Just a small public service - saving YOU from bad movies, one review at a time!
American Gangster
Three Watch Checks
I think I've broken my bad movie jinx -- this is the 3rd movie in a row that I've really enjoyed.
I think Michelle and I were the only ones that actually saw the last movie that Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington were in together (Virtuosity) but they really should make more!
Denzel Washington will totally get a best actor oscar nomination for this one -- he was spectacular. I didn't like his bad guy in Training Day because he was such a thug -- but in this movie he's even more dangerous and thuggish but he does it so well! You truly get sucked into the charisma of Frank Lucas and almost forget that he's the villain of the movie!
Ridley Scott gets the BEST performances out of Russell Crowe - and this is no exception! I'd put his performance in this up there with Cinderella Man and Gladiator but not quite as good as A Beautiful Mind -- but that may just be a factor that Denzel is the star of this piece so Russell just isn't in it as much.
I don't know the various techniques they use but this movie looks like it was made in the 70s - it's grainier, gray-er, and really reminds me of how movies like Serpico and Prince of the City looked - the costumes and cars, etc seem to be exactly correct for the time - a fair bit of blue polyester was used!
It's very long - about 3 hours from the time the trailer's start but very well done and you don't really notice how long you've been sitting there. I would highly recommend this one!
(BTW, a few of my favorite movies so far this year either came out on DVD this week or will be out next week - rent/pick up Amazing Grace and Waitress when you see them -- excellent movies!!)
Gone Baby Gone
One Watch Check
I really enjoyed this movie!
The Patrick Kenzie/Angie Gennaro mysteries by Dennis Lehane are one of my favorite series, so I was pretty excited when I heard this was being made into a movie -- puzzled by their starting with the 4th book in the series, but excited anyway.
Casey Affleck is a huge surprise here - I've only seen him in Good Will Hunting and the Ocean's movies. His performance as Patrick Kenzie is excellent! I will definitely have to search out a few more of his movies.
Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman give their usual excellent performances; I was a bit disappointed by how they adapted the Angie Gennaro character -- she's much less whiny in the books.
The movie does a great job of putting you into the "what would I do" perspective and is very well paced. Just the right length at a bit under 2 hours, too. The last scene will definitely stay with you as you wonder what you'd do in that situation.
I'm surprised at how much of the book they were able to cram into the movie, except for the whiny-Angie, it is an excellent adaption.
Mystic River was the last of Lehane's books to be made into a movie - and I'd put this right up there with that one.
Ben Affleck does a great job with the direction and also co-wrote the adaption - I think he's found a new home behind the camera.)
It's not a happy-feel-good-movie but is a very good story; I'd recommend it for sure.
(And if you like it, pick up "A Drink Before the War - the first book in the series -- Dennis Lehane is an impressive writer)
In The Valley of Elah
One Watch Check
With Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon in the movie, you expect it to be good...and you'd be right in the case.
They play the parents of a soldier, just back from Iraq, that has gone missing and Tommy Lee sets out to find him. Charlize Theron is the detective that helps him search and Jason Patric is the lead investigator for the military (although you never see him in uniform, which I found odd...and a bit confusing).
This is a very quiet, still, somber movie - and is totally driven by the performances, every single one of them is top notch...but there are two scenes with Susan Sarandon that just break your heart -- she gets better in each performance.
Tommy Lee Jones is in almost every scene and he totally carries the movie -- even when he doesn't say anything, his expression, eyes and physical acting convey everything. He's simply amazing.
One thing I really liked is that they play a couple and he's not 80 years older than she is! They actually seem plausible not Sean Connery/Catherine Zeta Jones-ish.
Charlize Theron's performance makes you forget that she's one of the most beautiful woman on the planet and she actually seems like the somewhat annoyed, harassed single mom detective that she's playing--anyone that thought she won her Oscar for Monster (which I didn't see) just because she "went ugly) really needs to see her performance here and in North Country. She's very talented.
There is one incredible scene where the camera lingers on the face of one of the characters while he's talking and I don't know how he did it but it there was so much "nothing" in his eyes that it made me actually uncomfortable. It was very well done.
