We Need to Talk About Kevin

Indie, Dark
3 stars
Dark and Depressing, but this is not a horror film. Tilda Swinton stars as the mother of an evil son (Ezra Miller, City Island). I can’t describe too much without giving the ending away, but it’s clear from the start that something terrible has happened and she is ostracized from society. John C. Reilly co-stars as her husband. I thought this would be a guilty pleasure film like The Bad Seed or The Omen, but it so much darker and told mostly in flashbacks, that aren’t in chronological order, which I found annoying. I also was irritated that the mother didn’t reprimand and discipline her son when he behaved badly. To get an idea of the creepy weirdness of it, the opening scene is a dream of Hell with people mashed together and covered in squashed tomatoes while they toss more soupy tomatoes over each other’s heads. After seeing the ending, I can see that this subject matter would be interesting from the mother’s point of view; I just wish it was presented differently. Good acting, but I didn’t really like this film at all.

Haywire

4 stars
Action, Spy Thriller
Good movie – Jim loved it too. Former #3 ranked Mixed Martial Arts fighter Gina Carano kicks butt as a spy who has been double crossed and fights back. OK, I just realized that description sounds a bit like Jason Bourne, and it does have similarities, but it’s a good film in its own right. I was very leery going into this film – I’m not a fan of one-person-killing-machine type films – but since this actress actually has a fighting background, she is impressive to watch and I did wind up rooting for her. This film also features two accomplished indie actors: Ewan McGregor and Michael Fassbender; as well as Michael Douglas, Channing Tatum, and Antonio Banderas. This is definitely not a mindless action film. Go in with a clear mind and pay attention to her story in the beginning – there are a ton of characters to keep track of. All the pieces are there, it just goes by really fast. Good movie.

One For the Money

Comedy, Crime
4 stars
Fun film starring Katherine Heigl, as the heroine bond bailsman from the Janet Evanovich bestselling book series. Heigl gets the job of bringing in a murder suspect played by Jason O'Mara, with whom she has a prior grudge, but finds a lot more danger and excitement than she had bargained for. Heigl, whom I never thought much of as an actress, is actually pretty good in this role. I’ve had a crush on Jason O’Mara since his cancelled TV show Life on Mars, so of course I liked this film. Also costarring is Daniel Sunjata as a fellow bondsman whom she describes as “Michelangelo’s David dipped in caramel” and I have to agree. All kidding aside, I never read the book, but the movie is very fun and enjoyable.

Red Tails

Action, War
4 stars
Good movie based on the African American fighter pilots of WWII in the Tuskegee training program. The characters in the film are fictional but the Tuskegee training program was real and I’m glad that the men in the program are honored through this film. Terrence Howard stars as the colonel, Cuba Gooding (who looks funny holding a pipe in his teeth) plays the major, along with Nate Parker and David Oyelowo as the primary pilots featured in the film. Oyelowo is the daredevil, much like Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun, and Parker plays his friend and superior who has a drinking problem. Lots of action in the air. Good movie.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Drama, Tearjerker
4 stars
Sweet, sad film about a neurotic boy (Thomas Horn) who lost his Dad on 9/11 and tries to figure out what a key his Dad left behind is for (Tom Hanks). The boy had way too much freedom and not enough discipline – why is he so rude to his doorman (John Goodman)?? – and he really needed a therapist. Sandra Bullock has a fairly small, understated role as the boy’s Mom. Max von Sydow played a neighbor with his own set of problems. There were a few sniffles but no tears, and I tend to be quite emotional in general, but I did want to slap that kid! Best picture nominee – I really don’t know why, but the kid deserves a nomination for his role. I liked the ending.

Comedies on DVD to help combat the winter blues:

*From “Across the pond”:

Waking Ned Devine
James Nesbit, Fionnula Flanagan, David Kelly, Ian Bannen,
Someone won the lottery in a tiny Irish town - but who?

The Full Monty
Robert Carlyle, Tom Wilkenson, Mark Addy
Unemployment forces some men into becoming strippers

Saving Grace
Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson
Recent widow uses her gardening skills to pay the bills.

Tamara Drewe
Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam
A young beauty breezes into town, disrupting a retreat for stuffy writers.
*Includes profanity and a gruesome death.

