'Sherlock Holmes' Review

Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes. Watch the preview: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/sherlock-holmes/35683/main

I've never read any of the original stories about Sherlock Holmes so I'm not able to compare this movie to them. I've seen plenty of TV & movies versions with other actors including two on Broadway. This new movie is a hit and was enjoyable. What seems different about this one is having Dr. Watson given more screen time than in previous outings. Jude Law's portrayal makes him more of an equal to Robert Downey Jr's Holmes. They trade quips and insults at a fast pace amid lots of daring do's. Both are younger than other actors in these roles, perhaps an attempt by the filmmakers to attract a younger audience. They may not be my idea of correct casting but everyone has their own favorites for these roles. Downey & Law are amusing with their love-hate banter so pay close attention to their dialogue.
>>There's plenty of fights and last minute rescues that keep the plot moving, maybe a little too much. This film is a change of pace for Guy Ritchie (Madonna's ex-husband), known for his British gangster films. Good costumes and settings are a treat for the eyes. Rachel McAdams seems miscast as a Brit but does well enough as Holmes's ambivalent love interest and Mark Strong who played a memorable villain in Stardust is good here too. Watch the way his cold eyes stare with contempt.
>>My wife who has read every Holmes story has this to say: "You can tell your blog readers (with the proper "Spoiler Alert" warnings) that I said that elements of the plot bore an uncanny resemblance to the plot of a House episode: a physician whose brilliant but arrogant and drug-dependent friend moves in with him and attempts to break up his love relationship. The good doctor attempts to remove the friend from his premises, but comes to realize that the friend's phenomenal powers of deduction actually make him a force for good in society."

Two Un-XMAS CDs

Here's two CDs for people like me who are bored with traditional holiday music. Enya's And Winter Came... is a must for her fans who love her breathy, lilting overdubs that can't be reproduced live. You'll never see her in concert because she does all the vocals & most of the instruments in the studio and would sound lousy without her sound engineers' technology. There's two non-original songs like a haunting 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' and a Gaelic version of 'Silent Night' done as you would expect in her recognizable style.
>>>Enya has a new greatest hits CD which includes a DVD collection of her videos and two 'making of' docs of two songs. I've never seen her videos so watching them was a treat although they're a bit repetitious. She portrayed herself as this gowned heroine of her own fairy tale fantasies cavorting through pastel forests & meadows surrounded by adoring animals. The Winter cover above gives you an idea what to expect from the videos. Here's a video from her Winter CD and, as a change of pace, filmed in a urban setting: http://enya.com/videos.php?vid=tawr
>>>Sting's new CD, If On A Winter's Night, is selling well enough to make it a small hit. In interviews he says he didn't want to record a traditional XMAS album because he thought that would be an act of artistic bankruptcy/having no new ideas. I'm sure his fellow entertainers who produced holiday music must be overjoyed to hear this dig. I bought the deluxe edition that includes an extra song and a 'making of' DVD. Here's a description from the cover: "Inspired by Sting's favorite season, If On A Winter's Night... takes traditional music from the British Isles as its starting point and evolves into a compelling and personal journey with music spanning over five centuries (including two of Sting's own songs). An evocative collection of lullabies, carols, and songs.'' He's backed by good acoustic musicians in tune with his concept although some reviewers have noted his vocal ability isn't up to the demands of some songs. That's for you to judge but give him credit for attempting something different. I'm planning to purchase the DVD of a concert filmed inside a church. A shorter version was recently shown on PBS.
>>>Here's a video of one song and a test of his singing: http://www.amazon.com/Sting/e/B000APVN7O/ref=s9_dpt_sa_videos
>>>Both CDs will please listeners who are tired of hearing 'White Christmas' for the zillionth time. OK OK I too love Bing Crosby's version and watch Holiday Inn every time it's shown. Bah Humbug and have a happy holiday!
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'2012' Review

Amanda Peet encourages John Cusack to catch an outbound flight in 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich, the Irwin Allen of today... only with bigger budgets. Watch the preview: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/2012/30165/main

I have to say I enjoyed this blockbuster. Lots of money was spent on this production and it's a worldwide hit with audiences and not so much with the critics. 2012 follows the formula of disaster films and you do get your money's worth for two and a half hours of spectacular destruction in surround sound. So take that, Gerald Peary!
>>No big stars here because most of the cost went into the special effects. No great acting here too but it's not needed as the competent B-List actors are stereotypes and if you've seen enough disaster movies you can easily guess who's not going to be around for the end credits.
>>Spoiler Alert: How one character quickly reunites with her former husband when her current one is killed is a ridiculous plot absurdity but this is what you expect in these movies. So turn off your brain and let it get buried under the specatular earthquakes and tsunamis. which are well spaced to keep the story moving along.

'For The Love Of Movies' Review

On October 19th we took our last trip to Portsmouth NH for the year. It's difficult to plan going there during the winter and we don't want to get stuck paying for non-refundable hotel reservations and show tickets if we cancel out due to a snowstorm. The reason for this trip was to see a new documentary playing at downtown's Music Hall: http://www.fortheloveofmovies.net/
>>During the 70's & 80's we used to go to Boston to see plays and foreign & classic films. Before there was the internet to provide schedules, we subscribed to the Real Paper, a now defunct weekly Boston newspaper and we could plan trips according to the cultural info offered. Gerald Peary was a film critic who now writes for the Boston Phoenix and teaches film studies in a local college. You can read about him here: http://geraldpeary.com/
>>Peary's brother Danny also writes film books that I own. Gerald has written and directed a documentary about film critics called For the Love of Movies, something I would definitely be interested in seeing since I've been collecting film books for over 40 years and own about 400 books on film & theater (mostly film), many are out of print/rare.
>>After checking into the Sise Inn for our overnight stay, we shopped for a while. I traded in two bags of CDs and DVDs at Bull Moose Music for $74 of store credit which was quickly used for purchases for our son's 23rd birthday (DVD sets of TV's The Family Guy, volumes 5 & 6) and a few items for us: A CD of Phillip Glass's solo piano works (refer to April's blog entry about seeing him in concert at The Music Hall), Criterion DVD editions of The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp and The Royal Tenanbaums (future blog entries), and David Cronenberg's version of M Butterfly which we saw on Broadway (another future entry).
>>After dinner we proceeded to The Music Hall to see For The Love Of Movies. There was a small turnout followed by a Q & A session with Peary and his producer Amy Geller. The documentary covers the history of American film criticism from the silents to the present. Lots of interviews with well-known critics fill up eighty minutes. One important topic stressed was the current dismissal of film critics from publications perhaps due to the declining general readership and the preponderance of internet bloggers. Their film's DVD was being sold for $20 after the viewing and I bought a copy which has 40 worthwhile minutes of extras/interviews. We enjoyed the film and there were a few things I didn't know about. This project, definitely a labor of love and probably made without much money (no high tech visuals here) has been in the works for several years as Roger Ebert's interviews were recorded before his illnesses.
>>The Q & A session was followed by a meet & greet session with Peary and Geller and staff members of The Music Hall in the bar below the auditorium. Over a glass of wine I talked with Peary about how we used to read his reviews in The Real Paper. I asked when his brother is going to release Cult Movies IV, another entry in his encyclopedic series on cult movies and a must for film buffs. Alas I was told he stopped writing film books since they don't make enough money and he's switched to writing books on baseball. Bummer...
>>When I told Peary that I owned a book shown in his film, the collected reviews of Otis Ferguson who wrote for the New Republic magazine and was killed during WWII, he said, "Wow! That's a rare one!" I explained that I've been collecting film books for years. I'm sure I own some titles he doesn't have. I told him too bad he couldn't obtain a clip from a 1970 episode of Mike Douglas's TV show where I expected to see the critic John Simon get into a fistfight with Ross Hunter, the producer of Airport, when he trashed his film. I still have a vivid memory of that show. They both stormed off the stage at the end of their segment.
>>When I mentioned how in 1979 we went to the Orson Welles Cinema (no longer in existance) to see the German film, The Marriage of Maria Braun after reading a review in the The Real Paper, he said "You must have read my review." I replied with "You're probably right" since it's been too many years to remember who wrote it.
>>We also spoke with two of the theater's staff about how we plan our Portsmouth trips around their schedule. They were in shock and we assured them we weren't kidding as we listed the shows we've seen in their theater. I gave one of them my business card and a few days later he emailed me a nice note thanking us for coming from Connecticut and asked if I had any suggestions for movies worth showing. I also emailed Peary who chided me when I told him I was seeing 2012. Well I'm sorry, Mr. Critic, I'm not a film snob and enjoy most genres when they are done well. I see what interests me and so should you. Reviewers be damned... including me.
>>On the way home we shopped in Portsmouth's large Barnes & Noble where Criterions were on sale. I bought the German film, Wings of Desire, which was later remade as City of Angels with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan.

'An Education' Review

Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard in An Education. Watch the preview: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/an-education/33272/main

The reviews have been good for this provocative but tame English coming-of-age film that takes place in 1961. The preview here gives you a good idea what to expect. Sixteen year-old Jenny (Carey Mulligan) wants to graduate the British equivalent of high school and attend Oxford as an English major. When she meets David, an older man (Peter Sarsgaard) who puts her cello into his car on a rainy day, her goals change. He's charming and knows how to talk his way in and out of any situation, including winning over her overprotective father (Alfred Molina) who objects to them dating since David is about thirty. Jenny is warned by her teachers about how this relationship could ruin her life and her chances for college, but she wants more out of life than what classrooms can provide.
>>David satisfies and stimulates her intellectual curiosity by taking her to concerts, night clubs, auctions, and museums. He introduces her to his hedonist friends who accompany them on excursions. Soon he's fulfilling her dream of seeing Paris and she plans to lose her virginity with him on her seventeenth birthday. Jenny decides that being part of David's glamorous lifestyle is more exciting than studying and accepts his engagement ring. Her father prefers this marriage to spending money for college since she's no longer interested in Oxford. Heeding good advice she quits school and plans to enjoy the rest of her life with David.
>>The idea of older men dating teenagers makes this sound like an episode in Roman Polanski's life but those circumstances are different from this thoughtful and intelligent film. We slowly see the real David, a wolf in sheep's clothing armed with a way with words aided by a non-threatening facade, before Jenny does and we wait for her reaction. We're supposed to finally dislike him after we see how so many have been conned by him but he's too slyly charming and seemingly nice enough not to hate once the truth about him is revealed and this is the problem we face as viewers as well as Jenny and her parents. In his defense, he's not evil but just weak in succumbing to his vices without caring about the damage he does to others. The film's title is exactly that, 'an education' for Jenny in learning about life and its cruel lessons. Will she be able to break away from David's influence and continue her education is for you to learn.
>>Good performances in a small disarming film make this worth seeing. Carey Mulligan will remind you of a young Audrey Hepburn and Peter Sarsgaard is convincing enough not to hate his character, a difficult role, as we should. The '61 English period details seem dead on and I liked the less famous music of that era used for the soundtrack. Even Mom liked this movie considering she's not a fan of English films with what she calls their 'weird' accents, slang, and humor. She got the point of the story and so will you.

'Coco Before Chanel' Review

Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel in the French film Coco Before Chanel, directed by Anne Fontaine. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/coco-before-chanel/37886/main?icid=movsmartsearch

>>After seeing Coco Before Chanel, I'll say it again: The French make the best costume films. Their actors do more than inhabit their period clothing and sets; they become living breathing characters who convince you that you're watching history in action. If you've seen Moliere or Indochine or The Return of Martin Guerre, you'll know what I mean. This is not to knock period films from other countries. Somehow the French have the edge in not only getting the details right, but making them come alive on the screen.

>> Coco Before Chanel covers the humble beginnings of fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971) who revolutionized women's clothing with her simplified and practical styles. The film begins with the young Chanel sisters Gabrielle and Adrienne sent to an orphanage by their father after the death of their mother. Here they learn to sew and later become mediocre cabaret singers in small towns. Garbielle is nicknamed Coco after a dog in a popular song. Their act is dissolved when Adrienne becomes involved with a baron and we soon see how the less talented Gabrielle is unsuccessful as a solo act. Coco latches on to a good-hearted and wealthy ex-military officer who reluctantly lets her stay at his country estate.. She becomes his lover but it's only a 'marriage of convenience' as she trades sex for material comfort. She becomes bored by his decadent lifestyle and is caustically critical of the currently fashionable overblown clothing worn by his guests. An actress gives her a chance to design clothes for her and encourages her to start her own business, something unheard of for a women in pre-WWI times. Into the picture arrives a handsome tycoon who captures Coco's heart and furnishes financial aid. Will she become successful in love as well as in business? That's what you will learn....

>>Coco is wonderfully portrayed by Audrey Tautou who most Americans know from The Da Vinci Code, not one of her best showcases. Tautou became famous in 2001's French romantic comedy Amelie which can be described a Gallic Ally MacBeal and was a huge international hit. (Watch Amelie's trailer: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/244109/Amelie/trailers ) She's done other roles; check out my Blog entry for Priceless where she plays a modern gal looking for sugar daddies. Coco may seem mousy at times but she exudes cleverness and determination with her blunt approach when needed and usually gets things done her way. The rest of the cast , which is never overshadowed by her performance, offers fine support including Benoit Poelvoorde as the ex-officer and Alessandro Nivola as the tycoon. Nivola is every gal's dreamboat: charming, rich, well-educated, and good looking. He's too good to be true so you begin to doubt if he'll be around by the end of the film.....

>>There's subtitles but not a lot and the story is easy to follow in any language. If my 91 year-old mom could sit through this movie and enjoy it as much as us, then so can others. The visuals alone make it worthwhile.

