Reviews

I saw a commercial for Rescue Me and the DVD caught my eye at the video rental store. I like Dennis Leary but never have time to watch network TV, nor do I particularly like mindless TV "fiction." I'm a Discovery Channel, History Channel, HGTV gal when I turn on the tube. I rented the 1st Season DVD and my husband and I watched the 13 episodes in 3 nights! We couldn't get enough of it! It is well written with timely content and is the first program to deal with men's issues from a male point of view. I found Dennis Leary a good actor/comedian in the past, a bit over the top at times, but I am stunned by the quality of this series. The creative use of fantasy, dream sequence and micro-psychotic experiences of Leary's character keep me glued to the screen. We have seen all 3 seasons and can't wait to see what happens in Season 4! Thank you Dennis! YOU'RE THE MAN!

The local video store was totally out of these (and they had at least 100 copies)for the first week it was released. I saw the previews, a woman on a flight loses her daughter. I couldn't see how they could make this into a feature film. WOW, was I wrong. Jodi Foster seems to pick these intense story lines. This begins in Berlin, a bereaved widow claiming her husband's body at the funeral home to return New York for burial. Kyle (Foster) is a "propulsion" engineer, designing jet engines for the new super jet liners that will be in our future. It is one of these 450 passenger liners that will carry her, her 6yr old daughter and her husband's coffin home to New York. Once aboard, she decides to take advantage of some empty seats in the rear of the plane to get some sleep. She wakes up a couple hours later, and her daughter is gone. She enlists the help of the flight attendants, but something is terribly wrong.... her daughter is not on the manifest, there is no record of her boarding... What is real, did we see the daughter or was it her delusion? This is a nail biting, intense plot with twists and turns that will pull you in like a roller coaster. Two words....SEE IT!

I prefer Indy and Foreign films, but occasionally a Hollywood release gets enough chatter that I have a look. This was well worth it. From the opening scene to the closing credits I was transported out of my living room and into the story written by John Le Carré and brought to the screen by Jeffery Caine and Fernando Meirelles. It is a complex tale of British diplomats, capitalist conspiracy, and lust, not 3 words you usually find in the same sentence. Ralph Fiennes is convincing as Justin Quayle, a mild mannered representative of her majesty's government with a passion for gardening. He meets Tessa (Rachael Weisz) during a lecture in London he is giving as a favor for the writer who could not deliver it himself. She is a fiery girl who clearly wants to challenge whatever is wrong with the world. When he asks her to join him for a cup of coffee I had to smile recalling that was a euphemism in London for something quite different. We learn he is being transferred to Africa, and the infatuated Tessa asks to go along "as your lover, your mistress, or your wife...." You must learn the rest on your own, as the story is woven through flashbacks and present time. I will leave you with one word....Riveting!

This is a 2003 German film that recently found it's way to my local video store. It is a different film than I usually find, very plain on the surface, yet incredibly complex at the same time. It tells a simple story in a very understated way and the overall effect is quite powerful.

Schultze is a recently retired miner, a hard working man that now finds a lot of time on his hands and not much else. His mother is in a nursing home with dementia, his only family his mates from work who like to share a glass of beer when they get the chance. The imagery in this film is stark and dramatic. The long pauses tempt you to reach for the fast forward button, but they create the emptiness you will understand about Schultze's life. His only bright spot is his accordion, and his membership in the local music club which is celebrating their 50th anniversary. This year they offer a special prize, an expense paid trip to Texas. The club received an invitation from their "sister city" to send one person to their annual German-American festival. The winner will be selected at their Anniversary concert, "may we put you down for your usual polka Schultze?" As the story slowly unfolds, you may begin to see the threads that weave this beautiful tapestry. Or they may be so subtle that they go past you like a line on the sidewalk that you step over everyday. In the end, you will hopefully get the message about going out and finding happiness wherever you can.

It's hard to find Sci-Fi anymore, so I always perk up when a sci-fi title hits the big screen. This slick tale set in 2415 is the evolution of the animated series that aired on MTV in 1991. It was created by Korean American animator Peter Chung for the big screen and stars Charlize Theron as AEON (changed from the Latin Æon).

We all know we are headed for a catastrophic end of the world, and by 2415 a few million humans are left on earth in a little spot of paradise called Bregna. (the devout likely have departed in the "rapture") But as always there is trouble in paradise. Many Bregnan's "disappear" much as they did in Argentina in the last century. The government leaders constantly surveil the populace and something our current government would like, inn 2415, they apparently don't need a court order. Rebels living in Bregna, known as Monicans are working for freedom. Enter Aeon Flux, a more gymnastic and shapely James Bond of the future who is neither shaken nor stirred as completes her missions for the Monicans.

This is a bit tongue in cheek, and this movie is after all based on a cartoon. But it is very entertaining with well thought out special effects. Charlize Theron and her body double are eye candy for the adolescent and older male audience. They knew what they were doing when they went for a PG 13 rating! But as neither an adolescent nor male, I also enjoyed the film, the sci-fi genre which is so rare these days. I think you will too.

The theatrical release was awesome, but the DVD is better yet. Along with the incredible photography and narration of the feature film, the DVD offers additional short features. The first is a French naturalist who has been monitoring the Penguin population in Antarctica with concerns about how global warming is effecting their habitat. The 2nd short is "the making of", narrated by the men who filmed the Penguins, and in it's own way is as fascinating as the feature film.

The comments in IMDb report that in the various versions produced for the world audience, (Germany, France, Taiwan, Japan) there are differences in the script and the editing. If I get the chance to view the European version, I will update my remarks with details on the differences and if theirs is more artful than the one made for the US market. It is difficult to imagine how they could improve on it.

