The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)

A group of women and one man form a book club devoted to Jane Austen novels only to find their own love lives taking on the shape of those classic romances.

     As someone familiar with Jane Austen, this movie definitely falls into the category of smart chick-flicks. It's got heartbreak, male-female dynamics, sex, and a certain sweetness to it that I found positive. However, it wasn't perfect.

     Because the movie focuses on so many characters, there's bound to one that slips into the cracks. In this movie, it was the lesbian daughter of one of the main women. It made her seem like a childish bed-hopper who finds random women on the sets of her numerous injuries. A certain montage of the relationships shows her and her current girlfriend as if we were just as invested in her love life as we were in the other character's, when really we feel like it's just another doomed one-night stand. It made lesbian relationships seem shallow. 

     I loved Hugh Dancy. He had the perfect balance of being physically attractive and yet non-threatening, creating an adorable sci-fi geek who is eager to experience everything and totally comfortable to sit around on a patio with older women. Alas, men like him do not really exist. Emily Blunt was another of my favorite's as well, though she did struggle with her character's writing, it was very hard to make her character likeable, but with a face like Blunt's, who could see her crying and not jump up to comfort her? Seriously. 

   This movie was like a shooting star - it was quick, its star trail quickly fades, but while it lasted, it was completely charming and hopeful. It wasn't bogged down by crudity or sex jokes, it was about romance and the pursuit of love in all its missteps and victories. It was a movie that makes me smile.

The White Ribbon (2009)

Strange things start happening in a tiny German village in the year 1913. It seems that the children seem to be at the heart of the mystery.

     This is one of those foreign films that is so far superior to American films, it's shocking. The subtlety, the symbols, the characters...it's all done so well, so delicately, it's like looking at a classical painting brought to life. 

    As with most foreign films, it's very long and slow-moving. Lots of interesting things happen though, it could have been a lot worse. The movie also has one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever seen, which was a tiny glimmer in an otherwise very dark story. Another beautiful scene involves a small child and his father, it gives hope to the viewer that purity and love can survive even in the most parched of environments.

    I read that the movie is a symbol of the birth of the Nazi mindset. I believe that, but I think there are many layers to a film this complex and well-done; it explores issues with class, family, sexuality, but the repression that is key to the movie definitely supports the mental ripening of Germany for Hitler, even though it takes place just before WWI when Germany was utterly decimated. This is a terrific movie to study and- for those interested in the German language - the dialogue is relatively simple so it's easy to follow. 
    Foreign films FTW!

Shutter Island (2010)

 

In 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is sent to investigate the disappearance of a murderess on Shutter Island, a hospital for the criminally insane.

     I waited so long for this movie to come out. I counted down the days, realized it wasn't released in October, and then counted more days till it finally came out this month. It was indeed a fascinating film.

    It's hard to describe it without spoilers, but I will say it is an excellent example of a true thriller- heavy on psychological thrills, a fair dash of blood and guts, insane people, all set during a wild rainstorm on a tiny island ringed in rock. 

    One of the reasons for its success in my mind is the acting. No one plays furrowed brow and blood-shoot eyes better than Leo, and his transformation from hard-business cop to wounded man shocked at the horror around him is beautiful. Kudos to you. The supporting characters are all excellent, too, Ben Kingsley is deliciously unnerving as the head doctor of the hospital, almost unnerving as all the mental patients who twitch and mutter or shriek. 

   I hated the soundtrack. It was awful. It was all blasting strings, foghorns, and no melody. I honestly wanted to cover my ears. The movie was best when it was silent and all you could hear was the drip of water from the flickering lights of a cell-like building. 

    It's a relatively long film, so get comfortable and pay attention. Luckily there are no boring moments. This is definitely a movie to savor.

The Others (2001)

A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted.

    This is a masterpiece of thriller. Nearly everything about this movie is perfect in its subtle detail and ambiance. You doubt everything and everyone. Every dark corner is suspicious and every ray of light may reveal some mystery. Love it, love it.

