The action is great, filled with interesting and unique approaches to already established plot developments, including how exactly they are different. The characters are weak and fall apart by act three, to the point of almost idiocy, apart from...
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The action is great, filled with interesting and unique approaches to already established plot developments, including how exactly they are different. The characters are weak and fall apart by act three, to the point of almost idiocy, apart from Jolie's character that is. Don't see this movie for the writing, but for the action.

Even if this had not be a true story I would like to believe that it still would have been a great film. Let's face it, the possibility of such things in the real world terrify us, and by their nature, inherently alter our perceptions. That said:...
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Even if this had not be a true story I would like to believe that it still would have been a great film. Let's face it, the possibility of such things in the real world terrify us, and by their nature, inherently alter our perceptions. That said: visually this masterpiece takes the perspective of the shut in hero. The actors, the players, the very center of the stage, is the camera. We follow his thoughts, he's feelings, while the rest of the world only guesses at what we are seeing. At moments the shear grandeur of the direction and editing are overwhelming, we are privy to the secret life of one who can't communicate and it makes us want to scream at the actors whom have no clue, to race to them, taking them by the ears and leading them, sightless back to the beginning so that they can understand. We become Mr. Bauby. Overtime, this shut in feeling fades, as we, the characters, the camera, finally alter the universe and become part of the whole again.

The metaphors abound, and are beautifully laid before us to examine and re-watch.

If only we all had such butterflies.

A terrifying (not in the horror fashion) look at abuse in the life of a young woman whom finds herself left at an Aunt's while her parents travel for work. Gertrude, played by the every talented Ellen Page, is sacrificed at the fearful hands of a...
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A terrifying (not in the horror fashion) look at abuse in the life of a young woman whom finds herself left at an Aunt's while her parents travel for work. Gertrude, played by the every talented Ellen Page, is sacrificed at the fearful hands of a terrible woman.

The acting is dead on. The terrible moments of torture un-godly and painful to watch. A great reminder of things like the gullibility and need for guidance in children, without which the struggle can shift them in dangerous unknowing animals. Catherine Keener is great as the Aunt living out of control.

A self imposed loser turns to the only avenue left to him: suicide. Only to find that a beautiful woman is about to do the same thing. Putting his own idiocy aside he saves her, but is she even what she appears?

This is a beautiful...
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A self imposed loser turns to the only avenue left to him: suicide. Only to find that a beautiful woman is about to do the same thing. Putting his own idiocy aside he saves her, but is she even what she appears?

This is a beautiful film, staring Rie Rasmussen and Jamel Debbouze. Rie, a stunning, Paris runway model, is nearly perfect in this role as she plays both sides of her character, whom truthfully, is the motivation for the actions of all the other characters in the film. It is her character that has to grow as well, so that Jamel's character can re-establish his own sense of identity and more importantly, that one thing worth living for: love.

Jamel is believable and sincere, with his worried and destructive fears eating at him. The scene in the bathroom was amazing, and if I owned an award show he'd get something just for his work right there.

This movie isn't for everyone. First off, it's in French, which means subtitles, and I know that most people loath subtitles. Secondly, it takes a farcical look at angels and heaven, putting self determination and love above the doctrine often preached by the institutions. Be warned if you have a religious sensitivity, this film probably isn't for you.

This is a great date movie. The style, the presentation, the open ended idea of love and the hidden message of what it means, in willingness, and hope, to find that one person, whom really is worth love.

This little movie could have been a million times better. Anyone whom reads my reviews, must be cringing at the thought that I would start on such a negative viewpoint.

Alien Seed is all you need to know to fully get the whole concept...
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This little movie could have been a million times better. Anyone whom reads my reviews, must be cringing at the thought that I would start on such a negative viewpoint.

Alien Seed is all you need to know to fully get the whole concept of the film, you had better get it here, in the title, because the convoluted story of Aliens abducting 'perfect' women to impregnate them may be expressed by the endless dialog and terribly obvious character development, but the depth of why, any reason why, as in, why these girls, why this small town, why is there a Dr. Stone, why is the government out to get involved, why the reporter, why, why, why. Not a single really intelligent question is even asked, let alone bothered to be answered by the writing. Almost immediately the mystery of the plot is revealed, making the idea of enduring the endless droning character speeches nearly impossible. Human beings don't talk this way, college students, pretending to be intellectuals for the sake of being intellectuals do. Because of the terrible monosyllabic waveforms of thought, the characters never develop anything even remotely interesting. The love affair? It's there on paper, but in the movie it almost seems trivial and contrived, as if because one character is a man and the other a woman it should just be that way.

