Archive | movies RSS feed for this section

Stuck in the Middle

2 Mar

Joaquin Phoenix is such a great actor that it’s really a shame he had to pull that bizarre act on David Letterman a couple weeks ago. In his new film, Two Lovers, he gives such an impressive performance — just as he did in other films, including Walk the Line and Gladiator — that it’s hard to believe the actor and the rapper wannabe are one and the same person. Or … maybe that’s just proof of how versatile he really is.

In Two Lovers, Phoenix plays Leonard, who has moved back in with his parents in the decidedly unhip Russian Jewish neighborhood of Brighton Beach following his break-up with his fiancee. To keep busy and keep his mind off his heartbreak, Leonard works in his father’s cleaners, which his father is planning to merge with the owner of another cleaners. Actually, there’s another merger at work: Leonard is fixed up with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), whose father owns the other cleaners. A relationship with Sandra promises stability, comfort, and emotional rescue. But that’s when Leonard meets Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), who has moved into the building where Leonard lives. Leonard is instantly drawn to the hip, beautiful, vivacious Michelle, and she sparks his personality. But while Leonard is crushing on Michelle, she is involved in a self-destructive affair with a married man. And we always want the ones we can’t have, right? The two women possess opposite qualities, and Leonard is attracted to them for different reasons. So he is faced with a choice: will it be love or lust?

As noted, Phoenix is really terrific here. He gives a sensitive, emotional, totally believable performance. He doesn’t hit a single false note. The two women are also very good, though Shaw certainly comes across better than Paltrow. I like how director James Gray films the Manhattan and Brighton Beach scenes differently, so as to emphasize how much more exciting Michelle’s life is. And I also appreciated how the film avoids the cliche of having the two women meet, thus forcing Leonard to make his big choice. What happens here happens organically, naturally. Is it an easy decision? No. But it’s a testament to the writing and to Phoenix’s performance that it all feels very real. I’m giving Two Lovers an A–.

Movies I’ve Seen (2008 Releases)

25 Feb

(click on the link for my review)

1. CLOVERFIELD

2. U23D

3. VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW

4. JUMPER

5. VANTAGE POINT

6. BE KIND REWIND

7. CHICAGO 10

8. LEATHERHEADS

9. SHINE A LIGHT

10. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

11. SMART PEOPLE

12. BABY MAMA

13. AMERICAN TEEN

14. HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY

15. MADE OF HONOR

16. 21

17. IRON MAN

18. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

19. SEX AND THE CITY

20. YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

21. THE INCREDIBLE HULK

22. WALL-E

23. HANCOCK

24. MAMMA MIA!

25. THE WACKNESS

26. THE DARK KNIGHT

27. STEP BROTHERS

28. SWING VOTE

29. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

30. MAN ON WIRE

31. TROPIC THUNDER

32. VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

33. BURN AFTER READING

34. RELIGULOUS

35. NICK & NORA’S INFINITE PLAYLIST

36. RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

37. W.

38. SEX DRIVE

39. CHANGELING

40. ROLE MODELS

41. SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK

42. QUANTUM OF SOLACE

43. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

44. MILK

45. AUSTRALIA

46. CADILLAC RECORDS

47. DOUBT

48. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

49. FROST/NIXON

50. THE WRESTLER

51. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

52. MARLEY & ME

53. GRAN TORINO

54. REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

55. LAST CHANCE HARVEY

56. THE READER

Not an Easy Read

15 Feb

A movie that explores guilt, secrets, and an illicit affair between an older woman and a younger man, The Reader certainly is provocative. The film tells the story of Michael Berg (played by David Kross and Ralph Fiennes), who meets Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) in 1958, when he is only 15, and begins an affair with her that lasts a summer. Hanna is turned on when Michael reads to her, so he pleasures her by reading The Odyssey, Huckleberry Finn, and other books. Then one day Hanna disappears. When she resurfaces 10 years later, she is on trial for crimes committed when she was a guard during the Holocaust. Michael, now a law student, must grapple with what he knows about Hanna, and must decide whether to divulge a secret that could hold the key to whether Hanna is found innocent or guilty.

In her Oscar-nominated role, Winslet is quite good. Maybe not blow-you-away good, but she’s quite effective in the role of a mysterious woman who puts her personal pride ahead of all else. (She’s as good here as she is in Revolutionary Road). I wish she looked more believable, though; when Hanna is older, she still looks like the 33-year-old Winslet, just with a lot of obviously caked-on makeup. Kross is also very good, but it takes a leap of faith to believe his aging as well; he looks the same at 15 as he does at 25, and then at 35 all of a sudden he looks like Ralph Fiennes.

Makeup aside, The Reader is a very good movie and I liked it. I thought the premise could have been handled differently, in a way that would have been more dramatic, but the high-minded, quiet tone here reflects Hannah’s inner turmoil and Michael’s conflicted feelings well. I felt uncomfortable being sympathetic toward Hanna, and I think that’s more a problem of casting, because Winslet doesn’t make it easy to dislike her, no matter how good her performance is.

