered. With the help of local "meat" pie maker he begins his quest to punish the folks of London in the most gruesome way.

Alvin and the Chipmunks


When struggling songwriter Dave Seville (Jason Lee) is just about to throw in the towel and give up his dream of making it big in the music industry he comes across 3 singing chipmunks. The fun trio of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are more like mischievous children and they make Dave's life a roller coaster of success and chaos. I think they did a great job with this movie, it is fun to watch for the whole family.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age


In this sequel to Elizabeth from 1998 Cate Blanchett returns to the role of beloved Queen Elizabeth. In this film you learn of her interest in Sir Walter Raleigh and her pressure to marry and produce heirs at the same time she is trying to take her country to war. I think Blanchett is an amazing Elizabeth and it makes perfect sense why she was nominated for Best Actress for this role.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium


Dustin Hoffman plays Mr. Magorium who owns a "magical" toy store where anything is possible. Natalie Portman plays his store manager who he surprises one day by giving her the store. She begins to doubt her ability to keep the magic going and in doing so causes the magic to begin to fade. She has to continue to believe in the store and herself to keep the magic alive. I think it was an okay movie, but not really as good as I thought it was going to be.

The Brave One


After a brutal beating leaves Neil Jordan (Jodie Foster) fighting for her life and her fiance dead she struggles to get the courage to face life again. Finally she gets frustrated with being afraid and buys herself a gun. When she stumbles across another violent crime she realizes she can be the victim once again, or this time she can fight back. I didn't really think I was going to like this movie, but I actually did. I like the combination of Foster and Terrance Howard.

Atonement



This highly awarded film is about a pair of unlikely lovers (a high class lady Cecelia and a housekeeper's son Robbie) who just as they are finding their way to each other are torn apart by a false accusation by Cecelia's young sister Briony. As WWII breaks out Robbie is given the choice of enlisting or prison, so he chooses to enlist. As time passes Briony realizes her mistake but unfortunately it is too late to make amends. This was a great film and when you watch it you realize why it was nominated for so many awards.