Chick 1 says:
This rom-com about an aging tennis pro and an up & coming tennis star trying to prove that love doesn’t mean anything has become one of my favorites.
What I Liked: There are several things this movie has going for it, at least for me, right off the bat. 1. Paul Bettany as “Peter, Peter Colt” - yum & charasmatic as well. 2. British accents (see 1.). 3. London/Brighton scenery. So I’m pretty happy from the start. Read more
Chick 1 says:
I love a movie where a makeover solves everything. That’s my kind of chick flick. While there’s more to this movie than just a makeover, it definitely captures the spirit of the story.
What I Liked: I caught this movie at the theater when it opened in March 2008 and enjoyed it. Watched it on DVD with a friend last night & enjoyed it even more the second time. Done in the style of a 1930s screwball comedy, it is never boring, moving along at a madcap pace. Read more
Chick 2 says:
Whether it is the best movie ever made or not, I feel that Valkyrie is an important movie, and definitely one to go see. Tom Cruise plays Claus von Stauffenberg, a German colonel committed to leading an assassination plot of Adolph Hitler. Having been to Germany and walked through a concentration camp myself, this movie struck a note with me about Germans who believed in a Germany without Hitler. Read more
Chick 1 says:
Will Smith in a drama; I’m there. Will Smith in pretty much anything; I’m there. The man has earned my trust. He can act. He’s charming. And he can make the most mundane line funny.
What I Liked: Shocker. I liked Will Smith. I cared about his character, Ben Thomas, and wanted to know what the heck was going on with him. Read more
Chick 1 says:
All I knew about this movie from director Danny Boyle was that it was about a boy from the slums in India who gets to go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and that it was getting a lot of Oscar buzz. The words life affirming had also been thrown around so that made me inclined to see it. Read more
Chick 2 says:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is very curious indeed. What was once a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald perhaps should have stayed a short story, or at least been a shorter version of a movie. Born with an unknown ailment (perhaps brought on by a clock that ticks backwards) that causes him to age backwards, Button (played by Brad Pitt) begins his life as an infant eighty-year old man not expected to live. Read more
Chick 1 says:
I like Jim Carrey. I think he’s both funny & he can act. He’s proved himself in movies like Ace Ventura, The Truman Show, Bruce Almighty, & one of my favorites, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But he’s also put out quite a few mediocre projects and Yes Man, about a man who is challenged to say “yes” to every opportunity, looked like it might just be Jim Carrey Comedy #48. So I went with limited expectations. Read more
Chick 2 says:
Right now, Michael Bay wishes he were Baz Luhrmann. Australia touted epic and it delivers. It introduces the characters in typical Luhrmann fashion, a bit silly and showy, but within 15 minutes or so it begins to improve and, in my opinion, proves to be the director’s best work. The leads, played by Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, are both people of tremendous character, the kind of people the world needs today. Lady Ashley (Kidman) comes to Australia and immediately must decide between the easy choice of returning to London and ignoring the injustice that’s being done Down Under, or making the tough decision to fight the battle of saving her husband’s ranch and the people whose lives would be affected. Read more
Chick 1 says:
Yummy Daniel Craig follows his debut as James Bond in Casino Royale. Did I notice anything in the movie besides the ludicrously attractive Craig? Surprisingly, yes!
What I Liked: The movie goes straight to the action, and it doesn’t let up. Director Marc Forster employs the increasingly popular handheld camera to capture the fights & it really gets you inside the action. The plot is driven in quick terse scenes, barely giving you time to catch your breath before you’re pulled into the next sequence of bone crunching stunts. Things move fast & the ride is awesome. The cast does a fine job & there are some very nice cinematic storytelling moments from both director & cinematographer. Read more
Chick 2 says:
Director Danny Boyle definitely has a style about his movies (Trainspotting, Millions, the Beach), and I always enjoy the way he likes to push barriers. Sunshine is a film that brings up philosophical questions about creation, natural selection, and preservation of life in a sci-fi setting. Eight astronauts are on their way to a dying sun carrying a nuclear bomb with which they hope to restart it, the second mission following a mysteriously failed first attempt. The closer we get to the end the further off the deep end this film steps, not quite to the extreme of 2001: A Space Odyssey. (As far as landmark films go, I get Citizen Kane; I don’t get 2001.) Perhaps some needed exposition was cut from the beginning of the story in order to quicken a still slow start, but the hand-held close-ups of the actors during the climax only adds to the confusion. “Is he trying to get away or running to his death?” It was hard to tell. In the end you realize that this movie is actually “pro global-warming” – apparently death by solar fire is beautiful and pleasurable. The cinematography is very stylistic, gorgeous, and just plain cool, as were the CGI effects. There are also good performances by the cast and it’s nice to see Cillian Murphy, who I think is a decent actor, in a good guy role.
IF you like stylish, weird, philosophical, and not entirely lucid, THEN GO (rent it).
