January 3, 2008Review: 'No Country For Old Men'By Bobby Brokaw | Hidden Valley High School Over the years, the Coen brothers have distinguished themselves in cinema with their dark comedy and unusual story lines. Their latest film, “No Country For Old Men,” starts during a hunting trip, when one of the main characters, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), stumbles upon $2 million and mess of dead drug runners. Not knowing of the violence to come, Moss takes the cash and begins running from a slew of enemies. The worst of whom is a cattle gun -wielding sociopath named Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden), who cares not for money, but the kill. Sheriff Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tries bringing Moss in alive while catching the brutal killer. After a long, blood-soaked chase, it all wraps up with an ending that only the Coen brothers could create. “No Country For Old Men,” is showing at the Carmike 10 theaters at Tanglewood Mall. — Bobby Brokaw is a senior at Hidden Valley High School Review: 'Sweeney Todd'By Bobby Brokaw | Hidden Valley High School Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning Broadway musical, “Sweeney Todd,” is now on the big screen thanks to the efforts of director Tim Burton. The movie is about a man named Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) who is unjustly imprisoned for many years by an evil character, Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman.) When Barker returns from jail, he is cold and longing for vengeance. He assumes the profile of Sweeney Todd, a barber. Throughout the film, Todd slits the throats of customers and drops them down a hatch to the bakery below his barber shop. To get rid of the incoming corpses, the baker, Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), grinds up the bodies and uses them for her meat pies. Each shave brings Todd closer to Judge Turpin — and also to evil. Overall, the movie stays true to Burton form with enjoyably dark tunes and a powerful theme: “Never forgive, never forget.” One word of caution: There is an extreme amount of gushing blood throughout the movie, so if you have a weak constitution, watch out. “Sweeney Todd,” is at the Grandin Theatre and at Valley View Grande 16. — Bobby Brokaw is a senior at Hidden Valley High School November 11, 2007'Bee Movie' Stings 'American Gangster'By David Germain | AP Movie Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jerry Seinfeld turned more honey into money as his animated comedy "Bee Movie" buzzed to the top of the box office in its second weekend. The DreamWorks-Paramount flick, which had debuted at No. 2 behind Universal's "American Gangster" the previous weekend, packed in family crowds to pull in $26 million, raising its total to $72.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, was a strong No. 2 with $24.3 million in sales, lifting its total to $80.7 million. "We don't often see a movie start out in the No. 2 position then move up to No. 1," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "It just shows how strong the word of mouth is on this movie and that families are really enjoying it." Adult audiences had put "American Gangster" ahead on Friday, but weekend matinee crowds lifted "Bee Movie" to the top spot. "Bee Movie" is positioned well for Thanksgiving next week, when children will be out of school. "This is terrific playing time for this movie," said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks. Two of Hollywood's biggest cultural icons - Santa Claus and Tom Cruise - had to settle for also-ran debuts. The Warner Bros. family comedy "Fred Claus," with Vince Vaughn as the black-sheep brother of Santa (Paul Giamatti), opened at No. 3 with $19.2 million, on par with last November's $19.5 million debut of Tim Allen's holiday tale "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause." Cruise's "Lions for Lambs," co-starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in a drama interlocking three stories in the war on terror, premiered at No. 4 with $6.7 million. The movie directed by Redford was the first release by the rejuvenated MGM banner United Artists since Cruise and producing partner Paula Wagner took it over last year. Costing a modest $35 million to produce, "Lions for Lambs" was aimed at an older, thinking-person's audience compared to the crowds that turn out for Cruise's action movies. Just over two-thirds of the audience was 35 or older, according to MGM. "Older audiences don't necessarily come out the first weekend, so we're looking to get a very solid run all the way through the Thanksgiving holiday," said Clark Woods, MGM head of distribution. Summit Entertainment's "P2," starring Wes Bentley and Rachel Nichols in a thriller about a woman trapped in a parking garage and terrorized by the attendant on Christmas Eve, opened at No. 8 with $2.2 million. Joel and Ethan Coen's crime tale "No Country for Old Men" got off to a great start in limited release, taking in $1.2 million in just 28 theaters for an average of $42,929 a cinema. By comparison, "Fred Claus" averaged $5,336 in 3,603 theaters and "Lions for Lambs" did $3,029 in 2,215 cinemas. "No Country for Old Men," a Miramax release, is one of the year's most acclaimed films, starring Tommy Lee Jones as a weary Texas sheriff, Javier Bardem as a ruthless killer and Josh Brolin as a man on the run after making off with $2 million from a drug deal gone violently wrong. June 12, 2007Carell Pinch Hits in 'Evan Almighty'By David Germain | AP Movie Writer 