'Law Abiding Citizen' Review

Colm Meany, Gerard Butler, and Jamie Foxx in a scene from Law Abiding Citizen, directed by F. Gary Gray and set in Philadelphia. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/law-abiding-citizen/36929/main

>>This movie is a revenge fantasy gone too far. Compared to 1974's Death Wish starring Charles Bronson who made several sequels and its clones, Law Abiding Citizen makes the others look primitive and tame. Here the audience is set up for a high tech thrill ride that's a bit improbable but still entertaining.
>>Gerard Butler from 300 and the film version of The Phantom of the Opera (Yes he sings too and was good in it; It's too bad the film was not a huge success but it's the next best thing to seeing it on stage.) plays a nice family man whose wife and daughter are killed in a home robbery. When the District Attorney played by Jamie Foxx makes him accept a deal where one of the killers gets a lesser sentence and freedom for testifying against the other one because he's afraid that both will go free, Butler waits ten years to plot his revenge not only against the killers but also the 'imperfect' legal system that let him down. This includes judges, lawyers, policemen, and anyone else who Butler perceives as his enemy. Some scenes here are not for squeamish and mercifully short but will appeal to fans of torture porn. One surprise made me and others jump out of our seats....
>>When Butler is still able to dispense of his enemies, real and false, while in custody, Foxx races against time to find out if Butler has an accomplice on the outside and to prevent more deaths. The ending is a bit farfetched but the movie seems to work if you except the premise that an evil genius is capable of doing anything to accomplish his goals.
>>Butler is charmingly likable when he's doing his nasty work, a distant cousin to Hannibal Lecter, and Foxx makes a good stalwart opponent who's taught a cruel, warped lesson by Butler about justice and punishment. The fine supporting cast featuring Bruce McGill, Colm Meany, and Viola Davis add the needed weight to keep the maybe unbelievable plot grounded. This film is edge-of-your-seat entertainment and never fails to deliver if you willingly go along for the ride.

'Bright Star' Review

Ben Whishaw as the Romantic poet John Keats and Abbie Cornish as his beloved, Fanny Brawne, in Jane Campion’s costume drama Bright Star. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/bright-star/31554/main?icid=movsmartsearch

>>As an English major in college, I was a fan of John Keats's poetry. His early death was a huge loss to the literary world as it deprived us of greater works to come. What he did leave us are treasures that I need to reread after seeing this lovely film since it's been countless years.

>>Bright Star has earned glowing reviews but its subject matter limits its appeal to a small audience. John Keats (1795 -1821) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats is hardly a household name but you can imagine him as a celebrity of his day when poets were held in high regard by a small but learned minority who actually read poetry. Poetry books were bestsellers like today's novels; yes it's hard to believe since nobody now reads poems unless they are song lyrics or on corny greeting cards.

>>The film clearly presents this adulation as everyone is in awe of his talent. We see his last few years highlighted by his passionate but chaste affair with his neighbor Fanny Brawne before his premature death from tuberculosis in Italy. Much of the dialogue is based on his poems and letters, and this make it a very literate film that demands close listening. Hearing poetry read the correct way is a treat.
>>Ben Wishaw as Keats is very good but Abbie Cornish's performance as the resolute Fanny overshadows his role. She's so good she doesn't throw the film off balance but you will remember her more than him when you leave the theater. Also noted is Paul Schneider as Charles Brown, Keats's overprotective friend and editor, who is Fanny's rival for Keats's attention and well-being as they soon become a thorn in each other's side. Their battle of words is as sharp as one of her sewing needles.
>>The photography is first rate but some might find the film's pacing deadly slow. But this was director Jane Campion's intent in leisurely revealing a forgotten world that seems so foreign to us. Each tiny detail about the rules of society and courtship is shown so matter-of-fact and also as a revelation. Think of Jane Austen and you get the idea....
>>Bright Star might appeal more to women since it could be called a chick flick (spunky seamstress loving a doomed poet who's better looking than her but can't live without her devotion) and there's enough romance and discrete passion overflowing here to fill a few films. This seems to be the correct way to treat the subject matter. The film's title refers to a poem Keats wrote to Fanny.
>>Mom may have been overwhelmed by the constant barrage of English accents ( She hates English comedies; Monty Python is lost on her) but she says she enjoyed Bright Star too.

'Surrogates' Review

A factory where surrogates are created. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/surrogates/29481/main

>>The reviews haven't been so hot for Surrogates and I can see why. Saturday was a rainy day and not a good one to take Mom outside so the Mrs & I decided to see this Sci-Fi movie starring Bruce Willis. Whether or not you're a Willis fan, I give him a lot of credit for not only working in big films but for taking small roles in small films that need his name for financing and gives him chances to stretch his acting chops. Unfortunately this movie isn't one of them. Surrogates's premise is that one can stay home to let your brain get hooked up to a robot who takes your place in the working world. It can be a copy of you or an improvement in looks which is what most people want.

>>Willis plays an agent investigating the murders of surrogates and learns that their operators also died at the same time by having their brains liquified. These dual deaths aren't supposed to happen and we soon learn that Willis with the fancy hairdo and younger looks we met in the beginning.is a surrogate for the real bald one who gets beat up a lot and looks like shit for the second half of the movie. No vanity here on his part; perhaps another chance to get into a character or to show the dicotomy of the two Willises. We later learn that his hot looking partner portrayed by Rahda Mitchell is really a plain looking gal and his plain wife is also a better looking surrogate. We eventually learn that almost everyone in the movie has a surrogate. You need a score board to keep the characters and plot clear.
>>There's the usual action scenes we expect in a Willis action film that are enhanced by the barrage of neat special effects. Willis discovers the reason behind the killings and he's outnumbered as usual in his movies, but this is a Willis action flick (think of the Die Hard films) so you know he's gonna be a one man army who will triumph in the end. Surrogates is not a bad movie and is doing OK at the box office, but it grows tiresome and word-of-mouth might bring on its early demise. Willis is too dour and seems bored except when he does emote on occasion to get his wife's attention so we know he's really human. Even a good character actor like James Cromwell who plays the reclusive inventor of the surrogates, is wasted with not enough screen time. A better Sci-Fi movie with Willis is 1997's The Fifth Element: http://videodetective.com/TitleDetails.aspx?publishedid=975491&st=Fifth Element: Ultimate Edition, The (2005)
>>Mom would have been confused with the story and our consensus was 'Eh'.... Wait for the DVD.

'My One And Only' Review

Renée Zellweger plays a fading and wounded beauty who takes her feminine wiles on the road in My One and Only. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/my-one-and-only/38200/main?icid=movsmartsearch

>>Here's a delightful little movie that should be getting a wider distribution. If it plays in your area, do not hesitate to see this charming comedy since small films like this usually don't last long. The trailer says it pretty much.
>>The plot is loosely based on the early life of actor George Hamilton who is also one of the film's producers. The story takes place in 1953 and the many period details will easily bring back warm memories for those of us who grew up in that era. Renee Zellweger plays a mother of two teenage sons and married to a philandering bandleader played by Kevin Bacon with the right mixture of charm and sleaze. When she finds him cheating in their bed, she packs up her boys, cleans out their safe deposit box, and moves them out of their NYC apartment in search of a better life. To accomplish her goal, they purchase a Cadillac convertible and begin a cross country journey where Mom can find a new and rich husband who can support her upperclass lifestyle and let her boys persue their dreams or more likely HER dreams for them.
>>Of course their journey is met with disaster in comic but heart wrenching turns. Just when every time things start to go right for them when the settle in a new town, well you guessed it... Zellweger's choice of prospective husbands admirably played by actors from TV shows is met with disappointment: Steven Weber (Wings), Chris Noth (Law & Order), Eric McCormack (Will & Grace). Meanwhile Bacon wants her and the boys to come back but can she trust him again? When their lack of money makes her get a job, she becomes engaged to her wealthy employer but will this work out too? Will Mom and her boys finally find happiness? That's for you to learn.....