The acting is hard to judge, because the dialog is so bad, even Erik Estrada, from the TV show Chips is unbelievable. Is it really him over acting so terribly? Or is it the direction? Or is it the terrible lines he has to deliver? Maybe it is all of the above. I can't tell and I won't be viewing this again anytime soon to really judge it.

That said, there a few moments of quality film work for this most likely late 1980's movie, including the squibs, some of the lighting (as in when she's in the dark at that strange Church [yes, you heard me right, a church plays into it]).

Overall though, unless you're into watching movies in the 'old style' with a little mental pick-me-up to enhance the viewing pleasure, I'd say stay away from this movie.

This movie is not about the car chase. Don't expect to see Steve McQueen in Bullet or even the entire Chicago police force chasing the blues brothers. Apart from the one or two punctuation marks encapsulating the movie, there are no real moments...
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This movie is not about the car chase. Don't expect to see Steve McQueen in Bullet or even the entire Chicago police force chasing the blues brothers. Apart from the one or two punctuation marks encapsulating the movie, there are no real moments of serious adventure with the cars. This is neither good nor bad, simply how the film is laid out.

This movie is really a simple love story, boy meets girl, and what falls in line around it. But underneath that it is making a satirical statement about the power, or lack there of, of the media, and how the nightly news will go to the most ridiculous lengths to get a story, cover it as if they know what's going on even when it's apparent they don't, and then give such un-gifted anchors enough reigns to gag themselves on live television.

The story is cute at best. The fact that rock stars are in it is clever, but their stage like acting skills don't translate well to the smaller medium and though funny it can become grating.

The acting between the love interests is almost stale, this is because the actors are suffering from bad writing and are probably bored. When Kristy Swanson starts to fall for Charlie Sheen, he asks, "What are you doing" and she says, "Falling in love with you" ...oh come on, the obvious sexual tension was there long before that and the line itself was over kill.

If this movie comes on cable and you aren't doing something better, watch it. Girls will probably like this movie, so I assume it would be a good date movie.

Documentaries are a little difficult to review. There are no characters, no actors. There is no story arc, no plot curve. No Costumes and such. So You have to look at it for what it is.

In as few words as possible see this.
...
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Documentaries are a little difficult to review. There are no characters, no actors. There is no story arc, no plot curve. No Costumes and such. So You have to look at it for what it is.

In as few words as possible see this.

Facts about the future of what we eat, all of the animal kingdom is about to be changed.

It talks about the altering of some grains and how the seed companies have bought up all the patents on all possible living things in the world. It talks about the consolidation of the food industry, which will in the end limit our choices on what we find available. It talks about labeling. It is worth the watch and important to our future.

"Why must the Concubine always die?"

Sometimes a piece of art goes so deep that a cursory explanation and subsequent review will do nothing for the overall ingenuity of the work. This is one such case. Movietome.com's...
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"Why must the Concubine always die?"

Sometimes a piece of art goes so deep that a cursory explanation and subsequent review will do nothing for the overall ingenuity of the work. This is one such case. Movietome.com's synopsis is accurate, but barely scratches the surface in that the love triangle between the three of them is also played out in the underlying operas. In the end all the stories, be they driven by the characters of the actors performing in the works of opera, intertwine. The young men form a relationship that is one sided, in that one character, the concubine, loves, unrequited his stage brother and through the course of being the concubine both on stage and in his own real life, he never quite gets anything worthy of his talents. He's lost to the King whom, in his real life and stage presence only really understands at the end what sacrifices they both had to endure to get where they were. You see, Farewell My Concubine is an opera about a King who's concubine refuses to leave his loosing side, instead taking her own life as sacrifice to his greatness and devotion.

This film would be considered a costume piece, based on the time period and the way the director captured this, not to mention the idea that the opera's are thousands of years old and require a very elaborate set make up. It is beautiful to watch. The acting is monumental from the three main characters, and their subsequent child personalities. There are flaws in the direction that hinders the over all impact of the acting, but if you really love this sort of filming a second watch will clear up some of those issues.