The bottom line is... this is a must see movie. You will have a new respect for these wonderful creatures who have adapted to one of the harshest environments on the planet.

The title refers to the "woodsman" that slices open the wolf's belly to find little red riding hood and her grandmother alive and well inside. It is too small of a clue to what this film is about, but Kevin Bacon and a "2 thumbs up" recommendation were enough to pull it off the video store shelf.

Bacon's role is Walter, a sex offender released from prison after serving a 12 year sentence. Incest and the sexual exploitation of children is a social problem we can't seem to solve, and a feature length film about a perpetrator is not what we would seek as entertainment. This film is different. It gives us an opportunity to see the bigger picture as Walter tries to deal with his problem and asks "will I ever be normal?" We see his struggle and wonder if he will beat the odds he knows are against him, as he tells a female co-worker (played by his wife in real life Kyra Sedgwick) who has taken an interest in him. This film isn't overly emotional, the writing is spot on, and well worth the 87 minute running time. You may find you understand his problem a bit more than you do now.

I'm a Michael Creighton fan, and I picked up the novel "Timeline" last year when the film was soon to be released. Like all of his stories there is a science fiction component, in this one archaeologists time travel to rescue a team member who is stuck in the year 1357 at their current excavation site in France. They aren't able to take anything from the modern world with them, and you quickly get a sense of how dangerous day to day living was in the medieval times. It is an interesting premise, perhaps too much to shove into 2hours in a meaningful way. We watched this on cable in spite of a one star rating, and thought it was a bit better than one star, even with some of the script problems. It's a movie to watch if you are a Michael Creighton fan, or a sci-fi buff with a rainy Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, pick something else, there are thousands of films that you may enjoy more.

Tom Cruise has definitely lost a few points with me lately with all of his "anti-psychiatry" rhetoric, but I wasn't going to let that stand in the way of seeing this new Steven Spielberg flick. I like Sci-fi, and it has been rather slim pickings in recent years. (sorry, I only considered the first 2 episodes of "star wars" sci-fi; the rest seemed "same plot, different planet" and I didn't bother with the last 2, or is it now the 2nd and 3rd?) Anyway, it's 85 degrees today here in Maine and with 95% humidity, it's a very easy sell to pay $6.50 to sit inside an air conditioned theater for 2 hours and see the premier of "War of the Worlds." We all know the story, Orson Wells reading it on the radio, later a Hollywood film that depicts aliens coming to earth. Ironically the previews for another film at this theater, "New World" that will open later this year, has a scene with the native Americans watching as the European masted ships arrive, the first 'alien' invasion. This "War of the Worlds" is a new story. We see it from the perspective of Cruise, a divorced parent whose 10yr old daughter and 16yr old son are staying with him for the 4th of July weekend. Their mother has remarried and it is clear the kids have a better relationship with their step dad. Cruise is a longshoreman, a master at his craft, but a miserable failure as a parent. His apartment is less than tidy, there's a motor in the middle of the kitchen, his refrigerator is empty.

We don't have to wait long for the invasion and literally 'all hell breaks loose.' We spend the next 90 minutes gripping our chairs, wondering how or if humankind will survive annihilation. The special effects are nothing short of stunning, but are only the backdrop for the human drama, not the film. Will this end with the earth becoming a July 4th charcoal briquette? Or will America once again save the world? You will have to see for yourself, I was entertained from beginning to end. The "Blockbuster" we have all been waiting for has arrived, now summer can begin. (visit their awesome website War of the Worlds for preview and images.)

Camryn Manheim held up the Emmy Award she won for her role as Ellenor Frutt on The Practice and said..."This is for all the fat girls!" This film liberates "fat girls" in a similar way. Marianne Sägebrecht is "Marianne" the mortician's assistant whose life is as dead as her customers. She rides to work on the subway, listens to the negative comments about her by ladies in the local shops, and takes an occasional swim at the local pool when she needs to just get away and think. All that changes the day she spots Huber, the young handsome subway driver. What chance would a fat middle aged mortician's assistant have of seducing a young handsome blonde man? Marianne proves that hope springs eternal. I enjoyed this film when it was played on Showtime in the late 1980's and I recently tracked down a copy to see it again.

The title comes from the poem "Eloisa to Abelard" by Alexander Pope. It is so nice to know our screenwriters are literate in our pop culture that rarely 'quotes' anymore. Charlie Kaufman penned this one as well as "Being John Malkovich" so he is very much into getting into our heads. If you could wipe the memories of a love affair gone sour, would you? Time has a way of helping us with painful memories, so that eventually only the good memories remain, should we accelerate the process? Relationships, the fabric of humanity, is what we are all about, finding them, enjoying them, hating them, leaving them. Every couple in divorce court filled with disappointment and anger once sat looking into each others eyes, feeling madly in love. The film is a little choppy at times, but you can navigate the course. The point is that every couple has strengths, weaknesses and it can be easy to forget the good bits in a bad moment. So what would be the consequences if your partner had the memories of you erased after your relationship hit a bump in the road? It's a thoughtful story, and will add a bit to your intellectual repertoire if you have ventured away from your romantic poets.

I wanted more from this film. Webber gives us luscious photography, but limited emotions, perhaps it is more Dutch than I realized. I was prompted to see the film by a visitor to my website. The opening scenes are straight out of a Flemmish masterpiece, against an austere background. A young girl is sent to be a maid in the Vermeer household, she is vulnerable and naive, yet at the same time independent. It inspired me to learn more about Vermeer and 17th Century Holland but the dialog is so limited, depends a lot on long gazes, which I found difficult to interpret at times. I also have a problem with how independent women are portrayed nearly 400years ago. It is a period piece but not convincing. Perhaps the book was better, but I am not likely to find out. There are some great sites for more information, including the IMDb.