>>The casting is very good and Zellweger again proves her comedic skills. You might get annoyed by her character's relentless selfishness but she's funny enough with several good lines that I can't remember because I was laughing too hard at them and she's likable at times when her good side is quietly revealed. You do feel for her when things go wrong for her and that's most of the time. Logan Lerman as her son George who narrates the film and Mark Rendall as his half brother, a closeted gay wannabe actor who Mom brings to Hollywood for a career, offer good support as they try to keep Mom from making mistakes with her impractical schemes and uprooting them to a new city. She's her own worst enemy but nothing can stop her.
>>Mom enjoyed this film too and I will get the DVD when it's available. The dialogue and performances are worth at least a second viewing.

'The September Issue' Review

Anna Wintour, in her signature sunglasses, in a scene from The September Issue. Next to her is Grace Coddington. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-september-issue/36395/main?icid=movsmartsearch

>>For those viewers who liked The Devil Wears Prada, this documentary is for you. Prada's tyrannical main character was wonderfully played by Meryl Streep and based on Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. In this documentary we see the real Wintour at work. She's not as wicked as her movie counterpart but still evokes fear in getting things done her way OR ELSE!.
>>Watching Wintour oversee a large staff of prima donna-like models, editors, and photographers who think they know better than her is no easy chore so maybe that explains the way she is or has been portrayed in the press and in fiction (Prada was first a thinly disguised novel) and on film. She needs her steely reserve in putting together a monthly magazine as it's shown here to be hard work as deadlines must be met amid nerve wracking last minute changes. We get a good picture of the process and must credit Wintour for keeping Vogue a success for many years.
>>Regardless of her reputation, Wintour has strong support from her staff including Grace Coddington, a former model who's not afraid to challenge her boss if she thinks her ideas are better. She's given more screen time than Wintour and is not afraid to speak her mind about anyone who she thinks is not doing their best work. One wonders what her boss thought of the finished film, hearing Coddington and others' comments but seeing how Wintour seems invincible, she's probably smiling serenely behind her dark glasses... with her head held high above the fray... thinking 'It's good to be King' or Queen in her case. Long live the Queen!... of fashion.

>>Mom saw the Prada movie with a friend so this one was a good choice for her. She liked it too.

'The Baader Meinhof Complex' Review

The Baader Meinhof Complex depicts the West German terrorist group of the 1970s. Vinzenz Kiefer, left, and Hannes Wegener, on car, play group members. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-baader-meinhof-complex-der-baader/36108/main

..The trailer gives you a good idea of this powerful German film that was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar and is now being distributed in this country. It plays like a cross between a crime thriller and a documentary, and grabs onto you like watching a good episode of a Law & Order show but with more depth & and more explosive. I remember hearing about this gang of German terrorists (also known as part of the Red Army Faction) during the 60's. You can do a Wikipedia search about the Baader Meinhof group and the film stays pretty much to the facts.
>>Ulrike Meinhof was a famous journalist sympathetic to anti-government causes and helped the charismatic Andreas Baader escape from police custody and gave up her career and family to join his group in 1967. She wrote articles defending their practices which were supposed to be non-violent but ballooned out of control causing the deaths and injuries to their targets and non-targets. They robbed banks to finance their activities, blew up buildings, and kidnapped and/or killed officials. Amazingly many citizens were sympathetic to their cause.

>>We see their planning and infighting in achieving their twisted goals and also their capture, trials, and deaths at various times. The pacing brings enough excitement to a film almost two and a half hours and keeps you in suspense until the end. The cast is very good including Bruno Ganz as a wise government official who's in charge of the hunt against them. Because of their acting, you almost begin to care for some of the terrorists until they do something repulsive.
>>Don't let the subtitles scare you away from this absorbing production.

Portsmouth New Hampshire

Below: The town square seen from Market St.

Below: A reverse angle; the waterfront is beyond

the buildings.

>>Why do I write a lot about Portsmouth New Hampshire? It's because it's become our favorite vacation spot and almost three hours away, and on the coast between Massachusetts and Maine. We've been there three times this year will go again when there's a film or concert we want to see playing in downtown's historic Music Hall pictured below. There are two large chain hotels and a charming old small inn within walking distance of everything. We've stayed at all of them and now another chain hotel is under construction where I will be able to get my company's corporate discount rate. Cheaper hotels are on the outskirts but we prefer staying downtown by paying for convenience. We do our driving to local attractions during the day, come back to freshen up & relax/nap, and then walk to dinner, theaters, more shopping. Here's a good general video about the city: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXtpoHDQDkI

Below: The Mrs ready to take a cruise from the waterfront:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAJ0dBv0nDY&feature=related

Below: Here's us on the ship. Kinda like a

scene from Titanic....

>>Downtown is by the waterfront and only a few blocks in scope. There's great restaurants offering all kinds of cuisine and new ones always opening. You can skip coffee & dessert in them and sample good coffee shops, bakeries, and ice cream parlors. Among plenty of small stores there's my favorite CD/DVD shop called Bull Moose Music where I spend at least two hours finding items from my wish list and browsing. This store has good prices on new & used stuff. On our last trip I traded in a batch of DVDs & CDs for store credit which was immediately used.

Above: The Music Hall: http://www.themusichall.org/

Above: Another view of the church ahead from Congress St.
Below: As you see I never leave this store emptyhanded.

Below: Take a tour inside the U.S.S. Albacore

http://www.ussalbacore.org/

>>There's also lovely public gardens and historic homes open for tours as well as a guided walking tour of the city departing from the center next to the church in the first pic. You can get more history by visiting Strawbery Banke, that has restored homes and their contents from Colonial times to the present. You can walk to two cruise lines for day and evening trips. Another way to see the city is taking a narrated hour ride on the bus that looks like an old trolley car. Portsmouth has the oldest naval yard in the country and you can take a tour inside a decomissioned submarine pictured above.

>>Besides the shows at the Music Hall, there's a repertory theater company and theater & concerts at Prescott Park. If you want beaches, they are a short drive north or south and there's a nearby mall with a large Barnes & Noble, another must stop for us. And shopping in New Hampshire is tax free. For more shopping, cross the bridge into Kittery Maine for countless outlet stores. Leave Kittery for York, the next town north, to visit their zoo & amusement park next to the public beach where I went swimming a few weeks ago. Take the evening Ghostly Tour to see sites of local lore.

