Tag: movies

Movie reviews: Redefining the chick flick

Though not at all intentional, I’m realizing that the last three movies we watched on DVD all feature strong women characters. Two were even directed by women. Only one qualifies as a “traditional” chick flick. (Also realizing… I’d rather write about this than the election.)

**½ Bright Star (May 2009) – Rental
Abbie Cornish, Ben Whishaw. Story of the unlikely romance between poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne.

She says: Surprisingly engrossing for a slow-paced movie in which comparatively little actually happens.
He says: Yeah, that was slow paced. Like, glacial.

***½ Catfish (September 2010) – Rental
Documentary. Nev Shulman’s roommates decide to do a documentary about his long-distance friendship with an eight-year-old artist and her family, which develops in a way none of them expect.

She says: I got very caught up in the twists and turns of this real-life story. The additional interview on the DVD is also well worth watching for those lingering questions.
He says: I was surprised how interesting I found that. I was expecting something different, maybe more terrible, but it was still really fascinating.

*** The Runaways (April 2010) – Rental
Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart. A look back at the story of The Runaways, the first all-girl rock band.

She says: It focuses mostly on Cherie Currie, whose biography this is based on, and secondarily on Joan Jett, the movie’s producer, with the remaining Runaways mostly treated as background players. Though at times you feel an urge to run in and protect these very young women from some of these experiences, overall it was kind of inspiring. Nice music sequences. And a great reminder of how awesome Joan Jett is.
He says: Is it over? I think I fell asleep. I guess I was really tired from the canoeing. How did it end?
She says: Joan Jett became a big star.

 

 

Movie review: Canadian film fest

In the wake of the Genies, we saw the two main contenders on the weekend.

*** Barney’s Version (January 2011) – Theatre
Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike. A movie built around Barney Panofsky’s relationships—with his father, his friends (especially Boogie), and the three Mrs. Panofsky’s.

She says: Very well-acted, engaging, funny in parts, but a lot of tragedy as well. A realistic love story at its heart. Just barely passes the Bechdel Test, though.
He says: I enjoyed it. Paul Giamatti is a really good actor.

? Incendies (April 2011) – Theatre
Lubna Azabal, Rémy Girard. After their mother’s death, her children (twins) are told to locate the father and the brother they knew nothing about. It leads to a tragic voyage of discovery about their mother’s past.

She says: Very well-crafted, completely compelling, but a dark story with a really disturbing twist.
He says: God, that was so depressing. I’m really disturbed now. Why would anyone want to see that?
She says: I think the fact that it’s affecting you so much shows that it’s a good movie.
He says: No. It was terrible.
She says: The story is terrible. (And I’m grateful that the worst of it wasn’t actually shown.) But I still think the movie was good. It was haunting.

Movie review: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

*** When the Levees Broke (August 2006) – Rental
Spike Lee documentary looking back at Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

She says: This four-part documentary uses copious interviews, mostly with those involved, to tell the story of Hurricane Katrina. You revisit parts you heard about at the time, and learn a great deal that you probably did not. I remain stunned at just how badly the US government treated its own people, at the time, and afterward.
He says: This is a bit of downer.

Movie review: Made in Dagenham

A bit behind, as we saw this a while ago…

**½ Made in Dagenham (November 2010) – Theatre
Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins. Set in Britain in 1968, shows how women workers at a Ford plant achieved pay equity with men though labour action.

She says: Really positive view of history that you realize must have been streamlined somewhat for dramatic purposes, but still makes for a pretty engaging movie.
He says: It was mostly good, but it was slow in parts.

The movie ends with the point that having achieved this milestone, the concept of “equal pay for equal work” for women spread throughout Britain, then through other industrialized countries. Of course, that’s for unionized jobs with clear pay scales. The picture is a bit more murky in other cases, as per this recent chart comparing men’s and women’s wages in US.

Gender gap in wages (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Movie review: Whip It

**½ Whip It (October 2009) – Rental
Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore. Young girl finds the thrill of roller derby much more to her taste than her mother’s pageant aspirations.

