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- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsDaniel Day-LewisMichelle PfeifferWinona RyderA tale of nineteenth-century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin.Daniel Day-Lewis, Wynona Rider, Michele Pfeifer - saw
on cable TV. Pfeifer's hair looked frizzy.
DATE: 2001-03-04 - DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsRichard GriffithsFrances de la TourClive MerrisonAn unruly class of gifted and charming teenage boys are taught by two eccentric and innovative teachers, as their headmaster pushes for them all to get accepted into Oxford or Cambridge.Better than rating of ** on Comcast. A unique take on a school film.
DATE: 2008-02-28 - DirectorAbel FerraraStarsChristopher WalkenChris PennAnnabella SciorraAfter the funeral of one of their own, a criminal family decides to embark on an emotionally unnerving journey in an attempt to exact bloody revenge.Interesting character study of 3 hoodlum brothers. The youngest, who is sympathetic to union organizers, is murdered. The other brothers want revenge. Christopher Walkens is type cast as one of the older brothers; the other older brother is clinically insane.
DATE: 2008-04-10 - DirectorSally PotterStarsChristina RicciCate BlanchettOleg YankovskiyA young refugee traveling from Russia to America in search of her lost father falls for a gypsy horseman.A young Jewish girl (Christina Ricci) traveling from Russia to America in search of her lost father falls for a gypsy horseman in France after being raised in England by Christians. Very choppy. Ricci plays her role like Wednesday Addams. Cate Blanchett is terrific. Johnny Depp and John Turturro are very good.
DATE: 2008-07-29 - DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonGeorges AdetIn czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.Woody Allen satire on philosophy. With Diane Keaton.
DATE: 2008-08-02 - DirectorEdward NortonStarsBen StillerEdward NortonJenna ElfmanTwo friends, a priest and a rabbi, fall in love with the same woman they knew in their youth, but the religious position of both men denies them romance.Young Rabi (Ben Stiller), Priest (Edward Norton) and girl friend (Jenna Elfman) in romantic comedy.
DATE: 2009-02-16 - DirectorSarah KernochanStarsKirsten DunstLynn RedgraveGaby HoffmannIn the 1960s, a group of friends at an all girls school learn that their school is going to be combined with a nearby all boys school. They concoct a plan to save their school while dealing with everyday problems along the way.(Also known as "All I Wanna Do!") Miss Goddard's school for girls is broke and the trustees decide to merge it with a boys school. The girls rebel. Much better than one would expect. Lynn Redgrave is the head mistress.
DATE: 2009-02-16 - DirectorRod LurieStarsSamuel L. JacksonJosh HartnettKathryn MorrisUp-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.Samuel L. Jackson as a derilict former heavyweight contender.
DATE: 2009-02-24 - DirectorCherie NowlanStarsBrenda BlethynKhan ChittendenEmma BoothThe shy son of an aging comedienne tries to find a balance between his demanding home life, his new girlfriend, and his mother's second chance at fame.AKA "Introducing the Dwights." Australian couple efforts to resurrect careers (female comic, male singer) after children are grown.
DATE: 2009-03-04 - DirectorTodd PhillipsStarsBilly Bob ThorntonJon HederJacinda BarrettA young guy short on luck enrolls in a class to build confidence to help win over the girl of his dreams, which becomes complicated when it turns out his teacher has the same agenda.Secret class led by Billy Bob Thornton.
DATE: 2009-03-09 - DirectorJames FoleyStarsEdward BurnsDustin HoffmanRachel WeiszJake Vig is a consummate grifter about to pull his biggest con yet, one set to avenge his friend's murder. But his last scam backfired, leaving him indebted to a mob boss and his enforcer.Dustin Hoffman is big cheese crook in this latest con game movie. Somewhat predictable once you've seen "The Sting" and "The Grifters." Roger Ebert contrasts it unfavorably with David Mamet's "House of Games," which also told a story of cons within cons.
Head con man Jake Vig played by Ed Burns; Lily played by Rachel Weisz. Paul Giamatti plays one of Jake's team. Also has Andy Garcia.
DATE: 2009-03-13 - DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsDaniel Day-LewisPaul DanoCiarán HindsA story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.Based on Upton Sinclair novel, "Oil." Very dramatic but no good explanation of the transformation of the Danjiel Day-Lewis character from seemingly nice guy and father to megalomaniac drunk murderer.
DATE: 2009-03-25 - DirectorZach BraffStarsZach BraffPeter SarsgaardNatalie PortmanA quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff) somewhat estranged from his family and on tons of antidepressants goes home for the first time in years to attend his mother's funeral. He meets Samantha (Natalie Portman) in a neurologist's office. Moves slowly. Amount of medications and abrupt withdrawal while also consuming recreational drugs seems non-realistic.
DATE: 2009-04-03 - DirectorNiall JohnsonStarsRowan AtkinsonKristin Scott ThomasMaggie SmithA pastor preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon fails to realize that his wife is having an affair, and his children are up to no good.Comedy about insane housekeeper (Maggie Smith) who kills people upsetting her daughter's (Kristin Scott Thomas) marital happiness. Kristin Scott Thomas was excellent! Her husband, the nerdy, absent-minded vicar, was less successfully portrayed by Rowan Atkinson.
