Reviews

My Blueberry Nights is the combination of one of China's top directors and one of the United States top mystery writers. Is this a crime film? No, it is a look at the human heart and the pain it often endures.

Elizabeth (Nora Jones) is coming out of a bad relationship. She meets Jeremy (Jude Law) who runs a café. Late night conversations with Jeremy help soothe her wounded heart, but she still has not gotten over her ex.

Rather abruptly, Lizzie decides she needs to get out of town and learn about life. And that is the story that MBN tells: Elizabeth's journey, the people she meets and how they impact her, and where her heart ultimately takes her.

Throughout her travels, Lizzie sends Jeremy postcards, chronicling her experiences. It becomes very clear that Lizzie has put a fire in Jeremy's previously cold heart.

We witness her experiences in both Memphis and Las Vegas.

Memphis: Lizzie takes a couple of jobs waitressing, a day job at a diner and a night job in a bar. At the bar, she meets Arnie (David Strathairn), a sad drunk that sits quietly numbing his pain with alcohol. Lizzie runs into Arnie at diner as well, and sees the other side of him: a pleasant, straight-laced cop.

We soon see that the source of Arnie's pain is his wife Sue. They are separated and she is not only seeing other men, but also flaunting it in front of him. While it seems like this must be out of hate, we learn it is her attempt to get Arnie to stop loving her.

Vegas introduces us to Leslie (Natalie Portman) a sly card-player that trusts nobody. Lizzie and Leslie make a business arrangement that sends them on a journey to see Leslie's dying father. During this time, Leslie attempts to teach Lizzie to be wary of others and only trust yourself and your own abilities.

These experiences help Lizzie to move past her own pain and make her own heart whole again.

When looking at My Blueberry Nights, it is easy to look at it for the film it should have been. With a cast rich in talent, an acclaimed director and an award-winning writer, this may very well have been a tour de force. Sadly, it is not that.

But it is an enjoyable film, beautifully shot, in some touching scenes. Weiss and Portman all do fine jobs, and Strathairn is excellent, but that should be no surprise given the quality of the characters they were given, as well as the level of talent possessed by them.

Surprisingly, Jones does a solid job here. While it is true that she is not required to do much heavy lifting, she holds her own, which is more than I expected.

Thus far, many of the films reviews have been, at best, lukewarm. It is a shame, because this is a pleasant little film. Nothing memorable, but I certainly found it worth the couple of hours I devoted to it.

Van Helsing isn't so much a movie, as it is the beginning of a brand. They have been talking about a TV series, toys, a possible amusement park and various spin offs.The premise for this film was a really promising one. When I first heard about it, I was actually quite excited. I should have known better when they described, in the press, the title character as sort of a medieval "Black Ops" agent. Having said that, Van Helsing didn't feel like a real movie. It felt like a bunch of "neat scenes" put together. They had some talented actors, but the script was simply atrocious.They took three separate monsters that have all been established draws in their own right and just tossed them all in one show. Not sure who they will dig up for the inevitable sequel. The overall movie was an orgy of bombastic excess. Bigger, better, louder! Ugh!

With 8mm, it feels like Joel Schumacher is trying to emulate Se7en. Both were written by Andrew Kevin Walker. But Joel falls short in this unpleasant, clichéd film. With Se7en, you were swept along with the characters. In 8mm, you can feel the hand of the director pushing you were he wants you to go. 8mm is blatant in it's attempts to manipulate the viewer, but is so clumsy you end up resenting it and the director for doing so. A film like this needs to be more subtle in it's attempts to coax the desired response from the audience.

Richard Curtis has proven, in the past, that he has an eye and ear for the tender moments that make up the better part of humanity. In his directorial debut, he has delivered a movie shows the very best in people. In it's weakest moments, Love Actually was entertaining. In it's best, it was moving and capable of touching your soul. I really didn't see a weak performance in the bunch. I did feel the use of music was a bit overdone, particularly towards the end. Curtis delivers such fine dialogue, he should have let it carry the finale rather than pop music. All in all, Love Actually is a fantastic movie that shines because of the wonderful performances by an incredible cast that was given a great script.

As far as low budget, cheesy movies go, Up The Creek is decent. I will not attempt to suggest that it is a great movie, but it has it's moments.Tim Matheson is entertaining, though he is playing a character not too far removed from Otter of Animal House. A good flick for a lazy, brainless afternoon.