Marie's Movies

REVIEW: A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

2011-11-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011). Dir: Todd Strauss-Schulson. Starring Kal Penn, John Cho and Neil Patrick Harris. IMDB.

First of all I can't believe it's been over a month since I've been to the movies. How lame is that? Anyway I broke out of my slump for my boys Harold and Kumar, back with another drug-fueled romp.

This outing finds the boys all grown up and faced with adult responsibilities. Harold is married to the beautiful Maria and living in the suburbs. But he doesn't quite get along with Maria's extended, colorful clan, and he must find the perfect Christmas tree for the family by the time they all get home from midnight Mass. Meanwhile Kumar, estranged from his old buddy, has grown fat and lazy and bearded and lives in marijuana-scented squalor when he finds out that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant. But a Christmas miracle brings them back together.

The movie is very funny, full of the graphic sexual and drug references you're used to if you've seen their other movies. And if you enjoyed the two previous Harold & Kumar films, you'll enjoy this one, too. All the regular characters are back and Neil Patrick Harris is particularly hilarious poking fun at himself and his public persona. There are lots of in-jokes and the movie makes great use of 3D technology- better, frankly, than any other 3D film I've seen. And of course everything turns out OK in the end.

Rating: RUSH

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

I did not receive compensated tickets to this screening.

REVIEW: The Hedgehog (2011)

2011-09-18T12:24:00.000-07:00

The Hedgehog (2011). Original title: Le hérisson. Dir: Mona Achache. Starring: Josiane Balasko, Garance Le Guillermic and Togo Igawa. IMDB. In French with English subtitles.

Now is the time on Marie's Movie's when I gush.

Okay, so Muriel Barbery's book The Elegance of the Hedgehog, of which this movie is a very faithful adaptation, was one of my very favorite books when I first read it back in 2009. It's been a while since then, so I don't remember all the details or how exactly the movie stacks up on this or that particular from the book. What I will say is, I loved this movie, and if you loved the book, run- don't walk- to the theater near you.

If you haven't read the book, here's what to expect. In the present day, a precocious little girl named Paloma lives in a posh Paris apartment building with her family; she feels isolated in a dysfunctional family and befriends Madame Michel, the building's concierge. Madame Michel is isolated too. A widow, she lives alone with her cat and her books and she lets the building's residents regard her as invisible. Then, one day, a handsome Japanese widower moves in and the strangest thing happens. He and Madame Michel become friends.

I loved this movie. Director Mona Achache adapted the story beautifully for the screen. The book is very talky, full of long internal monologues and asides; not a lot actually happens. In the movie, Achache dramatizes the monologues by giving Paloma a camera with which to film her family all the while commenting on their foibles and faults, and by giving Madame Michel a friend and a cat. (I think she may have had these in the book, too.) I worried about how a filmmaker could translate the talkiness of the book and keep the movie interesting; Achache does a great job. And the movie follows the main plot points of the book; if you've read the book you know what happens. The actors are terrific and the movie is just a joy to watch.

So yeah. Go see it. It's great!

You can find a schedule of US showings at NeoClassics Films.

Rating: RUSH

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

I did not receive free or promotional tickets to this screening.

REVIEW: The Debt (2010)

2011-09-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

The Debt (2010). Dir: John Madden. Starring: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson. IMDB.

So, my friend and I went out the other night hoping to see the new documentary Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness (2011), but it was sold out so we settled for The Debt, a ho-hum thriller about a trio of Mossad agents who botched a very important job in 1960s East Berlin and have been living a lie ever since.

The trio- Rachel, Stephan and David- are played by Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciarán Hinds in the present tense, and Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas and Sam Worthington in the past. They are thrown together in post-war East Berlin and charged with rounding up a Nazi doctor so that he can stand trial in Israel. Things don't go as planned but they decide to cover up their failure and live out their lives as heroes. David, though, has a crisis of conscience, and things fall apart from there.

I like thrillers, and I basically enjoyed this movie. Mirren and Chastain were both great; the guys were sort of lackluster although Hinds can do no wrong in my book. The film sets up a tepid love triangle where Rachel is sleeping with one of her associates while in love with the other but neither of the younger male actors are really up to being romantic leads and the chemistry goes nowhere. On the other hand, I loved every scene Mirren shared with Hinds; the movie could have been greatly improved with lots more Ciarán. Jesper Christensen, who played the Nazi doctor, stole every scene he was in.

So, it was just kind of okay for me. Entertaining, yes, but I'd rent rather than see this one in the theater if I were you.

The lesson? Never underestimate the appeal of the Yiddish Mark Twain, and buy tickets in advance.

Rating: RENT

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

I did not receive free or promotional tickets for this screening.

REVIEW: Mysteries of Lisbon (2011)

2011-09-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Mysteries of Lisbon (2011). Original title: Mistérios de Lisboa. Dir: Raoul Ruiz. Starring: Adriano Luz, Maria João Bastos, Ricardo Pereira. IMDB. In Portuguese and French with English subtitles.