DATE: 2009-04-06 - DirectorBill ForsythStarsJohn Gordon SinclairDee HepburnJake D'ArcyGregory is a normal teen who is infatuated with a classmate. He must work to win her affection.Scottish gangling awkward boy interested in girl who beats him out of a job on the soccer team.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsMeryl StreepKevin BaconDavid StrathairnRafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.Meryl Streep in an action movie. Not much but kept my interest.
DATE: 2009-07-10 - DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepPierce BrosnanAmanda SeyfriedThe story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
- DirectorKirsten SheridanStarsFreddie HighmoreKeri RussellJonathan Rhys MeyersA musically gifted orphan, Evan, runs away from his orphanage and searches New York City for his birth parents. On his journey, he's taken under the wing of the Wizard, a homeless man who lives in an abandoned theater.Orphan who is musical prodigy searching for his parents.
DATE: 2009-07-22 - DirectorHugh WilsonStarsGoldie HawnBette MidlerDiane KeatonReunited by the death of a college friend, three divorced women seek revenge on the husbands who left them for younger women.Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton in mediocre comedy taking revenge on husbands. 1996.
DATE: 2009-08-16 - DirectorEd HarrisStarsEd HarrisViggo MortensenRenée ZellwegerTwo friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.Ed Harris (Virgil Cole) must have wanted to be in a Western.He took part in adapting the screenplay from a novel, produced, directed and starred as an itinerant lawman for hire. Viggo Mortensen is outstanding as Virgil's friend and sidekick, Everett Hitch Also has Jeremy Irons and ubiquitous Renee Zellweger looking a bit older and playing a woman who is good except for her penchant to lay "with the top stallion." Good story.
DATE: 2009-08-16 - DirectorGriffin DunneStarsSandra BullockNicole KidmanStockard ChanningTwo witch sisters, raised by their eccentric aunts in a small town, face closed-minded prejudice and a curse which threatens to prevent them ever finding lasting love.Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman)learn the uses of practical magic. But the invocation of the Owens' sorcery also carries a price--some call it a curse: the men they fall in love with are doomed to an untimely death. Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest play witch aunts. Aidan Quinn is romantic interest. Kidman shows her wide range of facial expresios.
DATE: 2009-08-23 - DirectorMichael AptedStarsIoan GruffuddAlbert FinneyMichael GambonThe idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.Story of British Abolitionist William Wilberforce. Includes role of person who wrote Amazing Grace.
DATE: 2009-09-10 - DirectorBrian RobbinsStarsEddie MurphyElizabeth BanksGabrielle UnionA crew of miniature aliens operate a spaceship that has a human form. While trying to save their planet, the aliens encounter a new problem, as their ship becomes smitten with an Earth woman.
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsMatthew McConaugheyKate HudsonDonald SutherlandA new clue to the whereabouts of a lost treasure rekindles a married couple's sense of adventure -- and their estranged romance.Matthew McConaughey as treasure seeking beach bum. Kate Hudson, Donald Sutherland as rich British old guy Nigel Honeycutt. Little Alexis Dziena (8 July 1984, born in NYC) very good as Gemma Honeycutt. I thought she was little Mila Kunis (14 August 1983, born in Ukraine) of TV's "That 70's Show" and superior romantic comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" released the same year, 2008.
Started good but by end seemed like they had cut some scenes needed to clarify scenes left in and got just too ridiculous.
DATE: 2009-10-04 - DirectorDavid FrankelStarsOwen WilsonJennifer AnistonEric DaneA family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.Jennifer Aniston, Owen Wilson. Autobiography of columnist John Grogan who often wrote about his dog, Marley, focused on the life of a Labpuppy he got as a pet for his wife.
DATE: 2009-10-11 - DirectorSteve PinkStarsJustin LongJonah HillBlake LivelyA high school slacker who's rejected by every school he applies to opts to create his own institution of higher learning, the South Harmon Institute of Technology, on a rundown piece of property near his hometown.
- DirectorJeff LowellStarsEva LongoriaPaul RuddLake BellA ghost tries to sabotage her former boyfriend's current relationship with a psychic.Fun. Eva Longoria Parker is ghost of veterinarian's fiancee killed at her weding by ice sculpture. Loved Lake Bell as redhead psychic Ashley. Paul Rudd is male lead. Jason Biggs is main supporting male actor.
DATE: 2009-11-20 - DirectorPeter ChelsomStarsRichard GereJennifer LopezSusan SarandonA romantic comedy where a bored, overworked Estate Lawyer, upon first sight of a beautiful instructor, signs up for ballroom dancing lessons.John Clark (Richard Gere) is a man with a wonderful job, a charming wife (Susan Sarandon) and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home, John sees a beautiful woman, Paulina (Jennifer Lopez), staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for dance lessons, hoping to meet her. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out to be not Paulina, but the older Miss Mitzi, and John proves just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession from his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife becomes suspicious. With his secret about to be revealed, John will have to do some fancy footwork to keep his dream going and realize what it is he really yearns for.
DATE: 2010-01-08 - DirectorFrank PerryStarsJeff BridgesSam WaterstonElizabeth AshleyTwo drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Slim Pickens. Jack McCree and Cecil Colson are modern day cowboys who eke out their living by occasionally killing and butchering a steer out on the range and swapping the meat for things they want.