Paul Haggis, who wrote Crash, wrote this and similar to that, he brings up things that people would rather not think about and that does make for an intense movie; the last scene is one that I think many people will think is overkill -- but it's an echo of an earlier scene, and one that 1) I total saw coming and 2) think is pretty appropriate.
Annie Lennox sings the song that plays at the end and it's absolutely haunting .. I preordered the CD from iTunes (Songs of Mass Destruction) as soon as I got home!
All in all, I thought this was a very well done, interesting movie to watch
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Too many watch checks to keep track of.
This is a very slow, slow, slow movie. I watched on DVD and had to force myself to stay engaged.
They do a great job with the facts (although they made the house he was killed in much larger than it actually was -- it's tiny, smaller than my condo!) so it's better than most of the Jesse James movies, but it's painfully slow and long. I didn't hate it at all but I think it's really made for anyone with a passion for that period of time or an interest in Jesse James and not for a wider audience. I'm very intersted in it and barely made it through!
Casey Affleck's performance is great, not sure why it's considered "supporting actor" when he's in it a lot more than anyone else. Brad Pitt and Sam Rockwell are excellent also, you can see them both disintegrating before your eyes (at different points in time).
The Bourne Ultimatum
1 watch checks
This movie goes a mile a minute from the first frame. I really enjoyed it -- it's as good, if not better than the last two Bourne movies.
Matt Damon is excellent as Jason Bourne -- this is one of his best characters I think. He's rejoined by Joan Allen and Julie Styles, with the additions of Albert Finney and David Straitharn as well. They're ok in their roles (David Straitharn usually is so dynamic and interesting to watch but I wasn’t blown away here) but it's really all about how Jason's going to get to them -- and it's exciting to watch.
The movie is very well paced, there's none of that boring filler, or the requisite cheesy love story (and no, Nikki and Jason don't end up being sister and brother). It's very similar in tone to the first two -- more personal interaction and less car chases is the biggest difference.
I think this is probably the last Bourne movie for awhile - they've kind of traced everything back to the beginning and there's really nothing else mysterious to be solved -- the character is so good though I'm hoping they come up with a way to keep the story going. I've read (or tried to read - I've never finished one) the Ludlum books about Bourne and I don't think there's anything fresh and exciting there that they could use -- maybe they'll come up with a way to have Bourne and the new Bond go up against each other -- they're more alike than they are different I think.
I definitely recommend this one, I think of the action adventure movies this summer it's Transformers in first place for me, Bourne in 2nd and Live Free or Die Hard in 3rd!
Ocean's 13
2 Watch Checks
This was much, much better than Ocean's 12 (and not just because Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julia Roberts were MIA).
It's the usual glossy, eye candy extravaganza and for a hot summer day, that would be entertaining enough!
Going in, you really kind of know how it's going to end, so it's really just a matter of what will they do to get from A to Z, and in this one they have some great props, funny dialog and inventive cons. There are a few cringe-worthy moments (that poor travel review man) but all in all it's pretty light and entertaining.
I liked the ending, I liked the beginning and I was entertained throughout the middle....and did I mention how pretty it was to look at?
Waitress Amazing Grace
1 Watch Check
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
The performances were excellent - Keri Russell was amazing; Jeremy Sisto was creepy, Nathan Fillion made you like him even though he was a bit of a cad; the supporting performances by Cheryl Hines and Adrienne Shelly (who also wrote and directed) were very true to life. Andy Griffith stole every scene he was in.
It's not as light and funny as the trailer might make it seem; I'd put it on the same level as Little Miss Sunshine -- it's funny in the way real life can be funny and sad all at the same time. I think if you've ever woken up and thought "hmm, how did I get here", you can relate to a lot of the movie. It's entertaining and interesting and not depressing and you really do care about the characters; the ending is a bit sappy but given that you can't stay with them and see what happens next, they did have to wrap it up somehow.
There's a lot of heavy stuff in here -- lots of cheating spouses, domestic abuse, cranky old people, but for all that it is kind of a light and fluffy movie - or at least leaves feeling that way at the end.