If you like deep cinema, can tolerate the idea of reading subtitles, and don't mind watching a story about a man who loves another man, than this film is for you. It will make you think, but better, help you feel.

This is a story of a boy living in an orphanage within the realm of Mother Russia. He finds himself about to be adopted by a couple from Italy (and his fellow inmates dub him "the italian"). The story, although not very well told,...
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This is a story of a boy living in an orphanage within the realm of Mother Russia. He finds himself about to be adopted by a couple from Italy (and his fellow inmates dub him "the italian"). The story, although not very well told, tries to play on the corruption of the adoption system in Russia. The weak social commentary tries with myopic vision to show that anyone, from anywhere, can come to Russia and with enough money can have any child they want. The story doesn't take this serious enough and does a terrible job of giving us the correct impressions of just how terrible it is. The reason for its failure here is because the story is focused on the boy and all of the side characters (which there are a lot of), which would be a good thing if the boy was more well written with deeper intentions, but his story is weak at best and so overly obvious that you know what every single move of his is going to yield.
The acting is good, especially from the younger actors. I felt sorry for the adults because their parts were so two-dimensional that at times I really felt like I was watching a bad remake of Le Mis.
A lot more time could have been given to how poorly the children are treated in the orphanage versus so much time spent on the chase.
Overall though, there are moments that are very well played and bring to life the corner of this grand story, yet they never quit pan out. It is a good little story worthy of seeing.

Brilliant. A dazzling little tale about the single mindedness of a man's dream. Hopkins is unflinchingly perfect in this role. From frame one to the last you understand his desires, his resources and his slightly kiltered way of living. A...
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Brilliant. A dazzling little tale about the single mindedness of a man's dream. Hopkins is unflinchingly perfect in this role. From frame one to the last you understand his desires, his resources and his slightly kiltered way of living. A man living in a garage sets world speed records, sounds crazy. The supporting cast is very well directed and given the right amount of room to play. Some of the characters are larger than life, yet strangely subtle, other characters are just a few stranded voices along his way. As for the camera work, it's not great, but borders on it at times. Some of the shots they tried for didn't quite seem to pan out (pun intended), but over all the work kept the story alive and most importantly, did an amazing job capturing Hopkins in his element. It's a movie about slowing down to go fast. It's make you laugh with tears.

This movie starts out as a comedy or so it feels. Perhaps it never was. Perhaps the intention is a dark comedy? The story is simple: Boy and girl live in the big city selling things they've stolen. They seem happy in their own crazy lives....
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This movie starts out as a comedy or so it feels. Perhaps it never was. Perhaps the intention is a dark comedy? The story is simple: Boy and girl live in the big city selling things they've stolen. They seem happy in their own crazy lives. Then suddenly he starts beating her and the story turns a corner. The dark comedy of it slips away and all the old trappings of predictability surface. Does she find help? Does she fight the guy? Milla Jovavich is very good and her dark character is probably the best part, although it is written so clearly that there is nothing to shock or surprise. The ending is obvious. The jaded inner city phoniness masquerading as love is almost pathetic.

There are even a few times where the characters talk directly into the camera, giving what appears to be an interview. It's lame and was done better in To Die For...which in a weird was this movie is really just copying. It is only the acting that makes this movie watchable, as the beatings are brutal and make my stomach turn even from the safety of my office, far from the little screen and the brutal fists and feet. This is not a date movie. It's sad commentary on the comical truth of this world. I thought this thing was going to be funny, but it was dark and sad and left me withered after the viewing.

In my process of scoring I tend to start a movie with 2 1/2 stars. In this way it can at the very least be 'middle of the road'. Over the course of the movie I think about things like plot and character development, then adding or subtracting...
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In my process of scoring I tend to start a movie with 2 1/2 stars. In this way it can at the very least be 'middle of the road'. Over the course of the movie I think about things like plot and character development, then adding or subtracting the amount of star I think it merits. This movie is the first movie to actually rate a negative star rating. If it were possible to give it a negative score I would.

I have never seen the original and I'm guessing that this is a near frame for frame remake, so many of the scenes in this movie just don't work anymore. I found myself laughing at the ludicrous situations the girls found themselves trapped in; from the people who tried to leave, to the gratuitous nudity (that's right, a girl stops to take a shower only to be spied on by the menacing evil, who is looking up at her, yet has a much better view). There were times that I wished that it was a spoof, where I could have laughed at the comedy instead of the bad writing.