Kind of slow and boring and a little puzzling beginning. A little hard for me to follow in the middle, particularly cause I initially didn't realize Curt (Harry Dean Stanton) and Cecil Colson (Sam Waterston) were different characters. Harry Dean Stanton looks to me a lot like a smaller version of Sam Waterston. But I liked the end a lot. The decrepit old cowboy detective Henry Beige (Slim Pickens)and his aide, daughter Laura (Charlene Dallas) had deceived everyone, including this viewer, into underestimating them. I had attributed to bad acting the phony behavior of Laura.
DATE: 2010-03-08 - DirectorReverge AnselmoStarsJonathan TuckerRachael Leigh CookAgnes BrucknerThe film follows a rebellious teenager on leave from the Marines who falls in love with a female musician. The relationship is threatened when she develops a mental illness...Psychological drama. Rich teenager with offbeat poetic ideas crashes car and ex-Marune Dad makes a deal with judge for probation if the boy enlists in Marines. Teenage actress/singer of some fame has bouts of schizophrenia. The Marine has virtually no other friends and is infatuated with the unconventional girl.
The ending was not satisfying.
DATE: 2010-03-10 - DirectorAndy TennantStarsReese WitherspoonPatrick DempseyJosh LucasA young woman who has reinvented herself as a New York City socialite must return home to Alabama to obtain a divorce from her husband after seven years of separation.Romantic comedy - Reese Witherspoon plays Melanie, a southern girl who's made a success in NYC as a fashion designer. She is about to wed the Mayor's son, but is not divorced from her southern husband (Josh Lucas, who I thought was Matthew McConaughey). Candice Bergen is the Mayor. Mary Kay Place plays Melanie's mother
DATE: 2010-04-30 - DirectorDean ParisotStarsDrew BarrymoreLuke WilsonCatherine O'HaraPregnant Sally unknowingly falls for the stepson of the deceased father of her baby and has to deal with his homicidal family.Pregnant Sally (Drew Barrymore) unknowingly falls for the stepson (Luke Wilson) of the deceased married father of her baby. He and his brother are week-end USAF reservists flying attack helicopters and scare their cheating stepfather to death, which suits their mother fine. The brother and the mother (Catherine O'Hara) want to kill Sally.
Quirks - The boys are in their 20's but have no jobs, until one gets one at the burger joint where Sally works to find out if anyone there (who picked up their cockpit chatter on their headphones) was onto the fact hat they used their chopper to scare the stepfather.
DATE: 2010-05-28 - DirectorAlan ParkerStarsKevin SpaceyKate WinsletLaura LinneyA man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.Kevin Spacey as an anti-death row advocate who is first framed for rape (according to the story he tells the reporter to whom he is giving an exclusive), has the charge dropped without a trial but suffers from ostracizing. He self-frames himself for a murder that is actually a suicide (Kate Winslet) by a terminally ill, close friend/anti-death penalty colleague. This allows him to be convicted and executed by Texas and leave incontrovertible proof that they executed an innocent person. Well done except for a confusing last minute "coda."
DATE: 2010-06-08 - DirectorMel SmithStarsKevin McNallyMinnie DriverMary McCormackA nurse eavesdrops with a friend on a cell phone conversation that describes a bank heist. She and the friend then conspire to blackmail the robbers for two million dollars.Takes place in England. Minnie Driver plays a nurse. Mary McCormack plays her best friend, a struggling actor with a talent for changing her voice and accent. They hear burglars in the act of robing a bank, tell the police while the robbery is in progress,but get no response from the harried officer on the desk.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsJeff BridgesKim BasingerRip TornIn 1950s Texas, a woman trying to recover sexy photos of herself and divorce her husband witnesses a murder and uncovers corrupt land dealings.Comedy-drama. Nadine Hightower (Kim Basinger) is a beautician in a 1950s western city. She tries to retrieve some nude photos of her from a murdered sleazy photographer (played by Jerry Stiller), but she gets instead some confidential highway routing information that the photographer hid in an envelope marked Nadine. Nadine is estranged from her husband, Vernon Hightower (Jeff Bridges) who is after Nadine to sign divorce papers. Vernon owes a lot of money because he has a bar in a bad location that does no business. He finds the plans and wants to cash in on them but he hasn't the money to buy up property along the route. Buford Pope (Rip Torn) is a master criminal who the stolen highway plans belong to. Gwen Verdon has a small role as the owner of the beauty parlor.
DATE: 2010-06-27 - DirectorSpike LeeStarsDerek LukeMichael EalyLaz AlonsoSet in 1944 Italy, the story of four black American soldiers who get trapped in a Tuscan village during WWII.Spike Lee film about WW-2 buffalo soldiers training in the south and then at war in Italy. Statue head, "chocolate giant," "sleeping man" mountain, postal worker. Children miraculously recover uninjured after being shot and apparently dead. from the dead. Uneven.
DATE: 2010-06-30 - DirectorTerry ZwigoffStarsSteve BuscemiThora BirchScarlett JohanssonTwo eccentric best friends graduate high school and respond to a man's romance-seeking newspaper ad as a gag, only to find their lives becoming increasingly complicated.Set in the summer after graduation, Enid and Rebecca are both outsiders in a world slowly being engulfed by fake 50's diners and Starbucks. Enid must attend an art class to officially graduate high school as Rebecca gets a job. When the two play a mean joke on a much older, geeky record collector, Enid finds a fellow soul and begins to discover the complexities of becoming an adult in the modern world.