Also, since I saw The Reader so late, after the Oscar nominations had been announced, I couldn’t help but judge it with its accolades in mind. Would I have named it one of the top five films of the year? No. The Dark Knight should have gotten The Reader‘s slot. This is a good movie to be sure, but I’m only going to give it a B+.

An Exception to the Rule

8 Feb

Based on the the best-selling book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, the film He’s Just Not That Into You tries to dramatize and explain — and make light of — the reasons why dating is so hard for so many people. We meet the wrong people. We believe lies. We get overeager and share too much about ourselves up front. We don’t read the signs. Etc. Etc. We’ve all done it or caused someone else to do it. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t remind us of all these stupid behaviors in grating, annoying fashion. Instead, it’s a surprisingly enjoyable time that won’t make men feel emasculated or ashamed when the lights come up.

To be clear, HJNTIY is less of a romantic comedy than romantic dramedy. Which is not to say that it’s unfunny. It’s just that more of the laughs come from watching the movie and saying to yourself, “I’ve done that” (or listening to people around you who say it), or from knowing that what the characters are doing is exactly the wrong thing to do (and, yes, hearing people who sit next to you call that out). The Altman-esque ensemble is filled with likable actors in likable, sympathetic roles — even Scarlett Johansson, who plays a seductress who tries to break up a marriage, while also trying to deflect the affections of a young suitor played by Entourage‘s Kevin Connolly. Think Love Actually, but set it in Baltimore not at Christmastime, and cast it with younger people, and you have the basic idea.

Much of the movie is told from the POV of Ginnifer Goodwin‘s Gigi, the prototypical single girl who keeps falling for the wrong guys and believing they’re more interested in her than they actually are. When a guy tells her he’ll call and then doesn’t, Gigi spends all day checking her voice mail and working herself up over why he hasn’t, and whether she should call him or do a “drive-by” at a place she knows he’ll be. On one such drive-by, Gigi befriends Alex (Justin Long), the manager of a bar, who advises her in blunt, honest style about how to understand men (essentially, he’s Behrendt’s stand-in). If you, like me, were a fan of the TV show Ed, then you’ll agree that it’s good to see these two back together again all these years later. The entire cast has easy chemistry, and while they all don’t interact with each other, the relationships on screen do seem believable.

Thankfully, HJNTIY avoids most of the obvious cliches of chick flicks: there’s no silly montage of bad dates, no gay best friend, no cheesy soundtrack, no sitcom-y cliches, no nothing like that. Which, I think, means that HJNTIY may not be a chick flick at all, given the conventional definition. Yes, some of the story lines do end happily, but not all of them, and it’s not like there’s sweeping music or guys running down the street to meet an impossible deadline or anything cliched like that to make you groan when they do. The women here are not swans in ugly duckling wardrobes, or put-upon sad sacks prone to clumsy antics, who are waiting for Prince Charming … and the guys are portrayed in equally imperfect fashion. This is essentially a lesson movie, but it’s one whose lessons go down easy.

Because dating foibles are something we can all identify with, and because it’s not just the women who are the victims here, HJNTIY is actually a movie that can be enjoyed by either gender. Could it be a tad shorter than two hours, 10 minutes? Sure. But the winning cast keeps things moving and the relatable storylines keep the action engaging. I’m into He’s Just Not That Into You so I’m giving it a B+.

I’m Already Yawning

22 Jan

So the Oscar nominations were announced today. Wanna watch the announcement? Here you go:

http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/496e682876b273c0/4979076e5f89a48a/496e682876b273c0/55f882b5/-cpid/8bc17a0f9353b6cf

What’re my thoughts? Well, I’m not excited. For one thing, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is waaaaaay overrated. Some categories are largely as expected, based on previous awards nominees. Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, for example. But others had their share of surprises, and not good ones. The Reader, which I still have yet to see, got a slot for Best Picture instead of the very worthy The Dark Knight, which I was really pulling for and which had a legit shot at a nomination based on nominations by the Producers, Writers, and Directors Guilds. I’m also really really surprised by the omission of Bruce Springsteen and Jamie Cullum from the Best Song category for their contributions to The Wrestler and Gran Tornio, respectively. I was really looking forward to both performances on the telecast. And what’s with two of the only three Best Song nominations going to Slumdog Millionaire? I also think that not nominating Dark Knight for Best Score was a huge omission. And does Angelina Jolie deserve her Best Actress nomination (for Changeling)? No.

Truth be told, there’s nothing about the nominations that really gets me excited for the ceremony this year. At this point, it’s pretty safe to say Slumdog Millionaire will win Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay, and that Mickey Rourke and Heath Ledger will win too. Otherwise, I could really care less about Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress this year, and many of the other categories. I really hope Benjamin Button doesn’t win many of the 13 categories it’s nominated in. And more importantly, I hope host Hugh Jackman is good, because otherwise it could be a very, very, very long night for me when the awards are handed out on February 22.