Based on a 19th century novel of the same name by Camilo Castelo Branco, Mysteries of Lisbon starts with the story of a little boy, Joao, "just Joao," an orphan living at a Portuguese Catholic boys' school run by the kindly Father Dinis. Very quickly, we learn that his mother has abandoned him after having him out of wedlock, and that she is a virtual prisoner of her husband. Soon we learn the mother's backstory in detail- her family, the pressure on her to marry, how she had to forsake love for economic security and how her son came to live at Father Dinis's school. We also learn the complicated backstory and multiple identities of Father Dinis as well as those of many other characters, until the movie becomes a sort of Portuguese La Ronde (1950), a complex web of interlocking stories of love and betrayal.

There are some things to like about Mysteries of Lisbon. The movie looks great; set amongst the nobility of Portugal, France and Italy, we are treated to set after beautiful set, party scenes with beautiful clothes and stately homes. Some of the characters' stories are very interesting, especially Father Dinis, who figures prominently in the lives of many characters, even if not all of them realize it. There are moments of comic brilliance, some of which may even be intentional, although I suspect more of them are not. When Father Dinis receives a very special gift from his father, I wanted to laugh out loud even though that may not have been the director's intention. But it was still hilarious.

However, what killed the movie for me was that it was just too darn long. The thing clocks in at over four hours; at the screening I attended, many audience members simply did not come back from the intermission and I can't say I blame them. The stories also have a certain repetitive quality to them. Frustrated, socially-inappropriate love seems to be a common theme and after a while- well, I get it. Man loves woman, there's an obstacle, etc. And there is just so much talking. Very little actually happens in the way of a plot; it's just one vignette after another of endless backstory, until finally, at long last, we circle back around to Joao and it's time to leave the theater. It was more an endurance test at times than anything else.

It's hard to know who to recommend this movie to. Die-hard art-house fans or fans of Portuguese cinema? Maybe. I don't know. Maybe a version half as long, with half as many characters, would be okay. I wanted to like this movie a lot more than I did.

You can view the film's trailer here.

Music Box Films is running a Win a Trip to Portugal contest in conjunction with the film. Click here to enter.

Rating: RENT

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

I received free tickets to the screening from Music Box Films in exchange for my review.

REVIEW: Sarah's Key (2011)

2011-08-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sarah's Key (2011). Original Title: Elle s'appellait Sarah. Dir: Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Starring Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance and Niels Arestrup. In French and English with English subtitles.

I was not a fan of Tatiana de Rosnay's 2008 novel of the same name on which this movie was based. Or, rather, I was half a fan. The novel, like the movie, intercut the stories of Sarah Starzinsky, a French Jewish girl captured in the 1942 Vel d'Hiv roundup, with that of Julia Jarmond, a modern-day American journalist living in Paris. Julia stumbles on to Sarah's story when she's researching the Vel d'Hiv and realizes that her husband's family occupies an apartment once belonging to Sarah and her family. I loved Sarah's story and the tight, literary way de Rosnay told it; I disliked Julia and the chattier, chick-lit style of her sections. I approached the movie with trepidation, but I was curious to see what the filmmakers would do with it. And I love Kristin Scott-Thomas.

So I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed the movie. Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner serves up a pretty faithful adaptation of the book, complete with almost all the same maudlin, manipulative twists the book takes, but somehow it just doesn't seem as annoying on the screen. I give Scott-Thomas a lot of the credit for making Julia significantly more likeable and sympathetic. There was some judicious editing of her character as well- there's less of the novel's Julia's problems with her boss, her family and the French in general, and less complaining generally. And the little girl who played Sarah, Mélusine Mayance, was wonderful- tough and cheeky but vulnerable too, her sequences were the best in the movie, just like they were in the book.

I had a couple of issues with the movie, but they are minor. The roundup itself of French Jews takes place right at the beginning of the movie and is presented without any context or backstory; there's no sense of a bigger picture. I didn't feel the trauma of it the way I did in the very good La Rafle, a nonfictional account of the Vel d'Hiv roundup. I recommend you see that very good film for a fuller depiction of the roundup. Aidan Quinn was risible as Sarah's adult son, with perhaps one of the worst French accents I've heard. We could have done without him. I mentioned how faithful Paquet-Brenner is to the book's maudlin twists. I think I said at the time I read the book how Hollywood-ready those were and Paquet-Brenner proved me right.

Overall I thought Sarah's Key was a fine art-house film, not outstanding or anything but fine, especially if you enjoyed the book. If you didn't, or if you haven't read the book, look around your area for screenings of La Rafle. It's a better movie and it's a true story, too.