DATE: 2010-07-02 - DirectorRenny HarlinStarsGeena DavisSamuel L. JacksonYvonne ZimaSamantha Caine lives in a small town with her daughter. Eight years ago she emerged, two months pregnant, from a nearby river with no memory of her past or who she is. However, she's getting closer to finding out about her past.I love Geena Davis, and like Samuel L. Jackson a lot. Mother w/ amnesia (Geena Davis) for last 8 years recovers her memory with private detective's help (Samuel L. Jackson). She was a super spy/assassin for the U.S. that e3veryone thought was dead. When they learn she is alive she must be killed. Too bad they had too much special effects and ridiculous shootings and explosions in which heroes miraculously don't die.
DATE: 2010-07-21 - DirectorDon RoosStarsLisa KudrowSteve CooganMaggie GyllenhaalHappy Endings weaves multiple stories to create a witty look at love, family and the sheer unpredictability of life itself.Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Arnold
See my review.
DATE: 2010-07-27 - DirectorLasse HallströmStarsHeath LedgerSienna MillerJeremy IronsThe fabled romantic Giacomo Casanova, after failing to win the affection of the Venetian woman Francesca Bruni, strives to discover the real meaning of love.A comedy of mistaken identities. Keith Ledger as the original Casanova, Oliver Platt as the wealthy lard merchant Paprizzio, Jeremy Irons as the Inquisition's Bishop, Charley Cox as Giovanni Bruni, who starts out a shy lad who dreams about the beauty he sees across the canal in the window of a building opposite his, and who takes over Casanova's name and pleasuring women avocation after he delights the prostitutes who take his virginity.
DATE: 2010-07-30 - DirectorEddie O'FlahertyStarsMatthew ModineMichèle LaroqueKatie WalderA guy whose life is in turmoil falls for an attractive real estate broker who moves into the condo next door, but doesn't realize that she expects him to move out for her planned renovation.Upstairs tenant is pressured to move out so downstairs owner can remodel for her fiancee to move in.
DATE: 2010-08-03 - DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsHarvey KeitelGeorge ClooneyJuliette LewisTwo criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.Quentin Tarantino is psychotic murderous criminal brother of murderous criminal George Clooney on the run. Harvey Keitel is minister who lost his faith on death of his wife traveling to San Diego with his two teenagers. Pretty good Quentin crime movie then unfortunately turns into vampire/zombie movie.
DATE: 2010-09-04 - DirectorSam RaimiStarsSharon StoneGene HackmanRussell CroweA female gunfighter returns to a frontier town where a dueling tournament is being held, which she enters in an effort to avenge her father's death.Western cum spaghetti westerns with interesting cast. Woman shootist (Sharon Stone); bad man Gene Hackman; rehab man Russel Crowe; kid Leonardo DiCaprio. Gary Sinese has a small part. Fun to watch despite plot silliness.
DATE: 2010-11-20 - DirectorLuke GreenfieldStarsEmile HirschNicholas DownsElisha CuthbertA teenager's dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love.(Other movies with same title are terror films.)
18-year-old Matthew Kidman is a straight 'A' over-achiever who has never really lived life. Danielle moves in next door, and Matthew is infatuated. Their windows face each other and he sees her naked back while she is changing. She notices him looking and comes over with an excuse that she'd like him to show her around since she's new in town. Then she reveals that she saw him and to make matters even gets him to get naked on the road in front of her headlights, then drives off with his clothing.
DATE: 2010-12-05 - DirectorHoward ZieffStarsMichael KeatonChristopher LloydPeter BoyleFour mental patients on a field trip in New York City must save their caring chaperon, who ends up being taken to a hospital in a coma after accidentally witnessing a murder, before the killers can find him and finish the job.4 psychos on a field trip to a Yankee game; their doctor witnesses a murder and is beaten and left unconscious. The 4 wander off. Christopher Lloyd, Michael Keaton, a young Lorraine Bracco, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst.
DATE: 2011-02-16 - DirectorDrew BarrymoreStarsElliot PageDrew BarrymoreKristen WiigIn Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock-loving misfit finds a way of dealing with small-town misery after discovering a roller-derby league in nearby Austin.Roller Derby vs. pageant - Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Marcia Gay Harden
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsDakota FanningTeri HatcherJohn HodgmanWandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, an 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.Scary stop-action puppet children's story about a girl (Coraline) living in a large old house with a small door that is bricked off. She enters parallel world thru that portal that at first is wondrful but then becomes frighteneing. The people in that world have buttons for eyes.
DATE: 2011-03-28 - DirectorIrving ReisStarsHenry FondaLucille BallBarton MacLaneA busboy in unrequited love with a nightclub performer grows closer to her after she is paralyzed in an attack by her gangster boyfriend.1942 written AND directed by Damon Runyon. Lucille Ball, H. Fonda, Agnes Morehead. Tear jerker. Nicely Nicely character same as in Runyon's story "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," that became the musical "Guys and Dolls."
DATE: 2011-05-16 - DirectorGarry MarshallStarsJulia RobertsJamie FoxxAnne HathawayIntertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.The separate Valentine's Day relationships of several couples are actually intertwined. It's a fun movie but a bit hard for me to follow because there are too many characters to keep separate.