A Hopeful Sign

19 Jan

Harvey Shine is one of those sad sack characters we meet every now and then in the movies. Within the first third of Last Chance Harvey, he’s lost his job, he’s missed a flight, he’s belittled by his ex-wife, and he’s been told by his daughter on the eve of her wedding (that, by the way, he’s flown from New York to London to attend) that she considers her stepfather to be a more significant parent than Harvey was. He’s lost, sad, lonely, out of his element, and hopeless. And then … And then he meets Kate Walker in a bar, and wouldn’t you know it, Harvey gets a new outlook on life and is willing to take a chance on love again. So goes LCH, a charming little film that’s like a hybrid of Before Sunrise/Sunset and An Affair to Remember for people my parents’ age to enjoy.

Led by very likable performances by Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, LCH doesn’t reinvent the romantic drama or push any boundaries. In fact, some of it is predictable and sort of silly (like an unnecessary subplot about Kate’s mother being scared of her neighbor). But no matter. Hoffman and Thompson transcend the material and make a very appealing, if a little unlikely, couple. This one won’t rock your world or anything, but it’s pleasant, sweet, and enjoyable, and the acting by the two stars makes LCH worth seeing. I’m giving it a strong B.

Hopeless Emptiness

4 Jan

It’s the summer of 1955 and all is not what it seems deep in the New York suburbs.

The new film Revolutionary Road tells the story of Frank and Alice Wheeler (played by real-life BFFs Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), a young couple who move to the titular address, where the neighbors all think they’re special and the perfect couple: They’re attractive, they’ve got two kids, a beautiful home, a blissfully happy marriage, the whole bit.

But the Wheelers are anything but happy, and from early on in the film, we know that beneath the surface, this is a couple that is far from in love. Continue reading →

The Year of Martin

31 Dec

I can’t believe 2008 is already over, mostly because when I look back on the year, I remember it as being as a great one in the life of Martin Lieberman.

Three big things happened: I bought a condo, my niece was born, and I got a new job. All three were huge, life-changing events.

I mean, my niece being born … yeah. But the condo purchase came after more than six years of living in the same place, and the new job came after more than seven years with the same company.

So I guess there’s very good reason for some of my friends to be calling 2008 “The Year of Martin.” Continue reading →

Mr. Kowalski’s Neighborhood

29 Dec

In Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood plays a grizzled old man named Walt Kowalski.

A Korean War veteran, Walt is one of those Midwestern guys so set in his ways and his beliefs that the slightest deviation sets him off. He’s intolerant of others who aren’t like him, insulting to every race, and he doesn’t have much incentive to change his ways.

He’s Archie Bunker without the laugh track.

To paraphrase someone else’s metaphor, he’s John McCain in a Barack Obama world.

So as you might assume, Walt’s not taking too kindly to the Hmong people who have moved next door (and throughout his neighborhood) and who are disrupting his status quo. Continue reading →

Doggone It

27 Dec

Masculinity be damned, I went to see Marley & Me by myself, without any coaxing. And take my word for it when I tell you the movie is more entertaining and engaging than I ever expected it being. Yes, it has some cheeseball elements — like a soundtrack that includes R.E.M.’s “Shiny Happy People” — and it’s a little too long, but while Marley does tug on the heartstrings quite a bit and it does go for a couple of easy laughs, it certainly earns all the emotions. In short, I feel no embarrassment in telling y’all how much I enjoyed it.

Where does the credit for this lie? I give some to screenwriters Scott Frank and Don Roos, whose credits include Out of Sight and The Opposite of Sex. They’ve taken John Grogan’s book, which I haven’t read, and fashioned an earnest screenplay from what I can only assume is a highly sentimental book. Of course, additional credit has to go to director David Frankel, who also helmed the surprisingly enjoyable The Devil Wears Prada. But I think you have to give most of the kudos to Owen Wilson, who gives a charming and very likable performance. Heck, maybe the guy’s growing up. Whatever it is, he’s really great. Jennifer Aniston is also good, but it’s Wilson whose role is the stand-in for the audience and who has to do more heavy lifting, emotionally.

Let’s just get one thing clear, though, and this is where your SPOILER WARNING will come in. The trailer and the ads for Marley are selling it as a laugh-a-minute cutesy movie about a family and their dog. Don’t be fooled. You should know full well that the ending of this movie is very very sad. I don’t mind telling you I was crying a bit, and might have shed more tears if I didn’t work so hard to hold them in. I’m sure you can guess why it’s sad, and I can say I’ve had first-hand experience with a dog of my own (that’s Doc down below) meeting the same kind of fate, so that had something to do with my reaction. Thankfully, Frankel and co. do not overdo these parts. It’s all very real and honest, not cloying. You’ll be hard-pressed not to get caught up in the moment too, no matter how tough your exterior. Just be ready.

Yeah, call Marley & Me a real holiday surprise. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll run the gamut of emotions. And you’ll be recommending this one to your friends, like I am doing right now. I’m giving Marley a strong B.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →