MyMovies: 2009
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- DirectorStephen WalkerSally GeorgeStarsJoe BenoitHelen BostonLouise CanadyA documentary on a chorus of senior citizens from Massachusetts who cover songs by Jimi Hendrix, Coldplay, Sonic Youth, and other unexpected musicians.With the exception of the goofy music videos that pop up from time-to-time, this is a heartwarming doc that is full of life even with times of despair.
- DirectorKevin Rodney SullivanStarsAshton KutcherBernie MacZoe SaldanaA young woman, Theresa, brings her boyfriend, Simon, home to meet her parents and surprise them with the news of their engagement. Another surprise: Simon is white.The first three minutes would have you believe that this movie might end up being funny, then Ashton Kutcher shows up.
- DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.I love it all with exception of the last few lines. This is a meticulous screenplay with an open end that does not quite work.
- DirectorSaul DibbStarsKeira KnightleyRalph FiennesDominic CooperA chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.A bit soapy with a scope that would have worked better scaled back. Ralph Fiennes is incredible in these "evil-prick" roles and excels here.
- DirectorDavid S. GoyerStarsJustin ChatwinMargarita LevievaMarcia Gay HardenA teenager is left invisible to the living after an attack.Once you get over the teen archetypes, it becomes enjoyable but in the final stretch they play too loose with the story conventions. It gets ridiculous.
- DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert FriendThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.It's not the greatest flick on the subject. Too many of the characters fit types in a unnatural way. But they found the right kids to put up front and end the film in the right way.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsSally HawkinsAlexis ZegermanSamuel RoukinA look at a few chapters in the life of Poppy, a cheery, colorful, North London schoolteacher whose optimism tends to exasperate those around her.The film is at it's best when Poppy is up front confronting people with her bubbly personality and seeing those character react to it. It is a lesser film when that same character is around her peers but Leigh puts this character in the right spot throughout.
- DirectorCharles Stone IIIStarsBernie MacAngela BassettMichael RispoliAging baseball star who goes by the nickname, Mr. 3000, finds out many years after retirement that he didn't quite reach 3,000 hits. Now at age 47 he's back to try and reach that goal.The material is a bit light but Bernie Mac is the showcase and makes weak-ish material work.
- DirectorDanny PangOxide Chun PangStarsNicolas CageCharlie YeungShahkrit YamnarmA hitman who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs violates his personal code when he falls for a local woman and bonds with his errand boy.Not the train wreck I was expecting. But a tad too slow to recommend.
- DirectorWilliam MaloneStarsStephen DorffNatascha McElhoneStephen ReaA New York City detective investigates mysterious deaths occurring 48 hours after users log onto a site named feardotcom.Nothing to see here. Not one line of dialogue. Not one genuine scare. Not one decent performance. Not one thing. OK, OK. There are a couple decent pairs of boobs. But besides that.
- DirectorSam MendesStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletChristopher FitzgeraldA young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.What is on screen is pretty great, but it all comes down to what could have been add and subtracted to heighten the experience. I would of add more of the young love and cut off the back half. Nothing breaks the film. It is powerful as is.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsGabe NevinsDaniel LiuTaylor MomsenA teenage skateboarder's life begins to fray after he is involved in the accidental death of a security guard.Strictly for fans of Van Sant's long take style, although I wasn't to keen on the story structure. Too much repeated information but still hypnotic.
- DirectorDavid FrankelStarsOwen WilsonJennifer AnistonEric DaneA family learns important life lessons from their adorable, but naughty and neurotic dog.Owen Wilson keeps it from being terrible, his easy-going charm goes a long way. What the film suffers from, just likes Aniston's last big comedy "The Break-Up", is that it's not funny. The laughs that are there, are repeated. How many times can you laugh at a dog chewing up something?
- DirectorDavid MackenzieStarsJamie BellRuth MilneJohn Paul LawlerHallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears-and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.It's not an earth-shattering film but it keeps you captivated, always wonder where it will all go.
- DirectorMark WatersStarsReese WitherspoonMark RuffaloDonal LogueA lonely landscape architect falls for the spirit of the beautiful woman who used to live in his new apartment.Coast on it's star likability.
- DirectorAlex GibneyStarsAlex GibneyBrian Keith AllenMoazzam BeggAlex Gibney exposes the haunting details of the USA's torture and interrogation practices during the War in Afghanistan.A excellent doc that disects the the U.S. governments use of torture. It only fails when they try to blame 24 for popularizing torture in about a two minute segment.
- 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.A quirky comedy with plenty of imagination that help it climb over its weaker elements.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniSteven SoderberghKar-Wai WongStarsRobert Downey Jr.Alan ArkinGong LiThree short films, one each from Directors Michelangelo Antonioni, Steven Soderbergh, and Wong Kar Wai, address the themes of love and sex.Wong Kar Wai's segment is amazing beautifully stylized and well-rounded love story. Soderberghs feels like a half-baked student film that stars Downey and Arkin. Antonini's feels like a Zalamin King movie where hot naked woman frolic. But it has to be seen for "The Hand". As good as any of his features.
- DirectorStephen KesslerStarsJerry StillerJaneane GarofaloMax PerlichA notorious B-movie director tries for a comeback by seeking out the film rights to the life story of a serial killer who wants his biography film to be a musical.Had me laughing and at times, very hard. Jerry Stiller is hilarious and the fake films are hysterical.
- DirectorPatrick LussierStarsJensen AcklesJaime KingKerr SmithTom returns to his hometown on the tenth anniversary of the Valentine's night massacre that claimed the lives of 22 people. Instead of a homecoming, Tom finds himself suspected of committing the murders, and it seems like his old flame is the only one that believes he's innocent.There's so fun to have here but it has more to do with the gimmick (3-D) than the film itself (half-ass slasher flick).
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.Winselt's good but there's not enough substance to make you care for the kid.
- DirectorGil KenanStarsSaoirse RonanToby JonesBill MurrayFor generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker.A surprisingly fun experience. Great set design and lots of imagination.
- DirectorChaz ThorneStarsJay BaruchelSergio Di ZioNigel BennettA young man inherits a nearly bankrupt funeral home from his estranged father. He falls in love with the alluring young mortician, only to find out she's offing people to keep the place in business!The filmmakers do not seem to trust there own instincts. The characters start out far too quirky and than all seem to lose that quirk my the tail end. It's bad.
- DirectorJames MarshStarsPhilippe PetitJean François HeckelJean-Louis BlondeauA look at tightrope walker Philippe Petit's daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City's World Trade Center's twin towers in 1974, what some consider, "the artistic crime of the century".Incredible doc that runs the emotional gambit.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsDemián BichirRodrigo SantoroBenicio Del ToroIn 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara leads a small partisan army to fight an ill-fated revolutionary guerrilla war in Bolivia, South America.Quite a comedown from the first segment. It does not have the gung-ho charge you feel with the first half. Not nearly as involving but still interesting.