    The first standout is the acting. Kidman is magnificent. It's incredible to watch her icy, uptight visage gradually crumble and melt with terror as everything she believes in crashes around her. Of the two child actors, my favorite was the little dark-haired boy with his pouting lips and mother-worship. The daughter is a stark contrast and I found her nasty tendencies hard to swallow. She serves her purpose well though, and her acting improves as the movie goes on. Irish actress Fionnula Flanagan with her bird-like eyes was perfect as Kidman's new servant. I've seen her in other movies. I wish she was in more, she's underrated. 

    The setting of the ancient family house occupied by children and a slowly unraveling woman reminded me of The Innocents and I loved the old-school thriller opening credits with the pencil illustrations and haunting violin score. The set-up of the rooms reminded me a play, with each old table or music box carefully set in its place to create the perfect scene. 

    There were only two things I disliked about this movie: 1) A rather random appearance of a character, though I do understand its purpose, it still seemed weird and 2) the gardener's acting, I thought he was terrible. Everything else...thriller perfection. 

Couples Retreat (2009)

At the urging of their friends, four couples go to a couples' retreat to experience all the fun and beauty of the tropics. However, when they arrive, they discover that the expectations of the island are a little different from what they all anticipated. 

    This was a very cute movie. It had a good balance of innuendo and heartfelt moments, and the antics weren't so unbelievable that it became a slapstick sex comedy. I liked that it was about couples and their marriages and not about finding love or something else cheesy; it was based on real life and real problems. 

    The island was too beautiful, the water too blue, the sun too bright, and the actor too sweat-free. It didn't look real at all, it looked like a green-screen projection. That bothered me. There weren't really any bugs or sand fleas or anything. 

   The acting was generally nicely subtle. Jason Bateman was my favorite.

   It was a fun movie. Lots of pretty women, Vince Vaughn-style humor, all that. Not bad. 

This Is It (2009)

Documentary footage of Michael Jackson's rehearsal for what would have been his last tour called "This Is it." 

    This was a very impressive documentary. It didn't depend on interviews with "experts," or with MJ's family or anything, it was just the man himself and those around him. The film has everything - intimate moments with MJ working with light designers, dancers, guitarists, (which included the very young, very talented Orianthi) singers, and more, full dress rehearsals, stripped down performances, backdrop films...everything. 

      It was incredible to see Michael only days before his death; he was like a boy on stage, flexible, energetic, happy...it was very bittersweet. He knew all his songs perfectly and was still so passionate about them. A highlight was definitely "Human Nature," MJ's vocals were crystalline and it's just a beautiful song.

   I was never a huge MJ fan, but after this, I can understand why so many people, young and old, simply adore him. 

The Wolfman (2010)

Drawn back to his childhood home by a letter, an actor is attacked by a mysterious and vicious creature, only to find himself transformed when the moon is full. 

     This movie has gotten pretty bad reviews, but I found it really entertaining. It wasn't innovative, but it wasn't supposed to be. The balance between classic monster movie flavor and modern flair was nearly perfect; the film had all the visual majesty of the latest technology and epic gothic score, but also straightforward gore, curses, and Victorian-style acting that the story required. 

     It was very gory, but unlike contemporary horror movies such as Saw and Saw 189, it wasn't "weird" gore. The wolfman comes on screen, probably slashes his claws across a guy's face and belly, maybe rips out a liver or two, but that's nothing unusual or unexpected. It had plenty of starts and jumps, which I love, it gets the blood pumping. 

    Hmm, I guess there's really nothing else to say. The acting served its purpose, Anthony Hopkins was his usual excellent self, channeling some sort of sinister Santa Claus as our hero's father, and Emily Blunt was a perfect Victorian beauty. The script was simple, it didn't try to be overtly supernatural, it was a monster movie through and through.