Jim Carrey already learned his lessons from God. Now it's Steve Carell's turn. A bit player in the 2003 hit "Bruce Almighty," Carell leaped to stardom in the interim, giving the filmmakers a ready-made stand-in when Carrey decided not to return for what became the sequel "Evan Almighty," opening June 22. "It is a unique situation. We aren't really using the word `sequel' that much," said Michael Bostick, a producer on "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty." "We've landed on referring to it as the next installment of the `Almighty' series." It's not uncommon for studios to resurrect a franchise with new actors, trying to wring a few more dollars out of an idea even if the original stars don't return. Such instances often are cheapie horror sequels or comedy duds like "Son of the Mask" and the prequel "Dumb or Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd," both Carrey follow-ups, as well. With a budget that climbed to $175 million, a colossal sum for a comedy, "Evan Almighty" was not just a quick knockoff. The movie is a centerpiece of distributor Universal's summer lineup, and the studio needs it to be a strong successor to "Bruce Almighty," which took in $242.7 million domestically. Does Carell feel the weight of that $175 million budget on his shoulders? "Not really. There's nothing I can do about it," Carell said. "My job was done when I wrapped the movie. I feel like I did the best that I could do and brought everything I could as a performer, but it's completely out of my hands. I hope people like it, I hope people go to see it. But I guess I've learned there's no stock in being neurotic about things I have no control over." One of the biggest comedy hits ever, "Bruce Almighty" starred Carrey as a Buffalo TV reporter whose constant grousing prompts God (Morgan Freeman) to turn his powers over to this mortal malcontent to see if he can do a better job running things. Carrey's Bruce initially uses his supreme powers for mischief, including turning rival Evan (Carell), his TV station's news anchor, into a babbling idiot during a live broadcast. It was a scene-stealing moment for Carell, who shot to celebrity afterward as star of TV's "The Office" and the 2005 hit comedy "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." Carell also costarred in last year's acclaimed "Little Miss Sunshine" and provided one of the voices in the animated hit "Over the Hedge." This fall, he stars in the romantic comedy "Dan in Real Life" and has the lead as agent Maxwell Smart in next summer's "Get Smart," a big-screen update of the 1960s spy sit-com. "We felt like we just caught lightning in a bottle in the way Steve's star was rising. His own trajectory in the world coincided neatly with where we are today, so we got the greatest comedian we could have dreamed of having in our summer movie," producer Bostick said. "The stars kind of lined up. This just felt like a good idea. It felt right, given the character he had created in `Bruce.'" In "Evan Almighty," Carell's character has been newly elected to Congress and moves to suburban Virginia with his family. God (Freeman again) pays him a visit, telling Evan he has to build an ark, with the almighty delivering tools and construction materials along with an instruction book, "Ark Building for Dummies." As animals of all sorts start following him around two by two, Evan realizes his calling is for real and sets to work on the ark with a passion, even growing long white hair and a flowing beard like a modern incarnation of Noah. Small as Carell's part in "Bruce Almighty" had been, he grabbed the audience's attention, said Lauren Graham, who plays his wife in "Evan Almighty." "Steve really popped out of it, so it made total sense that they could do some sort of spinoff around that character," Graham said. "It would be strange if it was Steve playing the Jim Carrey part, but it's not strange at all when they spin someone off. It happens in TV all the time. It just hasn't happened in features that much. This doesn't feel like a sequel. It's its own movie. Morgan is the constant, and the idea of a man having interaction with God." "I can't think of another situation where that happened, where a person who had a small part in a big movie was able to pull off a sequel," said "Evan Almighty" co-star Wanda Sykes, who plays a congressional aide to Carell. "Although his part was pretty small in `Bruce Almighty,' it was so memorable. And also, he's a big star. He's on fire. Everyone loves him and he deserves it. I think people are going to stay with it." The role in the new movie had been written for Carrey, who generally is not a fan of reprising parts. When Carrey declined, the filmmakers cast about for another comic actor who could fill his shoes. Among the ideas considered was bumping up Jennifer Aniston, who played Carrey's girlfriend in "Bruce Almighty," to lead status in the sequel, Bostick said. Tom Shadyac, director of both movies, ultimately settled on Carell, who said he never would have imagined when he did his small bit in "Bruce Almighty" that he would be elevated to starring in the sequel. "I would have thought they were crazy," Carell said. "Even when Tom Shadyac came and wanted to speak to me, I thought he was talking about a