If you need a change from the blockbusters of summer, this is the one I'd pick to see -- if you don't get to it in the theaters, save it for the first gloomy fall/winter Saturday - have some pie and hot chocolate and enjoy!
I am hoping thet come out with a pie cookbook from the movie (maybe to raise funds for the Adrienne shelly foundation - http://www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org/). I'm particularly interested in making "Bad Baby Pie" and "Falling In Love Chocolate Mousse Pie".
Shrek the Third
2 Watch Checks
Well, this was entertaining but I think it should be the last Shrek movie (at least for a decade or two). It's still funny for both adults and kids, but some of the jokes are getting a bit stale. The animation is excellent and the soundtrack is great but the middle of movie dragged badly. The beginning and ending were great and did coax me out of a bit of a cranky mood!
I do need to get a stuffed donkey-dragon offspring because they were pretty cool....and baby ogres are cute; Justin Timberlake is the "new" voice -- playing Artie - and you get to see a whole new side of Lancelot and Guenevere too!
All in all, it's pretty entertaining and I'd still recommend it; it's just not as good as the first two.
Next up -- Pirates 3 on Saturday, can't wait!
Also, they had a killer trailer for Transformers (robots in disguise) before Shrek - I so will be at the movie theater on July 4!! It looks excellent!! (Oh, and Hairspray looks good too!)
This movie hasn't gotten much promotion and I don't think it's long for the theaters, in fact, after tonight it won't be playing at my local theater anymore, but maybe you can catch it at one near you -- if not, put it on your netflix list because it's an OUTSTANDING movie.
It's a period piece, set in Britain, in the late 1700s, with Ioan Gruffud, Michael Gambon, Albert Finney, and Rufus Sewell and it's about William Wilburforce and the abolitionist movement at that time.
There's no graphic violence, no gratuitous love scenes and not an explosion in sight -- hence the quick trip in and out of the theaters -- seriously, I know it sounds dry but it is incredibly compelling.
The costumes, cinematography, make up and score are spot on; you're completely transported -- they even remembered to leave traces of the powder from the wigs after the men took them off - that's attention to detail!!
Ioan Gruffud gives an incredible performance - they do an ok job aging him through the movie (although the young wilburforce just looks goofy rather than young) - I've liked him since watching the Horatio Hornblower movies on A&E but he just blew me away in this (he's also Reed Richards in the Fantastic Four movies).
Albert Finney steals every movie he's in and this is no exception -- he's only in 3 scenes but they help make the movie. He plays the man that wrote the hymn Amazing Grace and his scenes will make you cry, and they don't even play Amazing Grace during them (it always makes me teary-eyed). This is the second movie I've seen Michael Gambon in recently where I liked him (the first was the Good Shepard (out on DVD in early April - rent it, it's excellent)); before that I'd only ever seen him in the Harry Potter movies (I know it's not his fault that he's not Richard Harris, but he's not Richard Harris, so he's not Dumbledore). He does an excellent job in this movie though! Rufus Sewell is almost unrecognizable...and unusually for him, isn't menacing in this movie, he was good as well. Benedict Cumberbatch (yes, I looked it up on IMDB) plays William Pitt (Pitt the Younger) and he's where the make up and lighting crew really excelled -- the story covered about 20 years and he went from incredibly young to middle aged remarkably. His performance was pretty restrained as the political mastermind/prime minister but was the perfect foil for Gruffud's Wilberforce.
This movie made me gasp out loud in a few spot, cry in others and laugh but at the end left me uplifted that there was a time when someone took a stand and changed the world (all that in less than 2 hours!)
It also left me wanting to learn more about the people and events portrayed by it. I highly recommend it; it's not one that you have to see at the theater by any means, but definitely one to see when it's out for rental.
Reign Over Me
1 Watch Check
I really, really liked this movie. It's very slow, very intense and I think very real. Not a lot happens in it -- it' s a lot of talk, talk, talk, but within those scenes is an INCREDIBLE performance by Adam Sandler and the usual excellent performance by Don Cheadle. Everything you want in a drama is in this movie - involving storyline, small elements of humor and tears, compelling characters and dynamic performances.