>>People ask me why I don't go to other places on vacation. Simple. 1. We love this area and know our way around. 2. There's still places we haven't seen and old & new restaurants to try. 3. It's an easy drive and instead going directly into Portsmouth , we take the back road in to stop at our favorites stores and eating places in neighboring towns before entering the city. 4. Good deals on lobster dinners.
Here's more links about the city:

http://www.portsmouthnh.com/index.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbroYqh3qM&feature=related

http://www.portsmouthhistory.org/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKgeu3lhuI8&feature=related

http://www.strawberybanke.org/

'It Might Get Loud' Review

From left, Jack White of the White Stripes, the Edge from U2 and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin in Davis Guggenheim’s documentary It Might Get Loud. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/it-might-get-loud/36268/main

>>>>Anyone interested in guitars or guitar players should see this informative and entertaining documentary. Here's three musicians from different generations each separated by probably twenty years talking about their craft, how they got their start, and doing what they do best - playing their instrument of choice. We have the elder statesman Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin explaining how he might have not played guitar if a former tenant didn't leave one behind. How The Edge of U2 read a note on a school bulletin board from a drummer named Larry Mullen wanting to start a band which later became U2. And how Jack White of The White Stripes tastes rebelled against the current hip hop music of his Detroit home town.
>>>>There's plenty of historical background using old TV clips and photos as well as tours of the places from the trio's past. There's lots of clips from their current music too and Led Zep fans will savor the classic concert footage with Page performing other members and there's a clip of him with The Yardbirds. You'll see lots of guitars, why each musician prefers certain ones, and how they get those impossible sounds using distortion. You'll even learn why Page created that famous double neck guitar.
>>>>Watching this trio jam and trade stories is a crash course on the creative spirit. No rivalry here although White earlier mentions he's here to steal from the masters. White has a bit of the arrogance of youth but he knows his music and is willing to learn from these older pros. White says he's from a large musical family and I met one brother years ago on AOL. but lost contact with him.
>>>>It Might Get Loud is a must for anyone who likes music and wants to know more about it. This movie is not getting a wide distribution and we saw it in a theater that specializes in documentaries, foreign and small films. Seek it out and you will not be disappointed.

'Taking Woodstock' Review

Demetri Martin as Elliot Tiber, flanked by Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton as his parents, in Taking Woodstock

Kelli Garner, Demetri Martin, and Paul Dano tripping out.. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/taking-woodstock/34750/main

>>>>I never got to Woodstock but I know others who made the trek. The closest I got to it was seeing the movie when it was released in theaters. It was shown in the now defunct Cinerama theaters with their curved wrap around screen and surround sound. Seeing it that way was pretty spectacular for the time compared to watching it now on DVD. I still have my LPs of the soundtrack and new expanded CD versions.
>>>>Taking Woodstock is directed by Ang Lee of Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame again he proves his versatility with different subject matter. His new film concerns not the concert but how the events leading up to it affected a nearby town. The film is based on the memoirs of a young local arts promoter Elliot Tiber whose parents operate a run down motel in the Catskills. Everything in their lives changes when their motel becomes the concert's headquarters for its planners & workers as well as for people coming to see the shows. Revisiting all the hippy past was fun for us. I wasn't a flower child but the film portrays that subculture as well as I remember.
>>>>It's a lighthearted, leisurely paced movie with good humor and some funny bits about those infamous marijuana brownies and psychedelic trips. Some good performances especially by Live Schreiber as transvestite marine who becomes the motel's security officer Paul Dano, from Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood, as a hippie who introduces Elliot to LSD. That trip is presented like a scene from those bad 60's/70's movies but it's still amusing. The real gems here are Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman as his conservative parents whose lives will never be the same after Woodstock.
>>>>Since there's no concert footage used in Taking Woodstock, it's best to watch the concert movie after as a companion piece. As they used to say: tune in, turn on, and drop out.

'Julie & Julia' Review

Amy Adams as Julie Powell

Meryl Streep as Julia Child. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/julie-and-julia/26129/main

>>>>If Meryl Streep isn't our finest American actress working today, then who is? Perhaps Glenn Close who I've seen twice on Broadway. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Streep on stage but watching her give her usual excellent performances in films is an acceptable tradeoff. How does Streep do this time portraying a real person in Julie & Julia? Marvelous!... as expected.
>>>>This movie is two movies in one. The first one concerns how Julia Child became the French Chef of cookbook and TV fame; the second is about how Julie Powell an admirer tried to cook every recipe in Child's cookbook within a year and blogged about it which later lead to turning her experience into a book. These two plots are intertwined into a light, tasty, and satisfying pastry pleasing to the palate. After gazing on all the food shown, you'll leave the theater searching for a restaurant.
>>>>Streep nails down Child's mannerisms and voice and with her makeup job is as close as seeing the real Julia. She's funny, self-deprecating, and determined to succeed as a chef. Stanley Tucci who was so good with her in The Devil Wears Prada again offers great support as her loving, patient, and encouraging husband Paul. Amy Adams is fine as the determined Julie also ably aided by her husband Eric played by Chris Messina. Eric is younger than Paul and sometimes lacks Paul's reserve and maturity in handling crises but both husbands in his own way offer good support for their wives' plans.
>>>>There's plenty of French and New York contrasting scenes from the late 1940's to 2002 to help keep the stories separated. The filmmakers wisely show Dan Ackroyd's SNL gory parody of Child cutting herself since younger viewers might only know her from that skit and not her TV show. I used to watch her PBS show but never attempted to try one of her recipes. Now I can never watch a rerun of Child's show without seeing Streep's face superimposed on her towing figure. There's plenty of light humor to keep the story going while you feast your eyes on the variety of food presented. Bon Appetite!

'Lorna's Silence' Review

Arta Dobroshi, left, plays an Albanian immigrant in Belgium, and Jérémie Renier a drug addict, in Lorna’s Silence, the new film by the Dardenne brothers. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/lornas-silence/35496/main

>>>>Here's another foreign film that won't get a wide distribution. There's no well known actors in it and its grim subject matter won't make it popular. We saw it at a nearby theater that specializes in foreign & small films and where we take Mom since there's no steps to make it accessible for her. Lorna's Silence isn't a Mom Movie so she stayed home.
>>>>This is the first film I've seen made by the Belgian Dardenne brothers who are well regarded as directors of urban dramas. The plot concerns an Albanian girl named Lorna living in Belgium and working in for a dry cleaner. She's involved with criminals who pay her to use her legal residency to marry foreigners to get them the same permit and later divorce them. They paid a drug addict Claudy to marry Lorna so she could obtain her residency card and now they want to kill him off so she can marry a Russian gangster needing a card and later divorce her. Claudy is well played by Jermeie Renier last seen as one of the brothers in Summer Hours, an earlier blog entry. He lost weight to play this strung out junkie.
>>>>Lorna has plans to open a small cafe with her boyfriend using the money from this arranged marriage. But She's against having Claudy who's trying to stay clean murderd from an 'overdose' and tries to arrange a quick divorce him to save his life. When she learns she's pregnant and the Russian doesn't want children, she's forced to have an abortion but will she go through with it and succeed with all her plans is what sets the rest of the story in motion. Will her conscience aid her in making the right decisions? The ending is not what you expect and I won't spoil it by revealing it here.
>>>>Lorna's Silence has no music score except for songs played on the radio or in clubs and its somber photography of the characters' working class environment adds to the story's bleakness. It's a disturbing story about making difficult choices in desparate economic times. Arta Dobroshi as Lorna will surprise you as she carries out the demands of the script. She seems passive while under pressure submitting to the criminals' demands and of her boyfriend working with them but she posseses an inner strength that's slowly revealed throughout the course of the story and needed at the conclusion. Yes there's subtitles for three languages spoken here but again, don't let this scare you away from this thought provoking film.