The plot is pathetic, and completely unbelievable. The characters two dimensional, yet does it matter? No, because it's a group of hot sorority girls, playing right into the stereotype that the only people who see movies like this are 22 year old males.

The direction is okay actually, although it plays way to much with the silly, tired, used, old, horror theme. Like trying to scare us with something that isn't behind the door. I hate it that I can say, "She's going to open that door and be scared by a coat" and be almost exactly right on. I was only wrong because I had forgotten the Christmas theme of the movie.

This is a movie that should never have been made, not once, let alone twice. Yet here it is. The least they could have done is had the girls in Fort Lauderdale on Spring break wearing nothing but skimpy bikini's so that all of us male pigs would have had a reason to stay seated in the theater (Yes that's sarcasm, nothing would have fixed this piece of tripe).

I recommend you use this DVD as a coaster to keep your drinks from leaving rings on your coffee table.

"This Movie Sucked" says another review here...exactly.

This is a story of obsession and revenge. A dark tale of twisted souls, looking endlessly to undo the other. Be warned, the depth of the moral dilemma will leave you thinking about it days later. It's no surprise that he chose blind stage hands...
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This is a story of obsession and revenge. A dark tale of twisted souls, looking endlessly to undo the other. Be warned, the depth of the moral dilemma will leave you thinking about it days later. It's no surprise that he chose blind stage hands for his greatest trick.
The acting, sets, direction, costumes, even the strange and bizarre Tesla is great.
The story, is good, but at times thin and very obvious. One of the great points of plot is the reading of the diaries and how each magician was a little smart then the other thought them capable of being.
See this movie for the dark, the magic, and the beautiful dialog, and of course the 'secret'.

At one point John Landis appears in the movie, wearing a silly t-shirt. Really, enough said.

The writing was terrible. The direction sub-par. The plot so tired it should be sleeping next in Hoffa's grave.

The worst of...
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At one point John Landis appears in the movie, wearing a silly t-shirt. Really, enough said.

The writing was terrible. The direction sub-par. The plot so tired it should be sleeping next in Hoffa's grave.

The worst of the three by far, a movie that was not made for any other reason than to cash in on the success of the first two.

This is how I see the world so it was not a tough sell for me to suspend any disbelief and follow this film from frame one to the end. That said, objectively: the inter-connective storylines from the three main characters works well, although at...
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This is how I see the world so it was not a tough sell for me to suspend any disbelief and follow this film from frame one to the end. That said, objectively: the inter-connective storylines from the three main characters works well, although at times it is a little loose and lacking in focus. There is a scene where one of the main characters should do one thing, but instead does another. Why? No explanation is given, we are just left to assume a past experience or some other influence changed their direction. Fairy tales must follow the rules too.
The acting was well done, although, I think the direction may have suffered at points when Freddie was on set, as there were a couple of moments where he was working way to hard to give us the feeling of the music.
I would have liked to have seen more of Terrence Howard because he's a great actor and this part was nice. The problem is, this part was irrelevant. A complete nobody could have played this part and the Producers could have cut out some of the scenes that had no bearing on moving the story forward. Keri Russell is great when she finally gets to the meat of her story. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is very good as well.
But this movie is about telling a story of love through music or accurately the idea that music is more than simply a few well placed vibrations, but is in fact, as Robin Williams character says, "A harmonic conversion (I think conversation would have better) between all living being".
See this movie with a date, seriously. And don't be afraid to close your eyes for a moment and listen to the world the cast of music directors created for the palette of your mind.

It is sad the way we humans work. If this movie had starred some complete unknown in the lead roll it would have done better. The box offices totals would have been higher and the reviews, more complex.

Alas, It starred Adam...
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It is sad the way we humans work. If this movie had starred some complete unknown in the lead roll it would have done better. The box offices totals would have been higher and the reviews, more complex.

Alas, It starred Adam Sandler whom has been typecast by his many comedic roles and I would hazard to guess that few people forked out eight bucks to see a movie they felt confused over.

But they should have.

This is a compelling story of remorse, guilt, and the slow very painful process of finding something tangible to survive for. A man who had the world taken from him in the blink of an eye living with the endless array of guilt and sorrow that only serve to remind him of what he's lost. Adam Sandler is very good in this movie, his portrayal of a man completely lost to the world is excellent, right down to his in ability to feel anything. It is impossible to not suffer his heart right along with him and thankfully, Don Cheadle does such a beautiful job of conveying that for us that we don't have to work to hard at it.