I love Adam Sandler movies (except Little Nicky, didn't really care for that one). This is not a typical Adam Sandler movie, but one that really proves he can act. I was just blown away and have to say that if you didn't know it was Adam Sandler, you wouldn't know it was Adam Sandler.
The humor in the movie is in small doses and it's the type of humor you find in real life, not necessarily laugh out loud funny (although I usually do) but more the subtle humor that comes when someone says something unexpected and inappropriate and you're not really supposed to laugh.
It's a movie, some everything is over the top, but I think it captured the ways that people deal with grief and how they put all the pieces back together when they've been broken...and how there are many different ways to do that, and how very little help you can give when someone is going through that! It definitely left me thinking.
I do have two very important words for ladies that go see this - "WATERPROOF MASCARA" or maybe "BRING KLEENEX", you won't sit and sob through the whole movie, but there are definitely scenes that will break your heart.
Oh - the soundtrack is KILLER, very heavy on late 70s/early 80s and I'll be adding it to the IPod very soon.
It's not a fun, date-night movie for sure, but a very, very well done, grown up drama and I'd highly recommend it when you're in that kind of mood!
Transformers
1 Watch Check
I'm not ashamed to admit it -- so far, Transformers is my favorite movie of the summer! I loved it!! The robots are way cool -- (I totally need the smaller, gremlin type decepticon for the office, for the museum, for when people annoy me driving down the road -- I'd put it to very good use!); the storyline is entertaining with some humor, the special effects are very well integrated, the obligatory teen love story is mostly cute and only occasionally sappy. It's definitely a Michael Bay film -- more explosions than I can count, but it was a very entertaining ride! The only thing that really annoyed me about it is that they describe the Beagle 2 mission as a NASA/JPL effort when it was an European Space Agency effort.
Blades of Glory
0 Watch Checks
I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in this movie -- it is funny - especially the ice skating scenes and the dance studio scenes, but it's no Dodgeball or Talladega Nights; it's just mildly amusing -- which is fine, I guess.
Jon Heder is completely upstaged by his hair...it's very lovely, farrah-esque hair; Will Farrell is his normal schlubby self, only on skates....with very shiny costumes with nude panels. Craig T. Nelson also has hair issues -- I think he's supposed to look like some kind of old hippy or something.
The costumes are great and the skating sequences are pretty good.
I was pretty impressed with all the skating people that participated in the movie, I think the only one missing was Tanya Harding -- everyone else is in it or at the very least mentioned.
It's one I'd definitely check out if you're looking for something amusing, but it's just not up to the usual humor level of Will Farrell!
Shooter
0 Watch Checks
If you like Mark Wahlberg or movies with lots of explosions and action (and a not too bad but totally transparent plot), or movies where there are many scenes of the hero, doing something action related in slow-motion, then you'll enjoy this movie -- I like all of those things so it definitely held my attention. Mark Wahlberg is pretty good; Michael Pena (you'll recognize him as the plumber from Crash) is excellent -- he gets to the play the "real" guy that gets sucked up into the adventure and has some pretty funny lines as a result. Danny Glover is definitely not playing Roger Murtagh in this movie, he's just not that likable in it. The plot is actually pretty well thought out for an action/explosion movie, it's no Die Hard, but not bad. Unless you need to watch your explosions on the big screen, or can go for a matinée, it's a rental. Speaking of Die Hard -- apparently, we've been transported back to the 80s -- there's a new Die Hard movie coming out -- Live Free or Die Hard. I'm a bit afraid.