Rating: RENT

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

REVIEW: The Round Up (2010)

2011-07-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

The Round Up (2011). Original Title: La Rafle (original release: 2010). Dir: Rose Bosch. Starring Jean Reno, Mélanie Laurent, Gad Elmalah. IMDB. In French with English subtitles.

The Round Up (2011) isn't Sarah's Key, the film adaptation of which is about to be released, but a nonfictional account of the same event in French World War 2 history- the roundup of French Jews to the Vélodrôme d'Hiver stadium (or Vel d'Hiv for short), and from there to Auschwitz. The film starts before the roundup, introducing us to several French Jewish families from different strata of society- rich, poor and middle class, with special attention paid to their children. We watch their daily lives and the gradual dissipation of their freedom before the roundup. When the roundup happens, it's harrowing and deeply frightening, but that's nothing compared to what's to come.

The kids and their families depart the Vel d'Hiv for parts unknown.

The story really belongs to three characters. Dr. David Scheinbaum, played by Jean Reno, does his best to take care of his thousands of patients living in deplorable conditions in the Vel d'Hiv stadium; assisting him to the best of her ability is a Protestant nurse, Annette Monod (Mélanie Laurent); she stays with the captives right to the last minute, advocating for their care and bearing raging witness to their plight. Finally, the story belongs to little Jo Weismann, a bright scamp of a kid who does the unthinkable- he survives. (The real, elderly Weismann has a small part in the film.)

Nurse Monod looks on as Nazi officers move the families.

The Round Up is an incredible movie and I strongly encourage everyone to watch it or add it to your DVD queue if it's not playing in your area. If you read my book blog you know I wasn't crazy about Sarah's Key the novel (although I'm curious about the film and plan to see it) and really, movies like The Round Up make me wonder if we need fiction about the Holocaust at all. Sometimes, peoples' real stories are more dramatic and moving- and important- than fiction could ever be. I would particularly urge anyone who's read Sarah's Key to see this movie alongside the adaptation of that popular novel. The actors are amazing and The Round Up, profoundly affecting and disturbing, horrible and hopeful, is, in short, essential viewing.

Rating: RUSH

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

FTC Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets from Menemsha Films in exchange for a review.

REVIEW: Before Sunset (2004)

2011-07-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

Before Sunset (2004). Dir: Richard Linklater. Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. IMDB.

Jesse and Celine met nine years before the film begins, spending a wonderful and memorable night together wandering the streets of Vienna; this evening comprised the film Before Sunrise (1995), of which Before Sunset is the sequel. Then, they had a whole night to talk and get to know each other, and they promised to stay in touch. Nine years later, Jesse in Paris on book tour for the novel he wrote about the time they shared and they have what feels like mere moments to reconnect before he has to catch a flight home.

First of all I have to say Before Sunrise is one of my all-time favorite movies; sweet and romantic, it's a lovely and true portrayal of two people who meet by chance and forge a beautiful connection. Sometimes traveling feels like being disconnected from the world and it's possible to make luminous, meaningful friendships with people one meets for a day- and never forgets, and Before Sunrise felt very real to me. Before Sunset, as much as I loved it, felt a little more forced, but it's still beautiful.

Jesse and Céline wander the streets, go to a café and finally back to Céline's apartment, and they talk. They catch up, they unwind their secrets, their triumphs and their shames. Their relationship reminds me of the kind of friends that come in and out of your life but never really leave it, the kind of true love divorced from the rest of your life that depends as much on fantasy as reality. It's one of those movies that just sweeps me up in its charm every time.

Rating: RUSH

If It's On, We Have to Watch It

2011-07-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

The other night, my husband and I were watching TV after dinner, which we often do, and flipping channels until we came across a movie my husband really likes, Total Recall (1990). I've watched it once or once and change, meaning I've seen the whole thing through once but I've seen snippets of it, of varying lengths and at various places within the film, many times. Why? Because it's one of those movies that we seem to always have to watch if it happens to be on. There are a bunch of movies like this in our house:

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001),
Legally Blonde (2001),
The Godfather (1972) (part one and/or two),
Clueless (1995),
most Star Trek and Star Wars movies,
most Back to the Future movies,
and so on.

Every once in a while I think about buying some of these movies on DVD but then I think, why bother when it's on TV practically every week- and I watch it every time I find it?

Do you or your household have movies like this? Like, no matter how many times you've seen it, if it's on you'll watch it, or watch part of it? Has this ever caused, you know, domestic friction? Of course my husband and I are totally content with whatever the other wants to watch!

REVIEW: Saviors in the Night (2011)

2011-05-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

Saviors in the Night (2011). Original Title: Unter Bauern (original release: 2009). Dir: Ludi Boeken. Starring Veronica Ferres, Armin Rohde, Lia Hoensbroech. IMDB. In German with English subtitles.