'Inglorious Basterds' Review

Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/inglourious-basterds/36184/main

>>>>Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to have the balls to make a WWII movie that's part fact and a lot of fiction, and includes a soundtrack with songs from during AND after the war. How he managed to include David Bowie's 'Cat People' (the long/movie version) is a feat beyond my understanding. The song clashes with the time frame but somehow it works here.
Brad Pitt plays a lieutenant with a strong Southern accent that's been criticized in some reviews but this also works to his advantage and promotes a lot of laughs, especially when he's trying to talk Italian. Pitt's detractors should be won over by this amusing performance as he's really gets into into the spirited highjinks of the plot. He leads a group of Jewish soldiers behind enemy lines whose purpose is to revenge themselves against Nazis who have killed Jews. There's some barbaric treatment of the Nazis but history tells us they deserved it so here we sympathize with our soldiers. Think of The Dirty Dozen which this film resembles the closest but only dirtier in their tactics.
>>>>The nastiest of the Nazis is the most charming character in the film. Austrian actor Christoph Waltz, unknown in this country, steals the movie as Colonel Hans Landa. known as the Jew Hunter for his skills in hunting his enemies. He's funny, witty, urbane, and oozing with continental panache but deadly like a coiled rattlesnake ready to strike its prey. And he does strike those caught in his interrogation-like web. Pitt is no match for his tactics or so we think but that's for you to learn. The rest of the cast offer good performances in line with demands of the plot.
>>>Tarantino is a movie buff and there's lots of references to German movies and movie stars of the time. I've a strong interest in this era so that added more interest for me. As much as he grounds the plot with a historical look with decor and costumes, he takes a lot of liberties using famous people from that era. He's also plays with the music score as noted above. There's bits of Ennio Morricone's spaghetti western scores and uses a song from The Alamo. For Tarantino, all this works for him since he warns us at the film's beginning with 'Once upon a time...' Does it work for us? That's for you to decide. If you like your WWII movies with John Wayne, you will be appalled by some of this movie. if you're a Tarantino fan, you know what to expect: Violence, sharp dialogue, offbeat humor and plenty of all three. The title refers to a misspelling of an Italian film similar to this one, another Tarantino in-joke.
>>>>The movie is about two and half hours so you get plenty of bang for your buck. Or bangs considering the amount of gunfire and explosions throughout the course of the story. Tarantino dares to rewrite history by ending the film the way we wished WWII to happen. Yes he's got balls and he knows how to work an audience willing to go the extra mile with him.

'District 9' Review

Sharlto Copley in the Sci-Fi thriller District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp

One of the aliens. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/district-9/31920/main

Here's another really grand Sci-Fi film that delivers the goods and never disappoints. All the good reviews and word of mouth have made District 9 a hit. It will remind you of several films of this genre as it takes their best parts and transforms them into cinema magic. What looks familiar at first (The giant spaceship hovering over the city like in Independence Day or the aliens reminiscent of countless films from First Men In The Moon to Predator) is given a new spin. I was totally enthralled for two hours and so should you.
The plot concerns an alien spaceship stuck floating over Johannesburg South Africa. Its inhabitants are rescued and placed into camps. Many reviews refer to their plight as an Apartheid allegory but not knowing this info will not detract from enjoying the story. A corporation plans to move the aliens to a new facility but has a hidden agenda planned for these stranded creatures referred to as prawns. A nervous, unctuous bureaucrat marvelously played by an unknown actor, Sharlto Copley, is in charge of their relocation and will soon learn what it's like to be one of them as he becomes pursued by his company and Nigerian profiteers. I don't want to give away the rest of the plot of this intriguing film. The trailer tells you enough to lure you into the theater.
The film cleverly opens as if you're watching current TV news with its jerky photography of handheld cameras, screen titles, interviews, and voice overs that make it look authentic and gives you a you-are -there feeling. Be prepared for a skillful mix of action, comedy, social commentary, and some great special effects that don't look fake. You need to see District 9 in the theater to truly appreciate the jarring surround sound which is the best I've heard in a while as it heightens the intensity of action scenes.

'Summer Hours' Review

From left, Jérémie Renier, Juliette Binoche and Charles Berling portray three siblings deciding what to do with the family heirlooms in Summer Hours. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/summer-hours-lheure-dete/35385/main?icid=movsmartsearch

We returned Wednesday from a three night stay in Portsmouth NH. Except for the oppressive heat & humidity, we had fun doing a variety of fun stuff: The zoo & beach at York Maine, lobster dinners, a narrated trolley bus tour of Portsmouth, a cruise featuring a demo of lobster traps and how some are rejected for sale, a dinner in a jazz club, and lots of shopping. I only bought two DVDs in my fave store, Bull Moose Music, and can you believe we bought nothing at the huge Barnes & Noble? No we're not ill; we're cutting back on buying things we don't really need and we bought enough when there three weeks ago. I saw several CDs & DVDs I wouldn't mind owning but that's for another trip.....
We planned our vacation around seeing this French film downtown where we've seen other foreign films and the Philip Glass concert in April. Some people might find Summer Hours boring/slow moving but they would be missing the point. It's a deliberately quiet film of many charms that sneak up on you and stick in your memory after you leave the theater. The plot concerns a summer home owned by a matriarch who is the niece of a famous painter. The house is full of his works as well as other artists. When she dies, it's up to her three children to dispose of her belongings. Do they want to keep the house for themselves and their heirs or sell it and keep or sell or donate her possessions?
The oldest son wants to keep the house intact but his sister and younger brother have no use for it since they work outside of France. What's unusual is they don't get into vicious fights about who gets what as most families do when parents die. I witnessed what happened to my family years ago when my grandparents on both sides passed away. We were torn apart and these rifts have never been healed. Perhaps this film is different because their mother's love of art and family closeness were passed on to her children who learned from her wisdom. Perhaps the French are more civilized than us?
The lovely Juliette Binoche has top billing as the sister but it's Charles Berling as her brother who has the bigger and crucial part. The rest of the cast is fine down to the smallest part. We also learn of a family secret about Mom's relationship with her uncle and even that's revealed in an melodramatic way like the rest of the film. Even her death and the passing of time in a few sequences sneaks up on you.
In an age where films are fast-paced and noisy, Summer Hours is a needed relief. If it didn't put me to sleep after walking around a hot Portsmouth all day, I guess that's a testament to its quality. Understated and charming.... and don't let the subtitles scare you away.