Letters From Iwo Jima
4 Watch checks
This is Clint Eastwood's second movie about Iwo Jima - kind of the flipside of Flags of our Fathers, but not really. Flags really started with the events on Iwo Jima and then covered what happened after; this movie gives you an idea of of the events leading up to the battle for Mt. Sarabachi and then concludes with the events of Iwo Jima, so the stories actually overlap just a little bit. This is a fascinating movie, all in subtitles, with incredible film work and great performances. The only actor I recognized was Ken Watanabe (the last samurai and memoirs of a geisha) -- he was excellent as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. The other performances were uniformly excellent as well - particularly, Kazunari Ninomiya as Saigo and Tsuyoshi Ihara as Baron Nishi (thank you IMDB for those names!). These three characters are really the heart of the story, but the peripheral characters really help to give depth to the whole idea of the death before dishonor concept the Japanese military was run under. There is one scene incredibly chilling that really clarified the concept for me (and made my hide my eyes). It's filmed in a very washed out way -- not black and white, but more faded somehow...it really added to the atmosphere and intensity. I think it's a good thing when a movie leaves you wanting to learn more about the events it depicts, and I definitely want to check out the book of letters the movie is based on. Clint Eastwood seems to get an Oscar nomination for every movie he makes....but this one proves again that the man makes great movies (Million Dollar Baby aside). The only miss of this movie is that it doesn't really portray the scope of the battle, I think the battle for Iwo Jima was a 5-6 week operation and while you see day/night/day/night, you don't really get an idea for the overall passage of time. All in all, I would highly recommend this movie; I can see why it was nominated for an Oscar (still don't understand why Adam Beach in Flags wasn't though!); it's incredibly well done but intense; I would recommend seeing both this and Flags (but not in the same day).
Catch and Release
One Watch Check (but then again it's only a 90 minute movie!)
I liked this, it was very cute and funny. Kevin Smith is hilarious in it; Loved him (not sure why he's acting when he's supposed to be writing the next star wars movies though!); Jennifer Garner is great; Timothy Olpyhant doesn't drop a single f-bomb (I've only seen him in Deadwood); the soundtrack is decent and all in all it's a typical chick flick -- certainly no Steel Magnolias, but an entertaining movie for a girls night for sure.
Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olphyant are well matched in this movie -- they both have the whitest teeth I've ever seen -- his were actually distracting.
The Queen
0 Watch Checks -- but it is only an hour and a half.
I really liked this movie! Helen Mirren is amazing, the golden globe was well deserved; Michael Sheen is a doppelganger for Tony Blair and so is the actress playing Cheri Blair (who is very unlikeable in this movie).
I found it very interesting to watch the portrayal of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and Prince Phillip--i'm sure the scenes are made up completely but it was interesting; in same ways they reminded me of conversations with my grandparents and how the world has changed so very much in 50 years!
They use a lot of real media footage in the film which has some drawbacks and make some scenes not a crisp and clear as a recreation would have been but really amp up the emotional impact of the crowd scenes. Watching the scenes where the Queen reads the cards and comments from the people, I really felt like they were being mean to an old lady and it was sad. Prince Phillip comes across as an ass, and Prince Charles as very passive aggressive. Quite a bit of the dialog from Tony Blair is very ironic considering he's now widely ridiculed as Bush's lap dog and not well loved by the British people.
They pretty much manage to avoid the cheese, except for one scene....all I'll say is that it involves wildlife, glowing sunny backgrounds (although they did leave out the heavenly choir). It was pretty lame.
Also, the scenery of the area portraying Balmoral was amazing; I doubt very much they were able to film at Balmoral, but I want to go wherever they did film. If you're a pop culture junkie, an Anglophile or were a Diana fan, you'll find this interesting; I suspect everyone else will find it a bit cheesy.
Night at the Museum
1 watch check
I really enjoyed this...it's not very plausible, and they have way more people depicted in the museum than most natural history museum’s do, but it's very funny and entertaining - think Jumanji with more humor.
It's not the typical Ben Stiller stupid movie, which is nice, he actually plays a grown up, not overly neurotic individual. The token love story is a bit different than you would expect (it's there of course) and not at all annoying.
The effects are excellent! I particularly like the jackals in the tomb, the T-Rex and Attila the Hun. You might learn a thing or two during the movie (not real likely if you've completed jr. high history, but the potential exists) and it's very, very entertaining and only about 1 hour and 40 minutes long.