She says: It’s certainly likable and moves along, but the story really follows a predictable pattern, and the roller derby sequences just don’t come across as well as they might.
He says: Way less sexist than I was expecting a “movie about roller derby girls” to be.

Movie review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1)

*** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1, (November 2010) – Theatre
Daniel Radcliffe, Ruper Grint, Emma Watson. Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off on a quest for the all the Horcruxes that Voldemort has hidden in a bid for immortality.

She says: Better than I expected it to be, given that it’s mostly about setting up the next movie, and has a plot that is basically summarized as “Harry, Ron, and Hermione wander around looking for stuff”. Fortunately, their wandering is broken up with some interesting battles and arguments and clues, many of which came as a surprise to me, even though I have read the book. (I have a wonderful ability to forget plot details.) Not a good movie to jump in on, but if you’ve been following the series along all this while, no point in stopping here.
He says: Well, that wasn’t too bad at all.

Movie review: Love and Other Drugs

***½ Love and Other Drugs (November 2010) – Theatre
Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway. Aspiring Pfizer drug rep meets early-onset Parkinson’s patient. Romance and other complications ensue.

He says: OK, I really liked that movie. It was very good. And not just because Anne Hathaway looks great naked (although she really does). It had a lot of complexity. It sure didn’t paint the pharmaceutical industry in a good light. The medical industry didn’t come off that great, either.
She says: Yeah, I liked it also. And not just because Jake Gyllenhaal looks great naked (although he really does). I don’t really agree with the criticism that the romantic story didn’t fit well with the medical industry story. I thought it all made sense together, and made the movie more layered.

Movie reviews: Secret Lives

The similarity in Jean’s reviews here are both due to the same cause: His looking more at the computer than the TV screen. Star ratings are therefore mine, since I actually watched both movies in full.

*** The Secret Life of Bees (October 2008) – Rental
Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah. Young teenage girl leaves her abusive father to explore her late mother’s past with a group of bee-keeping sisters.

She says: A pretty good adaptation of the novel. Performances were good and though the “critical consensus” said it was too sentimental, I didn’t find that to be the case. And I hate sentimental.
He says: I didn’t pay enough attention to have an opinion of this one.

***½ My Kid Could Paint That (October 2007) – Rental
Documentary look at four-year-old painting sensation Marla Olmstead.

She says: Really fascinating documentary. Starts off as a look at the nature of abstract art, taking as a given that even a four-year-old can produce works in high demand. Then a 60 Minutes report on the young artist changes the story: is this really her work, or has her father assisted? Finally, the documentarian, realizing he hasn’t really captured any great footage of her painting (despite months of work on the film) reluctantly becomes part of the story himself, and the story evolves again, to his role and the appropriateness of such a young child getting so much adult attention. So many layers. The DVD includes a worthwhile additional set of follow-up footage, scenes deleted from the original, and additional discussions about the many questions raised by the film.
He says: It didn’t quite hold my interest.

By the way, Marla continues to sell her paintings (she’s now 8), and the movie continues to inspire debate. And more debate.

Movie review: Fair Game

Fair Game poster***½ Fair Game (November 2010) – Theatre

Naomi Watts, Sean Penn. The story of Valerie Plame, who status as an undercover CIA operative was leaked by Bush administration officials after her husband publicly questioned their intelligence on Iraq.

She says: Seeing all the Bush-ites at work again, building their phony case against Iraq, is infuriating. The story of  Valerie Plame’s work before the leak and the effect it has afterward, on those she worked with, and on her marriage, is riveting. It makes me curious to read her book, though I guess it’s heavily censored. (Speaking of which, look at the credits at the end…)

He says: Well, that was frightening. Hard to believe that actually happened.

Movie review: Nowhere Boy

*** Nowhere Boy (October 2010) – Theatre
Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas. A look at the early life of John Lennon, when he was getting to know both his mother Julia and a boy named Paul.

She says: Well cast and acted; a fairly intense look at this tumultuous time in John Lennon’s life. Lots of passion burning below the reserved British surface, which occasionally erupts.
He says: I think you have to care about The Beatles more than I do to really get into this movie.