DVD Alert: 'Videodrome'

Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYucU765-M8

Bless Barnes & Noble for their recent sale of Criterion Collection DVDs at half price, plus another 10% for B &N members. That's a total of 60% in savings and the best deal anywhere for these terrific editions. I bought several must-haves from my wish list. While last week in Portsmouth, NH's B&N that has a large Criterion section, I purchased Videodrome, a strange but memorable movie I saw 25 years ago.
Director David Cronenberg is more familiar for his remake of The Fly, Scanners, The Dead Zone, and other horror films loaded with unforgettable violent special effects. His later/recent films such as A History of Violence, Spider, and Eastern Promises steered away from Sci-Fi to center more on psychological horror and the violence created by it.
Cronenberg's previous Scanners known for its exploding heads was a hit. When Videodrome came out in '83, it baffled fans and critics, and flopped at the box office. Its plot was hard to follow and its disturbing special effects and violence as well as a downer of an ending didn't help it. We saw it in the theater and the Mrs hated it. I found the story intriguing but confusing and haven't seen the movie again until now. I figured watching the Criterion two disc edition with its commentaries and other extras would clear up a lot of my questions. Seeing Videodrome now makes me realize that the movie was prophetically ahead of its time and more relevant today.
James Woods plays the opportunist head of a fringe cable TV channel looking for new programming. He learns of a satellite feed called Videodrome showing torture and killings. He thinks it's fake but will attract viewers and pursues its origin, against warnings by an agent who discovers the shows are for real and tells him to stay away from it. A radio talk show host (played by Blondie's Deborah Harry) who likes kinky sex and self-mutilation wants to join the show against Woods' wishes. The more Woods watches the transmissions, he begins to hallucinate and soon his body and gun mutate as he becomes an unwilling agent for Videodrome's secret agenda (to kill viewers who like its content) until he's reprogrammed (literally...) to destroy it using his new weapon, the 'cancer gun': Here's some graphic scenes, one with sexual imagery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytp69fBh0J8&NR=1
If those clips didn't turn you away, you noticed how the film's technology is dated (video cassettes, Atari game controllers, analogue TV) as well as the pre-computer graphic special effects (although still very good) but the message is more relevant for today's society heavily dependent/addicted on interactive communication such as the Internet, webcams, and multichannel TV. If this movie was remade as there's rumor of a remake , the TVs would be replaced with computer monitors. I would only recommend Videodrome for Cronenberg or hardcore Sci-Fi fans or perhaps those newer Cronenberg fans interested in his earlier works. This Criterion edition features the restored/uncensored cut and two audio commentaries. The first one features Cronenberg and his director of photography; the second has an articulate Woods and Harry and both soundtracks compliment each other. The other extras include how the special effects were created. Another outstanding Criterion worth every penny.....

Ingmar Bergman Parodies

Since I've become a bigger Ingmar Bergman fan, I've acquired more of his DVDs. Last week I watched a Criterion boxed set of three films from the 60's called The Faith Trilogy. These films were short but heavy going and I need to rewatch them. Bergman has his own style and there are several parodies out there. Here are two of the best mocking his traits: isolation, alienation, traits of one character split into two persons or two characters becoming as one, looming closeups, shadowed faces, disjointed dialogue, solemn music.....
The first one is from SCTV which I remember seeing when originally aired. I wasn't heavily into Bergman then but I got the jokes. The premise is a TV Horror program host showing a Bergman film without his knowledge. This one is mostly based on The Silence from the boxed set. Check out the gibberish Swedish. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-wsbKfFhLw

The second is from French & Saunders, a famous pair of English comediennes. Yes that's Jennifer Saunders before she created & starred in Absolutely Fabulous. The coastal scenes and the cloaked character of Death are from The Seventh Seal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XrAH9Z_Bjk

'The Hangover'

From left, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper as buddies in Las Vegas for a bachelor party in The Hangover. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-hangover/35061/main

This movie has been playing for a few weeks and is a big hit. Some reviewers thought the crude humor was infantile and the jokes wore out before the ending but audiences didn't care. The plot is simple: Three friends take their buddy to Las Vegas two days before his wedding. They wake up hung over and have no recollection of the previous night. Their hotel suite is trashed and one discovers a tiger inside their bathroom. Worst of all, the groom-to-be is missing. Their hunt begins with the events of the night soon revealed to their shock. Besides the uptight dentist learning he married a stripper, they need money to get their missing friend released from an Asian gangster who claims they stole his money. During their drunken spree, it seems they stole the tiger from boxer Mike Tyson who wants it returned. As if all this isn't enough, they get arrested for using a police car and become unwilling subjects of a taser demonstration.
There's other mishaps along the way that will keep you laughing. The humor is on the raunchy side but this is an 'R' rated movie that pushes the limits. I don't like movies that fail to deliver their intent. I want horror films to be scary.... 'Chick flicks' to make you weep.... and comedies to make you laugh your butt off. Some films never fulfill their premise and peter out before the end. Not so here.
The Hangover is consistently funny and the feeling of camaraderie among the four guys is the thread that holds the story together when the jokes wear thin. There's enough jokes to offend everyone and the able cast lead by a scruffy Bradley Cooper who's finally getting leads is up to the script's demands. And wait until you hear Tyson sing!

'Yoo Hoo Mrs. Goldberg' Review

Gertrude Berg with some of the 12,000 scripts she wrote. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/yoo-hoo-mrs-goldberg/37562/video/yoo-hoo-mrs-goldberg-trailer-no-1/29027423001

The trailer explains it all. Unless you're older than me or a nostalgia buff, you won't know who was Molly Goldberg. She was a radio character created by Gertrude Berg (1898-1966), a popular actress who made the transition to television. She's mostly forgotten but this new documentary will satisfy your curiosity and teach you a lot about those years. Yesterday we took Mom to see it and it brought back many memories for her. Me & the Mrs enjoyed it as much her.
You can call Berg a superstar of her era. She also wrote her scripts and branched out into other areas. She won an Emmy and Broadway's Tony award as well as endorsing products with her name on them. This overweight workaholic died too young at 68 and her TV shows are rarely revived except for clips in other docs. Yoo Hoo Mrs, Goldberg includes reminiscences from family, co-workers, and friends. Amid her huge successes there are dark personal moments revealed as well as for those co-workers who suffered during the Blacklisting era. She used her clout to help others, sometimes without success as in the tragic case of co-star Phillip Loeb.
If you have any older relatives or friends, take them to see it and I guarantee you will enjoy it too. It's entertaining and informative as it also covers Jewish culture and its influence on America.