I’d like to figure out how to get our museum to come to life….I think the Konavalenko Gem Carvings (still my favorite exhibit) would be real party animals! All in all, it's a good, mindless but not stupid, family friendly movie.
The Good Shepard
3 watch checks
I really liked this movie; it's totally a performance driven piece - there are no snazzy special effects or anything to distract you from the performances.
Angelina Jolie, I think gives the best performance - it's interesting to me that they don't spend a lot of time explaining what's going on with her character, but in every scene she's in, she's the emotional core of the movie -- and even though they never explain, you can see her go from a vibrant, free spirited young woman to a broken individual. Very compelling!
Matt Damon is excellent as well...he completely sells the unemotional, distant, analytical man, but somehow you still care about what happens next. The supporting cast is excellent as well - Alec Baldwin, as he gets older seems to get more and more physically imposing; Robert De Niro and William Hurt, excellent as always. Michael Gambon is better here than he is as Dumbledore (yes, I know Richard Harris is dead, but he's still the best Dumbledore). The Billy Crudup/Matt Damon scenes were interesting - they seemed to have more of an emotional resonance than the scenes with Matt and Angelina but I think that was by design.
The story is very interesting and made me think quite a bit about what that type of work would do to your sense of paranoia and ability to interact with everyone else, when you're pretending/lying your whole life.
There were a few plot lines that just seemed to be started and then never picked up again, which was odd but didn't really distract from the story...it was more about the layers of secrecy and how it impacts things. I would say that if you didn't agree with my assessment of Good Night and Good Luck, you may not agree with this one either -- they have a very similar tone to them, although the subject matter is very different.
The Prestige
1 watch check - this was a great movie!
I will confess that I mainly wanted to see this because of Hugh Jackman (and considered it a good movie when he took his shirt of in the first 15 minutes), but as it turned out, this actually an excellent, engrossing period piece!
The performances are excellent - Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Cain and even David Bowie just deliver superb performances. I had a bit of trouble with the accents for the first 10-15 minutes or so but after that, everything was fine. I don't think it's going to be showy enough for anyone to be considered for an Oscar -- but much like Finding Neverland, i think the whole movie works overall so well, that I would be surprised if it's not considered for Best Picture.
I think the story was pretty original and seems like it would have been true to life to how magician's back in the day had to do things (I didn't really like finding out how the doves disappeared, though). The way the handled the narrative and cut between the two magician's throughout the movie was excellent, I really liked how it was done.
The costumes and sets were excellent; definitely felt transported to the late 1890s.
Some might find the overall setup to be a bit slow, but this is a Christopher Nolan film so you do have to pay attention to everything; I actually had a couple of the key pieces figured out relatively early but was so entranced by the story and performances it didn't bother me (usually when I can figure it out early, it's not a good thing).
On a side note, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that NBC/Universal didn't produce the movie considering how Thomas Edison is portrayed.
I really, really, really enjoyed this movie....I think the Prestige is probably more suitable for all tastes than The Departed, but really I think they are both must sees.
Tomorrow night I'm going to see Flags of our Fathers after work, so check back here on Wednesday for the next review:) (I love it when there's actual many good movies out at the same time....although it would be nice if they would space them out so there's a good movie every week!),
Flags of Our Fathers
1 watch check
This is an excellent movie. If it doesn't move you to tears, you're a vulcan (or maybe a robot).
It is very intense....but you just can't look away. The battle scenes are very similar to the graphicness and intensity of saving private ryan, and are as equally well done.
Adam Beach's performance as Ira Hayes is stunning, I will be very disappointed if he's not nominated for best actor; Ryan Phillipe is also excellent as "Doc" Bradley.
Other than the three main characters (Jesse Bradford plays the 3rd (his performance didn't make much of an impact on me)), all the other actors run together (very much like in Blackhawk Down, you can't really tell who is who at any one point (at least I couldn't)).