The pairings:
o Female Army officer Kate (Julia Roberts) on a short leave is seated next to a wealthy business man Holden Bristow (Bradley Cooper) on a long flight to LA. Kate turns out to be mother of pre-teen boy, Edison.(Bryce Robinson)
o Florist Reed Bennett (Ashton Kutcher) proposes to his girlfriend Morley (Jessica Alba), who accepts but then demurs. He ends up with his female friend, elementary school teacher Julia ( (Jennifer Garner). Alphonso (George Lopez) is Reed's employe and friend.
o Julia is in love with a Harrison Copeland, M.D. (Patrick Dempsey), not realizing he is married. Edison is one of Julia's pupils.
o Grace (Emma Roberts) is planning to lose her virginity to her virgin boyfriend Alex (Carter Jenkins). The planned encounter goes awry when Grace's mom discovers a naked Alex in Grace's room rehearsing a song he wrote for Grace on his guitar. Grace is Edison's babysitter.
o Edison (Bryce Robinson), orders flowers from Reed, to be sent to his secret love, his teacher, Julia. Edgar (Hector Elizondo) and Estelle (Shirley MacLaine) are Edison's grandparents with whom he lives.
o Sean Jackson (Eric Dane), a closeted-gay veteran professional football player. His agent is Paula (Queen Latifah), and his publicist is Kara (Jessica Biel).
o Felicia (Taylor Swift) is one of Grace's high school friends. Paula recently hired receptionist Liz (Anne Hathaway) who has started dating mailroom clerk Jason (Topher Grace). Liz secretly has a side job as a phone dominatrix. Holden turns out to be Sean's lover.
o TV sports reporter Kelvin Moore (Jamie Foxx) is sent out by his producer Susan (Kathy Bates) to cover Valentines Day.
DATE: 2011-06-10 - DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGeorge ClooneyBrad PittMatt DamonDanny Ocean rounds up the boys for a third heist after casino owner Willy Bank double-crosses one of the original eleven, Reuben Tishkoff.Coedy: Con men caper with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Eddie Izzard, et al versus
Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin.
Saw it on TV choppoed to fit time, etc., so maybe chopiness of editing was cable's fault.
DATE: 2011-06-16 - DirectorEric StylesStarsJulie AndrewsEdward AttertonWilliam BaldwinA man returns home with his bride-to-be, an actress, who turns out to be the sister of his family's maid.Noel Coward "drawing room" comedy. Movie star Miranda ( Jeanne Tripplehorn) becomes engaged to an English lord. His mother, Lady Marshwood (Julie Andrews) disapproves. Lady Marshwood's personal maid turns out to be Miranda's sister. Bily Baldwin plays a movie star who loves Miranda.
DATE: 2011-06-25 - DirectorNicholas StollerStarsJonah HillRussell BrandElisabeth MossA record company intern is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater.Nice kid inexplicably works for a music producer and gets an assignment to get a has-been boozy Brit rock star to the Greek Theater.
Better than I expected.
DATE: 2011-06-29 - DirectorJames B. HarrisStarsRichard WidmarkSidney PoitierJames MacArthurAn American destroyer Captain is determined to confront a Soviet submarine caught violating territorial waters. Perhaps too determined.Sub hunter destroyer during cold wr years. Well done. Richard Widmark is destroyer captain. Sidney Poitier is journalist. Wally Cox is sonar man (straight, not comic). A young Donald Sutherland plays a Navy Hospitalman in this 1965 film.
DATE: 2011-07-10 - DirectorNancy MeyersStarsMeryl StreepSteve MartinAlec BaldwinWhen attending their son's college graduation, a couple reignite the spark in their relationship. But the complicated fact is they're divorced and he's remarried.Long divorced couple (baker and bakery/restaurant owner Meryl Streep, attorney Alec Baldwin) have fling. Steve Martin (architect) another boy friend. John Krasinski. Mary Kay Place.
Hollywood studios historically made residences in romance movie sets unrealistically opulent. "It's Complicated" sets looks as if the characters are all multimillionaires. Costs are ignored in plans for "remodeling" the already opulent family mansion. - DirectorEdward ZwickStarsBrad PittAnthony HopkinsAidan QuinnIn the early 1900s, three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of Montana are affected by betrayal, history, love, nature, and war.Brad Pitt plays the wild middle brother of Montana family hose patriarch had been a Colonel in the Indian Wars but quit in disgust at government policy and government in general. I thought he'd go "Rambo" more often,but he only really did that when walking thru German soldiers while trying to rescue his baby brother. Aidan Quinn is the elder brother. Anthony Hopkins the father;
Gordon Tootoosis plays "One Stab". Oscar for Best Cinematography. - DirectorCurtis HansonStarsJames WoodsJohn HeardWilliam HurtChronicles the financial meltdown of 2008 and centers on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.William Hurt is terrific as Treas. Secty. Paulson. Lots of familiar names in cast, including some from TV situation comedies such as "Sex in the City" and "That 70's Show."
- DirectorMichael SucsyStarsDrew BarrymoreJessica LangeJeanne TripplehornThe lives of Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith, aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
- DirectorFederico FelliniLouis MalleRoger VadimStarsJane FondaBrigitte BardotAlain DelonA trio of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a cruel countess haunted by her cousin's stallion, a sadistic soldier haunted by his doppelgänger, and an alcoholic actor haunted by the Devil.I found the first two stories interesting, but the third was more Felini-like and I found it dull and beyond my ability to get the symbolism.