The subplots are well done, work with in the frame work offered by the overall story, and the supporting cast from Jada Pinkett Smith to Saffron Burrows do such a good job of keeping things in their right depth that you don't get lost in the sub-stories or feel them trite and pretentious.

My only complaint is the end. I found it a little to Hollywood and would have liked this ending to have been more near the end of Act II. Obviously it was to give us hope, that independent souls have the ability to find peace and rebirth, but it would have been played better if he done it earlier. I never mention favorite scenes, but I was so touched by the courthouse scene with his In-laws that I have to mention just how great that scene was, right down to the fidgety hard play Sandler's character showed when after delivering that beautiful monologue about how much he misses them, he leans and gives his mother in law a kiss. It is moments like that which allow us to realize the depth of our own lives.

The short of it is that this movie is obviously made by Wes Anderson. It has his feeling all over it. If you've seen Bottle Rocket or the Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, then you've basically seen this movie.

That is not say that...
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The short of it is that this movie is obviously made by Wes Anderson. It has his feeling all over it. If you've seen Bottle Rocket or the Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, then you've basically seen this movie.

That is not say that The Darjelling Limited is not a quality film, full of deep narrative and a compelling subtext. It is. I lay out the Andersonness just in case you're not a fan of his previous work, because this is more of the same.

The premise is simple: three brothers set out on a very well orchestrated plan, the plan dissolves by the middle of act II and they have to improvise. Personally, the tools used to 'derail' the adventure are weak. It would seem that the three characters are at arms length to begin with and a more interpersonal journey would have been better suited to bring us to the point where they find themselves in the middle.

The acting is suburb, especially Jason Schwartzman, who in my opinion carries this film. He's the most complex character offered us. Owen Wilson's character is exactly the same character from Bottle Rocket, right down to his 'five year plan' (only this time he bought himself a laminator), while Adrien Brody is left with a character that is almost two-dimensional. In fact this missing depth seems to be running through all of them as so much is left to visual cues and plot tokens that very little real understanding of who, or why the characters even choose to be on this adventure is revealed.

But, that said, I was intrigued by the genuine beauty of it. From the simplicity of the characters, to the outright beauty of India, which seems more and more amazing to me the more I find out.

My biggest issue is that so little is solved by this movie that runs more than two hours. I don't know them any better by the end. I don't understand how the three of them fell apart. I don't understand any of them. I am going to have to see it again, like visiting that strange uncle who talks in riddles. I need to hear him speak some more before I even understand what he's trying to say.

I recommend it, but be warned, you need to be a fan of this sort of filmmaking.

Unique film, because it is not a bio-pic. This is a fictionalization of Diane Arbus, as the title implies. This strange but simple twist of whom she was is beautiful captured with a wild sense of creativity. The implied story is that Diane...
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Unique film, because it is not a bio-pic. This is a fictionalization of Diane Arbus, as the title implies. This strange but simple twist of whom she was is beautiful captured with a wild sense of creativity. The implied story is that Diane Arbus was creative before she started taking pictures, but it was the introduction of unique life altering events that broadened her very 1950's stoicism into the blooming horizon of open ended dreaming.

The style of this movie is brilliant, in that the so-called golden era of America is reflected against the reality of a world that was ignored by the "I want to be like Ike" crowd. This is done very well when we see that all the ads are basically the same only with different costumes and props, until Diane finds her own identity in the mixed up and jumbled world of the circus people.

I can't in my own honest position offer a fair review of Nicole Kidman, as I'm infatuated with her, it makes fair judgment nearly impossible. That said, her character and portrayl was superb, but I'm starting to notice a pattern developing in the roles she takes, where in the character starts off defeated and using some source finds her own identity, then becoming something greater. This may be due to the fact that Hollywood writes this sort of role heavily for women and hides other plot devices from them. The star though is Robert Downey Jr. whom takes this conceivably career ending part and turns it into something magical. After all, he looks like The Shaggy DA's junkie brother. But it works. He's captivating with all of his slow perfection as if the character realizes his mortality is but an arms length away. Over all the story is interesting and worth a watch.

