The Mistress of Spices (2005): Tilo has the ability of foreseeing the future. She becomes the Mistress of Spices and is sent to the Spice Bazaar in San Francisco, with the mission of helping others, but she must adhere to three rules. (5.3)
Director: Paul Mayeda Berges
Writers: Gurinder Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges
Stars: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Dylan McDermott and Nitin Ganatra
Very interesting storyline, but they squander the opportunities it offers by adding the three silly rules and limiting themselves. There is no real character development. The acting is pretty lousy, yes, including that of Ms. Rai. (Though I'd heard of her, this is the first time I've seen the famous actress on any screen and I'm disappointed.) IMDB says this had been filmed in various locations in northern California, but they haven't taken the full use of the picturesque sites. The colors of spices were nice, but everything else in most of the scenes were unnaturally sanitized. Sorry, the basic lack of good acting stopped me from getting into the movie. My Rating: 4.5
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
P.S. I Love You (PG-13) 6.0
P.S. I Love You (2007): A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life. (6.9)
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Writers: Richard LaGravenese / Steven Rogers (screenplay), Cecelia Ahern (novel)
Stars: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler and Harry Connick Jr.
The movie starts out with a lot of promise. The story has a good premise to bring out the true romance and the grief of losing your spouse. However, the screen writers had decided to add a bit too much humor and comedy into and try to make it a romantic comedy ... thereby losing both. No, comedy definitely should not have been a part of this particular story. Another item that kind of falls flat ... the whole movie is dependent on the letters. To grip the audience with the emotions of the situation, they'd better be good. Sorry to say, they were too short, not romantic, not compelling. Another "could have been a whole lot better" movie. My Rating: 6.0
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Writers: Richard LaGravenese / Steven Rogers (screenplay), Cecelia Ahern (novel)
Stars: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler and Harry Connick Jr.
The movie starts out with a lot of promise. The story has a good premise to bring out the true romance and the grief of losing your spouse. However, the screen writers had decided to add a bit too much humor and comedy into and try to make it a romantic comedy ... thereby losing both. No, comedy definitely should not have been a part of this particular story. Another item that kind of falls flat ... the whole movie is dependent on the letters. To grip the audience with the emotions of the situation, they'd better be good. Sorry to say, they were too short, not romantic, not compelling. Another "could have been a whole lot better" movie. My Rating: 6.0
Saturday, April 7, 2012
A Single Man (R) 7.5
A Single Man (2009): A story that centers on an English professor who, one year after the sudden death of his partner, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles. (7.5)
Director: Tom Ford Writers:
Christopher Isherwood (novel), Tom Ford / David Scearce (screenplay)
Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode
I'm not sure how much of one significant aspect of the professor's relationship I should reveal here, probably none. This is a very emotional movie that looks at how one copes with a major loss. Yet, I felt like an outsider looking in ... that says more about me than the movie. The emotional connections started to form towards the end. The use of color fading in-and-out to depict the state of mind or the focus of of the main character is quite nice. I liked the artsy cinematography. My Rating: 7.5
Director: Tom Ford Writers:
Christopher Isherwood (novel), Tom Ford / David Scearce (screenplay)
Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode
I'm not sure how much of one significant aspect of the professor's relationship I should reveal here, probably none. This is a very emotional movie that looks at how one copes with a major loss. Yet, I felt like an outsider looking in ... that says more about me than the movie. The emotional connections started to form towards the end. The use of color fading in-and-out to depict the state of mind or the focus of of the main character is quite nice. I liked the artsy cinematography. My Rating: 7.5
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Ides of March (R) 7.5
The Ides of March (2011): An idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. (7.3)
Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney / Grant Heslov (screenplay), Beau Willimon (play "Farragut North")
Stars: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman
A sort of a behind the scenes look at how the politics become a dirty business. (I don't know if the portrayal of the characters is close to reality; but it fits well to the perception and can't be far off from today's reality.) The acting is superb by the all-star cast. The story is somewhat predictable, but that's expected (ie: you tend to expect a major twist or two in a story like this), but how things get handled in the back-rooms is what's interesting. Some of the (idealistic) lines are quite good. My Rating: 7.5
Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney / Grant Heslov (screenplay), Beau Willimon (play "Farragut North")
Stars: Paul Giamatti, George Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman
A sort of a behind the scenes look at how the politics become a dirty business. (I don't know if the portrayal of the characters is close to reality; but it fits well to the perception and can't be far off from today's reality.) The acting is superb by the all-star cast. The story is somewhat predictable, but that's expected (ie: you tend to expect a major twist or two in a story like this), but how things get handled in the back-rooms is what's interesting. Some of the (idealistic) lines are quite good. My Rating: 7.5
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Leon: The Professional (R) 8.0
Leon: The Professional (1994): Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade. (8.6)
Director: Luc Besson
Writer: Luc Besson
Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman
A very, very dark comedy, extremely well orchestrated by all the people involved in the movie. The story is quite fascinating. The acting is superb, including that of Portman at an early stage of her career. It requires special abilities from the main actors to reflect the absurdities in the situation, without an excess of dialog, and they do deliver remarkably well. If you like this type of movies, you'd love it, as I did. My Rating: 8.0
Director: Luc Besson
Writer: Luc Besson
Stars: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman and Natalie Portman
A very, very dark comedy, extremely well orchestrated by all the people involved in the movie. The story is quite fascinating. The acting is superb, including that of Portman at an early stage of her career. It requires special abilities from the main actors to reflect the absurdities in the situation, without an excess of dialog, and they do deliver remarkably well. If you like this type of movies, you'd love it, as I did. My Rating: 8.0
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Helen (R) 6.0
Helen (2009): A talented professor is forced to come to terms with her clinical depression. (6.1)
Director: Sandra Nettelbeck
Writer: Sandra Nettelbeck (screenplay)
Stars: Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic and Lauren Lee Smith
Ashley Judd is superb here in depicting a depressed woman. However, the writer-director has decided to keep the audience also in the dark about what's going on in the first half of the movie. Yes, the depression is the story here, but it is about a woman with a history, yet we are not told what's going on. This is the first movie where I actually went to google to find out what the story is after being frustrated for an hour and a half. You pick the best storytelling medium and then forget that there is a back-story to be told or answer "why" questions ... I'd say that's a major technical deficiency in this movie. Believe me, I know all too well about the subject matter. At one point towards the end the director decides to use voice-over for just one scene; uh, where was that technique to let us in on the happenings at earlier parts of the movie? Yes, keep the other characters of the movie frustrated, but not the audience. Brilliant effort with picking the subject matter, but as a movie (not a documentary, mind you) lost the audience ... My Rating: 6.0
Director: Sandra Nettelbeck
Writer: Sandra Nettelbeck (screenplay)
Stars: Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic and Lauren Lee Smith
Ashley Judd is superb here in depicting a depressed woman. However, the writer-director has decided to keep the audience also in the dark about what's going on in the first half of the movie. Yes, the depression is the story here, but it is about a woman with a history, yet we are not told what's going on. This is the first movie where I actually went to google to find out what the story is after being frustrated for an hour and a half. You pick the best storytelling medium and then forget that there is a back-story to be told or answer "why" questions ... I'd say that's a major technical deficiency in this movie. Believe me, I know all too well about the subject matter. At one point towards the end the director decides to use voice-over for just one scene; uh, where was that technique to let us in on the happenings at earlier parts of the movie? Yes, keep the other characters of the movie frustrated, but not the audience. Brilliant effort with picking the subject matter, but as a movie (not a documentary, mind you) lost the audience ... My Rating: 6.0
Friday, March 30, 2012
Dirty Pretty Things (R) 7.5
Dirty Pretty Things (2002): An illegal Nigerian immigrant discovers the unpalatable side of London life. (7.4)
Director: Stephen Frears
Writer: Steven Knight
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou and Sophie Okonedo
"The soft underbelly of the civilized society is dirty," is the least of the messages to remember from this movie. The plight of some of the illegal immigrants in London is explored in this movie with a story that has a "yeah, he deserved it," at the end. The acting is superb in that you don't think you are watching a movie, but a documentary. We forget that the unseen immigrants sometimes do the unseen jobs in our society to keep things running smoothly. The story asks more questions than originally anticipated. My Rating: 7.5