I think it's a very real portrayal of events at Iwo Jima, and great adaption of the book. The bravery of the men depicted is never minimized but the movie doesn't portray events in an overly jingoistic fashion; but take more of a documentary approach...."here are the things that happened"; Clint Eastwood did an amazing job with the direction; the cinematography is also wonderful. I also think it shows how crassly the govt did (and still does) treat people it should respect and honor rather than use.
I really have trouble getting my mind around the scope of people involved in WWII but when you see the shots from the top of Mt. Suribachi, looking back down at all the ships, it's an incredible visual and really helps with understanding scale.
If you see this movie, make sure to stay through the ending credits -- during the credits they display pictures from Iwo Jima....there's something interesting about the photos and the way they relate to the movie (it's very subtle).
It is a very somber movie, you will cry during several portions and walk out very subdued but you should, given the subject matter.
I'm very curious to see the companion movie that Clint Eastwood is making for the spring - the Iwo Jima battle from the Japanese perspective - both movies should make for an interesting duo.
I liked it and would recommend it; definitely not a date or happy feel good movie....but I think worthwhile. Also, just as an additional review point -- my grandfather (who hadn't been to the movies in 40 years)!! went and saw this movie on Saturday night! His assessment was "very well done, not so sure it was accurate".
This is an excellent movie and I highly recommend it. It's Scorsese, so it's graphically violent and there aren't any redeeming qualities in any of the woman, but it worthwhile anyway.
First, the violence - there's a lot of it, it's very graphic, but for most of the movie, it's very short segments - 2 to 3 second flashes and then on to the next thing. Towards the end it gets very cringe worthy but by then you're so invested in the story that it's hard to look away.
The performances are excellent - I'm not a huge Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but his performance in this one and The Aviator is starting to change my mind (also saw the trailer for his next movie Blood Diamond and that looks very interesting as well). I think his performance is stunning and will get an Oscar nomination; Matt Damon is excellent as well - I think he'll be the second Oscar nomination; he made you like and hate him at the same time and really portrayed the character's conflict well. Jack Nicholson was a huge surprise to me....he doesn't play Jack Nicholson in this movie, but actually acts and he's excellent; since he routinely gets Oscar nominations just for showing up and being Jack, this performance will get him another. Mark Whalberg is also very good. I did have a few thoughts with watching both his and Matt Damon's performance to wonder if they had any problems getting rid of the Boston accent (for the 2nd time) when they were done with the film. None of the women in the film really mattered so I don't really have any comment on them; Vera Farmiglia was the most prominent but didn't really do much with the story (and also didn't really sell the "love" story).
The soundtrack is also great -- lots of Rolling Stones, and remarkable good cover of comfortably numb (I think by Van Morrison!) that I need to download because I loved it.
The cinematography was great and the whole look of the movie seemed genuine.
The plot is not the typical "Goodfellas" type plot, but a few twists; it does have one of those endings where you think it's ending, oh no, wait there's more, and wait there's still more, ok, now that's the end endings....but I have to say that the last two "endings" were not what I was expecting; I thought I'd figured what was going to happen next but I was surprised both times.
All in all, I'd say steel yourself for the violence (it's not Syriana-level disturbing) because the performances are very much worth seeing.
Little Miss Sunshine
It held my attention and I liked it.
The first thing I'll say about this movie is that it's not all that much of a comedy. There are some funny bits (many of which you've seen in the trailer) but I think it's much more of a drama. It did make me laugh out loud in a couple of places and tear up in others. The main characters are all very sad...if you knew them in real life, they seem be kind of people that look for reasons to be unhappy......except for the little girl, Olive, played by Abigail Breslin, who really is the ray of sunshine in the family. The actress steals the movie.
Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell (who I typically don't care for), Toni Collette and Alan Arkin all give great performances; there's a great scene between Arkin's Grandfather character and Abigail Breslin's character -- total tear jerker.
The thing I really liked about this movie is that the family members seemed to interact the way a normal (very dysfunctional) family does. The movie loses a little steam right before the end, but once you get past that point, it picked up steam and wraps up nicely.
I'd definitely recommend it, but go into it expecting a small, family drama with some real-life type humor, not a laugh out loud comedy and you'll enjoy it too.