Son of Rambow
Two boys in the 1980's decide to film a version of "First Blood".

*An American Gem:

Thank You For Smoking
Aaron Eckhart
A spin-doctor for the tobacco industry attempts to validate cigarettes.

*Some Favorites I recommended last year, in case you didn’t get to see them:

A Fish Called Wanda
Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis
British caper/heist with American actors. "Don't call me stupid"

City Island
Andy Garcia Julianna Marguiles
A prison guard brings a convict home to his dysfunctional family to work off his sentence.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer
Modern day film noir murder mystery, so funny

Paper Moon
Tatum O'Neil, Ryan O'Neil
Father/daughter con-artist team

Underworld: Awakening

Action, Sci-Fi
3.5 stars
Fun violence with Kate Beckinsale in her cat suit kicking lycan butt. In this go-around she awakens after 12 years of being frozen to find humans as the number one enemy, as well as a cool hybrid child (India Eisley), and a supersized lycan. Co-stars include Michael Ealy as a detective, Steven Rea as sort of a mad scientist, and Theo James as a fellow vampire. The film felt way too short (88 minutes) and leaves you waiting for the next installment in the series. Jim loved it; well, mostly he just loves Kate in a cat suit. Fun fight scenes. Fun movie.

Contraband

Action, Drama
4 stars
Violent action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as a former smuggler who must now help out his brother-in-law (Caleb Landry Jones) after he dumps some drugs in the ocean and the drug dealers want the cash value. Giovani Ribisi plays the bad guy, as usual, with great intensity. Kate Beckinsale plays Wahlberg’s wife who is also in danger if he can’t come up with the money. Jim loved it. These violent action movies aren’t my thing, but the acting was good and the story seemed somewhat plausible. A definite “guy movie”.

Joyful Noise

Musical, Drama
2.5 stars
Cute gospel musical, but it wasn’t as joyful as the title promises. Queen Latifah stars as a newly minted church choir director trying to get her choir ready for a national singing competition. I liked the music, but there was a lot of teen angst between her daughter, Keke Palmer and Dolly Parton’s grandson, Broadway star Jeremy Jordan. Unfortunately, Latifah’s character is angry and bitter and I prefer to see her in her usual friendly, comedic roles. It’s cute, the music was fun, but it could have been better.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

British, Intrigue
3.5 stars
Very hard to follow. Gary Oldman stars as a spy from Britain’s MI6 aka “the Circus” who suspects a high ranking mole among his men. Other spies include Mark Strong, John Hurt, Simon McBurney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth, Toby Jones and Ciaran Hines. This film frequently and without warning switched back and forth between past and present and also included many extraneous scenes that only seemed to complicate it further (i.e. did we need to see Oldman swimming, grocery shopping, and watching TV? And what about that story line with Mark Strong and one of his students?). Most of these extra scenes were only a few seconds long and distracted me from the main plot. I’m sure fans of the book will get a lot more out of this film than anyone else.

War Horse

Drama, Tearjerker
3 stars
Sappy. A horse is raised lovingly by Jeremy Irving (the sappiest character of them all) until his father sells it to an English soldier and the horse goes to war and is passed among a variety of owners. The stage play is supposed to be a very powerful experience. The film is a sappy tearjerker, though there are some good parts. The first hour of the 2.5 hour film could definitely have been trimmed down as it is spent with Irving lovingly training the horse and making you want to gag yourself. The war gets much more interesting and there is one incredibly hard to watch scene, but then it turns back to sap. Only for lovers of tearjerkers.

The Artist

Indie, Drama
4 stars
Cute silent movie starring Jean Dujardin as a silent film star in the late 1920’s who meets a young up and comer (Berenice Bejo) during the transition to “talkies”. The charming story does get a little depressing for awhile though – in fact I’ll just say the first half is better. There is a lot of Academy Award buzz surrounding this film, but if anyone should be nominated it should be Uggie The Dog, who was awesome! I’ve always loved Dujardin with his expressive face, easy smile and charm. He was the highlight of a couple of so-so French films (OSS 117:Cairo, Nest of Spies and OSS 117: Lost in Rio – the Cairo one was the better of the two) as a sort of parody of James Bond and was the only thing that made them worth watching. Cute film.