Director: Stephen Frears
Writer: Steven Knight
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou and Sophie Okonedo
"The soft underbelly of the civilized society is dirty," is the least of the messages to remember from this movie. The plight of some of the illegal immigrants in London is explored in this movie with a story that has a "yeah, he deserved it," at the end. The acting is superb in that you don't think you are watching a movie, but a documentary. We forget that the unseen immigrants sometimes do the unseen jobs in our society to keep things running smoothly. The story asks more questions than originally anticipated. My Rating: 7.5
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tell No One (R) 7.0
Tell No One (2006) Ne le dis à personne (original title): The pediatrician Alexandre Beck misses his beloved wife Margot Beck, who was brutally murdered eight years ago when he was the prime suspect. When two bodies are found near where the corpse of Margot was dumped, the police reopen the case and Alex becomes suspect again. (7.5)
Director: Guillaume Canet
Writers: Guillaume Canet, Philippe Lefebvre
Stars: François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze and André Dussollier
Language: French
The acting is superb, including that of the supporting cast. The story is a bit convoluted but not that difficult to follow. This is a thriller with some chase scenes, so scenes and set aren't the first thing to worry about, but some of the scenes of (I guess) French countryside are quite nice. (No, that's not Dustin Hoffman playing the lead role. :-)) My Rating: 7.0
Director: Guillaume Canet
Writers: Guillaume Canet, Philippe Lefebvre
Stars: François Cluzet, Marie-Josée Croze and André Dussollier
Language: French
The acting is superb, including that of the supporting cast. The story is a bit convoluted but not that difficult to follow. This is a thriller with some chase scenes, so scenes and set aren't the first thing to worry about, but some of the scenes of (I guess) French countryside are quite nice. (No, that's not Dustin Hoffman playing the lead role. :-)) My Rating: 7.0
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Water for Elephants (PG-13) 6.0
Water for Elephants (2011): A veterinary student abandons his studies after his parents are killed and joins a traveling circus as their vet. (6.9)
Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Sara Gruen (novel)
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz
A quaint story about running away with the circus, but the actors kept reminding me that they are really acting ... that's not good. The cinematography is good; it is filmed to look like a period movie. But the story provides lots of good opportunities with the train and the circus but they aren't using it enough, IMHO. I did enjoy the stuff they had on screen, but it could have been better. My Rating: 6.0
Director: Francis Lawrence
Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Sara Gruen (novel)
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz
A quaint story about running away with the circus, but the actors kept reminding me that they are really acting ... that's not good. The cinematography is good; it is filmed to look like a period movie. But the story provides lots of good opportunities with the train and the circus but they aren't using it enough, IMHO. I did enjoy the stuff they had on screen, but it could have been better. My Rating: 6.0
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Reader (R) 8.0
The Reader: Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself . (7.6)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Writers: David Hare (screenplay), Bernhard Schlink (book)
Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and Bruno Ganz
The meaty part of the story came as a surprise to me as I had selected this on a whim. I liked it that way. Made me feel strongly about not only the larger context of the story, but also the about the personal conflicts of the two main characters. Quite a lot of poignant moments, yet you are conflicted yourself (as an outsider watching it) because of the bigger story and the context. Perhaps, it affected me more because my own head is messed up, but that's what a powerful story/movie is supposed to do. Go watch this! Then ask yourself, what would you have done in each one's shoes. My Rating: 8.0
Director: Stephen Daldry
Writers: David Hare (screenplay), Bernhard Schlink (book)
Stars: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes and Bruno Ganz
The meaty part of the story came as a surprise to me as I had selected this on a whim. I liked it that way. Made me feel strongly about not only the larger context of the story, but also the about the personal conflicts of the two main characters. Quite a lot of poignant moments, yet you are conflicted yourself (as an outsider watching it) because of the bigger story and the context. Perhaps, it affected me more because my own head is messed up, but that's what a powerful story/movie is supposed to do. Go watch this! Then ask yourself, what would you have done in each one's shoes. My Rating: 8.0
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