sequel starring Jim Carrey in which I would play the idiot thorn in his side. Then when he said, `No, we're thinking about you as the main character,' I said yes immediately. I didn't even think about it." Unlike "Bruce Almighty," which had a PG-13 rating, the PG-rated "Evan Almighty" is a family film, loaded with cute animals and slapstick sight gags. That may improve its chances at the box office, broadening the potential audience to include young children along with adults who liked "Bruce Almighty." The filmmakers now are considering whether they can carry on the franchise with a new star each time as God's chosen one. "Really, the common thread is Morgan Freeman as God. It's a different set of lessons learned each time," Carell said. "I would presume if there is a third one, I would not be called upon again, unless of course, Evan was hit in the head and forgot every lesson he learned." March 22, 2007Review: 'Reign Over Me' Pours on EmotionBy Christy Lemire | AP Movie Critic Even though he's in his early 40s now, Adam Sandler easily could have continued playing Happy Gilmore or Little Nicky or any of the other characters in his arsenal of arrested development. That's what made him famous - that's what made him popular. But he's shown a surprising amount of wisdom in deciding to grow up on screen as well as off of it, and following more mature roles in "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Spanglish," "Reign Over Me" represents his meatiest yet. It's also his most maudlin. Sandler stars as Charlie Fineman, a troubled former dentist who has suppressed the memory of his wife and three daughters, who died in 9/11. Charlie spends his days and nights trolling the streets of Manhattan on his motor scooter, headphones perpetually clamped around his ears to prevent the outside world from shattering his self-imposed solitude. He runs into his roommate from dental school, Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), and rejuvenates an old friendship that both men need. Charlie doesn't recognize Alan at first when they meet on the street, but Alan knows Charlie instantly, despite the shaggy mullet Charlie appears to have borrowed from Bob Dylan. The two start spending a ton of time together, to the great annoyance of Alan's wife, with whom he has two daughters (Jada Pinkett Smith, whose character is drawn as a two-dimensional nag). They play video games, watch Mel Brooks movies and generally act like college kids again. Through their eyes, writer-director Mike Binder reveals a more accurately neighborhoody view of New York than we ordinarily see in films. He also refrains from politicizing or banging us over the head with the significance of Sept. 11 on a citywide or nationwide scale; it's implicit. By focusing on one man's loss, "Reign Over Me" feels more powerfully personal. As Charlie's only friend, Cheadle brings his typical intelligence and nuance to what might have been a dry, straight-man role. He can elevate anyone's game, and here, he and Sandler share a buoyant chemistry. But the film from Binder, who previously tapped into raw emotions with his piercing 2005 drama "The Upside of Anger," also requires Alan to draw Charlie out of his deep denial, which grows increasingly melodramatic and culminates with a bombastic climax. It's almost as if he called the movie "Reign Over Me" simply to have Charlie sing the similarly titled song by The Who during a crucial courtroom scene - his frantic attempt to block out reality. Charlie doesn't want to see a therapist (Liv Tyler) to discuss the horrific fate that befell his wife and children, and he doesn't want to share in the effusive grief his former in-laws (Robert Klein and Melinda Dillon) expect of him. His frequent, violent outbursts indicate that he needs to be institutionalized, and whether that's appropriate becomes the movie's eventual, tedious source of conflict. Before that, though, Charlie is too all-over-the-place to grasp completely. Sometimes he's Rain Man, obsessively regurgitating details from his favorite classic rock albums. Sometimes he's slyly quick-witted, and he gets in a number of affectionate zingers at Alan's expense. And sometimes he's just shut off entirely. You certainly have to appreciate that Sandler wants to stretch in such a fashion, but you also want material that allows him to do so more convincingly. Reign Over Me (2007) March 20, 2007Review: 'Shooter'By Colin Covert | Star Tribune In terms of Hollywood machismo, there aren't many bigger shoes to fill than those that Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood wore in the "Death Wish" and "Dirty Harry films. Yet Mark Wahlberg slips into those steel-toed stompers confidently in "Shooter," a high-caliber action movie that gives '70s revenge fantasies a contemporary spin. Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger, a military marksman in embittered retirement after an off-the-books African mission backfires. He remains a patriot, but after being abandoned in the field by his superiors, he keeps the world at arm's length, living in a mountain cabin with his rifles and his dog for company. When an envoy from Washington (Danny Glover) informs him that an assassin is stalking the president, and asks for help to pinpoint sites the sniper might use, the veteran reluctantly agrees. Before you can say "grassy knoll," Swagger is framed for murder and running from the law. With the help of his best friend's widow (Kate Mara) and an FBI agent (Michael Peña) just hatched from the academy, Swagger hunts the real killers — professionals who are as deadly, resourceful and relentless as he. Almost. The result is a film with a frothy head of political paranoia, thrill-a-minute pacing and an 11 on the scale-of-10 Destruct-O-Meter. "Shooter" is a guy movie par excellence, one straight-ahead action scene clicking smoothly into the next. The film looks great, with rugged locations, high-tech artillery and helicopters buzzing like wasps. There's no love story, very little joking around, lots of tutorials on dressing a gut wound with household supplies and camo-painting weapons. It's no surprise the film feels as well-machined as a Robinson Armament M96 Expeditionary rifle. It's loosely based on a novel by Stephen Hunter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post movie critic who knows just where the suspense scenes, complications, explosions and twists need to go. And it's brought to the screen by director Antoine Fuqua, a skilled hand at adrenaline-pumping adventure and manly emotion (he guided Denzel Washington to a best-actor Oscar as a rogue cop in 2001's "Training Day"). Wahlberg's performance bristles with self-confidence. With his beefy weightlifter's build he looks like the man to bet on in a brawl. His sidekicks are afterthoughts. Damsel-in-distress Mara seems to matter about as much as his beloved dog. And Peña's green FBI agent is on hand mostly to repeat plot points so viewers don't lose track. The most-colorful supporting player is former Band drummer/singer Levon Helm, as an old coot conspiracy buff who brings the house down with a gag about a 44-year-old shovel. The distinctive aspect of "Shooter" is how forcefully it hits the theme of government corruption. The villains are crafty Washington types (including Ned Beatty as a fork-tongued U.S. senator) who turn to political subterfuge when they realize they can't outgun the avenging everyman. Shooter (2007) March 13, 2007Review: 'Premonition' Lacks ForesightBy David Germain | Associated Press Someone connected with the psychological thriller "Premonition" should have been clairvoyant enough to realize that when you don't have a good finale, it doesn't pay to substitute two bad endings. Starring Sandra Bullock as a woman whose husband is killed in a car wreck one day but turns up alive and well the next, "Premonition" plays out too tranquilly in the early going to build much suspense. The movie teases viewers with the promise of great twists or revelations, making the unsatisfying conclusion and epilogue all the more annoying. You're entitled to a decent payoff after sitting through a hushed, brooding tale of paranormal happenings, and "Premonition" simply does not deliver. It's a shame, because Bullock is on screen virtually every moment of the movie and breathes far more soul into the role than her superficially written character merits. Bullock stars as Linda Hanson, a passably contented housewife with two sweet daughters and a sturdy husband, Jim (Julian McMahon), with whom she shares an amiable if not terribly passionate marriage. One day, while Jim's away on a business trip, the sheriff comes knocking, telling Linda that her husband died the day before in a traffic accident. Life sucks for the rest of the day as family and friends begin the grieving process. The next morning, though, everything is back to normal, Jim sipping his morning coffee when Linda comes downstairs to the kitchen. The next day, she's a widow again, heading off to his funeral. The day after that, Jim's above ground again, and so on and so on. Linda realizes she's somehow living the days of her devastating week out of order, with mysterious little signs and paradoxes creeping up to clue her in on where she's at and whether she can head off the pending tragedy. Her strange behavior initially is chalked up to shock by her mother (Kate Nelligan) and best friend (Nia Long). Linda's inability to remember where the nasty scars came from on her oldest daughter's face prods her loved ones to call in a shrink (Peter Stormare) for fear she may be a danger to the kids. Director Mennan Yapo and screenwriter Bill Kelly take cheap license with the story's internal logic, simply ignoring the chronology of events at times if it does not fit their aims. Physical manifestations of events from the previous days Linda has yet to live would have had to be there at the opening of the story, which is day one from her perspective but objectively the middle of the tale. But that would have tipped Linda - and the audience - that all is not right from the very beginning. Rather than thinking the story through better, the filmmakers just figure no one will notice enough to care. Premonition (2007) January 16, 2007Review: 'The Pursuit of Happyness'Amy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School 