I love the Silver Surfer. I'm your classic American, in that I root for the underdog and whom is more deserving than a slave to the most terrible of monsters?
Unfortunately, the movie is only so-so.
A lot more attention to detail...
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I love the Silver Surfer. I'm your classic American, in that I root for the underdog and whom is more deserving than a slave to the most terrible of monsters?
Unfortunately, the movie is only so-so.
A lot more attention to detail was seen in the first movie than in this one. As well as some really ridiculous assumptions' about the nature of their talents. For example near the beginning Stretch is dancing and using his talents to stretch himself as he dances, but his clothing, standard clothing, bends with him, yet when The Thing, or Invisible Woman end up in situations where their clothing is altered by their powers, they find themselves naked and in need of cloths. It might be nit-picking, but the whole movie takes on this lazy approach. From the easy acceptance of Dr. Doom to the them sharing powers.
This story could have been written much better with out having to sacrifice the underlying individuality of the characters. But the writers took the easy way out, introducing conflict and using not character development to reconcile, but silly Hollywood special effects to mend the wounds.
The acting is fine, but be warned that the dialog is what you would expect from such poorly drawn characters.
It is worth the rental, I did enjoy it, but it's not the best of the super-hero fare and probably, if the make a third one, will be even worse as the writing can only get more generic, with even more simple ideas.

This is a very human portrayal of the lives of those involved. It is full of melancholy. Full of despair. Full of disappointment and regret. It is a dark.
As a general rule, I do not like voice over. I find it detracts from the flow...
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This is a very human portrayal of the lives of those involved. It is full of melancholy. Full of despair. Full of disappointment and regret. It is a dark.
As a general rule, I do not like voice over. I find it detracts from the flow of the film. In this case, though, it works. It feels more like someone reading from a book and it fills in enough detail that the film itself would have to leave out, thus giving the viewer some background about why things were the way they were.
Pitt is very good in this role, dark and isolated, but this also detracts from the foul ability of the character as we never truly see him as deranged nor completely sober. Casey Affleck doesn't feel committed at times, but over all is neurotic approach and child like demeanor work to the point of tears. I really would have liked more follow through. The end story, the reason, the redemption, and the eventual end all seemed like they came to quick.
This is not a western in the classic sense. James is an American Icon, some might think him a hero. The truth of course is that he was an outlaw and Bob Ford was an outlaw as well. It's a tough case of finding balance and point of reference when so much of what goes on is a dark world. From this dark region of the human spirit is where this movie really excels, it will leaving you broken in some way. Knowing that the completion of both Jesse James and Bob Ford's lives leaves you incomplete and wounded.
The direction is great, the use of the out of focus lens and time lapse is almost perfect. The dark, snowing world, the longing, the pain. It holds up and you follow along perfectly.

This movie defies genre and that alone gives it a full star. Sure it can be seen as a buddy pix, alight with anxious characters playing the friendship game in order to gain something for themselves. But, its not even that simple.
The...
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This movie defies genre and that alone gives it a full star. Sure it can be seen as a buddy pix, alight with anxious characters playing the friendship game in order to gain something for themselves. But, its not even that simple.
The basic description here at filmspot is missing some of the more important points, especially since the idea of the boy trying to make Hugh Grant's character his mothers boyfriend is played out early enough in the movie that we know it's outcome and the movie shifts it's focus back on what the underlying story is really about: The Boy.
The relationship between the two is great. They both learn the value of friendship, loyalty, love, and how to grow up.
The dialog is typical rom-com fare without the romantic lead role...Hugh's true romantic lead is introduced pretty late into the movie, and such a sub-plot it is almost irrelevant, but for the fact that it shows he is maturing.
This movie is funny and charming and will leave you in want of a few of the little tyke's yourself (okay maybe just me).
Hugh Grant is as good as he always is. Toni Collette's character is a little two dimensional, but she does a good job of protecting it from disappearing, and by the end her character mistakes are fixed where the depth returns.
The star though is Nicholas Hoult, whom does an amazing job of keeping the whole story focused and fresh.
I will have to say one small: I normally do not like voice overs. I find they draw away from the story, reveal to much of the plot, or just don't work. But, in this movie, when Grant's character is using his vo's to express his opinions of life they work and are clever.
This is a good date movie, clean, with a beautiful, and realistic ending.