- DirectorMalcolm D. LeeStarsSamuel L. JacksonBernie MacSharon LealThough it's been about twenty years since they have spoken with one another, two estranged soul-singing legends agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader.7/8/2012: The death of their front man who had left the band years ago and became a solo star brings the 2 other now very old singer-dancers together again. Samuel L. Jackson is a great serious actor. Bernie Mac is a comic actor. They play off well against each other in this film. Not Abbot and Costello exactly; more like John Wayne and Costello. Fun film. I saw it all cut up with commercials on cable channel CTRC.
- DirectorGeorge HickenlooperStarsKevin SpaceyBarry PepperJon LovitzA hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.Kevin Spacey as disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff whose shady deals brought down Tom DeLay (GOP House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005). Not to be confused with Bernie Madoff.
- DirectorGreg BerlantiStarsKatherine HeiglJosh DuhamelJosh LucasTwo single adults become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.Katherine Heigl (Grey'a Anatomy's Dr. Izzie Stevens). Two single adults become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident and their will list the two as custodians for their baby. Fairly predictable that the two, who are opposites in every way, will end up together. But I enjoyed it nevertheless. The movie service Comcast Cable uses for film descriptions rated it as one star (top rating is 4 stars). It should be at least 2 stars; I would have rated it 3 stars.
- DirectorD.J. CarusoStarsAlex PettyferTimothy OlyphantDianna AgronAliens and their Guardians are hiding on Earth from intergalactic bounty hunters. They can only be killed in numerical order, and Number Four is next on the list. This is his story.After their planet was destroyed by a different race of aliens, some surviving special children and their guardians are hiding on Earth from the other aliens. The other aliens know they are on Earth and need to destroy them because when mature the children will have developed their unique powers that will allow them to revenge their destroyed planet. Teenage John Smith (Alex Pettyfer) is No. 4. As the film opens numbers 1 -3 have already been destroyed.
Not serious sci-fi but exciting and generally well done, even if the premise (that the children need to be killed in order) doesn't hold up in the climactic battle. From the concluding remarks it seems that the film was intended as a pilot for a series that nevere was made.
Based on the novel of the same title by Pittacus Lore (pen name used by the writing team of Jobie Hughes and James Frey.) - DirectorSean PennStarsJack NicholsonDavid MorseAnjelica HustonFreddy Gale is a seedy jeweller who has sworn to kill the drunk driver who killed his little girl.Anjellca Huston (lesser role), Jack Nicholson, David Morse. Directed/written/produced by Sean Penn.
After his daughter died in a hit and run, Freddy Gale has waited six years for John Booth, the man responsible, to be released from prison. - DirectorRyan MurphyStarsJulia RobertsJavier BardemRichard JenkinsA married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".Ultimate chick flick. Julia Roberts is only lead, everyone else supporting. Her character Liz decides she and her husband, who fight a lot, should separate and/or divorce. He wants to continue the relationship so that they can love being unhappy together. Cast includes Viola Davis (The Help), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
- DirectorJames GartnerStarsJosh LucasDerek LukeAustin NicholsIn 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.Kept interest every second (viewed in abridged Spike TV version) Inspirational basketball story.
- DirectorSeth GordonStarsJason BatemanCharlie DayJason SudeikisThree friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.Better than I expected. Jennifer Aniston really surprised me with her different look and she was very good. All of the cast were good, not just super-talents Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx. Until after I looked it up I didn't realize Colin Farrell played the third horrible boss.
While I expected Charlie Day's character to be stupid (same persona as in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), I didn't expect the characters played by Jason Sudeikis and Jason Bateman to behave so stupidly. - DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsRobert Downey Jr.Charles GrodinAlfre WoodardAn unhappy businessman finds a new sense of purpose after he's tasked with helping a quartet of ghosts fulfill their last wishes before moving on to the afterlife.Cute. Ghosts instead of angels.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.Beautiful cinematography. Allegorical. Confusing. If not for the Internet I wouldn't have known what role Sean Penn was playing. I'm still not sure whose death was announced in the telegram at the beginning. Initially I thought it was Jack who died, but then why would he e portrayed by Penn, who looked too old. Apparently it was a younger brother. Apparently there were three brothers in all; I had thought only two and that the other children were friends.
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsWill SmithEva MendesKevin JamesA smooth-talking man falls for a hardened columnist while helping a shy accountant woo a beautiful heiress.While helping his latest client woo the fine lady of his dreams, a professional "date doctor" finds that his game doesn't quite work on the gossip columnist with whom he's smitten.
DATE: 2010-07-25 - DirectorScott HicksStarsCatherine Zeta-JonesAaron EckhartAbigail BreslinThe life of a top chef changes when she becomes the guardian of her young niece.Zeta-Jones plays a chef
- DirectorPierre MorelStarsLiam NeesonMaggie GraceFamke JanssenA retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsSharon StoneGene HackmanRussell CroweA female gunfighter returns to a frontier town where a dueling tournament is being held, which she enters in an effort to avenge her father's death.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsColin FirthMinnie DriverMary SteenburgenA brokenhearted English artist travels to Hope, USA, hoping to get on with his life. He starts by drawing faces there. He befriends the cute Mandy. But then his scheming ex shows up and wants him back.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMichelle PfeifferEva GreenAn imprisoned vampire, Barnabas Collins, is set free and returns to his ancestral home, where his dysfunctional descendants are in need of his protection.Vampire flick based on TV series I never watched. Johnny Depp is 200 year old Barnabas Collins. Michelle Pfeiffer, still attractive, plays modern day mistress of ancestral home. Helena Bonham Carter plays burnt-out psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman. French actress Eva Green is very good as sexy witch Angelique Bouchard. Other stellar cast are wasted in what another reviewer called "Tired formula and a disappointing movie.” Listed as “comedy/horror, I found no comedy and non-scary horror.
