Sorry for my absence! I had a vacation and lots of catching up to do.
I have to start out my reviews with some can't miss TV. You must tune in every Sunday night to HBO and watch the John Adams mini-series. Besides Paul Giamatti's brilliant performance, to see the birth of our nation in all it's beauty and tragedy makes it educational as well. A country needs to know what it is fighting for when it says it is "fighting for freedom around the world." It is important to know the real pains and politics of freedom's birth in this country first.
Once : Give this movie a chance! I watched this movie with my husband and another couple and the other couple left half way through. Maybe I would have as well if I hadn't seen the show stopping performance at the Academy Awards of the winning song "Falling Slowly" sung by the movie's two leads - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I was so impressed by the song that I began listening to the soundtrack at work (thanks to a co-worker that had it). I'm hooked!
I think we are so visually stunned by movies like Transformers and No Country For Old Men that we don't want to spend some time just watching a quiet movie that is more than long music video. Once is low budget but sweet and follows the journey of a musician who goes from performing on the street to a studio, at the behest of young woman, who hears his brilliance and heartache that he belts out in every tune. There is A LOT of music - be prepared. I already loved the music so I enjoyed seeing it performed by the stars and by Hansard's real band The Frames. Don't look for biting dialogue and big effects. Just enjoy these regular folks doing what they love.
MMMM (out of 5 M's)
30 Days of Night : I am not a horror movie type at all but this one looked good and seemed to have some credibility with Josh Hartnett in the leading roll. Based on a graphic novel series, this movie delivers. It delivers the story, the gore and the jump out of your skin effect you want from a good scary movie.
The film is about an Alaskan town that is as far north as you can get in the US and every year they have 30 days without sunshine. Hmmm...let's see...who do you think would love a town with no sunlight and humans...you guessed it - Vampires. Our vampires at lead there by a Renfield type character who prepares the town by burning cell phones and murdering sled dogs. The population of the town drops significantly during the 30 days because some folks just can't take the darkness and fly out. Slowly, but surely, the town gets cut off from the rest of world and with no power...the are in the dark. After a nice build up and incredibly gory scene of vampires run amok, we see a few stragglers trying to sneak around town and wait out the 30 days. Good acting and story really make this movie worthwhile.
MMM1/2M (of 5)
No Country For Old Men : Motion Picture of the Year? I don't know about the merit of that because I haven't seen all the others but it is a good movie. It would help to already be familiar with the Coen brothers' work like Fargo, Intolerable Cruelty, Miller's Crossing, O Brother, Where Art Thou, Bad Santa and Raising Arizona - to name a few. Nothing about this writing, directing, producing (and so on) of this team is predictable. This movie is no exception.
No Country For Old Men is a carefully woven tale of a few good guys, lots of bad guys and even more worse guys. The cast is first rate with Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Oscar winner Javier Bardem and many familiar actors in supporting roles. The strange fates of the leads and spurts of dialogue will keep you wanting to watch until the end - even though you know it cannot end well for most of those involved. I don't think this movie is for everyone.
MMM (of 5)
Michael Clayton : This movie will not disappoint. I still have a few Oscar nominated movies to see but I think this was better than the winner. George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton (Oscar winner for her role in this movie) are brilliant in this story of those that are in the most hated profession in the world - Lawyers. Tom Wilkinson delivers a truly award winning performance as a top corporate lawyer who goes over the edge and George Clooney, as Michael Clayton, who has to clean up the fall out. Michael Clayton is basically a "janitor." He goes in to clean up messes left by other lawyers, firms, companies and situations. No one is really sure what it is he does...but he gets it done. The beginning of the movie (the first 10 minutes) will keep you wondering that you may have missed something but you will find out what it was as the movie progresses. All your questions will be answered. This movie is filled with surprises and isn't just some kind of lawyer drama - it has real intrigue and suspense.
MMMM (of 5)