Chris Gardner is having a hard time. His wife is a spiteful, fed-up woman who refuses to give Chris any more breaks. His job consists of selling a medical machine that almost no doctors will buy. His family scrapes what money they can until eventually everything falls apart. After his wife leaves him and his son behind the money flow basically ends, and from there it is essentially a heartbreaking journey involving Chris working harder than anyone has ever worked before only to keep being pushed down by most everyone around him. You have to keep asking yourself, “How in the world did this clever, charismatic, wonderful man end up painted into such a small corner?” The acting is some of the best this year, especially on the part of Jaden Smith (who plays Christopher Gardner, and is Will Smith’s son in real life). I’m not sure who I can reasonably suggest this movie to. Because although it was a truly amazing work, there were moments when I was close to leaving the theater; it’s just that upsetting. The movie is based on a man’s life; an actual man’s life. When you are sitting in the theater watching this man; a man who is trying so hard to make anything good happen, and trying so hard to make a better life for his son, and just hoping to find a little bit of happiness it breaks your heart to see everything that goes wrong for him. Our hero copes with a lifetime of sorrow over a seven-month period, and sure maybe after the movie ends it really does get all better. But, we never see that. And, for me, the pursuit of happiness was too tragic for what lay at the end of the journey. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) November 7, 2006'The Science of Sleep': Ingenious but confusingAmy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School Sometimes confusing is good; sometimes nonsensical is good too (i.e. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). So I figured Science of Sleep, which is by the same person who directed Eternal Sunshine, would be just as fantastic and thought-provoking. Sadly I was mistaken. It wasn’t bad; it just wanted to say so much and in the end said very little. The scenery and special effects were aesthetically amazing, and the story line is actually quite genius. But they try to do too much. Between Stéphane's dream work, his real work, his dream girlfriend, his real girlfriend, his mom, and his dream mom.....it gets a bit confusing. Stéphane has a problem where he confuses dreams with reality. He talks in his dreams -- you can hear him, but his lips aren't moving. He lives in a beautiful world, but no one has ever really understood him. But when Stéphanie moves in next door, she understands. They finish each others sentences and see things that others could never see. She loves him, he likes her friends. He loves her, she can’t do it. It’s a classic movie love story that could have been really meaningful if it there had been a little less going on. In the end it’s just one of those situations where the preview is better than the movie itself. So, it’s not bad-bad. It’s just not as wonderful you may have expected. Don’t go in hoping or even thinking you’ll be able to know what’s going on 100% of the time. The Science of Sleep (a.k.a. Science des rêves, La) (2006) Rated R for language, some sexual content and nudity. Director: Michel Gondry Producer: Georges Bermann Cast: Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg Local showtimes October 26, 2006Kirsten Dunst has the "Midas Touch"Amy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School LET THEM EAT CAKE! These are the immortal words that Marie Antoinette claims not to have spoken. Now honestly, I’ve never had a major beef with Marie. Everyone’s always all, "she spent too much money on clothes" and "she's selfish" and "she had no idea what was going on France". And I guess the fact that she didn’t realize that a civil war had broken out in her very own country is a bad thing. But if you give a fifteen year old girl never ending credit she’s gonna buy shoes -- she just is. When the movie begins Marie Antoinette is a young impressionable girl excited about getting married to a stranger, don’t ask me why. The future genuinely is in her hands. She really does wants to please everyone. But she’s so young, and has no idea what she is in for. No one accepts her, and the few that become her friends are not as nice as they seem. As her life in Versailles goes from the privileged to the ridiculous you fall with her into a state of deep depression. She’s trapped, bored, alone, and horny (her husband won’t even make her a baby). So she has typical teenage reaction, her reaction just happens to start a war. Going into Marie Antoinette I was kind of in hate with Sofia Coppola. But as she took me through every emotion, every doubt, and every fear Marie has and made me feel it too; I just couldn’t hate anymore. Kirsten Dunst is talented beyond her years, and moviewise has the Midas Touch. Well done Kirsten, well done. Marie Antoinette (2006) 'Half Nelson' is truly a masterpieceAmy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School It’s a crime that one of the best actors of our time, Ryan Gosling, is best known for the Notebook. He has so much talent and has been in some truly amazing movies (please rent The United States of Leland). Half Nelson is no different. Eight grade history teacher, Dan Dunne, is basically Ron Clark on crack - literally. Everyday he goes to work and inspires thirteen year old kids to think differently to challenge authority and be the best they can be. He coaches a girl’s basketball team, and eats family dinners every few weeks with an unusually normal family. But there is a dark side to him that very few see and that his students could never imagine.
