Friday, October 31, 2008

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (DVD)

Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) starring Abigail Breslin, Julia Ormond, Chris O'Donnell, Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack. Depression-era drama about a girl (Breslin) who aspires to be a journalist, and the struggles of her family after her father (O'Donnell) loses his job. When the family's savings are stolen, the girl becomes a detective
-- she doesn't believe that the hobo being blamed for the crime is guilty. The film examines the status of hobos of the time, the rough equivalent of today's homeless. It's quite entertaining, but clearly aimed at a younger audience -- namely kids. It's rated G, and is suitable for the whole family. Grade: B

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Iron Man (DVD)

Iron Man (2008) starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard. Ultra-rich inventor and weapons merchant Tony Stark (Downey) escapes from kidnappers in Afghanistan by building a makeshift suit of super-armor and fighting his way out. But while he was there, he saw American troops killed by weapons that his company made -- and decides that from now on, he will use his genius for good. Various complications ensue, with plenty of action and special effects. Grade: A

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Sudden Impact (DVD)

Sudden Impact (1983) starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle. Eastwood produced and directed this fourth installment in the "Dirty Harry" series. Locke, who was Eastwood's off-screen love interest at the time the film was made, plays a gang-rape victim who is seeking revenge by killing her attackers, one at a time. Just by coincidence (wink, wink) Harry Callahan (Eastwood) is sent to investigate the first killing, in the town where the killings are taking place. This movie has a weak script; is overpopulated with characters (especially bad guys); and as a director, Eastwood's color palette is way too dark. Many scenes are hard to see clearly on a television screen. Grade: C+

Friday, October 24, 2008

Baby Mama (DVD)

Baby Mama (2008) starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin. Driven career woman (Fey) learns she is infertile, and hires a surrogate (Poehler) to carry her baby. The script is rather clever and sweet, and all ends well. But the film still has the feel of an extended "Saturday Night Live" skit. Extras: A making-of, deleted scenes, commentary, and more. Grade: B

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Drugstore Cowboy (DVD)

Drugstore Cowboy (1989) starring Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, James Le Gros, Heather Graham. A quartet of addicts rob pharmacies to fuel their drug habits. When one of them dies of an overdose, the leader (Dillon) decides to try and go straight. This is reputed to be a good movie, but it was hard for me to judge since it lacks subtitles for the hearing impaired. Grade: F

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Stuck (DVD)

Stuck (2007) starring Mena Suvari, Stephen Rea. The one redeeming virtue of this movie is that it is based on a true story. Driving home from a bar one night, a young woman (Suvari) runs into a pedestrian (Rea), who survives but becomes lodged in her windshield. Instead of immediately driving to a hospital, she freaks out and decides to drive home. She parks her car in her closed garage while she tries to decide what to do. While he is clearly still alive, she is afraid to seek help for him because she still thinks there might be a way out for her. From there, it's a short step downward to actively wanting him dead. The plot then takes several increasingly bizarre twists and turns. Extras: None. Grade: C

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Paranoid Park (DVD)

Paranoid Park (2007) starring Gabe Nevins, Lauren McKinney, Taylor Momsen. Teenage skater boy Alex (Nevins) accidentally kills a security guard at the train tracks near a skate park. When he decides to keep it to himself, guilty feelings gradually seem to fade until the death is just an unpleasant memory. Directed by Gus Van Sant from a novel by Blake Nelson. Extras: None. Grade: B-

Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Great Escape (DVD)

The Great Escape (1963) starring Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, James Garner, James Coburn, David McCallum and a host of others. Allied POWs plot escape from a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. At almost three hours, it's a bit overlong, but it keeps the viewer involved the whole way through. Seems a bit dated now, but it was a great movie in its time. Grade: B

Friday, October 17, 2008

Hud (DVD)

Hud (1963) starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal. Contemporary Western stars Newman as Hud, the arrogant, womanizing son of an old-time cow man (Douglas). Neal plays their housekeeper and cook. The drama arises when one of the family's cattle dies and the state inspector suspects it may be "foot-and-mouth" disease -- which would necessitate destroying the entire herd. Hud wants to quickly sell off the whole herd to other, unsuspecting cattlemen, but his father, a man of honor, refuses. Directed by Martin Ritt, from a novel by Larry McMurtry. Grade: B+

Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Hustler (DVD)

The Hustler (1961) starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott. Newman stars as Fast Eddie Felson, pool hustler extraordinaire. His life's ambition is to beat "Minnesota Fats" (Gleason), the then-reigning king of pool. Newman, though he holds center-stage in the movie, delivers a one-note performance that is not terribly impressive. Gleason, as the debonair billiards champion, and Laurie, as Fast Eddie's ill-fated love, deliver superlative performances. Grade: B

Friday, October 10, 2008

Memento (DVD)

Memento (2000) starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Jorja Fox. A man named Leonard (Pearce), with no short-term memory, tries to hunt down the man who killed his wife (Fox). But since he can't form new memories, he has to rely on photographs and notes to himself to guide him in his search. Unfortunately for him, his condition makes him subject to all kinds of tricks that "normal" people can play on him. And there's even some question about whether his memory of the night his wife was killed are accurate. The most innovative thing about this film is that it is told "backward." We see events in reverse order, so that we experience them as Leonard does, with no memory of the events that preceded them. It's an ingenious device, and it works. Grade: A

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (DVD)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Paul Rudd, Bill Hader. Segel plays Peter, whose girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Bell) breaks his heart. He flees to Hawaii to try and forget her, but (major coincidence) she's vacationing in Hawaii with her new boyfriend. Not only that, they are staying at the same motel! But wait -- they have adjoining rooms! And, they keep showing up at the same parties and restaurants! It's just too much. Really. Someone who's not bothered by the odds might enjoy this movie -- and it does have its moments. But I found it a little too contrived, and mostly not very funny. Grade: C+

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

The Visitor (DVD)

The Visitor (2007) starring Richard Jenkins. When he goes to New York for an academic conference, a widowed professor discovers an illegal immigrant couple living in his Manhattan apartment. He becomes enmeshed in their lives when the male of the couple is arrested and placed in detention. We don't get a happy ending, but the film makes a strong and sympathetic statement about the plight of immigrants in the post-9/11 era. Grade: B+

Sunday, October 05, 2008

L.A. Confidential (DVD)

L.A. Confidential (1997) starring Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger. In 1950s Los Angeles, two wildly different cops form an uneasy alliance to root out corruption in the police department. It's a convoluted story with multiple double-crosses, but it's great fun to watch. The running time of over two hours is a bit of a drawback. Grade: A-