Made two years ago but just released in the United States, Saviors in the Night is a film about a German Jewish family hidden on a farm during the Holocaust. Marga, Menne and Karin Spiegel run away from the labor camp where they're being held when Menne hears that deportation is imminent; Marga and daughter Karin hide with an old friend of Menne's while he takes to the road. Emmerich and Florian Aschoff are farmers who are forced to take in refugees, and only they know that Marga and Karin are Jewish. Their daughter Anni and her boyfriend are enthusiastic Nazis and danger lurks at every turn.

Veronica Ferres as Marga

Saviors is based on a true story (the real Marga and Anni appear at the end of the film) and it's perfectly fine as these things go. I liked the performances and the look of the movie; the farming scenes are lush and the natural environment is beautiful. Emmerich and Florian are interesting people, principled and conflicted. For a film about a situation so inherently suspenseful, though, for me the movie really lacked spark. There were too many characters to keep track of at times; a little judicious trimming would have been helpful. And I wish that the filmmakers had amped up some of the dramatic possibilities latent in the particular combination of characters and personalities. Anni's transformation, which could have made for a great narrative arc, happens too fast, and sometimes it seems like Marga and Karin aren't in any real danger- threats to their safety and their secret fizzle almost as soon as they arise.

A Nazi officer talks to Karin as Florian looks on.

Having said that, Saviors in the Night is nonetheless a good movie and people interested in Holocaust stories will enjoy it. I wish that some of the conflicts had been allowed to boil up a little longer before they were resolved and that a little more license had been taken with the truth in service of a more gripping film. But it's a compelling enough story as it is and at least for this family there was a happy ending.

Rating: RENT

I'm a Fandango affiliate and receive a small commission on sales.

FTC Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets from Menemsha Films in exchange for a review.

REVIEW: The Kids Are All Right (2010)

2011-04-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

The Kids Are All Right (2010). Dir: Lisa Cholodenko. Starring Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo. IMDB.

So it's been a really slow movie-viewing month for me but my husband and I managed to actually settle down for a DVD the other night and we chose last year's Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right, about a lesbian couple played by Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, whose children decide to meet their biological sperm-donor dad, a man-child played by Mark Ruffalo. At first it's all congeniality and wine and picturesque organic-food dinners, but things go south when Paul, Ruffalo's character, has a sexual relationship with one of the women.

The Kids Are All Right is an art house crowd pleaser; its liberal politics and the Whole-Foods-affluent lifestyle the characters live make for an attractive celluloid fantasy. I hesitated for a long time to see this movie because I felt like I'd seen it many times before, at least in terms of the setting and milieu. Does anybody really have those gorgeous, picture-perfect dinner parties? The film raises some interesting and thorny issues which it mostly ignores- things about identity and sexuality and honesty- but the performances are all really good and the movie is great to look at.

So, yeah, I liked it. The ending surprised me; it was a stronger ending than I thought it would have, and I loved how the characters grew, especially the couple's two kids. It's a nice film that's easy to like and makes for a pleasant evening of thought-provoking entertainment.

Rating: RENT

REVIEW: Rebecca (1940)

2011-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Rebecca (1940). Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine and George Sanders. IMDB.

I read Daphne du Maurier's classic novel Rebecca a month or so ago and thought it was just staggering- a profoundly disturbing anti-Jane Eyre gothic love story about obsession and murder. When I found out the film adaptation was directed by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, I borrowed the DVD immediately, and now I think I'm going to have to buy it.

So the story is about a young woman, nameless, who marries the wealthy and enigmatic Maxim de Winter in a whirlwind Monte Carlo romance. He brings her back to England and his palatial estate, Manderley. The estate is ruled by Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, devoted to Maxim's dead wife Rebecca; Rebecca was a legendary beauty and hostess, beloved, it seems, universally. The new Mrs. de Winter finds she must struggle to fit in and be the great lady Rebecca was. Most of the time, she feels woefully inferior, and, haunted by reminders of the magnificent Rebecca, fears that her new husband also finds her inadequate.

Some things were altered from the novel, most notably Maxim's role in Rebecca's death. But 99% of the time Rebecca the film is a nearly note-perfect adaptation of the novel, from the opening scene to the end. Hitchcock masterfully reproduces the air of dread and fear surrounding the mysterious Manderley; he preserves the eroticism and the creepiness and just the whole atmosphere of dread and suspicion. And the actors! Laurence Olivier is genuinely creepy as Maxim de Winter, but possessing just the right amount of greasy charm at the same time, and Joan Fontaine is perfectly mousy and scared, like a frightened rabbit more than a newly-wed bride as she learns ever so slowly that no one will ever take the place of the beautiful Rebecca, even in her watery grave.

The DVD I watched includes some fun bonus features, including footage of Vivien Leigh's screen test for the role of Mrs. de Winter. I love Vivien Leigh but Fontaine with her wide-eyed innocence was the right choice.

This is a movie that's going to stay with me for a long time, just as the book will. I strongly recommend both; I'll have a review on my book blog in a little while but in the mean time if you haven't seen Rebecca I can't recommend it highly enough.

Rating: RUSH

It's a Top Pick!

REVIEW: Jane Eyre (2011)

2011-03-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Jane Eyre (2011). Dir: Cary Fukunaga. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Bell. IMDB.

First of all, Jane Eyre the novel is one of my all-time favorite reads; I've been re-reading it this year and have been anticipating the new movie for months. So you know I went to see it at the very first opportunity, which was last night at the Boston advance screening. The theater was packed, and the film was fantastic.

Director Cary Fukunaga tells the story starting from about 2/3 of the way through the actual narrative; it's difficult to set the story up without spoiling it somewhat but I'll try. The very first shot is Jane leaving a house; she travels into the countryside by herself, and collapses on the doorstep of the Rivers family- sisters Diana and Mary, and brother St. John, kind people who take her in. As she recovers, we learn her story in flashback- her unhappy childhood, her dismal school years and the romance at the center of the story (and her life), with Mr. Rochester of Thornfield Hall.

Of course the love story takes up most of the space in the movie; even at 2 hours and change, there's not enough time to incorporate all the detail of Charlotte Brontë's wonderful novel so Fukunaga has to trim. (Some details from the book are changed, too.) Her childhood and school years are greatly abbreviated, as is the very end of the story, but for the most part I thought that his choices were judicious. The movie looks incredible- the outdoor scenes are richly atmospheric and I could almost feel the breezes and rains and hailstorms cutting through the screen. And the actors are terrific, too. I loved Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as Jane and Rochester; they have a great on-screen chemistry and Wasikowska is now my favorite Jane. Fassbender was wonderful but nobody can replace Timothy Dalton- sorry.

Overall? Fukunaga's Jane Eyre is a winning adaptation of a true literary classic. I can't wait to see it again! Jane Eyre fans will love it and those who haven't read the book but enjoy artsy literary love stories should see it, too.

Rating: RUSH

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Movies for St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

With St. Patrick's Day coming up this week, I thought I'd share some of my favorite Irish movies.

Recently I saw the wonderful The Secret of Kells, the beautiful Oscar-nominated animated movie from 2009 about the creation of the Book of Kells, the legendary illuminated manuscript now housed at Trinity College, Dublin. The music, the visuals and the voices blend together for an enchanting treat for all ages.

Maybe a slightly nontraditional choice, but I loved The Crying Game, Neil Jordan's 1992 political thriller and love story about the IRA and a star-crossed couple. It's one of my favorite love stories of all time!

Finally, there's Once, the film that Colin Farrell described as "the little Irish movie that could." The 2006 movie, made on a shoestring, won an Oscar for best song for Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's "Falling Slowly" and remains a beautiful film about music and a very special friendship. Watching this movie will make you feel like you're walking the streets of Dublin.

What are your favorite Irish movies?

REVIEW: The Class (2008)

2011-03-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Class (2008). Original title: Entre les murs. Dir: Laurent Cantet. Starring François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio. IMDB. In French with English subtitles.

In The Class, writer and teacher François Bégaudeau stars as his own alter-ego, François Marin, a teacher of French in a racially diverse Paris school. His students, 14- and 15-year olds, come from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as well as the arrondissments of Paris; along with the regular chaos of teenagers he's confronted with cultural differences and expectations which he's not always prepared to handle.

Chief among his students are Wei (Wei Huang), a young Chinese boy whose parents have immigration issues, brittle Khoumba (Rachel Regulier) who bristles under Marin's authority, and troubled Souleyman (Franck Keïta), a discipline problem with a talent for photography. Every class is a little battle; the kids chafe against French and adult discipline while the teachers chat and gossip and complain to each other about how difficult the kids are. Things come to a head when the schoolyard grapevine gets wind of how teachers in a committee meeting scrutinized Souleyman's academic and personal prospects, leading to a misunderstanding and a confrontation in the classroom.

The main character of The Class is really the setting- the school with its contradictory and conflicting elements, and the movie, which is very talky, provides a detailed character study of the school. M. Marin and his colleagues are not Mr. Chips and the kids aren't adorable sprites who come to adore their teacher; these are tough kids and tough adults, too, all too aware of their relative positions and the power that comes with them. I thought The Class was a really terrific movie that showed how some fairly realistic conflicts might play out. The kids were terrific- and most of them, from what I understand, were not professional actors. There are no easy answers to be found at the end of The Class but it's a very satisfying film nonetheless.

Rating: RUSH

REVIEW: Election (1999)

2011-03-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Election (1999). Dir: Alexander Payne. Starring Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Chris Klein. IMDB.

Election is a favorite of mine. It's not the best movie ever made- it's not a classic of Western cinema or anything- but it's a great, biting satire rife with irony, tragedy and some great laughs.

The story focuses on a high school race for student body president; junior Tracy Flick is an ambitious, prickly overachiever who sees the race as the crowning glory of her illustrious high school career. The always-wonderful Reese Witherspoon portrays her with maniacal glee. Her opponent isn't really the football bonehead running against her in the race- it's Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick), a smug history teacher who blames Tracy for a scandal that ruined the career of his best friend. Mr. McAllister recruits the jock (a cute and clueless Chris Klein) and tries to rig the race.

Election is one of those rainy-day favorites I return to at least once a year. Director Alexander Payne wrote the screenplay from Tom Perrotta's novel, which I plan to read soon. I don't know how I've gone this long without reading the novel; I really enjoyed Perrotta's more recent Little Children (and its movie adaptation as well) and I'm pretty sure I'm going to love Election the novel as much as I love the movie. It's the kind of movie that gets called "quirky"- definitely not 100% mainstream fare- but if you like a good harsh satire and/or any of the lead actors, you really need to spend a rainy day with Election.

Rating: RUSH

My Oscar Recap

2011-02-28T03:59:00.000-08:00

Well, first of all I don't think I can really do an Oscar recap because I went to bed around 10:30, shortly after the documentary award went out. The best part of last night's Oscar presentation was the buzz on Twitter! I watch the Oscars faithfully every year- and I almost always sit through the whole thing- but I just couldn't do it last night.

My husband and I got Chinese take-out and camped out in the den as we usually do. It's our thing. :-)

It started off terribly with awful red carpet interviews; I watched the ABC pre-show and the green room interviews were absolutely charmless. Even pretty Reese Witherspoon seemed to lack personality. Then the show started and all I can say is that hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco basically tanked it. I love both of them in their films but when the most fun you have is complaining on Twitter that you're bored, maybe it's time to call it quits.

Awards-wise The King's Speech won Best Picture as predicted; I was slightly disappointed that Hailee Steinfeld didn't win Best Supporting Actress but the buzz was all about Melissa Leo.

The dresses were fun, of course. I loved Amy Adams' navy sparkler and Mila Kunis looked vintage-pretty if not exactly glamorous. I know everyone loves Gwenyth Paltrow's look but her whole icy-blonde thing just leaves me cold. Anne Hathaway looked great in all her many costume changes.

I'm sorry I don't have anything better to say. It just wasn't a very good show.

What did you think? Do you have any Oscar rituals? Did any of your favorites win?

Oscars!

2011-02-27T17:19:00.001-08:00

It's on now- I'm tweeting at @BostonBibliophl. Come join in!

REVIEW: Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

2011-02-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

Les Enfants du Paradis (1945). Dir: Marcel Carné. Starring Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Brasseur. No rating. IMDB. In French with English subtitles.

After doing a post on my favorite Valentine's Day movies, my husband and I decided to actually watch one of them! We picked Les Enfants du Paradis because it's the only one on the list he hadn't seen. He loved it, and of course, so do I.

Set in early 19th century Paris, it's a love story and a story about the theater. Four men fall in love with the beautiful actress/courtesan Garance (Arletty)- shy mime Baptiste (Barrault, himself an accomplished mime), up-and-coming actor Frederick Lemaitre (Brasseur), criminal Lacenaire and the Comte de Montray, a dandy. She has relationships of one kind or another with all of them, but there is only one she truly loves.

It's a long movie- about 3 hours- divided into two sections. It was filmed in Paris under Nazi occupation, and I read once that the reason it was split was that the French Vichy government, which supervised the filming, didn't allow movies of more than 90 minutes to be produced. And the second part is almost more like a sequel; it picks up several years after the action of the first and takes its characters in different directions.

Les Enfants du Paradis is a truly magnificent film, a screen classic and essential viewing for anyone with an even half-way serious interest in the movies. The Criterion Collection DVD version includes an insightful introduction by acclaimed actor/director Terry Gilliam, who talks about what the film means to him and how it influenced his visual style. It's also a moving and bittersweet love story with a backstory worthy of a film of its own.

And it's a Top Pick of mine!

Rating: RUSH

REVIEW: True Grit (2010)

2011-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

True Grit (2010). Dir: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld. IMDB.

Loved.

As I'm sure you know, True Grit is a remake of the 1969 John Wayne flick and an adaptation of the novel by Charles Portis, and it's just great. True Grit is the story of Mattie Ross, whip-smart and mourning the murder of her father by a serial criminal named Tom Chaney. She enlists Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) to help her. Rooster is a character we've seen before, the spectactular screwup who's really a hero in disguise but his relationship with Mattie is tender and kindly. The men find Mattie laughable at first- a fourteen year old girl, of all things, bent on bringing in a hardened criminal- but they grow to respect her, and she grows to love them. The final scene is heartbreaking and eloquent.

True Grit is up for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and acting nods for Bridges and Steinfeld. I loved Steinfeld- she was unbelievable and hope she wins- but I think Bridges had an easy, flashy role and the real work was done by Damon. He was great. I like him generally but he was fabulous in this movie. The only thing that put me off the movie even a little was the violence- not so much the shooting as some of the up-close-and-personal stuff involving fingers and later, snakes. But it's a Coen brothers movie so what can you do. My suggestion? Go see this now!

Rating: RUSH

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New Clips from JANE EYRE!

2011-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so anyone who knows me from my book blog or elsewhere knows how totally and completely excited I am about the upcoming Jane Eyre movie, coming out in March.

If you go to Facebook, you can see five clips!

Who else can't wait for this adaptation? Have you seen any other Jane adaptations? What did you think? Do you have a favorite?

I wrote a post about this on my book blog but if you didn't see it, I've seen the 1996 version with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg, and the 1983 version with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. Loved the latter, didn't like the former. What about you?

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My Favorite Movies for Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

So it's Valentine's Day, and it's time to pick a romantic movie to watch with your sweetie. What's it going to be?

Scanning my DVD collection, I think I'd start with Gone With the Wind (1954), probably one of my favorite epic love stories. I mean, does it really get any better than Rhett and Scarlett? Oh, and read the book, too!

When it comes to foreign films, one of my favorites is the French movie A Very Long Engagement (2004), with Audrey Tatou as the determined Mathilde, convinced her fiancé Manech, missing in the bloodbath of the French trenches of World War 2, is still alive. It's based on the great novel of the same name by Sebastien Japrisot.

Actually made during World War 2 in Paris during the Nazi occupation, and one of the most romantic movies ever made about the theater, Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) tells the story of the beautiful actress Garance, and the mime who loves her from afar. It's an amazing portrait of 19th century France scripted by the poet Jacques Prévert and starring Arletty and Jean-Louis Barrault, himself one of France's greatest mimes.

More contemporary and more chick-flick, When Harry Met Sally (1989) has great chemistry between leads Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, lots of romance as all those couples tell their own love stories, and great music by Harry Connick, Jr. Yeah, I know it's cheesy, but sometimes cheesy is great.

Walk the Line (2005) is another romance that combines a great love story with great music. Joaquin Phoenix and the sparkling Reese Witherspoon bring Johnny Cash and June Carter's real-life love story to luminous life.

When I was in college, everyone's favorite love story was A Room with a View (1985), with Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands as impetuous lovers who fall for each other in the romantic Italian countryside, based on the novel by E.M. Forster. I still can't resist this movie!

If you want something a little livelier, try Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ for short) (1995), a Bollywood sensation about star-crossed lovers Raj and Simran. Raj is a bad-boy who falls for good-girl Simran but she's set to marry someone else. What will happen? Will her father ever accept him? It'll take you four hours to find out but you'll love every minute. Plus the music is fantastic! It was the first of several films together for stars Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan and it's just wonderful.

What are your favorite romantic movies? Are you going to watch a movie tonight?

REVIEW: Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

2011-02-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Gnomeo & Juliet (2011). Dir: Kelly Asbury. Starring the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Ashley Jensen, Michael Caine, and the music of Elton John.

I know what you're thinking: Gnomeo and Juliet? But, Marie, you don't watch kids' movies. You watch cool movies, foreign movies, arty movies. What's up?

What's up was that my husband has a client who was involved in the movie, and we got to attend the local premiere last night and you know what? I really liked it. It was sweet and fun and a lot better than I expected.

The story is pretty simple- an animated kids' version of Romeo & Juliet starring rival factions of garden gnomes, painted in candy-brights and voiced by an impressive cast of British actors, punctuated by the musical stylings of Elton John. The love story is cute; Juliet meets Gnomeo one night when she goes out of her garden to steal a beautiful orchid. They fall in love, but their love is doomed- right? Well, this is a kids' movie so no double suicides here, but it's a long road to happiness for our ceramic paramours. On the way they race lawnmowers and meet a lonesome pink flamingo lawn ornament in search of his own lost love.

The movie sticks pretty close to the original Shakespeare in its broad strokes, and there are lots of sight gags and verbal puns to keep adults entertained. I'm not sure I would take very small children to see it because of some scary stuff involving an aggressive lawnmower called the TerraFirminator and some references to the fates of the original Romeo and Juliet (in an entirely unnecessary scene when Gnomeo confers with a statue of Shakespeare) but most 9-11-year-olds would probably have fun and it's a gentle introduction to the Bard. Elton John's music is interspersed throughout- it's basically an Elton John musical when you get down to it- and adds a nice dimension to the movie. Gnomeo & Juliet is a good time and a sweet treat.

Rating: RENT

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REVIEW: Star Trek (2009)

2011-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Star Trek (2009). Dir: J.J. Abrams. Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg. PG-13. DVD. IMDB.