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsShia LaBeoufSigourney WeaverJon VoightA wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.The story is like a fable or fantasy but filmed as if a gritty reality. A wrongfully convicted boy, Stanley Yelnast (Shia LaBeouf) is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of inmates forced to dig holes for some mysterious reason. "Based on the much-honored young adult's novel by Louis Sachar", it attracted a stellar cast, but some good novels are hard to convert to good screen plays. The film relates a present day story intertwined with two prequels. There was not a lot to hold my interest for much of the film that featured a desert prison camp for teenage boys full of clichés. I almost gave up and deleted it before it got to the last section where the three stories begin to merge.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsOrlando BloomEva GreenLiam NeesonBalian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the Crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people.An action epic about who rules Jerusalem at the time of the first Crusades, but with a decent and interesting plot. While it contains some historical characters, it is a fictionalized account. One of the things that is historically correct is that King Baldwin (actually Baldwin IV) did have leprosy, was retained as king despite that, led troops in battle and even defeated Saladin in one. Also, when the King was still young, he did have a regent, Raymond III (1140-1187), Prince of Galilee and Tiberias, who the film only calls Tiberius (Jeremy Irons). Also, princess Sibylla (Eva Green), sister of Baldwin IV, did marry Guy of Lusignan and there is some historical claims about her involvement with Baldwin of Ibelin, but not Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom), who actually was a younger brother of, and vassal to, Baldwin of Ibelin.
What makes the plot interesting is the moral code of the hero (played by Orlando Bloom) and his father (Liam Neeson - whose character dies rather early). - DirectorBob RafelsonStarsJeff BridgesSally FieldArnold SchwarzeneggerSo-called 'special agent' infiltrates into the gym, which is targeted by a dirty business fraud.Jeff Bridges as born into southern gentry but trying to find what he wants to do in life after his parents leave hime the family mansion. I loved the part where he dances a jig at a blue grass music hootenanny. This film introduced a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in a role where he is a body builder who also plays a country fiddle. Sally Field plays a country girl out of place among the southern aristocracy Jeff’s character belongs to.
Scatman Crothers has a small part as the faithful family retainer. Fannie Flagg and Joanna Cassidy are gentry acquaintances of Bridge’s character. - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJamie FoxxChristoph WaltzLeonardo DiCaprioWith the help of a German bounty-hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal plantation owner in Mississippi.Black superhero rescued slave instantly becomes super quick, accurate and deadly with firearms. Antebellum Southern plantation life depicted as depraved in addition to sadistic and brutal. Most interesting thing is the portrayal of Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), the faithful plantation slave family domestic overseer/ butler, as the villainous enemy of the other blacks. Leonardo di Caprio plays the flamboyant evil head of the Candyland plantation.
- DirectorAustin ChickStarsNicole LaLiberteDanielle PanabakerMatthew RauchAfter a series of bad experiences with men, Shae teams up with her co-worker, Lu, who has a simple, deadly way of dealing with the opposite sex.Had to watch to see what would happen. Didn't really get it until after I read user reviews that pointed out that the revenge acts were imagined. Interesting seeing age-24 (in 2012) Danielle Panabaker's makeup, clothing and attitude can effortlessly shift between what looked to me like a high school sophomore and a sophisticated bartender.
Slightly older Nicole LaLiberte is a great portrayer of a femme fatale. - DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoTadanobu AsanoYui NatsukawaThe blind masseur/swordsman comes to a town in control of warring gangs, and while bunking with a farming family, he meets two women with their own agenda.Zatoichi, the blind ronin (samurai without a master) is apparently a Japanese legendary super hero in the form of an old blind man who has super senses and reflexes. The side story of the brother and sister who have adopted the role of a geisha duet is very well done.
- DirectorSusanna StyronStarsMartin SheenJohn Franklin SawyerScott TerraIn 1935, ninety-nine-year-old former slave Shadrach asks to be buried on the soil where he was born to slavery, and that land is owned by the large Dabney family, consisting of Vernon, Trixie, and their seven children, and to bury a black man on that land is a violation of strict Virginia law.
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsNaomi WattsEwan McGregorTom HollandThe story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.I don’t get the title. This is one family of many that were on vacation and caught in the 2004 tsunami. They had a hard time but they all survived. Other families didn’t have it so good, but still others were less impacted by the wave. What is “impossible”?.
- DirectorRoger KumbleStarsSarah Michelle GellarRyan PhillippeReese WitherspoonTwo vicious step-siblings of an elite Manhattan prep school make a wager: to deflower the new headmaster's daughter before the start of term.
- DirectorAntonio BanderasStarsMelanie GriffithDavid MorseLucas BlackAn abused wife heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a corrupt sheriff.Not a plot that holds up if thought about much.