Half Nelson (2006) September 29, 2006"The Guardian": standard-issue and flavorlessDavid Germain | Associated Press Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher's Coast Guard adventure drags on like a slow boat ride to Anchorage, its standard-issue heroics and flavorless dialogue gone stale long before the movie arrives at the big, valorous finish. Director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") crafts hearty action sequences of men hurling themselves into peril to save others in Alaska's churning waters. But the drama and emotion behind the action is so frosty, you could die of exposure by the time the movie lumbers to its climax after well over two hours. Costner plays a legendary Coast Guard rescue swimmer who takes on a temporary assignment training recruits, with Kutcher as his arrogant but promising protege. The Guardian (2006) September 18, 2006"Accepted": Smart and funnyAmy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School What comes to mind when you see Justin Long? The gawky teenager from NBC’s hit show Ed? Or the semi-cool, semi-annoying Mac ads guy? A romping rendition of The Ramones’ Blitzkrieg Bop? Well one thing I thought I’d never associate with his name was the words leading man. Going to see Accepted I figured it’d be a modernized version of Animal House with a little bit of Warren Cheswick’s classic wit added in. So imagine my surprise when I couldn’t stop laughing, or crying. Yes, it’s true I cried; see it’s extremely uplifting. You all know the plot. A group of misfits who didn’t get accepted to college create their own, but their plans go horribly, horribly array when hundreds of students get accidentally ‘accepted’. Thus, South Harmon Institute of Technology is born (look closely at those initials). Accepted (2006) "The Last Kiss": Save your moneyAmy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School The Last Kiss takes place in an alternate reality, where pregnant women never gain weight, high schools couples stay together for ten years then simultaneously fall out of love, and beautiful college girls fall for thirty year old architects with double chins. Sound like a beautiful world, eh? Let me begin by saying it takes a lot for me not to love a movie, and The Last Kiss seemed to accomplish it with a vengeance. I have heard the plot described as an honest portrayal of thirty year olds lives, and also as a coming of age story. I’m sorry, but shouldn’t thirty year olds have come to age by now? Yes, I know men are immature and all that, but so immature that they want to run off to South America? (And yes, that is part of the plot). The story centers mainly around one couple: Michael and Jenna. They aren’t married because they want to be in love forever, without feeling like it’s forced; yet they’re having a baby together. In Four Weddings and a Funeral this concept seemed cute, but here it’s just another way of showing how commitment-phobic Michael is. A beautiful college girl comes into his life and he decides to ‘mix things up’. Obviously his life falls apart, leaving him to put things back together again. Maybe I’m being too hard on it, and my hopes for it were just too high. But to me it’s a boring plot trying so hard to be realistic it leaves the realm of reality completely behind. In between plots that never completely have a point, and jokes that can’t quite seem to get off the ground it really just lets you down more every second. It’s not cute, it’s only funny when it’s trying to be serious and to me it just didn’t have a point. SO I’ll save you the ten dollars and leave you with the one line of wisdom The Last Kiss does impart: Love means nothing, your feelings only matter to you. It’s what you do to the people you say you love that counts. The Last Kiss (2006) "Hollywoodland": One of the best this yearAmy Friedman | Patrick Henry High School Okay, Adrian Brody is a genius. All the acting in this movie is amazing, but there’s something about him in this movie that really made it all seem, real. By the end of the movie I was convinced, there is no way George Reeves shot himself. Hollywoodland goes back and forth in-between two story lines. The first story takes place post George Reeves’s death. It’s about detective Louis Simo (played by the enchanting Adrian Brody) who at first is flat broke and just trying to make a buck. He starts out not believing his story, but as the evidence adds up along with the death threats he starts to realize that there is more to the death than meets the eye. The second is pre George Reeves’s murder, oops I mean suicide. It stars Ben Affleck as the struggling actor himself, and Diane Lane as his married girlfriend trying to help him on his way to fame. Although the second plot is undeniably more exciting it was the story of George Reeves’s life that I enjoyed more. Today most people regard Superman as the greatest hero in the history of out time, most men would be falling all of themselves or the chance to play him; not Reeves. How could it be that the role model of every boy in America could have so many enemies? There is a point in the movie were Reeves is giving a live showing of Superman and a little boy walks up to him with a loaded gun and asks if he can shoot him, to most kids Superman was just that real. I really don’t want to give much away because it’s truly one of the best movie’s I’ve seen all year. So go see it, watch the theories and evidence add up and make your own decisions. Hollywoodland (2006) |
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