What can I say? I liked this movie so much more than I had any right to expect to. I saw it opening weekend in the theater and then many times since on DVD; my husband is a serious lifelong Trek fan and I'll admit I came to it late, after we combined households and Star Trek: The Next Generation was on TV every night. He saw the movie first and took me the next day after making sure it was good. And it was.

Not a sequel or really even a prequel, it's a reboot of the franchise, starting when Kirk and Spock are at Starfleet Academy and meet aboard their first ship. I'm not going to go into the plot details- nobody watches Trek movies for the plot. I think this one was about Romulans or something. It hardly matters. What makes Star Trek the delight it is, is the charisma and chemistry of actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as well as the rest of cast. Simon Pegg is just fun as Scotty and Karl Urban is great as the doctor, McCoy. Zoe Saldana, John Cho and Anton Yelchin round out the future-Enterprise crew and we even get a little Leonard Nimoy for our trouble, not to mention a brief appearance by Tyler Perry. And Eric Bana does his job as a villain.

If you're not a Trek fan, see it for the special effects, the action and the characters. If you're a Trek fan who hasn't seen this yet, you probably won't, but I wish you would. I actually know at least one devoted Trekkie who refuses to see it, convinced he'll be disappointed. I tried to tell him he wouldn't be- and I believe if he ever does see it, he'll love it. How can you not love this movie? It's just so much fun. Get your nerd on already and just watch it.

Rating: RUSH

REVIEW: The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

2011-02-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Man Who Knew Too Much. (1956) Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Starring: James Stewart, Doris Day. PG. DVD. IMDB.

Awhile back, my husband and I lined up a bunch of Hitchcock films on our Netflix queue with an eye to making a project of watching a bunch of them as a kind of mini film class. It's been fun, and we're about halfway through our list. The Man Who Knew Too Much isn't my favorite, and it isn't my least favorite; the story of a couple whose child is abducted in Morocco as part of a plot to assassinate a nearly anonymous political figure seemed pretty by-the-numbers for me.

Stewart and Day are fun as the McKennas, a fractious married couple on vacation, he a respected Midwestern doctor and she a retired New York stage star. Their marriage has some issues; she longs for a return to New York while he complains that that would be awfully far for his patients to travel from Indianapolis. They meet a friendly Frenchman on a bus, who, like many Europeans in Hitchcock films, has a hidden agenda. I wonder sometimes if American anti-European attitudes weren't in part influenced by the stream of shady accented men presented in his films, but that's another topic for another day. Anyway they meet the Draytons, another European couple at their hotel who are also in on the plot. The action moves to London as the McKennas pursue their son's kidnappers.

I think what I enjoyed most about The Man Who Knew Too Much were the little bits of comedy- the repartee between Stewart and Day, their clueless London friends and the silly final scene. And Day's singing, which is funny even though it's probably not supposed to be. The suspense is as light as the comedy. The contrast between the two couples is interesting; the McKennas are often at odds, bickering and even splitting up at different points in the movie but they come together in the end. The Draytons, on the other hand, function almost as a single unit but fall apart when push comes to shove. On balance I'd say The Man Who Knew Too Much was a fine evening's viewing but probably a minor Hitchcock overall.

Rating: RENT

REVIEW: Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

2011-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Howl's Moving Castle (2004). Dir: Hayao Miyazaki. Starring the voices of Christian Bale, Emily Mortimer, Jeanne Simmons, Lauren Bacall. PG. DVD. IMDB.

I've seen Howl's Moving Castle enough times now that I start crying as soon as the music swells during the opening credits. It's one of my favorite movies.

Howl's takes place in an imaginary country under siege; the country's king has recruited its magicians to assist in battle and a young woman named Sophie is cursed by one of them, a villain called the Witch of the Waste, after she catches the eye of another wizard, Howl. The Witch turns Sophie into an old woman and the only way Sophie can undo the curse is with Howl's help. But Howl is self-centered and has problems of his own, and Sophie must find a way to save them both.

What follows is a thrilling, unpredictable and gorgeous adventure and love story, with twists and turns and a whole cast of unforgettable characters. Sophie's confidence grows as she navigates Howl's crazy home and builds warm friendships with the ragtag family housed within. Everyone must take a risk and sacrifice something they hold dear to save themselves and each other.

If you couldn't tell, I love this movie. Miyazaki's artistry has never looked more beautiful and never served a more beautiful story. The music is amazing and underscores the emotional highs and lows, and the English voice actors all do a wonderful job. I love the loose ends he leaves- the bittersweet fate of Turnip Head and the transformation of the Witch of the Waste are twists I never would have expected. The movie touches on trademark Miyazaki themes of the horror of war and pollution without being didactic or interfering with the main storyline. It's not a movie for kids but it's a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful film for anyone who likes a beautiful love story with lots to see and do along the way.

It's one of my TOP PICKS.

Rating: RUSH