'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' Review

Michael Gambon as Professor Dumbledore & Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/27063/video/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/19948761001

For some unknown reason, I never got into the Harry Potter books although my wife bought all of them. I do love fantasy books and films but why this franchise eludes me is something I still don't understand. I listened to the Audio Book of the first one and have seen all the film versions. If you ask me to explain the plot of each one, they all are blurred together in my mind. Perhaps I'm not the best judge in comparing the books to the movies so I rely on the Mrs and my cousin since they have devoured every written word and accompanied me to the theaters where I get their thoughts when leaving the theater.
As movies each one gets better with the special effects and we meet new guest actors among the regulars. As long as you know the basic threads that connect each story, it doesn't matter if you read the books since subplots are dropped or simplified. Each movie is pretty much self-contained and not hard to follow. This is the sixth Potter film with two remaining to conclude the cycle.
As a movie I pretty much enjoyed even if it seemed a bit longish at 159 minutes. Potter fans won't complain since there's everything they expect in these movies. Potter and the rest of the young cast have aged and the story doesn't hide it as they face the challenges of puberty and puppy love. The Hogwarts Academy staff performs their usual roles with the welcome addition of Jim Broadbent, one of England's finest character actors who I wrote about in When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Father? He's still a bit of a rascal here and pivotal to the plot.
Alan Rickman commands every scene with his imposing vocal delivery and Michael Gambon has more to do with every film since he took over the role of head wizard from Richard Harris who died after the completing the second film. I really think Gambon is better although I'm a diehard Harris fan. Harris admitted turning down the role until his granddaughter, a rabid book fan, chastised him for it.
This film is making oodles of $$$ because it gives the fans what they want and never panders to them. Readers of the books should be happy too. Those unfamiliar with the books or movies should enjoy it as a big budgeted fantasy populated with the best of Britain's actor's. You'll learn at the film's conclusion who is the Half Blood Prince.,

DVD Alert: 'The Hidden Fortress'

The trailer explains it all: http://videodetective.com/TitleDetails.aspx?publishedid=00001982

We will be seeing The Hidden Fortress on the big screen in Portsmouth NH at the end of the month. Meanwhile bless those 40% off Borders coupons. Criterion makes two editions of this movie. The costlier one has no worthwhile extras or a commentary. The cheaper one has only the movie and is all I needed, found, and purchased. Lately Borders has not been restocking DVDS and CDs so it's been slim pickings. Rumor has it that Borders will be closing so we'll wait & see... How the store had this one in stock surprised me. I still want to see the film on the big screen with an appreciative audience but I watched the DVD last night. Too much temptation...
The trailer's meager details and fuzzy quality gives you a hint of the plot but don't judge the movie by it. The DVD's visual and aural quality is as superb as you expect from Criterion. I've written about Akira Kurosawa's films here and this medieval epic was a big hit in 1958. George Lucas freely cites this film as the inspiration for Star Wars. Toshiro Mifune, Japan's most famous action star (and a damn good actor too) and Kurosawa's most frequent collaborator, leads an exiled princess and two squabbling peasants (comic relief) to reclaim her throne and fortune from a warring clan. You can easily figure out who is who in both films. My wife thought the music inspired John Williams score for Lucas' film. Forgetting all that, you will enjoy The Hidden Fortress on its own terms.
There's plenty of action and scenery presented in stunning widescreen black & white photography. Too bad it wasn't filmed in color but that's a minor quibble. Over two hours long with episodic escapes, you'll wish it was longer. Kurosawa was a visual master who pulls you into the story where you feel like you're standing aside the characters... I'm sure it will be more impressive on the big screen.

'Public Enemies' Review

Johnny Depp & Marion Cotillard in Public Enemies. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/public-enemies/32262/main

The preview for Public Enemies lured me into the theater as well as knowing it was directed by Michael Mann of TV's Miami Vice fame. He also knows how to make good crime movies with energetic action scenes like in Heat and Manhunter. I didn't care much for his movie version of Miami Vice. It had a few good moments but if you changed the title and the characters' names, you wouldn't know its source.
Mann's new opus about John Dillinger and other gangsters of the early 1930's pursued by the FBI is a treat for the eyes since it was filmed in high def where you can see every pore and follicle on faces. The photography, sets, and costumes make it breathe and truly appreciated on the big screen. Every face looks authentic down to the extras in crowd scenes. Johnny Depp as Dillinger brings another great performance to his busy career. I really think he is the best actor of his generation; some think it's Sean Penn so let's call it a tie although Depp takes more risks with oddball roles. Dillinger is not one of them but here you never take your eyes off him. Christian Bale has the less showy part but very good in a steely, quiet way; when he talks he gets right to the point and shoots the same way. These two contrasting performances work well and in their one scene together. Marion Cotillard, who deserved her Oscar or any award as Edith Piaf, is fine as Depp's love interest; she deserves better parts than this one but it's good to see her in anything. We didn't recognize Billy Crudup as J. Edgar Hoover so that's a feather in his cap. Anytime an actor is buried in his role is a plus. Rent Stage Beauty with his portrayal of a Shakespearean actor to see how good he is.
Public Enemies's trailer is fast-paced unlike the movie which seems longish. The bank heists and prison & jail escapes are excitingly edited to grab your attention and not let go. For all the historical-looking accuracy, there should have been more info about Dillinger such as why he was considered a folk hero protected by local authorities. The fleeting references to that era's history that get buried in the visuals. Again this movie is a case of style over substance and a representative example of Mann's visual style. The mood is dark & dour even for a story taking place during the Depression except for Depp's quips. Compare this one to The Untouchables with Kevin Coster and Sean Connery and you'll see what I mean. Overall it's worth seeing for the visuals and the cast.

'Cheri' Review

Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend as ill-fated lovers in Cheri. Watch the trailer: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/cheri/36723/main

There's lots of talk in the media about cougars, a term for older women cavorting with younger men. Usually we see the opposite in real life and in movies where the age gap sometimes seems unrealistic with the greying man mismatched with his nubile co-star. After Entrapment with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones came out, Mad TV did a nasty but hilarious parody of a love scene from their movie. Try to catch a rerun of this sketch where during their kiss, his false teeth fall into her mouth, and other funny stuff.

In Cheri, based on novel written in 1920 by the French writer Colette of Gigi fame, here we see the relationship between a rich, retired courtesan played by a glamorous Michelle Pfeiffer and her friend's spoiled, bored son, Rupert Friend, whose nickname is a term of endearment and the film's title. What starts as an arrangement between Pfeiffer and Friend's calculating mother played by Kathy Bates to break the nineteen-year old handsome boy of his decadent habits turns into a hidden affair. Here the disparity in age works as it follows social conventions of the times. When Mom arranges a marriage for Friend to a wealthy friend's daughter, everything goes wrong. This darker side to the plot is not revealed in the trailer.
The film's French pre-WWI atmosphere is a treat for the eyes as every detail in decor and costuming seems right and enhanced by the skilled camerawork. The story moves slowly for us to observe characters' actions and thoughts revealed on their faces. The dialogue is witty and reminded me of Oscar Wilde's clever one-liners. The production values and script offer stiff competition to the actors who are up to the task including those in the smallest parts. Pfeiffer gets better all the time as an actress (She's 51, sexier than ever, and ages better than a bottle of fine wine.) and brings out the most of her cool, controlling character whose facade cracks at the end during her final closeup, the film's ending. Friend's smoldering, sullen intensity is a good contrast to her and the other characters who follow society's rules. He lets his selfish emotions get the better of him and only Pfeiffer can rein him in.

Cheri is directed by Steven Frears who worked with Pfeiffer on 1988's witty Dangerous Liaisons, another costumer about an earlier French period where society's rules must be obeyed and those who don't follow them are ruined. Cheri is the lesser and shorter of these two movies but also worth your time if you don't expect a lot of action. Classy, well-crafted, and witty are the key words here.