Apart from the fact that so many top actors are in this movie, oddly enough, in supporting roles, this movie is a huge collection of cliches and overly glamorized hollywoodisms.
If I didn't know better I would swear it was a remake of some...
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Apart from the fact that so many top actors are in this movie, oddly enough, in supporting roles, this movie is a huge collection of cliches and overly glamorized hollywoodisms.
If I didn't know better I would swear it was a remake of some French film whos name eludes me.
The overall premise is blatant and weakly held together by the actors. It has its moments, where it tries very hard to be clever and humorous, but it does none of it on its own. The scenes that are suppose to be dark are in fact just obscene, as when Mini hires a kid to call her mother and scare her. I was hating Mini's character by this point not gleefully finding the comedic value of what was transpiring. In comparison, in Pulp Fiction where Vincent Vega accidentally shoots the kid in the back seat and they argue over it like a couple of school children, that scene holds true to the idea of something serious being funny.
Some of the writing is good, especially the voice over's which are probably the smartest parts of the film.
It doesn't take the viewer more than fifteen minutes to figure out the whole plot, including the end, so at least one can sit back and enjoy the escapade of ridiculous behavior that ensues.
If you can simply let your guard down and just watch this film for the dialog, you might actually enjoy it. Beyond that keep your expectations low.

This time round there was something missing. No, scratch that, there was a lot missing.

I don't want to pan the film, as it had it's merits. Starting with the cast, whom, took the shoddy under produced dialog and managed to...
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This time round there was something missing. No, scratch that, there was a lot missing.

I don't want to pan the film, as it had it's merits. Starting with the cast, whom, took the shoddy under produced dialog and managed to salvage their own dignity from disgrace. All the leads were fantastic and as usual Geoffery Rush stole every scene he graced. For those of you whom have read my previous reviews, you know that no actor is an island, so in this case I must give the Direction some credit for its ability to capture the actors at the right times and correct manner to bring out their abilities.

The art was amazing. This movie is bordering on art-film, with it's lavish costumes and complex moving shots and panoramas. There were a few amazing moments created on film (captured no longer exists considering so much of film is done in a computer), from the turning end scene to that point where Elizabeth is standing on the cliffs overlooking her victory. Amazing.

But the rest was almost unbearable. As I noted the dialog was hardly the same caliber writing of even a Gwyneth Paltrow Elizabethan pix, let alone up to the standards set by the first Elizabeth movie. Of course it had it's moments of sincerity and brilliance, but those few scenes are the viewable in the trailer (i.e "I to can command the wind, sir!" - Evidience of Cate Blanchette unbelievable skill).

The story, although obvious, was cramped and felt like a bad meal I just wanted to digest and get through. To much was attempted. To much over done. To many tastes. They could have simply focused on sections of this very complex and overly done story and it would have been a much better movie. The movie could have started with the beheading of Mary Queen of Scotts and the writers could have taken some poetic license with the rest, instead of submitting us to every bit of minutia that the whole of Spain and England went through. I bet the whole building of the Spanish Armada didn't take as long as this convoluted story. (social note: maybe the writers felt like they had to because no one knows history anymore - but this is not completely accurate either!?)

Do I suggest it? Sure, but not for the story or the dialog. See it for the art and the clever survival skills of actors working with out a net.

Once in a while you get a mild and pleasant surprise from something that seemed so obvious. The Nanny Diaries falls into that category for me. I was expecting a simple coming of age / romantic comedy, equip with moral imperative about raising a...
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Once in a while you get a mild and pleasant surprise from something that seemed so obvious. The Nanny Diaries falls into that category for me. I was expecting a simple coming of age / romantic comedy, equip with moral imperative about raising a child. Of course it was exactly that, but it was something even better.
It had a deeper fantastical romantism about finding yourself. This most important point was illustrated imaginatively with the concept of anthropological study. The day dreaming scenes, either in the guise of the Museum pieces, or Anne's moments of drifting off were shear genius and beautifully crafted. The direction team of Pulcini and Berman should be applauded for this interesting approach to one of life's most important treasures.
The acting was what one should expect from this sort of movie as the actors aren't ladened with complex emotional palettes, deep story, or are heavily conflicted. This means as well that the dialog delivered is typical romcom fare, no dazzling moments, no hamlet's searching, no questing. But what the actors are given, is done very well. Johansson's best moments were with the young boy. Laura Linney is good as support, but Paul Giamatti is wasted in this role. Not really sure why he took it.
Overall the movie is cute and clever and an excellent date movie (as long as both you like kids).