- DirectorHenry BromellStarsWilliam H. MacyNeve CampbellJohn RitterAlex, a hit man, tries to get out of the family business, but his father won't let him do so. While seeking the help of a therapist, he meets a sexually charged 23-year-old woman with whom he falls in love.Small weird film. Character study. Alex (William H. Macy) was raised by his father (Donald Sutherland) from a very young age to be a hit man. His family’s business is killing people under contract. Now middle aged, he’s depressed and starts going to a psychologist (John Ritter). He tells his mother (Barbara Bain) who tells the father. Father gives son an assignment that turns out to be to kill the psychologist, under the guise that it is a client’s request. He tells his father that he knows the target of the hit and that makes the job complicated. Tracey Ullman plays Alex’ wife (who doesn’t know he’s a hit man) and David Dorfman is Sammy, their 6 year old son, who goes to sleep in a big bed next to Alex. Alex also gets involved with Sarah (Neve Campbell), a 23 year old psyche client of another doctor, he met in the practice’s waiting room.
To me the plot premise has major flaw: hiring a hit man associated with the person being hit seems counterproductive to the idea that a hit man is difficult to catch because he HAS NO CONNECTION to the victim.
Macy is good, as usual. Neve Campbell was interesting. Donald Southerland and Tracey Ullman were undistinguished. - DirectorAndrew DominikStarsBrad PittRay LiottaRichard JenkinsJackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.Comcast/Xfinity: “In this thrilling crime drama, a professional enforcer [Brad Pitt] probes the robbery of a mob poker game by three low-level thieves, but his investigation is complicated by an alcoholic hit man [a tired looking James Gandolfini], incompetent gangsters, and the playboy host of the game [a corpulent Ray Liotta].” From that, despite the phrase “thrilling crime drama,” I was expecting a “The Ladykillers” or”Lavender Hill Mob” comedy. That turned out to be completely wrong. There is ZERO humor in this film. I also wouldn’t call it thrilling, since its pretty obvious the mob wants those involved to be killed.
Instead the film is a character study. We get to know the motives, fears, desires of the players. In the background are snipers of TV coverage of the 2008 presidential race between Bush and Obama, a time when the economy was in a state of near collapse later called the Great Recession. Crime, too, is in a depression. Basically the film delivers a depressing message that Jefferson’s vision of democracy is a lie, that America is a business, and that way to live life is take what you can. - DirectorLouis LeterrierStarsJesse EisenbergCommonMark RuffaloAn FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances, and reward their audiences with the money.Enjoyed the magic but plot got a tad too complicated towards the last third. Too many major characters (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and gorgeous Mélanie Laurent - Jewish -as the supposed Interpol detective) who could be the mastermind behind the "4 Horseman” magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher).
- DirectorPeter HewittStarsChristopher WalkenJoseph McKennaWynn EverettA comedy centered on three museum security guards who devise a plan to steal back the artworks to which they have become attached after they are transferred to another museum.I saw this on cable channel UHD, in abridged form with many commercials so do not think it fair to judge the original version based on it. Tongue in cheek comedy about 3 aged museum guards infatuated with specific art pieces that are part of the inventory being sold to a Danish museum. Christopher Walken has the most screen time.
- DirectorGeorge ShermanStarsDana AndrewsMärta TorénStephen McNallyIn 1947, with only months remaining until the partition of British-administered Palestine, an American freighter captain smuggles European Jewish refugees ashore under the nose of the British authorities.Non-historical tale of Jewish palestinians smuggling in a boatload of refugees during theBritish Mandate period. Originally not permitted to be shown in Britain because of supposed anti-British character.
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsSpencer TracyIrene DunneVan JohnsonA dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory.Dead flyer spirit aids live fighter pilots in WW-II. See my comment in http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035959/board and in responses to other messages.
- DirectorJoseph GrecoStarsGriffin MinerMarcia Gay HardenDevon GearhartA woman's schizophrenia affects her relationships with her husband and son.Schizo mother (Marcia Gay Harding); amateur painter; Florida; home-made sail-boat; child. Small film, nicely done.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsBrad PittDiane KrugerEli RothIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
- DirectorClark GreggStarsSam RockwellAnjelica HustonKelly MacdonaldA sex-addicted con-man pays for his mother's hospital bills by playing on the sympathies of those who rescue him from choking to death.
- DirectorPeter M. CohenStarsAmanda PeetBrian Van HoltJonathan AbrahamsThree egotistical swingers, who think they're God's gift to women, end up having their friendships tested when all three of them pick up and start dating the same woman.Whole movie is a set-up for Amanda Peete character and her girl friends to discuss and ridicule the guys like the guys have been doing to "chicks."
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsAnton WalbrookMarius GoringMoira ShearerA young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsAudrey HepburnPeter O'TooleEli WallachThe daughter of an art forger teams up with a burglar to steal one of her father's forgeries and protect his secret.Crime caper comedy that doesn’t hold up well today. Peter O’Toole and Hepburn don’t click like she did with Gregory Peck.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- DirectorGeorge Roy HillStarsLaurence OlivierDiane LaneThelonious BernardAn American teenager living in Paris meets and falls in love with a local.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsWill SmithStockard ChanningDonald SutherlandAn affluent New York City couple finds their lives touched, intruded upon, and compelled by a mysterious young black man who is never quite who he says he is.This is a talky film clearly adapted from a play that was much sparer in design. Apparently it is a spoof of rich people, but I was not sophisticated enough to get that. I found it an intriguing and imaginative plot that ended abruptly without resolution. It was a pivotal role for young Will Smith. Stockard Channing was really good.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsOscar IsaacCarey MulliganJohn GoodmanA week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.